Thursday 13

Since Kyle's in the music industry and we listen to ALOT of music I thought it only fitting that my Thursday 13 this week be a list of some of my favorite new musical selections. These are mostly bands Kyle has introduced me to, or bands we've been listening to for a while and have new records out.

1. Family Force 5: a necessity in anyone's repertoire. This band is from the ATL and I love both of their records.

2. Runner Runner: Kyle's been playing this band for me and their tunes are really catchy.

3. The Archiver: This is the band my brother is in and they are getting ready to put out a new record. Their song "Lost it All" is one of my new favorites to listen to.

4. Anberlin: This band has been around for a while and I listened to their 1st records so much it started skipping. I wasn't a fan of the next album, but LOVE the new one. If you don't have it you need to get it.

5. Lady GaGa: ok so I saw her perform live on So You Think You Can Dance this summer and was really digging her sound. I think she's the perfect combination of a 80's style Madonna mixed with a little Britney.

6. Jack's Mannequin: The lead singer used to front the band Something Corporate (another rocking band) and their new record is AMAZING!

7. High School Musical Soundtracks 1, 2 & 3: Sorry! I know! It's a guilty, secret pleasure!

8. Brooke Wagonner: New artist Kyle just introduced to me... loved it!

9. Josh Auer: Singer, Songwriter for ABC Studios. Every song is a hit!!! We love listening to the demos he has on his Myspace page.

10. Michael Buble: I love crooners. We played him at our wedding and he has a warm place in our hearts filled with wonderful memories. 

11. Joy Williams: She's a brilliant singer, songwriter and she's such a wonderful person. I think she has to be one of the nicest people I've ever met.

12. Switchfoot: They are seriously one of my all time favorite bands to listen to. If you are into them check out the lead singer Jon Forman's projects. 

13. Metro Station: I love their song, "Shake It," we sing it to Katelyn all the time. I love to watch her giggle and smile.

What are some of your favorite artists?

Love, A

xoxo

Pumpkin Patch

After MOPS today a group of us took our little ones over to Tanaka Farms in Irvine so we could take pictures at the Pumpkin Patch. The weather was beautiful and there was not a cloud in the sky... only 1 problem.... it was 90 degrees! Ack! Needless to say Katelyn and I didn't stay more than 30 minutes because we were starting to turn pink and sweaty. Gross! We got a few great pictures though before we left.

On a side note, Katelyn did great with her green beans today. I guess she likes them better cold! Who knew!

Gross Mom, Green Beans?!

After taking Katelyn to the pediatrician for her 4 month wellness visit on October 16 he told me I could start Katelyn on baby food. She had already been eating rice cereal every night for dinner for 2 weeks, but I wanted to ease her in slowly so I decided to give her cereal for one more week before introducing her to green beans. Today I decided to give Katelyn green beans for lunch. I mixed in a little breast milk too sweeten it up a little bit for her. It was hilarious to watch her eat her beans. She made funny faces and gaged a little, but she kept eating as I fed it to her. Once she was done and cleaned up she sat in her Bumbo chair jabbering, and what Kyle and I believe she was telling us was what she thought of her meal. We'll see how she does tomorrow.

La-La-La-La Ladybug

I thought it sheer brilliance to make Katelyn a hula baby for Halloween. Since she is part Hawaiian I thought it only fitting for her first costume. However, after we had her pictures taken it occurred to us that her costume might be too summery for Halloween night. Bummed out I searched for an alternative... and I found one. Kyle and I were at Irvine Spectrum and we spotted this cute ladybug costume in the window at Carters. We quickly ran in before they closed and picked it up for Katelyn to wear. Since we're going to 2 parties this costume should keep her nice and warm and if she falls asleep it will be like she's wearing warm jammies. Last night I decided to try the costume on her and take some pictures. She loved it! and of course she looked adorable!

Our little chatterbox

I caught this on video yesterday and was excited to share it with our friends and family. Katelyn was watching football on tv while Kyle and I were getting ready for the day. Isn't she so adorable?!

