eating cake...

We went to Senor Fish for lunch to celebrate Jazmine's graduation from UCLA.  Wow, I can't believe it, it feels like Phil and I just graduated from UCSD, but that was 13 years ago!!!

The boys really loved the cake, it was from Porto's after all, so it was so yummy.  There was only of few us but we ate all three cakes!!  

Bryant was front and center waiting for my sister and my aunt Juana to cut the cake.

Max loved the blue icing, and would not stop sticking his blue tongue out.

I could not or should I say, would not want to believe that Bryant actually ate his whole "slice" more like mini cake.  This was after he ate all his chicken, three servings of french fries (two servings for him and then ate Eli's who wasn't paying attention) and rice/beans.  I really don't know how his stomach can fit so much food...

 

 

After the luncheon we head over to see Sesame Street Live.  

 

Bryant and his friends had such a great time.  I didn't think Bryant was going to be able to sit still and watch it for several hours (although he did get up and run down the aisles twice).  Phil and Richard were a different story, I can't believe they feel asleep with so much singing going on. (Yes Bryant is eating again...goldfish and afterwards we went to Outback Steak House and he ate dinner)

Here is a picture of the kiddos and parent's afterwards... It was the best photo we could take with 2 year olds!!!

FYI...something is the water, all four moms are pregnant!! Round 2 playgroups for 2011 babies!

tax season is over!!!

Finally tax season is over and I am back!! 

Please stop by and say hi just so I know that someone else is out there!!!  ha ha  

This blog is going to undergoing a few changes, but I will still be updating you on what is going on with us, my photography photos, and my scrapbooking pages. 


Ok, time for updates....
I am doing much better after my first trimester.  I was nervous because with Bryant I didn't know I was pregnant until week 16 and I was nauseous the whole time. This time I found out much sooner and my nausea ended about a week ago yea!!   I am also not planning on running any half marathons anytime soon.  I don't know if it is because I know so much sooner, but I feel so much bigger than last time.  Please feel free to share with me if you were also bigger on your second, or third.  Also any cute maternity clothes stores, since I don't want to wear all those suits I bought last time working at the law firm.

Although I am much more tired than I was when I was pregnant with Bryant, after all I am officially an AMA (Advance Maternal Age) horrible to admit I am over 25 years old (plus a few more) ha ha, I am super excited.  Tomorrow we find out if it is a boy or girl, so I am picking out names.  Last time Phil picked out Bryant's name.

hawaii trip day 3

Our adventure started with driving up to the Dole Plantation and taking a train ride.  We also bought some gifts for our family here, yummy.  I thought they were going to have a ton of pineapples to taste, but instead sold pineapples to take home.  I guess if I lived in another part of the US that would be a great gift, but in LA taking home a pineapple everyone might think that we just bought it at the store.  Actually we were surprised to see the pineapples cheaper at the airport.  Unfortunately there was no pineapple tastings, only a small piece offered to us after the train ride.

The train ride was not exactly what we expected, we thought it was going to be a great history tour of pineapples in Hawaii, and see them in working farm.  Instead it was a easy ride around with very little detail given on the train ride =(  But I guess Bryant was with us, this ride would have been perfect.  I did get to buy a really good cup of Kona coffee there!!

Then we drove up to the coast all the way north to Sunset Beach, then head back south to North Shore.  We got off at Pupukea Beach Park were we saw some snorkelers and decided to walk down the cliffs.  Walking down the cliffs in flip flops is a lot harder than surfers make it look, especially when you are afraid of heights like moi.  When we got to the water, it was very very cold!!!  I was not expecting that, everyone seemed to be in the water all the time and no one seemed cold.  No to say that we didn't stay very long and decided to drive to North Shore. 

This sign is the replica of a larger one that is on the highway.  When we passed it I was going to have Phil stop so that I can take a picture, but there was a cop behind him.  So I was really happy to see this little sign!

The North Shore is a really cute town with tons of shops.  I really wanted to go shopping but Phil was on a mission to eat a typical Hawaiian dish, more on that later.  I was really happy that the North Shore reminded me of most of the other small town in Hawaii.  Phil on the other hand was really surprised that it was not at all like they showed on the TV cable show. He was expecting a mall, I think?

