Sunshine

So we had another very disappointing mid 80s and sunny weekend ;) I'm not going to lie, I do wish we had a little more of a winter than we have this year...I didn't say I miss shoveling, or sitting in front of a heater to thaw out my hands...but we've had such a warm winter where we normally have a but cooler weather to at least feel a climate change.  Not this year!!

Raya, being born the CA girl she is LOVES being outside whenever she can. I was about to fill up her little backyard plastic tub and found a big crack in it :( so we filled up her water table and she had lots of fun with that!

Bathtime

This is what happens when daddy does bathtime! Thankfully Tim does most of the bathtimes which gives me the shortest 10 minutes of my life to myself and then I do book time/bedtime which seems like the longest 20-30 minutes if my day ;) 

Raya loves her bathtime though, she thinks it's a mini swimming pool and we end up just as wet as her sometimes!

Forward facing!

Since before Christmas I've been wanting to clean Rayas car seat out.  So much snack dust and MIA goldfish were in the seat that it needed a good clean up.

Yesterday I finally had the chance to do it an I am sorry I didn't take a picture of the stuff that came falling out when I took it out and turned it upside down on the sidewalk, goldfish, dried up peas, crumbles of animal crackers, etc...

Thank goodness for our vacuum!! So Raya had been still rear facing and the law is one year and 20 pounds.  She's reached both of those but it is advised to keep kids rear facing until two.  Since Raya is now just a couple months shy of that and we thought she was ready for several reasons we decided to install her car seat facing forward when I put it back in.

Today was her first ride and I'm pretty sure she enjoyed her new view and I REALLY enjoyed how much easier it was to pass stuff to her and see her.  Raya usually falls asleep for her nap in the car seat, I was worried with so much more to look at she would stay awake but like clockwork she fell asleep on the way home from our errands and transferred to her crib with no problem, phew...yay!!

As much as this signifies she is definitely getting older it's ok I enjoy the forward facing so much better :)

Jungle Bells

With Raya sick the week and a half prior to leaving for our Christmas vacation I didn't get to take advantage of some of the holiday spirit around town that I had wanted to.  At the San Diego Zoo they stay open late and have lights and shows.

Thankfully it was still going in when we got back into town.  Tim had a wedding at the Zoo so I decided to bring Raya to night Jungle Ball Zoo to check it out.  Although Santa wasn't there anymore to visit with we saw so much more!  The giraffes were getting ready for bedtime, the elephants and rhino were eating and we even saw some monkeys hanging out.

Raya was still on east coast time so she faded pretty early, we stopped by for a quick visit over to where Tim's wedding was and then she was passed out by the time we got to the car.  Easy bedtime for me...

Not so easy waking up early because her body clock is still adjusting :(. All well worth it though!!

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!