MOPS

Today Katelyn and I started MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) at Mariner's Church. It's so great because you don't have to have a preschooler in order to join. I thought it would be a wonderful chance for Katelyn to meet new play buddies and for me to meet other moms. Our friends the Castons and Franzs' are also in MOPS with us. We meet every Tuesday morning from now until December. I had a wonderful time today and can't wait till next week. Katelyn even did well in the nursery, which, by the way, is the first time I've left her with strangers and a room full of other babies. I'm so proud of her!! She did cry at one point towards the end of the morning because she didn't want to take her bottle from a stranger so I had to come feed her. I'm sure she will get over that; it was a new environment.

Friday Celebrating and Saturday Visiting

On Friday night Kyle and I headed out for a date night to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. Kyle's mom and sister came over to babysit Katelyn for us and we were off to dinner and a movie. We went to Savannah Chop House for dinner, which is an amazing steak restaurant. The ambiance was very romantic and the food was delicious. After over eating we walked over the movie theater and went to see "Nights in Rodanthe." It was such a great movie! We got home around 11:30 and Katelyn was already in bed for the night. YEAH!! Kyle was amazing.. he bought me flowers.... Gerbera Daisys... my favorite.



Today, Kyle, Katelyn and I slept in and then headed down to San Diego to visit my cousin Jamie and her husband Andrew. They are 17 1/2 weeks pregnant with their first baby and we can't wait to find out what they are having on Thursday. It's been almost 3 months since we've seen them so it was great to finally hang out. It was also fun to watch Katelyn interact with their dog Lucy. Lucy loved Katelyn and she kept coming over and licking her toes. After arriving we headed downtown to Baby Gap since all their sale items were marked down 40% and then an additional 20% just this weekend. I got some cute baby clothes for Katelyn and Jamie was able to find great deals on some maternity clothes. Then we rushed back so we could make it to The Fish Market before 6pm to take advantage of their happy hour. We got back with minutes to spare and I sent Kyle in to order for me while I nursed Katelyn in the car. Their fish and shrimp tacos are AMAZING!!!! After dinner we headed back to Jamie and Andrew's apartment to go to the spa, then we fed Katelyn and headed home. She was so exhausted she passed out in the car the whole way home. Kyle and I had a great Friday and Saturday and are looking forward to a relaxing Sunday before the work week begins again.

Happy Anniversary!

On September 26, 2004, 4 years ago, Kyle and I stood up in front of our closest family and friends and vowed to love each other through the good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live. When I look back through the years I'm struck with honor, not only have spent the first 3 years as Kyle's wife, but in this last year to carry and give birth to a beautiful baby girl who is a piece of both of us. My love for him has only grown with each day that passes. He is my best friend, my encourager, my motivator, and someone who never lets me forget how beautiful he thinks I am. He has seen me at my worst and at my best and still loves me in spite of my stubborness, craziness, and my addiction to shopping (which has been put on hold since we had the baby). It's hard to believe how fast time seems to fly by, but we've had some amazing adventures in the last 4 years and I know we're going to have many more in the years to come. I love you Muffin, Happy Anniversary. 

Love, Alissa

"Womanizer"

Britney Spears is making a come back people, watch out! Here's her new single, "Womanizer," tell me what you think.

My child.. a football fan?!

Katelyn has become obsessed with football. She will sit and watch football on tv for up to 30 minutes. That's huge for a 14 week old. She will even talk to the tv and wave her arms around, it's so cute. I took some pictures of her watching the USC vs. Oregon State game tonight.

Thursday 13

So every Thursday my friend Joy blogs about 13 things that give people a glimpse of who she is. I decided after reading hers for several weeks to try one of my own. For my first Thursday 13 I'm going to blog about 13 things I can't wait for Katelyn to do.

