Pillow time?

So Raya has become accustomed to a very bad habit over the past month or two... Somewhere between 12:30-2 AM she wakes up, stands in the corner of the crib and kinda whines until I go get her.  To avoid waking Tim I usually bring her into the guest room lay her down next to me and within seconds she falls back asleep.  Only problem is if I try to lay her back in her crib she's too smart and will wake back up again.  I realize it's not a good habit to let her sleep with me but like everything else I'm sure this is just a phase and will pass too...and she isn't going to want to have sleepovers with mommy the rest of her life so ill take them now :)

Recently in the morning she will wake up but find a comfy spot on my pillow and fall back asleep.  We don't have a pillow in her crib yet so maybe I need to get one and she will be more comfy resting we tired head in her very own pillow at night ;)

A little face paint

Lots if catching up to do but trying to add some new stuff in the world if Raya :)

At Stroller Strides today after class we were treated to a magic show, with face painting and balloon animals by a local magic shop that opened.  Raya was great and sat to get a purty butterfly in her face and patiently waited for her balloon doggie ;)

Fun morning followed by a 2 hour nap for her, I'll take it!! When I actually get to shower before 8 PM and even fold clothes gasp....successful day ;)

Happy Pumpkin Halloween

Well Halloween has come and gone and before it even came the stores were ready for Christmas so I guess we have to be now too ;)

This year Halloween was no different at our house, 400 kids, Tim did the house up with music, lights and fog...except we got to trick or treat which we haven't done in at least 20 years!!  Of course we were chaperoning Raya while she went to a few neighbors doors but it brought back the excitement of when I was a kid and rang doorbell after doorbell.

Zara already had a pumpkin costume so when I saw the little girl pumpkin costume it was a no brainer...then I found adult pumpkin tshirt a and tights for me that matched and voila...we ended up being a pumpkin patch family :)

A few friends have girls about the same age as Raya and they came over to trick or treat with Raya.  I was quite shocked that with just a small amount of guidance they knew what to do at each house and didn't dump all the candy out if the bucket, it was really quite cute!

We attended a friends pumpkin carving costume party the week before which was quite fun and who knew that stencils make all the difference in the world when carving a pumpkin...Tim's looked like he should have won some carving contest ;).  Raya had her skeleton Jammie's for that since we knew she'd fall asleep on the way home. She was a little spooked at the skeletons and goblins which we expected since she's so aware of her surroundings now.

A friend took this picture, which is why it looks a lot better than all my iPhone pics, my sweet happy little pumpkin!  Next year what will it be...princess, Minnie Mouse, witch, well have to wait and see :)

Gymnastics

Since this little girl has so much energy we decided to enroll her in some gymnastic classes...she has been having a ball and even decided to start doing somersaults around our living room now! She loves jumping on the trampoline (and pretty much just about everything), walking on the beam, and hanging like a little monkey...we find her hanging wherever she can, including the kitchen counters and Tim's keyboard drawer on his desk! Let's keep it to the gym Raya ;)

M I C K E Y

Well I didn't plan it this way but we have a HUGE Mickey/Minnie (I think she thinks they are the same thing) Mouse fan on our hands.

We went to Disney for my birthday as something fun to do and Raya would enjoy too.  Well I'm pretty sure every day since then she wakes up saying "mih-hee" ;) we did end up getting annual passes since Disneyland is only about 1 hour 15 minutes from us and Raya is free until she is 3...I think we've already gone enough times to pay off the pass.  It's perfect because we can go for 4-5 hours and not have to feel exhausted only have a day or two to fit everything in.  Just another benefit of living in Southen California :)

She has now gone three times already and went from being cautious of the Mickey character to going right up and giving him a hug after impatiently waiting in line.

First visit...a little cautious

Second visit (for her 1/2 birthday)...Mickey gets a high five!

Third visit (about one month after first visit)...no parent needed here, Mickey gets a hug :)

Looking forward to many more Disney adventures with this little lady!

