April 18

Saturday, April 18th.

Beach Day!  We spent the morning at Seal Beach and had a great time!  We just went down for the morning because Pete had a late afternoon gig, but it was perfect!  :)  

Emily LOVED playing in the sand & splashing in the ocean.

April 17

Friday, April 17th.

While Pete played a round of golf with they guys Emily and I put on our bathing suits and laid outside to get some sun :)  (I love having a daughter!)  We also played with the bubble wand that she got in her Easter basket.  She really enjoyed chasing and popping the bubbles.

During her nap time I made dinner for Kurt, Jamie and Hendrick and then went to Kolbey's bridal shower.

April 16

Thursday, April 16th

Aren't these just the cutest little pigtails you've ever seen!?!

April 15

Wednesday, April 15th.

Our friends drove home last night and we stayed to see Grandma Cov.  She took us out for breakfast and then we went to her house to visit for a bit.  Emily loved drawing with Great Grandma Cov.  Pete loved the "Grandma Cov Cookies" and I loved seeing the similarities between the two baby girls on her fridge!    Isn't that amazing?!   :)

Mom & Dad: how old was I in that photo?  Em was 13 or 14 months in the photo for our Christmas card...  I guess there's no doubt she's my baby!

April 14

Tuesday, April 14th.

What a fun day.  Fabio, Matt & Sandy drove up last night and we spent the day together today in Atascadero.  Well, actually, very little of the day was actually in Atascadero.  First we went to Moro Bay and if you look closely, you can sort of see a glimpse of how windy it was.  I don't know if I have EVER experienced wind like that.

Later we dropped Em off with Matt & Charlotte and went wine tasting.  Yummy!  I can't wait to drink the wine we purchased today!!  The group picture is outside one of the wineries.

April 13

Monday, April 13th.

It's Spring Break!!!

It's time to do all the little things that we can't do on a 'normal' day. 

For example: 

Eat strawberries for breakfast, with mom, in our pjs at 10am  :)

Drive to central coast and romp around in the dog kennel with Benji at KC & Fwee's :)

Have fun playing with your cousins' toys in Atascadero :)

April 12

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!

Happy Easter!

Uncle Mike came over this morning and went to church with us.  Afterwards he helped me get ready for lunch while Pete was at a gig.  Seven or eight of our friends joined us this afternoon for a meal, an easter egg hunt and all sorts of Easter fun.  What did you do to celebrate Easter?

April 11

Saturday, April 11th.

This morning we went to Jamie & Jenny's to see their pictures from their recent trip to Israel.  They had some great photos and we loved hearing their stories.  Em was more interested in chasing Bo & Elsie (their dogs) around the house :)

April 10

Good Friday.

Today is the first day of Spring Break for me.

We started our day with bagels from "Grounds" and then a bike ride to the park.  Words can't describe what a relief it is to be on break and how grateful I am for this time with my family and the beautiful weather to enjoy!  I just LOVE it!!

April 9

Thursday.

YAY for Spring Break!!  I made it!!  :)

We celebrated with our old 'hacienda complex' neighbors: Justin & Erin, and Eric, Jen & Ella.

After dinner the two baby girls were cracking us up with their dance moves to the music of "Madagascar 2"  If you haven't seen a baby dance to it, well, you're really missing out!

You can't see it here, but our daughter has quite the moves!  When that music starts it's like she can't help herself.  No matter what she was doing she starts bouncing to the music and shaking her booty.  That's our little dancing queen :)

April 8

Wednesday.

Just time for a couple quick pics between our bike ride and my Bible study.

April 7

Tuesday.

Wow, life's exciting today ;)

I peeled an orange in one long strip (and on the first try too)

April 6

Monday.

Toy cell phone: $12.99 at Target.

Dad's old sunglasses: $10 somewhere a long time ago.

Ladybug purse: birthday gift from Julie Bader

Trying to be like Mommy: priceless.

April 5

Sunday, April 5th, 2008.

It started out as a nice Sunday.

We went to church.

We came home to play in the backyard and eat lunch.

We decided to drive down to the beach.....  

Pete and I were packing the car... where's Em?  She's awfully quiet...

Whoops!

The funny part is that this isn't her first offense...

August 31st, 2008.

Mommy's (exact same) Purple Ink Pad.

When I found her with the ink back in August I was a nervous new mom who called poison control (even though it says 'non-toxic').  I put her in the bath and then when all of the ink wouldn't come off I powdered her nose to make it less obvious and calm down my husband (who it turns out believes purple ink is deadly).  :)  

Then I put the ink pad far, far away.  

I don't think I used it again... or even knew where it was... until yesterday.  

I just so happened to be scrapbooking a page for the August 'ink pad incident' pictures and decided to use the purple ink pad...  

So there it was, sitting in the guest room, on my scrapbook table.  Apparently it must send out baby signals or smells because she has never bothered any of my other art supplies, but this particular ink pad she has tried to eat.  twice.