1. I can't wait for Katelyn to say "mama" and "dada."

2. Wait for her to roll over on her own.

3. I can't wait to watch her crawl.

4. To enjoy her first bite of rice cereal, green veggies, and fruit. (does that count as 3?)

5. For her to take her first step.

6. For her to say, "Love you mama"

7. To watch her lift her feet and swing while holding one hand of Kyle's and one of mine.

8. Her to laugh uncontrollably.

9. Hold her baby brother or sister. (NO, I'm not pregnant again)

10. Play "Mommy" to her first doll.

11. Smile when I pull the camera out to take a picture of her without any coaxing.

12. Say her first word.

13. Attend her first ballet class.

Practicing sitting up

My friends Stephanie lent us her Bumbo chair so Katelyn can practice sitting up. This chair is great for teaching babies how to sit up straight and hold their neck up. It's also great for when you begin feeding them rice cereal. At 4 months they are not sitting up on their own, but they are old enough to begin trying rice cereal. Katelyn loves it! Thanks Stephanie!

My how she grows....

I've decided to start keeping a record of Katelyn's growth so here it goes:

June 15, 2008 (birth): 8lbs 1 oz  20 inches long

9 Weeks: 11 lbs 2 oz 22 3/4 inches long

11 Weeks: 11lbs 13 oz  23 1/4 inches long

14 Weeks: 12 lbs 5 oz.  24 inches long 

It's so crazy to see how fast she has grown. She is already starting to grab objects, watch Kyle and I as we walk around, and today she decided she wanted to try rolling over from her back to her tummy. She needed a little help, but she did great. When she rolled to her tummy she would talk to me. So cute!! She's also talking a lot more and making more noise, which is fun to walk. I've even gotten a laugh or two out of her. She is so much fun!

New Diaper Bag

I was at Norstroms today shopping with a friend who was looking for a new diaper bag. I showed her the new color Petunia Picklebottom just put out. Kyle and I had seen it at Irvine Spectrum last Friday night. I wish that they had that color when I was picking out my bag, I loved it!! Matches my nursery colors. Anyway, the lady that was working told me that she would exchange my bag for the new color if I really liked it. Shocked and excited, I told her "ABSOLUTELY!" 5 minutes later I was on my way with a new diaper bag. It's so cute!!

Family Weekend

After a very busy week, on Friday night Kyle, Katelyn and I headed over to Irvine Spectrum to meet up with Casey, Meygan and Kylie. We walked around through baby stores, and Target and ended up at Golden Spoon for some frozen yogurt. It was so much fun catching up with good friends and watching Katelyn and Kylie talk to each other. It's amazing to watch babies interact with one another. We hung out until 9pm, and then headed home to get Katelyn ready for bed.

Saturday we spent the day cleaning the apartment and doing laundry and then headed out to the pool in the afternoon. We're trying to teach Katelyn how to kick her feet in the pool and get used to the water so I can put her in swim lessons when she gets older. The pool water was pretty cold and so we headed over to the spa. It wasn't as hot as usual, so we dipped Katelyn's feet in. She loved it!! We ended up letting her stand on the stair with her toes in the water for a couple minutes before we headed home. She cried when we took her out of the spa because she loves the warm water. Go figure!! On the way home from the pool (it's probably a 300 ft walk) Katelyn fell asleep and when we got home I changed her and she feel asleep in her crib in her diaper. Kyle and I were tired so we laid down and took a nap and woke up in time for dinner.

Today Kyle and I woke up, watched the Podcast of the church service at Mariner's Church, and got ready for the day. We decided to head down to Balboa Island where we used to go a lot when we were dating and get chocolate covered bananas. Yum! We met up with our friends Eric and Sierra and their daughter Cozette (3 1/2 yrs old) and son Landon (10 mo) to walk around the boardwalk. We ate chocolate covered bananas and walked around the little shops. Kyle's family used to own a vacation home on the boardwalk facing Balboa Bay and we went to see how much it had changed over the years. The weather was beautiful and it was so great to be outside. After walking around we ate at a local restaurant called "Wilma's;" where we used to eat all the time while we were dating.  After leaving Balboa Island we stopped by to visit Tony and Dave (2 of Kyle's good friends from high school) and see their new apartment in Newport. They hadn't seen Katelyn since the day after she was born so they were excited to hang out with her. Katelyn loved Tony and would watch him and talk to him. It was so cute!!