Busy Weekend

Boy, it feels like it's been one of those weekends that have gone by slow enough to where you feel as though you're getting a lot of stuff done. But now as I'm sitting here I'm trying to remember what we've been up too. I know it's been a couple of days since I have blogged. Sorry! It's mostly because Kyle and I have been so busy. As the holidays approach and with Katelyn getting on a good schedule I've been praying for an opportunity to make some extra money, but work from home. This came in an unexpected way when we received a call last week from a person Kyle had done some work for in the past. 2 years ago Kyle worked for a company called The Christmas Lighters during the 2006 Christmas season. He didn't put up lights, but he did all the customer service and scheduling. Well, this year we received a call from the gentleman who runs the company asking if Kyle and I had time to help him again this year. Well.... since Kyle's a busy man, I gladly accepted the challenge. It's great extra money and only requires a couple of hours a day making phone calls and scheduling estimates and installs. Kyle's been helping me learn the ropes this weekend and hopefully I'll be up and running on my own next week.

Katelyn is growing like a weed and is loving her rice cereal. She's going on week 3 of rice cereal so I went out and bought her some green beans and sweet peas to try. We're going to start tomorrow with green beans for a week and then move onto the sweet peas. It's so much fun to watch her eat food, skooshing it around in her mouth and swallowing it. It's hard to believe it was only a couple weeks ago that she was struggling to figure out how to keep it in her mouth. Katelyn has also started "talking" up a storm. In fact I have video of it on my computer, but I need to figure out how to convert my iMovie file into a format that I can upload. Any suggestions? She's hilarious and I can't help but giggle at how loud she talks. She gets that from her daddy! 

Yesterday Kyle and I headed out early to get our hair done in Orange before church. On our way home we called up our friend Casey to see what time he wanted to meet up at church. He was telling Kyle all about some great deals on Chevy's at the dealership he's working at so we decided to swing by on the way home and surprise him. He and Kyle test drove cars while I fed Katelyn. It was great to see Casey at work and hear all about the new Chevy Traverse... an SUV we can add to our wish list. After visiting Casey we stopped by Chipotle (yum, yum) to grab a quick bite to eat, ran home and changed and headed back out to church. Mariner's was having a Harvest Carnival after the service and we wanted to enjoy the fun as a family. Well, silly me I didn't verify that there was going to be a second service so we showed up at church to find out there was no second service and that we should've put Katelyn in her Ladybug costume. Ah, the best laid plans! Kyle and I were bummed because we were really looking forward to church, but had fun roaming around the carnival with Casey and Kylie, the Fransz family and their parents. It's so much fun to watch the babies interact with one another. Katelyn hadn't napped all day so she pooped out not long after we got there. Good thing we remembered her stroller.

Katelyn and Mommy

Kyle and I, sans Katelyn because she fell asleep

Baby Ella "Moo Cow" Fansz

Baby Angel Kylie and Daddy Casey

This is only 1 section of the carnival!

A pooped out Katelyn

Today we're relaxing and working on The Christmas Lighters - booking installs and estimates. Next week starts a fun week filled with M.O.P.S and the Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday and then a week of working and running errands to get ready for our trip to Boston from Nov. 7-14. 

Thursday 13

For today's Thursday 13 I decided to write about 13 of my all time favorite movies. I love to relax and watch a movie in the afternoon. In fact, it's the only way I will take the time to relax and break from  cleaning, picking up the house, doing dishes or running errands. Some days I take a nap, but I've found that I end up waking up tired despite the extra rest. Plus, the last several days Katelyn has been going to bed around 10:45 and sleeping in until 10:00 am. I'm sure this won't always be the case, but for now it's nice to be getting extra sleep at night and not having to wake up at 5 to nurse. Back to the reason for my post.

1. Gone with the Wind: I love this movie and even though I know how it ends, I always hope that Scarlett will figure out how wonderful Rhett is..... Alas she does not.

2. Dirty Dancing: I saw this movie the year it came out and it has been one of my all time faves ever since. "Nobody puts baby in a corner." Classic!

3. Pretty Woman: because everyone wants to feel like Julia Roberts in this movie... minus the part about being a hooker.

4. The Notebook: honestly... who doesn't love this movie?!

5. August Rush: I had been itching to see this movie and now that I have Netflix (which rocks, by the way) I rented it and it's great! A tear jerker, but a good movie.

