Things that can happen when...

... you rear your child with a dog.

1. Two for one entertainment.


2. Learning toughness and patience- when you get knocked down by a happy dog or whipped in the face by a happy tail.


3. Mommy gets commanded like the dog does, "Come, mommy."

4. More frequent trips to the park, so the dog can let off steam


5. Vocabulary building-
"Enough"
"I know, I know"
"To your bed"
"Good boy"
"Excuse me, please"
"Sit"
"Release"
"Move, please."

6. Ball throwing skills

7. Knowing how to pant and lap her water (not sure if this is good)


8. Learning to love every animal

9. Helping mommy at meal time

10. Building immunity




Thank you, Stanley for helping to make Avery a well-rounded little girl!

Mother's Day- Part 1

We had a beautiful Mother's Day celebrating my mom. Sean was working, so the focus was MY mom. We started the morning with Sunday service at my parent's church. Then, we headed to Los Rios Street in San Juan Capistrano for a light breakfast and coffee at the Hidden House Cafe and strolled down the historic street.






It was a fun morning. I love you, Mom!

our mommy: celebrated and in action.

The mommy in our family was celebrated on Monday with a delicious lunch at the Beachcomber and nice walk on Crystal Cove beach watching the waves go "up and down" as Avery would say.




We spent the rest of the day relaxing- no errands, no appointments. Then, Sean made a delicious Peruvian dinner. It was a beautiful day!

The next day, we took a drive down to San Diego and enjoyed a delightful "4x4" breakfast sandwich of egg, pastrami and cheese at my dad's restaurant, Tommy Pastrami. On the way back up, we stopped off in La Jolla to check out the seals. Avery was very excited to see them. She also loved the chipmunks on the bluffs.



That afternoon, Sean and Avery were bouncing on her new trampoline.




After one particular bounce, she buckled. I could've sworn I heard a pop. She started crying and had trouble putting pressure on her foot for the next few hours and wanted to be held, so off to the ER we went for some x-rays. She was such a good girl WAITING to be called back, lying on the table while the x-rays were taken, WAITING for the doctor, WAITING for the x-rays, WAITING for the results, then WAITING for the discharge paperwork.



The doctor reported there was no break, just a sprain. We are very thankful for this!!

Happy Mother's Day!

it was a happy easter afterall.

We had a great time on Easter (note: the Easter Bunny was NOT there!)

The morning started with Avery going through her Easter basket filled with play-doh accessories, bubbles, and books.




After church (and a nap), we headed to Mimi and Papa's house for an Easter egg hunt and dinner with the whole family. It took some prompting to understand what an Easter egg hunt was all about....

"Look, here's an Easter egg. Pick it up."


"Here's your Easter basket. Put the Easter egg in the basket."


... but after a few prompts, Avery got the hang of it and spotted an egg by herself.


Slam dunk!


Hope you had a happy Easter, too!

spring has sprung.

Along with the blooming flowers, newly planted veggie gardens and Easter decorations, here are some other things that are happening around here to show spring is in the air...

... "watering" Stanley's water dish with her new watering can



... and LOTS of backyard time of...

... giggling and squealing nudie cuties running through the sprinklers


... and lunch and reading books in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard...


... and walking on the path with Daddy in Mimi and Papa's backyard.



Happy Spring!

{a not so} happy Easter.

a fun few days.

Visiting daddy. The start of each visit goes something like this. We pull up to the station gate and Avery, in her lingo that only a mommy can understand, says, "Daddy station." We pull in and park. Mommy gets Avery unbuckled and out of the car. She runs at him full speed saying, "Daddy" and lands right into his open arms. It gets me every time! Avery is becoming really interested in the fire engines. She loves touching daddy's patch on his uniform and always grabs for his pens and pager. Although Avery would rather have daddy at home, visiting him at the station is always a highlight in her day.



It was such a hot Friday that we cut our park date short and went to Target for some fun water toys. At first Avery was a little skeptical, but in no time she wanted her shirt and shorts off and she was in heaven!




Mommy's BFF, Heather (aka "Ha-Ha") was in town for a visit and we had so much fun together. Avery particularly liked HaHa's iphone and a cat app that repeated whatever you said in a high pitched voice and purred when you rubbed its stomach.



A spontaneous trip to Zoomar's petting zoo with Robyn and Julia.



It was a fun few days.