kids

Recent kid pics...

At the park

 Kids Space - These 3 are trouble with a capital T ;)

 Ugh - The LA County Fair :) So Fun! (for the kids)

"I Don't wanna play soccer ball!"

thighs

This is why I keep having babies. They all, at one point, have had these glorious little fat cellulite filled thighs. 

Not sure why my babies plump up so nicely. I must produce cream instead of milk or something. I don't know but I love it. I rarely put pants on her because I wouldn't want to hide these beauties. Let's get a close up...

Spectacular.

negotiator

Mya: Where are you going?
Me: Ummmm, Target... by myself.
Mya: But the baby's going.
Me: Yeah, she has to come. Daddy wants me to take her.
Mya: Why can't I come.
Me: Because I need a break Mya.
Mya: You get a break when you're sleeping.
Me: Ugh! Fine, you win, get in.

night games

We are at church 2 or 3 times a week for different meetings etc. The girls usually run ahead of me and wait. And when we're leaving they run to the edge of the parking lot and wait there until I come hold their hands and we walk to the car. 

Well Sunday night, for some reason, after AWANA Winter ran super fast to the curb where she usually waits then darted out to the little planter in the middle of the parking lot then disappeared into the dark parking lot with the many moving vehicles. I yelled but it was pointless. She was too far away. Mya yelled, "Winter ran into the parking lot!" I yelled, "I know, she's gonna die!" She just waited by the Van as I quickly caught up becoming more furious by the second. I gave her a little lecture and Daddy gave her a little lecture and a time out when we got home. I'm hoping we made a big enough deal that she won't do it again... I used to be preoccupied with raising Winter to be an adult who makes good decisions. Now I'm just hoping she makes it to adulthood. 

gross

There are so many words one could use to describe parenting. One of the front runners would for sure be GROSS.

I think I block out a lot of the bad stuff that happens and the good stuff for that matter. I'm in such a fog all the time I just don't remember a lot of it. But every once in a while, I have a flashback and remember really bad days, I mean gross. I had literally not thought about this one in years when I remembered it the other day while changing one of Addie's impressive poopie diapers. So lucky you! You get to hear about it :)

One day, I went to Albertsons with my sweet little perfect Mya. She was about 10 months and I just loved taking her places with me. She was a great baby. Very happy. Shocking I know. So we did our shopping and as I was checking out, I noticed a really bad smell. I think I've mentioned before that Mya would save her poops for a day or two and then just have a massive blowout and it would get everywhere. No diaper in the world would contain it. Well, it happened to be my lucky day at Albertsons. I knew the smell was coming from Mya. I reached around and grabbed the diaper to open and check and ahhhh! It was coming out of the diaper and up her back. There was even some on the cart. I gasped and thought, maybe no one will notice. The bagging guy looked at me funny like he smelled it too. No one said anything about it but I know they knew. I just prayed they didn't see the bits of poop on the cart next to her. I rushed to my car where I had wipes and a spare diaper and changed her and wiped the cart down and put some hand sanitizer on the seat, rubbed it around and shrugged my shoulders... Ugh, GROSS Mya!

As I write this, I am reminded of another GROSS day that kind of tops that one because it involves puke. And puke is way worse than poop. Again, I was with Mya. She was a little over a year and I was very pregnant with Winter. I took Mya along with me to a friend's kid's Christmas performance. I came in and sat up in the front so I could see (and I was a cocky first time mom with a well behaved baby). A few minutes before it started (or after it started, I can't remember) I gave Mya a little toddler cereal bar so I could take some pics. Then I looked over and she started choking on it. I quickly picked her up, not sure what to do. As I picked her up, the stroller she was sitting in fell backward because I had my purse and diaper bag on the handles. Just about when the stroller hit the ground, Mya stopped choking for a second and puked right down the middle of my blouse. Inside of my blouse and in my bra. I stood there just stunned. A sweet man picked the stroller up for me and looked at me with a very helpless look. He felt so bad for me. Everyone was staring at me! After about 5 seconds of just standing there dripping with puke and Mya sitting happily in my arms relieved to be breathing again, I put her in her stroller and we left. I think I said something like, "I don't even know what to do right now" to Mya then started cleaning us up with baby wipes. I got the bulk of it and drove home disgusted; the most embarrassed and disgusted I'd ever been. I HATE vomit. I mean, no one really likes it but I can safely say it is my least favorite bodily fluid. 

What a sweet little baby she was :)

Sleepy shots

Night time is always such a nice time for me. I'm exhausted but the house is quiet and I can think and calm down. I'm usually pretty worked up from dinner time and bed time rituals like dinner table battles to stop playing and eat, clean-up your toys time, time-outs, spankings, yelling at the girls to go to bed, and so on. Any parent knows that early evening to bed time is guaranteed the worst time of day for everyone. My patience has warn thin and everyone is tired and cranky, especially the baby. I'm not complaining, just stating the facts. It is what it is. 

But after everyone is in bed, I can begin to wind down and reset my brain for the next day. As I've said before, one of my favorite things about night time is going into the girls' room and checking out the sleeping situation. The girls never look sweeter than when they are asleep. It is then that I can see how little and cute they are and their sweet little peaceful faces are so flawless and soft. I always think about how fast they are growing up and how I should cherish them more at this age. But then I remind myself that this mommy thing is hard and I am doing my best. 