6. When a Man Loves a Woman: It escapes me why I love this movie since it's story line revolves around a woman and her alcohol addiction. Maybe it's her husbands unconditional love for her as she walks through the recovery process. The end makes me cry every time.

7. When Harry Met Sally: Nothing beats the scene in the restaurant when Billy Crystal tells Meg Ryan that he can tell when a woman has an orgasm, and Meg Ryan proceeds to fake one to prove him wrong.

8. Ratatouille: How can you not love a movie about a rat who loves to cook? I've seen this movie so many times and I never tire watching it.

9. You've Got Mail: Nuf said

10. Music and Lyrics: I wasn't sure that Drew Berrymore and Hugh Grant would have chemistry, but I was happily proved wrong.

11. Fever Pitch: Speaking of Drew Berrymore movies, if you're a Red Sox fan you'll love this one.

12. P.S I Love You: A movie about true love, it's sappy, but I loved it.

13. Singing in the Rain: I love old movies with Gene Kelly. When I was growing up we used to watch this movie and White Christmas all the time. I hold a special place in my heart for both.

So, I guess I'm a romantic movie lover. I can't say that I'm surprised... if you don't have love in your life... what do you have? What are some of your favorite movies?

Love, A xoxo

My Brother.. the Rock Star!

My brother's band just finished recording a new album. Here is a music video they just made. Check them out on Myspace and become a fan. Their band is called The Archiver. Josh is the bass player in the band and they are getting everything together to go on tour next year.

Lost it all

I'm ready for M.O.P.S Mama, let's go!

Dinner with Friends

Last night Kyle, Katelyn and I made plans to go out to dinner with our good friends John and Christine Welches. We love spending time with them, but due to busy schedules and distance we don't get to see them often. The plan was to meet at Go Roma at The District in Irvine at 6:00. Now normally I would plan extra time in case Kyle wasn't ready to walk out the door, but since he was so excited to go, he was ready on time. It was Katelyn who made us late. She had fallen asleep after nursing and so I put her down in her crib to take a short cat nap before we left so she's be in a good mood at dinner. Well, as I went in the nursery to wake her up, she was in there making sucking sounds. I couldn't figure out what she was doing until I got a closer look. Poor thing... she had spit up and then put her face, hands, and clothes in it. Now it wasn't that she spit up a lot, it was that she decided to crawl through it. So gross!! Of course before we could clean it up we had to get a quick picture.

After getting Katelyn all cleaned up, we jumped in the car and headed out for dinner. If you're ever at The District, check out Go Roma, it's an amazing little restaurant. After dinner we walked around Whole Foods. It's the biggest one west of the Mississippi and it has everything you could possibly imagine. John and Christine got Gelato and I did a little grocery shopping for the breakfast dish I needed to make for M.O.P.S this morning. Thanks John and Christine for having dinner with us, let's hang out again soon!

Love, A

Thursday 13

Joy, I loved your idea for Thursday 13, so I'm going to "borrow" it for my blog topic this week. 13 websites that I check on a daily basis. I'm completely a blogger at heart, so I'm not going to lie most of the websites I check are blogs. I love hearing about what's going on in my friends lives.

1. Facebook

2. Myspace: I know it's such last years addiction, but I can't help it.

3. My Blog: to see if I have any comments or to write a new post.

4. Baby Gap

5. Old Navy

6. Babies r Us

7. C'de Baca Family Blog

8. Palmer Family Blog

9. Wilson Family Blog

10. Caston Family Blog

11. Murray Family Blog

12. Fransz Family Blog

13. Castellon Family Blog

What websites do you find irresistible daily? Love Alissa xoxo

Katelyn's 4 Month Photo Shoot

Today I took Katelyn to The Picture People to have her 4 month old photos taken. She's been smiling and talking so much at home I was hoping we could get a couple pictures of her smiling during the session. I decided that since it's October I would have pictures of her taken in her Halloween costume... she is going to be a Hula baby. I went to the store and bought her a lei and skirt and altered them so that they would fit her. She looked so adorable!!!!!!!!! Katelyn loved the photographer and spent the whole shoot talking and smiling. Of course, I still love the ones where she's "smiling with her eyes" as Tyra Banks always says. The Picture People always sends me a slideshow of my proofs, so sorry about the "z" imprint, but I can't afford to buy them all even though I love them all.