So much energy!

So I know people say toddlers have a lot of energy and you're always going to be running after them and all those other cliche sayings, well Raya is taking those to a whole new level, this girl is the energizer bunny x10 ;)

We love that she has such a personality and is full of life and so much energy but boy are we tired at the end of the night!! Naps are now once a day from 1.5-2 hours and nighttime we are finally at about 11 hour stretches! :)

She loves the water and we realized we needed more discipline when I'd take her to the pool and she decided I was ok to just go on in with no fear of the concrete wall, the steps, or if I was there to catch her!! So we started swim lessons! It's getting to chilly now to continue but she learned a few things to help me feel better about her safety!

And we visit the playground frequently for numerous trips down the slides...up and down up and down.

Then as posted she started gymnastics :)

Whoever said the first year is hardest?? It only gets harder the older they get!! ;) 

16 Months!

Sweet girl is 16 months old 😮🎈where does the time go?! 

Raya has loved doggies since she could recognize what they were.  It was her first word at about 10.5 months while watching a video one morning she pointed and said "daaagie"! Well she still calls out every dog she she's in books, on sidewalks, on TV and of course her very own Zara.  She still doesn't say mom but can say Zara...I won't take offense because its so cute!

Grandma Schuster just got her a new stuffed animal dog (her first one) and she carries it all around, hugs it and when I asked what she named it she said "daaagie" ;).  Seems appropriate in following after her dad who named some of his early dogs "puppy" and "fluffy" haha.

Happy 1 1/4 Birthday!!

Where does the time go?!? We JUST celebrated Rayas first birthday and I'm already taking her 15 month picture?!

Her first year we had stickers nothing her age and since those went until 12 months I came up with a fun way to document this next year of life.  Everyday is a new adventure for her and she's starting to really show favorites in things she likes to do.  I made a chalkboard frame and sit it next to her favorite activity if the month.  Granted she has about 3-4 things she loves doing each month but this will help us remember the stages.  On any given day she just LOVES Zara and also loves exploring her box of music instruments.

Happy Fathers Day 2

We celebrated Tim's 2nd Fathers Day this weekend and he had it OFF, no events :) We took advantage!!

So we have numerous hotel stays from trade Tim has done with hotels and we were finally able to take advantage of one! We stayed at the Westin at Horton Plaza and upon checkin were nicely greeted at our door with some champagne and strawberry fondue...uhhh thank you and YUM! The catering manager we know there sent it over for us.  While Raya took her afternoon nap we indulged in it a little.  We met Danny, Tim's older brother who lives downtown, for a drink (or 2...we had to take advantage of not needing to drive! :)) then headed over to Petco Park to watch the baseball game.  There is a park at the park which we got tickets for so Raya could run around since she clearly could care less about watching a baseball game ;) but she loves running around and even clapped when the crowd did.  We got about 1.5 hours of attention from her before we headed out.  It was a fun night and she must have tired herself out, she fell asleep on the way back to the hotel!

Saturday we got breakfast then did some shopping.  Sunday, Tim wanted to take Zara to the beach to run around so we all  headed there and then I arranged for Tim to get a foot massage.  When he got home we had a BBQ atthe house and played with Raya.  It was a nice weekend :)

Thankfully Tim had some time to relax because in true Tim fashion he had a 12 hour workday ahead of him on Monday :(. He works so hard and we appreciate it everyday, he gives us the opportunity to have what we have and still finds time to be a great dad!!

Lastly I had to try the onesie on that Raya wore on Fathers Day last year...she looked like a bit of a sausage but I still got her in it ;) ohhh sweet pea ;)

Poor Zara

Raya has loved Zara from before she even knew that she was a dog.  It's been a little bit more of a learning curve for Zara :(

For 3 years Zara was top dog around here and although we still give her lots of attention we have to split our time now obviously...it's about the same thing as having two kids!

