Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We had such a busy holiday! Last night we celebrated with our families and this morning we had to ourselves.

Santa came during the night and Ben and Hannah were so excited with what he left for them! As soon as they woke up (6:45am) Ben said "I wonder if Santa came" he peeked his head out of the room and said "He did!!!" because he could see some of the toys. He got up and tiptoed out with his hand on his mouth and eyes wide open. Hannah wanted to be carried out to see. Santa left their toys out this year without wrapping them so they started to play with them immediately. Hannah got a new pink stroller for her baby doll (exactly what she asked for) and Ben got a couple of Bob the Builder machines and a real tool set. He loves it!

After their naps we went to Grandma Rosalie's house for another wild present opening and wrapping paper fight (kinda like a snowball fight but with wrapping paper). The kids like going over there and get wild with the bigger cousins.

(This picture was taken at our hotel in Virginia after the funeral.)

Our trip home...

We enjoyed our trip to Virginia very much. The kids were sick most of the time and they couldn't shake the cough and stuffy noses. They were glad to hear that we were headed home. I think they were getting run down from all the travelling. They did good on their first official trip away from home. We have gone camping but we drive there and the car is familiar. This trip was far from home, the car was unfamiliar (the carseats were theirs-yes, we took everything!), it was cold out and they wanted to sleep in our big bed at home. The were tired of hotels. I am sure they will remember something of the trip...at least the airplane ride!!

The trip continues...

Tues., Dec. 20, 2005
We checked out of the hotel and headed to the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum. Benjamin is really into airplanes and spaceships these days so he LOVED it. He got to 'drive' an airplane and see rocketships, spaceships and helicopters... There were lots of things to see and do there, not enough time for everything because we were in a hurry to get to Williamsburg. Virginia has horrible traffic (like LA) and no one was kidding! It was horrible!! By the time we found the entrance to the carpool lane (HOV lane) Noah woke up and was shrieking so we had to stop for a bit. We had been following my parents and so at this point we split from them. We caught up with them at the hotel later that night after their dinner.
























Wed. Dec. 21, 2005
Colonial Williamsburg. We walked around for a little bit and did some shopping. What an incredible place! This is somewhere we will have to come back to when the kids are older and able to appreciate it more. This trip, however, they were a bit unimpressed with it. We did find some things that they enjoyed though.

Arlington, VA

Mon. Dec. 19, 2005
We went to Arlington National Cemetary for Grandpa's funeral (the reason for the trip) and what an awesome experience. It was a terrific way to say our last good-byes. He was buried with full military honors. Here is the link to his obituary. Here are some pictures of what we saw:

The chapel

Part of the eulogy by my Dad

The platoon awaiting outside after the ceremony

Horse-drawn carriage pulling the casket

Driving to the burial site:

21-gun salute

The Marine Corps band (in red):

Folding the flag



Presenting the flag to Kae

Our trip to Virginia...the first 2 days

Dec. 17, 2005
We went on the airplane to go to Virginia. It was Benjamin's second airplane ride and Hannah and Noah's first time! They had so much fun. We travelled with Marissa, Heather, Ryan (his 1st plane ride too) and Chris. They looked out the window and checked out everything on the plane within their reach. Here they are reading the airplane emergency pamphlet from the seat pocket:

When we got to Phoenix, AZ for our layover the kids ran around and around after we raced to the next terminal to catch the next plane. Our next flight was 4 hours long so they needed to get their energy out. We landed at Reagan National Airport that night and while we were waiting for Corey to find the rental car and pick us up Ben and Marissa went riding on the wheelchairs and Hannah and Noah fell asleep.

Sun, Dec. 18, 2005

We toured Washington DC today. We went by the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam and Korean Memorials and went for a brisk walk around! It was a beautiful day. Here they are near a bare tree on our way to the Lincoln Memorial.

We drove to see if we could see the White House and found 2 parking spots immediately! We got out and walked over and Ben and Marissa went right to work on a snowball fight while we all gazed at the White House! It seems that they were obllivious about the big white building next to them! After that they were freezing (notice Marissa in her t-shirt?!!! and Ben without gloves?!!!) as the sun was going down and it was getting cold quickly! We ran to the car and turned the heat on full blast!! Then we set on a search for hot chocolate but never found it. Instead we discovered that our rental minivan had a flat tire so we headed to the nearest gas station (which was NOT an easy thing to find in DC!!)!