Check this out!!

Cute Family Photos

Circle Family Photo Shoot

A month ago Kyle, Katelyn and I packed up the car and headed up to the family vineyard with Kyle's family for the weekend. While we were there David Tosti took our family pictures at the vineyard. We did half of the shoot with the Sierra Madre barrels and the other half among the grapes. Dave did such an amazing job and the pictures came out so great!!! Stay tuned to see some of them in our Christmas card this year. In the meantime, here's the website where you can view the pictures. Thanks Dave!!

http://www.tostistudios.com/circlefamilyatsierramadre

Mariner's Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday I spent the day helping my friend Meygan, who owns a children's party planning company, work one of her parties. It was so much fun to see what she does, and she does a spectacular job party planning. I love event planning so it was fun to go help out! Kyle spent the entire day with Katelyn all by himself. He did such an amazing job, and he and Katelyn had fun hanging out and watching football.

After the party Kyle and I met up at Mariner's Church to attend the 6:30 service and enjoy the pumpkin patch they had going on. Although we arrived late and hungry, it was nice to enjoy the service from the cafe so we could grab a bite to eat and hear the message. Katelyn enjoyed sleeping in the swing in the Tidepools nursery. After the service we met up with our friends and took pictures out on the church lawn with the hay stacks and pumpkins. It was really cold out so we had Katelyn all bundled up. Thanks Meygan for taking some great family photos of us!!

NAKED BABY!!

Some day I'm going to show these to Katelyn's future hubby to embarrass her. Then when she starts saying, "Aw, Mom!" I'm going to remind her how long I nursed her on my boob and gave her life so I can show off naked pictures of her. *lol*

Thursday 13

For this weeks Thursday 13 I thought I would write about 13 things I love about Kyle. In a marriage I believe it's important for us to lift each other up in prayer and offer encouragement to one another. Even though Kyle knows all the reasons I love him, I want to share them all with you.

1. His passion for life. It's never a dull moment when Kyle Circle is around.

2. The way he makes me laugh.

3. He always reminds me how much he loves me and how beautiful he thinks I am.

4. His spontaneity. 

5. Instead of feeling his life was over when we had Katelyn, he told me he wanted another one already.

6. His integrity in his personal life, and business.

7. He is the most loyal person I know.

8. His willingness to be open and share with me.

9. He always asks me how my day was... not many guys do that.

10. His smile and his laugh.

11. His willingness to help others no matter what is going on in his life.

12. He is quick to forgive.

13. How much he loves Katelyn.

I love you babe, and I feel so honored to be your wife. Love, A

I've been tagged... by Joy

So I'm supposed to write 6 things that you may not know about me and then tag 6 of my friends to do the same. Here it goes:

1. I'm Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, and English

2. I've never broken a bone in my body (knock on wood)

3. The first time I ever had stitches was when I had Katelyn by c-section

4. My best friends, Ayse and Devon, and I have been friends for 13 years. This is a long time when you haven't lived in the same place since 1998.

5. Kyle and I didn't like each other when we first met.

6. I hate peanuts, and peanut butter!!

Hmm, that was fun! =) Tag, you're it.. Meygan, Jessica, Patty, Katie, Kelly, and Jamie.

Well, I'm off to bed. Love, A

YEAH!!