Initially Raya just layed around, didn't make sounds (except crying) and Zara wasn't too intimidated.  Then this "thing" started blowing raspberries, crawling around, squeaking, etc...and Zara spent many days saying, "uhh ill be outside if you need me".  She was not too fond of Raya for many months :( she would never hurt her and was very gentle but definitely jealous and stayed out if Rayas way!

Well NOW Raya is even more obsessed with Zara than ever! Doggie was literally he first word and can say Zara but still doesn't say Momma!! What the heck!! Most days Raya I hugging, kissing, squeezing, patting (errr hitting) and doing whatever she can for attention from Zara.  She has gotten MUCH more tolerant of Raya and i think likes thatshe runs around and is more interactiver, but will let her know when it hurts when she uses her as a step stool :( Poor Zara...they are so sweet when they actually play nice together, just like siblings!!!

Rayas first BFF (except when making raspberry noises, Zara just hates it!!!)

Fishies

We just got a Sea World pass so Raya (and I) can learn about sea animals. She LOVED looking at the fish today!!! It's so cute she just learned the sign language for bird and she was signing it when the fish swam by....haha, in her defense the fish sign is a little harder :)

Looking forward to having lots of fun there this summer... there are some great shows (she got to shamu last week) and I'm looking forward to the Cirque show, huge cirque fan!!! There are multiple aquariums and sea creatures for her to touch and explore!

Happy Memorial Day

On Monday we found a parade just a few towns over from us. This was Rayas first one and we knew she'd love it and she did!!

Since she started waving she has this "parade/queen/pageant" wave, not the open close wave most kids acquire. It is adorable and she certainly put it I good use :)

She also LOVES doggies and kisses she found several sweet dogs to share a smooch with, and one that didn't want one so much and let her know...she wasn't very happy with that dog!

Thank you to all those that have and do serve for our country!

ONE

I don't know where the time has flown but we have a ONE year old!!! Raya turned one on April 24th and celebrated by having grandma Schuster and Auntie Juney in town. We schedule a little one year old photos shoot with some of the decorations I had put together to use at her party and of course a smash cake!!! She wanted nothing to nothing to do with the cake it was kind of funny. we put her snack of choice, peas!!!? on top of the cake and he took a few swipes of it :)

Grandma Altbaum joined us for some pictures and then we went to eat at True Food Kitchen YUM... To celebrate getting through the first year! Although I've heard it's the hardest I also feel it might be the easiest, from here on out she I already starting to get her defiant and sassy personality :) each stage has truly been amazing and now we have a toddler!!! Although we enjoy she's still itty bitty it's like we can enjoy having an infant for longer. But she is an infant that talks, albeit only a few words (doggy, dada, duck, this and something thats starting to sound like Zara), walks errr runs and is so fun to interact with!! She understands an overwhelming amount too!

Happy birthday sweet Raya we hope your year was as memorable as ours was!

Irish for a day!

Tim nor I are Irish but growing up in NY in a Catholic family I always celebrated St. Patrick's Day. With my sister living in Boston probably one of the largest Irish populations we had more than one excuse to wear green yesterday.

Jen had bought Raya a cute I "shamrock" Boston onesie back in August and it was baggy then, not so much now. It's bittersweet watching her grow. I was able to stuff her into the onesie for a couple of hours to stop by Tim's baseball game. She also sent Raya an adorable shamrock headband, we are so lucky Raya leaves them on her head! ;)

After lunch it was time to put her shamrock party dress on to stop by a bridal show at The Hotel Del (which we got a flat tire on the way to- luck wasn't really on our side) then headed to Grandma Altbaum's for little St. Patrick's day festivities. Due to the flat tire we were a little late but she had a scavenger hunt for the kids with a little bag that had a leprechaun hat, beads, rubber duckies-very cute! Raya played and chewed on her duckies all night while also showing off her walking skills and stopping for just a few minutes to have a little dinner.

What a fun day of festivities, who said it wasn't fun being green?!