Here is Phil very happy to finally get to eat his dish.  It turns out that the reason we couldn't find it was because it was breakfast dish.  We decided to save money on this trip and only eat out for dinners.  Usually I love to eat out for breakfast, since it is my favorite meal of the day, but I knew that eating out for dinner would mean we would get to do more exciting things.  This dish by the way has a fried egg, sausage patty, and rice, I know it sounds more like a heart attack.  I was surprised Phil wanted to eat it because he doesn't like fried eggs. But he liked it.

Then it was off the cruise dinner and dancing.  Phil bought this upgraded package because it was suppose to include steak and lobster, but it was not steak, I am not sure exactly what type of meat we were eating.  Also, because we were running late to catch the bus to get on the boat, we didn't have time to change, and you know me, I love getting dressed up so it was no fun for me to be on a nice dinner cruise in flip flops and shorts =(   The hula dancing girls were great, but then they had other dinner guest stand up and dance the macarena, which was not the type of dancing we were going to be doing. 

We still had a great view and a great time!!

It was actually really good, normally when desserts look this good they taste really bad.

hawaii...day 1 & 2

These are just a few of the photos from our Hawaii vacation...we had four fun filled days in O'ahu.  Our first stop was Duke's for dinner.  I know we have one in Huntington Beach, and I didn't want to eat at any restaurants we have back home, but there is something so different eating at this Duke's. At Dukes we had just finished eating such a great meal, and then it started to pour.  We "lucked" because we didn't have reservations our seats were not on the edge of the but closer to the inside of the restaurant.  When it started to pour, everyone in the good seats got wet and we stayed dried, so we decided to stay longer and have dessert!!

Then the next day was driving around the southeast island to Kaneohe.  On the way we stopped and decided to walk around. We thought we were only walking up the side of the hill.  Instead we had to walk up and over two hills before we could get to the lighthouse.  Since I am afraid of heights, we didn't make it all the way. I was okay until we got to the second hill, which was too steep and facing the water. We ended up walking all the way to the lighthouse, where Phil is pointing to. Good thing we took our running shoes because I don't know how everyone was doing the hike in flip flops, it ended up being more than just a stroll.

 It was such a beautiful part of the island that the President and his family were also staying there.  We didn't know where he was staying until we saw his motor cage drive by as we were eating hamburgers in a small market on the side of the road.  It happened too fast for me to grab my camera.

For dinner we went to Germaine's Luau on west side of the island.  Apparently Disney is putting the new resort on this side of the island.  We had a great meal and entertainment.  We also met new friends Gloria and Carlos who live in Diamond Bar. What a small world.  

More tomorrow...

decorating for the holidays...

We love decorating for the holidays.. this is Bryant decorating the tree.  He felt that it need something extra that I didn't add originally.

And this is my new idea for decorating all the Christmas cards that we receive.  We actually got another 15 ore that I could not fit and made a third row.  Our Christmas card is in the center.

merry christmas eve...

Dad, Mom, Eli, Bryant, Tori, and Max on Christmas Eve.

The boys were so excited to open the gifts they could not stay still for a moment to take a family picture.  The photo of us (Phil, Bryant, and I) did not come out, Bryant was wiggling the whole time.

sharing

Bryant is still learning to share, and normally like all 2 yrs olds he doesn't, but...then he surprises when he allowed Jordan to sit on his favorite chair to watch TV. 

daddy would be proud

Phil would be so proud to know that Bryant loves to golf too!!

baby showers...

For our MOMS Club of Long Beach we threw a baby shower for three of the moms to be....

so yummy...

Thanks to Courtney for opening up her home and for Tipa even though she just had a baby she did such a great job coordinating it all.

It was my idea was to paint the baby shirts, which turned out really cute (I was very worried) however my design was not super cute as the others...

more pictures at my flickr account here.

my birthday weekend

I have a few thanks to give out for having such a great birthday weekend...

first to my favorite guy...thank you so much for taking me to the opera (even though I know you forgot we had already seen the Marriage of Figaro)  I still love it!!!

to my friends who knew the surprise and kept it a secret!!  Also thank you so much for the gifts and staying late just to sing happy birthday.  Niki and Ian made a great dinner for us and then surprised me with...

and thanks to my family for taking me out for dinner, especially my sister who just had a baby girl the week before....