Dentist appt...

Today was Hannah's first trip to the dentist. She has been before but she hasn't been the patient before. She loved it! She sat in the chair and opened her mouth for Kelly (the hygienist), she cleaned her teeth and had a conversation with her. All the while she was watching Blues Clues on the TV monitor on the ceiling, very cool. They handed her a bag of goodies (floss, new brush toothpaste) and an award that we taped to the wall. She had such a great experience today, I hope she remembers it forever!

Here she is!

Here is Ben, watching TV and waiting for Hannah to be done.

Dentist...

Today we went to the dentist. Ben is a pro at being a dental patient. He sits with his headphones on and opens his mouth. Our dentist has headphones for the TV that is on the ceiling! Hannah was a bit scared of the dentist and didn't want to go. Ben went first, Hannah watched and by the time he was done she was very comfortable with it. She got in the seat and opened her mouth. She didn't want the headphones. She didn't watch much TV but she was a very good dental patient! She loved it and is already talking about her next visit in six months!

Potty update...

Ben has been successful for several weeks with the potty!! He has occasional accidents but overall he has done very well!! I am crossing my fingers that there will be an end to the accidents soon. Today he ran to the toilet twice! And this is good because he had an upset tummy...and no accident!! Hooray!

Old Fashioned Christmas...

Well we went on a search for Santa tonight. We went to La Mesa's Old Fashioned Christmas. It has been something we do in December for about 4 years now. The kids love to go, there are so many things for them to do there! Ben and Marissa went on a huge slide that looked like a tsunami, Hannah wanted to do it too but got a little frightened at the last minute. Then we went looking for Santa...but found a puppet show, they watched for a bit and then off to find Santa again. We found another puppet show. When that was over we headed towards the llamas, the kids got to ride them last year and were excited about doing it again this year. Hannah decided that she didn't want to do it, but Ben and Marissa went riding on their llamas. They loved it. Then they found a jumper with a big llama on it, that was fun for a while. We were still looking for Santa when we realized that everyone was packing up for the night. They wanted to tell Santa what they want for Christmas and we had rehearsed the whole thing all day. They were really looking forward to it! We never found Santa, so sad. We'll have to find him somewhere else!

the cable guy...

We have been having such a hard time with our internet and cable system around the house that we finally got a call in to the cable people. The repairman came this morning. Benjamin is just fascinated with repairmen! He went to get his work belt on and put his tools into it (hammer, screwdriver, pliers~all plastic toys). He followed him around and kept asking him questions. He didn't know what a cable is and kept calling it a 'mable', so I took him to the back of the TV and showed him what it was. It cleared it in his head because he looked puzzled when the man went out back and worked under the house, then out front to the cable box, then to the back of the TV and then to work the remote to check out the channels. Then when he brought in a giant box full of cable, Benjamin was so excited he wanted to pull it all out and play. His mind is soaking up all the wonders of his world.

Hannah's bike ride...

Corey and Ben went for a bike ride together today. They took their bikes in the car so it was pretty nice for them to spend some time together. Hannah woke from her nap and wondered where they were. When I told her that they went for a bike ride she was upset and wanted to go on her own ride. So I put Noah in the stroller and she got her helmet on and off we went around the neighborhood for her own bike ride! She can ride pretty fast on her trike so it wasn't a leisurely walk for me but she was having so much fun! We went around 2 blocks and she wanted to keep going so we went around a couple more. I thought is was a pretty big bike ride for her but she still wanted to keep going! When we got home we didn't have to wait long for the guys to get home from their ride. Hannah was so excited to see them, she told them all about her bike ride in the neighborhood with me!

The Park...

We went to the park today. We were supposed to meet with our playgroup but only one other person showed up. That was OK because we got there late and it had been raining. We didn't expect too many people there anyway. Benjamin and Hannah got busy playing on the slides and climbers while Noah hung out in Daddy's arms. They always get hungry at the park and want to have snack. We brought some snack and they shared with their friend Van. Ben and Hannah also brought their bikes to the park and Van wanted to ride the trike around all over the place. Hannah doesn't mind sharing her things so Van took off with the trike and almost made it out of the park! Maybe we'll have more people come to the park next week!