Kyle and I headed home to relax and put Katelyn to bed. We had a wonderful weekend and tomorrow begins a new busy week. I'm excited for this week because Friday is our 4 year anniversary!! YEAH!! This time last year we concieved our beautiful baby girl, not sure how we'll top that this year.

Katelyn and Kyle "sharing" a banana

Taking a nap as we walked along the pier

Walking with friends

Eric, Sienna, Cozette, and Landon

Landon was all smiles

No, my daughter is the most beautiful baby girl in the world!

Katelyn received the cutest little top as a gift when she was born and I have been anxiously waiting for her to grow into it... and she did! Well, it's still a little big, but you can't really tell. And it looks so adorable on her. It's my new favorite shirt for her to wear. Her top is from a store called Crazy 8 and they have cute baby girl clothes.

I know I love to photograph her in this outfit, but she looks so cute in it!

Family Photo Day

We had an adventurous day taking family photos today. Kyle, Katelyn and I slept in this morning and then went to meet up with Doug and Jan at the airport to pick up Leah, Brendan, Dave Tosti (the photographer) and his assistant. Our first stop was one of the facilities where they crush the grapes from Sierra Madre Vineyard. We spent several hours shooting with the large wine barrels as our background. We even got a few great shots of Katelyn sitting in a wine bottle box surrounded by corks for the Sierra Madre wine bottles. She looked so adorable!!! Next we were off to the vineyard to have some lunch and then take pictures among the vines. We did family shots on the John Deere tractor, amongst the grape vines, and drinking wine as a family. Yes I will admit I did try a tiny bit of the wine... it was delicious!! Katelyn was a trouper for most of the day, but as the sun began to set she turned into a tired little pumpkin. Poor baby, she cried and slept and cried and slept. We finally made it back to the hotel after dinner around 9:45ish, bathed our exhausted child, fed her and she is now as snug as a bug in a rug in her bed. I'm pretty sure she's going to sleep through the night since she didn't get a real nap today, just a couple 20 min. catnaps. We're so proud of her and we can't wait to see how cute her pictures turned out!

Since I spent a majority of the day holding her in my arms I didn't get to take many pictures until later in the day so I will have to wait to post more pictures from today till we get them back from the photographer. Here are the few that I did get.

Katelyn chillin' between photos

Sierra Madre Vineyard

Doug, Brendan and Kyle

Leah and I posing on the tractor

Dave Tosti (Tosti Studios) hard at work

Kyle and I posing on the tractor

The trailer on the vineyard where Kyle's parents are staying during the grape harvest and crushing.

We had a fun...

day in Santa Maria today. We began with a relaxing morning as Katelyn decided to get up to eat at 5:30am and 8:00am, even though she's been sleeping through the night for almost 2 weeks. We ended up putting her to bed a little earlier last night since it took us 5 hours to drive up here yesterday and she was exhausted from being in the car all day long. Poor thing! Of course going to bed early backfired on us when she woke up so early. Thankfully after being up for only 1 hour she fell asleep in the king size bed in our room. She was so adorable snuggled up in all the pillows and blankets. Kyle ended up having to go down to the restaurant and smuggling the buffet up to our room so I could eat.

After showering off we headed to the Santa Maria mall, and after deeming it "ghetto," as most of the stores had gone out of business, we moved on. We grabbed a frap at Starbucks and met up with Kyle's parents to head over to the facility where they crush the grapes. We are in the process of harvesting and crushing grapes to make the 2008 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for Sierra Madre Vineyards. It was so interesting to watch them load the grapes into the bladder press (that's what they call the monstrous machine they put the grapes in) and watch the juice come out. After watching for an hour and taking some pictures we all jumped in one car, headed to the vineyard to scope out the spot where we want to shoot the family pictures tomorrow and then we were on our way to dinner. We ate at this amazing restaurant called, "The Hitching Post," which is know for their amazing steaks. Katelyn, by this point, was exhausted from being out all day and not having a good nap so we headed back to the hotel early. Kyle, Katelyn and I had an amazing day and we're looking forward to taking family photos tomorrow. David Tosti of Tosti Studios, who did my maternity pictures, is going to be photographing us tomorrow. If you are looking for an amazing photographer check him out at www.tostistudios.com