Time to throw it away I guess... well, maybe after I scrapbook today's incident :)

April 4

These photos (& most of the ones from the week) were actually taken today.  It was nice to finally have a 'free' day.  Pete worked at Disney so I had Em by myself which is wonderful but also exhausting after a long week at work and when I'm trying to catch up on all the household stuff.

Our little girl loves to play peek-a-boo and a week or two ago she discovered that she could crawl into the coat closet and hide.  Maybe I shouldn't encourage hiding from mom, but the thrill she gets out of jumping out and shrieking is just too cute to resist!

April 3

Friday, April 3rd.

Where's Mom?

Mom hasn't been around much as evidenced by Em looking for me.  I went out the door, walked around to the front and found her still looking.  :)  Soon... baby girl... soon this craziness will pass and it will be Easter and Spring Break.

Tonight though, was busy.  The BOPA Soup & Pie Dinner.  All student groups played plus a faculty/alumni group.  We served close to 550 people.  It was a great night and I'm thrilled that it's over!

April 2

Thursday, April 2nd.

Still busy...

I'm getting ready for soup & pie dinner tomorrow night and an orchestra festival next week Tuesday.

It's awfully nice to come home everyday to the cuteness you can see in this photo!  :)

April 1

Wednesday, April 1st.

April Fools Day.

Lots of fun tricks played, mostly at school. :)

After school we took my bike out for the first time and I love it!  It's such a cute bike and super comfortable too!  We're so blessed to live close to a beautiful park too with miles of bike paths--it's amazing!  Once summer is here we're looking forward to biking to the beach--just 3-4 miles away!

Tonight I had a girls Bible study group that met for the first time this week and I loved it.  Great girls and a good time :)

That's all for now--see you tomorrow!

March 31

Tuesday, March 31st.

Just a few of Em's favorite toys.

Recently we've been playing a lot of catch with Em in her chair and throwing this ladybug ball.

March 30

Happy 29th Birthday Pete!!!!!!!

This is one of the BUSIEST weeks.  I have three concerts and Pete's working a lot, but we managed to find time to go out for dinner and celebrate tonight.  It was a nice break from the craziness.

With everything we have going on I only took photos a couple days this week.  Here we have Em when she figured out how to put my shirt on.  So cute :)

March 29

Sunday, March 29th.

I love Sundays.  Time to slow down and admire the flowers--these are some of the daisies from our window boxes.  Today after church we went to Mike & Becca's for lunch.  It was a nice day with friends :) Pete left for work while Em was napping, then some of us went to IKEA.  Em was such a good girl throughout the whole day, gotta love that girl :)

March 28

It was a lazy day Saturday :)

Pete worked at Disney today.

We wore sun dresses and took photos outside (and then inside too).  There is nothing better than having a daughter :)

March 27

Yay for Friday!

Emily went for her first bike ride today, and she LOVED it!

I took this photo before they left and she wasn't so sure about the helmet, but as Pete biked with Emily I ran alongside and watched Em shriek with joy.  Now I just need a bike so I can go too!

March 26

Thursday.

Middle School Orchestra Concert tonight.

The kids did great, the concert itself went well.

The clean up and post concert stuff was stressful... eventually though I had the school cleaned up, locked up and was off to get Em.

Michael and Jill took care of her after school and all evening--thank you guys!  Wow, what a day.

March 25

Wednesday.

ahh.  this is one of my favorite simple pleasures.  reading a scrapbook magazine on the couch and snuggling with Em after school.

March 24

Tuesday March 24th.

Another busy day.  I can't wait for Spring Break.  No decent pictures from today, just this one of a Target bag... more stuff that we 'need'.  Goodnight. 

March 23

Monday.

March 23rd.

A good day.  A long day.  A tiring day.

A long day at work... I'm in the middle of a crazy amount of concerts, field trips and other stuff.  Then a lesson or two, then time to pick up Emily and time to head home.

Pete worked until 6:00... then had a meeting at church at 6:30... 

Emily had endless energy.  I had none.  The result is the chaos seen in this photo.  :)  Oh well...this too shall pass  ;)  and in the meantime I'll just be thankful that she's healthy, happy and energetic.

March 22

Sunday, March 22nd.

My mom and dad left early this morning for Iowa, and then a little later Pete left for work.  Emily ran around the house trying to figure out where everyone went.  After having house guests for a three weeks straight, an empty house was a strange feeling!

March 21

Saturday, March 21st

This morning Uncle Scott, Aunt Cindy and their daughter Stephanie came over for breakfast.  They were in town from Colorado and we had a really nice time catching up with them.  :)  After they left we spent the rest of the day with Gpa Cary & Gma Cathy.  The other photo is of Grandpa and Grandma saying goodnight and goodbye to Emily since they will leave early tomorrow morning before we're up.  We had such a fun visit with them and look forward to their next trip out in May!