First hike...

Today we went on a short hike with Noah. We went to Mission Trails. As we parked I spotted a car that I knew from our playgroup. We hiked around and found a hut, the kids played in it for a few minutes and then we kept walking. We found some sticks and they used them to poke the bushes, there were some flowers that looked like they were growing on a dead branch coming out of the ground...very cool stuff in the wilderness! As we got to the end of the hike we found the street and we also found our friends from the playgroup! They saw Benjamin first and then Corey with Noah and Hannah and I brought up the rear. Benjamin and Hannah were so happy to see Athena and Porter and their moms! What a treat! They stopped and had snack with us by the visitor center. Maybe we'll see them again tomorrow at the park!

Princess...

Hannah knows she's a princess. She wears her princess pj's and she puts dresses on and says "I'm a princess". She walks around knowing just what she wants and how she's going to get it. Today she put a tie-dye summer dress on and annouced that she was a princess, so cute! I think it is because the dress has a little bit of flare at the bottom and it poofed out when she twirled around. So cute! She is our princess and always will be.

Noah's growing!

We went to see Barbara (our midwife) today. We went to her office in Encinitas and got a tour of it. We really enjoyed it there! We talked about how things were going with the baby in the family, among other things. Then we weighed Noah...he was born at 8lbs and 8oz and now he is 10lbs and 3oz!!! Woah! He had a little shirt on with his diaper but still we figure he was probably around 10lbs if he had been naked! I am not surprised since all he seems to want to do is nurse and sleep.

Happy Birthday BEN!!

Today was Benjamin's 4th birthday. We had a party and everyone came over. Benjamin has been talking about his birthday for about 6 months! He has been asking about it and wondering when it was coming. He was so excited this week to know that it was very close! He knew it was getting close because the baby was born and Halloween came and went, he knew it was after those two events.

He had so much fun with all the kids and adults that came over. He got a giant red ball from a neighbor down the street and the kids (and even an uncle) took turns jumping and bouncing on it throughout the evening. They ran around with each other and had a good ole time.

He got so many nice presents from everyone who came too. He loves them all. There are many favorites, he keeps jumping from one thing to the next. He even got some money to put in his piggy bank! Ben loves birthday parties and can't wait for Hannah's to come around...next April!

Footprints and first bath...

Noah is 11 days old today and in our house that means that the person who does the First Impressions comes to our house and does a hand and foot print of our newest family member. Noah was sleeping and slept right through the footprint. When it came to the hand he just didn't want to be disturbed so he squeaked a bit but nothing serious. Benjamin and Hannah both got their done when they were 11 days old too. We can see the difference in sizes. Hannah is definitely the one with the biggest hands and feet! They are treasures to be kept forever.

Today we also gave Noah his first bath. He loved it! The water was nice and warm and relaxing for him. Benjamin and Hannah were so excited about it and wanted to see him get his bath. They didn't want to miss it. We set the tub up in the kitchen sink and filled it up with water and set Noah inside. The kids watched and were so happy to see that their baby brother can take a bath too. He didn't make a peep the whole time he was in it!

Pictures...

Here they are! T-Rex and Pink Kitty, Marissa was a Black Kitty and Noah was a little ghost. We went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and they got lots of candy. After each person put some candy into Hannah's bucket, she inspected it to see what they dropped in. Then she looked up and said "Thank you, Happy Halloween!" and walked away. At one house Ben banged on the door a few times, and when the lady came to the door she said "You don't have to bang on the door, you could ring the doorbell" Ben looked around and said "I couldn't find it!" everyone got a little chuckle out of that. Granny watched Noah at the house while we walked around. His first time being babysat!

Halloween...

We'll be trick-or-treating tonight! Ben finally decided to be a T-Rex (he really wanted to be a crocodile-but couldn't muster it together) and Hannah is a pink kitty, Noah will be a little ghost. Pics are on the way!

Welcome Noah!!

We have been so busy these last few months that I haven't had the time to get to bloggin!

We welcomed Noah into our family on Sunday, October 23rd. He is such a doll. We love him so much. We can't wait to show him off!