Here are some pictures from our fun day! Love, K, K, and A

These are the crates of grapes ready to be crushed in the machine behind them to make Chardonnay. A small pitch fork tractor loads them into the top and the weight of the grapes makes the juice come out. Then it spins in circles to move the grapes around so the juice from all the grapes is extracted.

This is where the grapes ferment for a couple hours before they are put into the barrels.

I love this picture of Kyle and Katelyn!!

Grandpa Circle, Kyle and Katelyn posing in front of the wine barrels that were made in France.

Happy Birthday Uncle Josh!!

We love you and wish we could be there to celebrate your special day with you! You are very special to us.

I love my job....

Meygan took this great picture of Katelyn and I while we were in Big Bear. I don't have many pictures of Katelyn and I since I'm usually the one behind the lens, so it was great to have another photographer around. I can't wait till Katelyn is smiling all the time and posing for pictures. She's such a cutie!

Today Katelyn and I went to have lunch over at the school and visit with the students and teachers. While I love being a full time mom to Katelyn I do miss seeing everyone everyday. My students were so excited to see the baby and they agree that she's adorable. All the students have blossomed over the summer and I'm so amazed at the maturity and the changes that I see. Just like Katelyn they have all grown and changed so much and I'm reminded once again how fast time flies and how I need to remember to enjoy every moment with her. I hope she always loves her time with her mommy. I love her so much and feel so privileged to have the opportunity to stay home with her. I love my new job as a mommy!

Big Bear Getaway!

Last weekend Kyle, Katelyn and I headed up to the Big Bear cabin for some fun, games, Sea Dooing, and laughs with our friends. Kyle and I went up on Thursday night so we could get everything ready for our friends to come up on Friday. Casey, Meygan and Kylie arrived first followed by Mike, Jessica and Ella, and then Cesar and Patty. Each family was in charge of preparing a meal everday so Mike and Jessica kicked off the weekend with an amazing BBQ meal!!! We threw our diets out the window and enjoyed cupcakes, pizza, sandwiches, chocolate covered pretzels, pancakes, and Patty's home made mac n'cheese. Meygan brough Baby Einstein DVD's and the girls loved hanging out and watching them. It was a late bedtime for everyone that night because we were having so much fun talking and laughing.  

The boys cooking dinner

Jessica and Ella

Meygan and Kylie

The girls watching Baby Einstein

On Saturday and Sunday we spent the day out on the Sea Doos riding and tubing. We took turns watching the babies so that the parents could have a little bit of fun on the water. Katelyn spent the whole weekend sleeping so she wasn't difficult to watch! I think the altitude made her sleepy. While I was sad that she didn't stay up and play more, it was nice to have the opportunity to hang out with friends and go tubing on the water. Then on Sunday afternoon we took family photos and watched the sun set on the dock. It was so relaxing!

Meygan and Jessica

Mike and Ella

Game time!

Kyle, Katelyn, Casey and Rosh

Warming up in the spa after tubing in the cold lake

The girls love Cesar!

The Fransz Family

Picture time!

Katelyn kept her hands bunched up all weekend; she looks like she's riding a motorcycle

"Love birds" Cesar and Patty

We headed home on Monday just in time to drop Katelyn off with Grandma Circle, Auntie Leah and Uncle Brendan and then Kyle and I met up with Casey and Meygan at the Angels game. They spanked the Yankees 14-1 and the only excitement of the whole game was the fight that broke out! I've never seen a fight at a baseball game, it was awesome! After a weekend spending time as a family, it was nice to end it with a date night. Thanks everyone for a wonderful weekend! Kyle, Katelyn and I had a fantastic time and I've already started planning the next trip up.
Love, Kyle, Alissa and Katelyn