Tonight, after wearing herself out talking to Grandma on the computer, Katelyn passed out. She usually catnaps in the evening for about 30-45 minutes. This gives me just enough time to throw some dinner together. I have to admit there are days when I wish she slept as much as she used to, but I wouldn't trade my active, spunky, little chatterbox for the world who no longer takes long naps in the early evening. Well, tonight I got distracted chatting on the computer with an old friend from elementary school who found me on Facebook. Gotta love Facebook for that reason! All of a sudden I could hear Katelyn starting to fuss in her crib. I thought I would run, grab her, and come back and try to finish my conversation. When I got to the crib I was amazed to see my baby girl had rolled over!!!!!!!!! As many of you know Katelyn is and has been for weeks a tummy sleeper and she had rolled from her tummy onto her back and somehow changed direction in her crib all at the same time. It was bittersweet excitement as I partially felt that I had missed this major milestone in my daughter's life because she chose to do it in her crib with no one watching. I'm sure that it was God's way of saying, "Alissa, let go. She'll do it in her own time." Kyle can attest to the fact that I have been practicing rolling over with Katelyn everyday. In spite of the fact that I missed it (she'll do it again) I began yelling for Kyle to come share in my excitement as I grabbed the camera. Hopefully I'll have some video of Katelyn rolling over soon as well. =) In the meantime, I'm thrilled that I have the privilege of raising Katelyn and watching her grow and change each day. Of all the families, God chose to give her to us.... it doesn't get better than that!!

Post Woman Katelyn

Kyle took Katelyn with him to get the mail; something he does often. She loves to ride in her Bjorn and she LOVES to spend time with her Daddy. When they walked in the door Katelyn was holding onto the mail. Of course I jumped to grab my camera so that I could get a picture. She thought it was funny and kept dropping the mail and laughing, making it difficult to get these few pictures I did. So adorable!!

Yummy Rice Cereal

Tonight we fed Katelyn rice cereal for the first time. My baby book says that feeding babies rice cereal helps them learn how to swallow with out the sucking motion, since babies suck when nursing and drinking from a bottle.  Katelyn did really well and she enjoyed eating her rice cereal in her Bumbo chair. She's getting to be such a big girl!!! I can't believe we're already starting her on food.

Girl's Weekend

On Thursday night my two best friends from high school, Devon and Ayse, came into town to visit. Ayse came in around 8:20 and Katelyn and I picked her up from the airport. Ayse was so excited to meet Katelyn since she and I had not seen each other since Devon's wedding last June. We headed back to the apartment to get Katelyn bathed and put to bed. Devon's flight ended up arriving early and I was in the middle of nursing Katelyn so Ayse and Kyle headed to the airport to pick up Devon. By the time they returned Katelyn was fast asleep and I was ready to spend the next couple of hours catching up. We stayed up late giggling and catching up like old times.

On Friday morning Katelyn was up at 7a.m., so after feeding her and putting her back to bed we got up, watched a little tv and then we cooked pancakes and bacon for breakfast. After showering and getting ready for the day we headed to Irvine Spectrum to walk around for a couple hours and do some shopping. There are so many sales going on right now it was hard to resist spending money. Katelyn was loving hanging out with the girls and was all smiles and giggles the entire day. She loved having Ayse and Devon's attention all weekend long. After doing some shopping we headed back home to get ready to go out dancing. At 7:30 we met up with Kyle's sister Leah at California Pizza Kitchen, ate a yummy dinner and then headed to In Cahoots for some country line dancing. We had so much fun!!! Some of the dances I remembered from the last time I was there, and some were new ones. We met this guy that taught us each dance as we went, it was pretty awesome! That place is such a good workout, I need to go there more often. Kyle watched Katelyn all by himself for the first time so we could go out. He did such a great job and had tons of fun with Katelyn. She was fast asleep by the time we got home at 1am. I haven't stayed out that late since before I had Katelyn... it was great!

Devon, Ayse and Katelyn

Look how cute she looks with her bow! She has so much hair!

Giddy up Cowgirls!

Saturday morning we all slept in and relaxed since we had gone to bed so late Friday night. Then we headed down to the beach house to enjoy the rain. What a bummer that it was so overcast and rainy, but we had fun in spite of the weather. My cousins Jamie and Andrew drove up from San Diego and Devon's sister Erin drove down from Huntington Beach to hang out with everyone. Katelyn was all smiles and laughs hanging out with everyone and watching football on tv. We left Katelyn with Kyle's mom so she could take a nap while all of us went out to dinner. We took everyone to Ho Sum Bistro in Newport; a Californiental spot that we were introduced to a couple years ago. It was so wonderful to be out with a group of adults without having to worry about entertaining a baby while trying to carry on an adult conversation. After dinner we went back to the beach house to enjoy some Sierra Madre Vineyard wine, and good conversation. Ayse, Erin and Devon loved the wine! It was a late night for Katelyn since we didn't leave the beach house till 11pm, which is past her bedtime, but she was having so much fun she didn't even notice. It was after midnight when she finally made it to bed and I have to say I was so bummed when she decided to wake up at 5am wanting to eat because I had to get up and take Ayse to the airport at 6:30.

