a first word

kinda:) when we arrived at the lasater home today their dog, jesse, was barking and could be seen through the front window. lyla reached out her arm to point and said, "da." she kept repeating it over and over again. i know, i know...she didn't say it perfectly, but she defiantly got her point across. way to go baby:)

awwww...

eli's favorite place

when i asked eli what he wanted to do today he said, "go to the zoo!" my friend miranda and her three kids came with us. here is the crazy crowd...

little ladies - esther and lyla

it was such a gorgeous day today, so we took a picnic dinner to camelsback park. after dinner eli and adam climbed the hill while lyla and i watched. on the left, their assent, they are the speck close to the top. on the right, victory. adam said that eli giggled the whole way down as they slid on their shoes.

the fam eating dinner and lyla clapping at the boys accomplishment (i don't think she was really aware that that was what she was doing...but that is what i was doing and she was copying me:)

hot wheels

eli graduated to a bigger bike this year. hot red with flames on it (which he was quick to point out to me:) does he look happy or what?

before riding, the bike needed a little tune up. lyla helped.

dinner with good friends

last weekend we got to have dinner with our good friends greg and suzanne. their daughter, zoe, is one month older than lyla, so it was fun to watch them play. when i say play, i mean take toys from each other:) here they are strapping nothing into lyla's car seat.

and oh my, eli had soooooo much fun with lucky and feyamita. he cried when we left and has asked to go over to suz's house a number of times since then.

we had such a great time. thanks greg and suz:)

sweet guy

eli just said, "what's my little girl doin'?" in reference to lyla:)

i scream, you scream...

we have avoided telling eli about the ice cream truck. up until a few days ago it was the "music truck." but then we were out with the neighbor kids riding bikes and "scary larry" (yes, that's what is written on side of the truck!) came by they went crazy. so we got an ice cream...yes, me too:)

two of these boys live across the street and the other two down the culd-de-sac . they are 4 of the 8 boys in our neighborhood...lyla is one of only 2 girls, but the other is 14 so i don't think they'll be playing together:) it is so cute watching these little guys racing their bikes and being boys. it reminds me a bit of "the good ol days."

funny day

eli was a hoot today. it started at 6am when he crawled into bed with me, he was half asleep and crying, "i wanted that, i wanted that." he then went back to sleep, though he was obviously distressed. when he woke up i asked him if he had any dreams. he said "no." i asked him what he was crying about and he said, "i really wanted that cake!" i asked him what cake he was talking about. he said, "that berry cake. i really wanted it and daddy ate it!" i said. "o honey, that was a dream." "NO IT WASN'T!!!" he said with a frown . the argument continued for a few minutes and he began to laugh a little (probably because i was laughing. i tried to hold it back...but it was so funny). i think i eventually convinced him that it really did not happen, but he still is very confused about the whole situation.

at least i didn't eat the cake:)

then this afternoon while i was putting lyla to sleep, i herd a "thud - thud - thud." i came out to find eli jumping off the end table and flapping his arms. in all seriousness he said, "i'm trying to fly, but i can't." then, getting up on the table again, jumping and flapping away, he said, "SEE!" as if to say, "i really can't believe it's not working!"

so then we're driving and he says, "if we see goliath in heaven, i'll get my light saber and daddy can get his hand gun and we'll really get 'em." i explained to him that i didn't think goliath would be in heaven...he seemed very disappointed:)

and at dinner he informed me that he and daddy had "super corn" and i didn't. i made a sad face and he said, "well...you can pretend you have super corn...if you want."

how fun:)

what a difference...

