Thanksgiving 2013

Craig and I went to Brazil over Thanksgiving for 10 days to celebrate our five year anniversary and Craig's birthday.  The kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Schwarz while we were gone.  We all celebrated Craig's birthday together before we left with a great dinner and a cake.  We missed the kids terribly but we were able to Facetime with them often and they had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Cristin.  They went to Knotts Berry Farm and ate at the country club for Thanksgiving.  Aunt Cristin made a countdown ring calendar for the kids to count down the days until we got home.  Braydon had a lot of fun with that :)

Craig and I had the greatest time in Brazil, visiting three different spots; Florianopolis, Itacare and Rio.  We relaxed in the sun, drank out of coconuts and ate delicious food.  It was paradise!

Halloween 2013!

Braydon is so into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle right now that the whole family decided to dress up with him.   Braydon was Leonardo, Craig was Donatello, Siena was Raphael and I was April.  The day started with a Halloween parade at Braydon's school.  Siena and I were there to watch.

I picked Braydon up early from school and we had a block party in the cul-de-sac in front of our house with all our neighbors.  Then we walked around our neighborhood trick or treating.  The kids loved it!  Siena has no fear, she loved walking through haunted houses and knocking on doors for candy.  And Braydon was in heaven.  They loved handing out candy to the neighbors too!

Halloween Festival Fun!

We had so much fun this Halloween season!  We went to two festivals and the Del Mar Pumpkin patch.  The first one was at Kelly Elementary and was a blast!  All our neighbors were there.  They had a big bouncy obstacle course that Braydon went on over and over, a haunted mansion, games and a DJ.  Siena' favorite was the petting zoo, she was sooo excited about all the animals!  She gave each of them a big hug and would chase after them patting them.  She also loved dancing by herself to the DJ, she was the hit of the event.  They both dressed like Ninja Turtles.

The next week we had Braydon's school harvest fair which was a HUGE community event.  It was at North Coast Calvary church and there were games, bouncy houses, slides, bubble shows, animal shows, etc.  Braydon was overjoyed to see all his classmates there!  He surfed on a bouncy house thing and played Ninjas with one of his friends there.  Siena was obsessed with a big dressed up Snoopy character.  She would pet him and hug his leg and wave hi and bye.  After we went out to pizza as a family.  It was a great time!

The next day we went to the Del Mar pumpkin patch which is always a good time.  On the way there we went to breakfast at a cafe in Leucadia.  There was a band playing and they found Braydon entertaining in his Ninja turtle outfit so they gave him the microphone to sing.  At the pumpkin patch, Braydon went on the slide while Siena went on the merry go round.  They both went in the bouncy house and of course Siena had to do the petting zoo too.  We picked out two great pumpkins and then went home to carve them.  One we turned into a Ninja Turtle of course and the other we did a scary face.  Braydon was really into the carving this year and so was Siena.

Halloween is so much fun with these kids!!

Siena at 19 months old

Siena is a smart little firecracker with an obsession with shoes, jewelry, food and doing the opposite of what Mom and Dad tell her.  She refuses to sit in her high chair or booster seat, she wants to sit like all the grown ups do in a big chair.  She wants to do everything a big person does and she wants NO help doing it.  She carries the foot stool around so she can get into drawers and get out of reach items.  She teases her brother by taking his toys and food and hitting him on the head.

She is a cuddly love bear, giving lots of hugs and kisses to everyone, she is the life of every party with her dance moves and waving and saying hi to everyone.

She loves playing with her brothers toys and playing soccer.  She loves babies and dogs and bees.  She talks a lot now, here is a list of the words she says:

"choo choo" - trucks or trains
"No more!"
"Wa Wa!" - she yells it!  Means she wants water
"Bi" - for pacifier
"Baby!" - she always yells this one too and calls anyone under 3 a baby
"Up!" - she pushes me from sitting saying up when she wants to drag me somewhere with her.
"Too!"  - she says this when she wants something that her brother or anyone else has that she wants too
"Da!" - for DOG
"BEE!" - She calls any insect a bee
"uh oh"
"peez" - for Please
"ba" - for sucker
"tank too" for thank you
"shoe"
"cheer" for when she wants to cheers cups

She says Whoa and Weee! often too.  She also tries to whistle which is hilarious.  She loves the song "If you're happy and you know it" and she cracks me up on the part where they say to blink your eyes cause she rolls her eyes back and squints her face and blinks.

She is so full of life and love.  We love her with all our hearts!

Future golf pro Braydon

Craig has taken Braydon golfing after school at least once a week.  Craig is handing down his golf skills :)  They have a great time, often they run into our friends the Cascianis and Northwoods (Braydon's friends Molly and Julia) at the 19th hole.

Braydon's favorite part is getting a root beer and chips afterwards.