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!! ;)