...2 years makes. i meant to post this in january, but you know how that goes:)
these aren't the best shots, but who poses while hyped up on cake, ice cream and birthday excitement?

chloe's third and first birthday

L!

eli learned to say his l's today. so he can now say "like," instead of "yike." luke is no longer "yuke." the funny thing is he can't say eli:)

the train

my parents took us on the train ride that goes from horseshoe bend to banks. my grandparents who are in town also came with us. the trip had an ongoing play throughout the ride with robbers, a gun fight and eventually a marriage. lyla loved the drama. eli was a little unsure...i don't know if he ever really knew that they were acting. it was a beautiful day and a fun time with the fam.

here is the deputy talking to some kids, eli wanted to hear what was going on but definitely did not want to get very close.

lyla funny-facing papa

lyla and eli with grandma and papa

i have to give credit where credit is due - my grandma took this picture of lyla...it shows her carefree side hahaha:)

love, love, love it!

i LOVE my mother's day present. adam got this mug from starbucks that you write on and put in the oven. he had eli draw on it...and let me say, eli is not an artist. he really does not like to color or draw. you know how restaurants give kids crayons and paper? eli almost never uses them (except to peel the paper off the crayons). so when adam showed me the flowers he drew i almost cried (literally). he had a little coaching, but the fact that he actually drew something was enough to move me. the first pic is the flowers, the next one is a snake on top and a dinosuar with teeth on bottom:)

thanks adam!

Lyla

learned to crawl yesterday:)

the last vacation post:)

this was our second time at the aquarium of the pacific in long beach. if you are ever in the area you should defiantly check it out. the lorikeets are one of the coolest exhibits. you can buy nectar and they land right on you and lick it up. i walked into the aviary with two cups of nectar and immediately had two birds on my head...yeah, not my arm, my head.

these sea lions are super interactive. if you put on object on the glass (like a coin or credit card) and throw/slide it they will chase it. they like coming right up to the glass and it seemed like each one liked a different kid. very cool.

this was typical shane...always baby talking, holding hands, dancing and entertaining lyla. so cute.

and this is typical hailey...you just gotta love this girl.

grandma nancy

this was lunch with grandma nancy, great grandma and grandpa hussmann, julie and jake, and great aunt betty and uncle ray. unfortunately, i only got a few pics...

grandma nancy (adam's mom) with lyla

eli with grandpas magnifying glass:)

mr. and mrs. miller

this was such a great wedding! it was fun to see more old friends (eli asked if they were really old...i said, "we're getting there, honey!") dave and joanna looked great. the setting was beautiful and the reception was really fun.

such a beautiful birde:)

hubba hubba!

the wedding was on the bay, the background is downtown s.d. it was overcast, but so pretty.

some "old" friends...chris and brenda with baby joel, shane and naomi (baby joels parents) and joy (who is missing her other half, jeff).

tiffany with us. i LOVE the hair tiff!

the fam...

the rehearsal

for the rehearsal dinner dave's family had a bbq at south mission beach. good food, friends...and another wrestling match. yes, eli is definitely at the "wanting to fight and wrestle every minute stage."

the groomsman...minus adam, he was taking the picture:(

we got to spend some time with luke and andria martin and their beautiful kids. it was so good to catch up with them. we haven't seen them for 3 years so we had a lot to chat about. rosalie and grant were great with eil, who is a few years younger and less experienced in the proper ways of play wrestling.

good firends

we got to see many of our old friends this time. it was SO good to see them. we saw summer and gary, who we haven't seen in probably five years. we both moved away from s.d. around the same time and always seemed to just miss each other on our visits. they recently moved back so we got to visit! so we got together with our other friends lenore and tommy and had dinner. i did not take any pictures:( but it was great to see all of you:)

i did get pics of our visit with corrie and mike. we went out to breakfast at the cottages in la jolla. it was so good...these pictures crack me up, i think corrie is the only one without a goofy face...

after breakfast we went for a walk at the cove. if I could live anywhere in the whole world it would be here. it has so many good memories of bbqs, volleyball, snorkeling, walks with friends, weddings and just hanging out. on top of all that, it is absolutely beautiful.

Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Scott

we had dinner with adam's dad and step mom and his sister and her family. eli and cousin jake had a crazy wrestling session, a gun fight and much chasing. it was a fun night.

eli squirting grandma ellen

jake and eli

grandma ellen and lyla

i'm sad that i did not get a picture of aunt julie and uncle berry...maybe next time:)