The Group: Erin, Devon, Ayse, Me, Kyle, Jamie, and Andrew

Cheers!

Jamie, Katelyn and Lucy enjoying the sunset

I love making my baby girl laugh!

"Ah Boo!"

Ayse left early this morning and Devon slept while I took her to the airport. I was home 40 minutes later, back in my pj's and crawling into bed. Devon and I slept in, made breakfast and spent the day relaxing. Katelyn had a busy weekend so I was trying to stay home for most of the day so she could sleep and try and get back on schedule. For dinner we took Devon to one of our favorite restaurants in Irvine called Go Roma. It's an Italian version of Pei Wei and the food is delicious!!!! After dinner we took Devon to meet up with her sister so she could spend a couple days with her before she heads back to Orlando on Tuesday morning. Erin has to work tomorrow during the day so Devon and I will get to hang out a little bit more. yeah!! =) This weekend has been so much fun, yet so exhausting at the same time. Between staying up late, and taking care of Katelyn, I'm ready for a low key week this week.

Devon, Katelyn and I before we headed out to dinner

Smile Katelyn...no... okay

"Muah" Mama loves you!

Thanks Devon and Ayse for coming out to visit me and see Katelyn. I love you both!!

Thursday 13

Well I forgot to write my Thursday 13 this week so here it is. This week I thought I would write about 13 places I would love to travel to someday.

1. Italy: I've always wanted to visit Italy, but in all my years of traveling, somehow never made it to Europe.

2. Bahamas: This is where Kyle and I went on our honeymoon and I would love to go back when we are done having children and they are a little older to share with them memories of adventures past and create new memories along the way.

3. Hawaii: My family is from Hawaii and I will never say no to an opportunity to go back any chance I get.

4. China: My dad is currently living in Shanghai and I would love to travel there and soak up all the culture this country has to offer.

5. Hong Kong: I lived in HK before the takeover and only went back once to visit after and would love to once again enjoy the lights and festivities that Christmas and Chinese New Year have to offer.

6. Georgia: Because I always hear about how great "Hotlanta" is.

7. Florida: It seems that dreams come true at Disney World and I would love to travel there some day with my best friends and their children.

8. France: Again anywhere in Europe would be amazing to travel through.

9. Malaysia: I would love to go back and visit my high school and old stomping grounds. Maybe I'd even grab some Roti Chanai and a Ramley Burger along the way.

10. Africa: I would love to go on a wild Safari and enjoy a true sense of being completely surrounded by nature and God's creation.

11. Egypt: who doesn't want to see King Tut and the pyramids.

12. Spain: I would love to learn how to really salsa!

13. Fiji: I have always wanted to go to Fiji. We thought about going for our honeymoon, but went to the Bahamas instead. No regrets there, but I hope to swim in the clear blue water of Fiji alongside dolphins someday.

I'm headed to bed. I'll post more tomorrow. My best friends from high school, Devon and Ayse, flew in to spend a couple days with me and we've been out and about having a good time. Love, A

It's a girl!!

My cousin Jamie and Andrew just found out this morning that they are having a girl!! YEAH!!! We're so excited for them and can't wait for Katelyn to have her little baby cousin to play with. Congratulations and we love you guys!! You are both going to be such wonderful parents and are going to love having a baby girl!! Enjoy celebrating together today and we'll see you Saturday!

Go Red Sox!

Katelyn and I watched the Red Sox v. Angels playoffs game tonight. It was a great game, which ended with the Red Sox beating the Angels. It was a great way to begin the play offs!! My mom bought Katelyn this onesie so we put it on her so she could properly cheer for the Red Sox! Thanks Grandma!! Love Alissa & Katelyn

Crib Crawling

Katelyn loves to scoot around her crib, and she especially loves this corner. She had just woken up from a nap and decided to pose for pictures for us.