Anyway, so here are some sleeping pics from the other day. 

I threw in one of Twitch just cuz. He sleeps all day so I have plenty photo ops. Here he is making a pillow out of poor Black Baby.

Winter loves to accessorize... even in her sleep. Note the snowman beanie, black chunky bracelet and blue mitten. She has a pink one on the other hand. Her hair was in ponytails too. Mya must have been practicing again.

And here's Mya passed out on her bed. She has her blanket over her face. Looks like she's had one too many.

9.5 months

I totally missed the 9 month mark, not that it's vital to the blog but it was a goal to document each month with this kid up to a year. So, technically I'm on schedule... kind of. She's standing and dancing and crawling and opening cupboards and drawers now. She is very smart. Whenever she sees that I'm getting her something to eat, she takes her paci out of her mouth and throws it on the floor. She still loves food. She is still biting me, the little stinker. She's getting some new teeth I suppose. I am ready to stop breastfeeding. It's scary! I shouldn't have to sit there bracing for the big bite at the end. Ugh.

Newport

We SO do not belong in Newport. We are not rich. We would rather not show people our abs. We are not blonde. We do not have enhanced lips, boobs or butts, nor do we work out 7 days a week. We're kind of tan though...

Dan and I love to pretend we live at the beach like everyone else. We were doing pretty well this time until the gentleman renting the upstairs pad informed us that he just bought a motorcycle dealership because he was bored.

We always have great neighbors out here too. This year the lady next door yelled, "One of your little ones is on her way out to the ocean by herself!" (You can guess which one) Yeah we had no idea. Even at the beach, people are helping us keep an eye out for Winter's shenanigans.

It's nice to visit Newport Beach once a year. It keeps it's appeal and never disappoints. Here are my top 10 favorite things about staying at the same beach house we've rented for the 4th year now.

10. People watching. Nothing has been able to top last year's good looking man rollerblading in hot pink thong but there have been plenty interesting people for sure including a professional hula hooper, a punk rock mama with pink hair listening to metal while pushing her tiny baby and a girl taking volleyball lessons in a wedgie bikini. (She wasn't very good) Those are big right now. They cover like half of the tush... not attractive in my opinion. Dan disagrees.

9. Hearing 4 second conversations of couples riding by on their bikes. They sound so interesting I just wish I could hear more. My favorite this year, "He's the kind of guy that would be really good in bed ya know?" haha :) How does one judge that?

8. Live volleyball games. Reminds me of when I "played" volleyball in high school. I mostly watched from the bench but every once in a while coach would put me in and it was the best few minutes...

7. Canasta games at night with Dan. (These have not gone well for me this year) I usually end up throwing my cards on the table and storming out of the room. But it's really fun 'till I start losing.

6. Riding down to the pier for corn dogs (and ice cream). They give me pretty impressive gas pains but I just can't stop eating them.

5. Not being in Azusa in the 108 degree weather. I love to look at the weather in Azusa when I'm somewhere cooler. I also love to watch the traffic report because I haven't commuted in years but I still remember the anger it brought me every morning and evening. 

4. Doing everything with an oceanfront view like dishes, breastfeeding, changing poopie diapers and more!

3. Spending time with friends and family who come to visit. We had a record 9 kids here one day. Chaotic but fun.

2.  This beach house wins the award for the best showers ever. Even better when I'm all sandy. Yes that's my #2. Our house has great showers, don't get me wrong but this place feels like I'm wasting gallons of water with the amount of water pressure and volume of water that comes out in one shower. I try to make it quick... no I don't. AND they have an outdoor shower for when you are all wet and sandy so you don't track it in the house. Smart. The outdoor shower does need some love. It's dying. Every once in a while the entire thing comes off the wall and a very strong stream of water shoots out and hits the neighbor's house but no biggie. It's a great idea.

1. Newport coffee co. Best blended iced soy decaf late ever. Yep that's my #1.

Here are some pics from the trip this year...

Making Dan laugh with Addie asleep on his chest. 

cuteness

Mya on her two-wheeler. She was so proud of herself.

Proof I was there too. Just realized I have a lot of pics with the baby. She's so cute I just can't stop capturing this stage.

Nothing beats a beach sunset. Kind of dark but you get the idea.

We brought the baby gate =) It ended up being Addie's favorite toy. She opened and closed it about 1000 times. Not exactly baby proof but it was overall a good idea.

Kite flyin'

Winter only let go once that I know of... Dan was super fast to go grab it before it flew away.

Our view. Notice the empty beach. This is why we go after Labor Day.

The girls after a few hours with Wendy and Grandma at Balboa Peer. They're in the bike trailer. 

Winter used to look like that baby =)

Winter and her 2 year old cousin Rylie. She's tough so Winter respects that and loves her for it.

Not sure how she's able to sit on the couch like this...

Mom and her amazing daughters ;)

Perfect Newport family... and Winter =)

There are plenty of pics on Facebook too if you should need some more Wagenbrenner...

Oh I almost forgot my favorite pic of the entire trip and maybe all year. My poor mother, caught red handed drinking a bud light in the AM =) With Mya in tow! Mother! Well she was on vacation...

Just kidding, she was just being a good beach citizen and picking up after a litterbug =) Mom hasn't had a sip of alcohol in over 4 decades. 

on vacay

At the beach. Will post in a week or so...

Fav pic so far :)