 

The boys being silly...

cutie pie

with love

Welcome baby

Jaden Victoria Riley Pedroza

Born: 9/21/10

@ 11:24pm

5lbs 13oz

18 in

Bryant getting very verbal

Bryant has really become verbal and expressive.  Lately he has decided when he wants to be taken on walks/runs/rides, and when he doesn't.  He had been getting into the Bob stroller and it had become dangerous, so I decided to collapse it so he would not be able to get into.  Then he decided to get his monkey and get into this...

Then this morning he woke us up by knocking on his bedroom door to come out.  Some how he escaped from his crib.  We weren't sure how he did it this morning.  During his nap time he kept escaping, so Phil decided to "hide" in his room to see how he was escaping his crib.  And sure enough Phil saw that he was able to go over the railing and then lower himself to the floor.  We didn't think it was going to come so soon!!  I guess it is now time for a toddler bed, even though that means he is going to be knocking on our bedroom door soon!!

He also tells me "mama come here" and holds my hand and takes me over to the fridge, and then tells me "up please" for me to carry him, and then tells me "open door".  Once I open the fridge he then tells me what he wants to eat i.e. "apple" for the apple crushers, "cup" for milk, "juice" or just grabs the blue berries, watermelon or grapes.  

sorry...

Yes I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything....please forgive me.  What have you missed...following the twin's birthday party there was...

My grandparent's 55th Wedding Anniversary Party.  Here they are re-newing there vows in front of the priest.  My parents were their matron of honor and best man.

My mom's club board installation dinner at a Moroccan restaurant.  Courtney is getting her palm read in the picture.  I also got my palm read (this was my first time, and I was very nervous) and she said somethings that were true and others that were not, and a few predictions...we will see if they are true...

We were also invited to the Wherry's house for a fun barbecue.  Here is Bryant going to town.  This was also when Bryant feel in love with Julian's train table, and Julian realized how much he loved his train table.  The girls Misty Rain and Jordan had a great time in kiddie pool.  Jordan kept insisting that Bryant stop playing with the trains and join them in the pool, but that didn't happen.  Phil also thought he was going to show the kiddos how to play soccer, but that also didn't happen.  We did have a great time!!

Bryant and Julian started taking swimming lessons.  Julian took to going to the "beach" well and really enjoyed it.  Bryant however, took about a month before he started liking his swimming lessons.  It also didn't make it any easier that his instructor left to study abroad just as he started trusting him in the water, and started all over with a new instructor.  It is going very well now!!

Fourth of July was a very busy day for us...it started at the bike ride for the little ones in Belmont Shore, that was a very long walk for parents.  My sister made these cute hats for the three boys.  Eli and Max did really good riding along the whole route.  Bryant didn't my dad had to pull him through most of it.  Misty, Jordan and Julian also attended, but were there for moral support!!



In the evening we went over to Phil's family for some barbecue as usual and for the fireworks.  It was really special this year because Bobby and Stacy came over from Colorado to visit.  It was really great to see them.  The picture on the left is Bobby and Stacy's new baby boy Brandon born on Feb 11.  The picture on the right is Ty and Bryant sitting on the back of the SUV watching the fireworks.  Below is a picture of Bobby and Stacy's little girl, Allison.

On July 20th was Bryant's 2nd birthday.  We celebrated by going to BJs.  And yes he had his own pizzookie (pizza/cookie) and ate it all by himself!!! We has is party at Mother's Beach and I forgot to take pictures ;(  When I was going to the birthday was in no mood for his picture.  It was great to see everyone, but it was very crowded that day in Long Beach with the dragon boat races, and a cycling fundraiser going on.  It was also a little chilly so thanks to everyone who made it out, we had a great time!!!

On July 31 we went to Knotts Berry Farm for Phil's company picnic.  If you remember, the last time we went to Knotts Bryant was 2 weeks old for the company picnic. And no, Phil did not get his new job because his old job stopped having company picnics at Knotts it was a coincidence.

We also went to the OC Fair with Julian, Celeste, Anna, Niki, and Jordan.  Jordan was not fond of the cows and pigs so we didn't stay to long with the animals.  They also rode on the horses, which was the first for Julian (who go the biggest horse), and Jordan.  Of course being at the fair, dinner was everything fried, yum but too much!  The kids had so much fun on the rides until one ride that Bryant and Jordan really wanted to go on because it was bumble bees.  When they got to front they were not tall enough to ride,so they were not allowed on.  Funny because they were allowed on all the other rides...so Bryant and Jordan both started crying...Niki and I were stocked, I asked Bryant if there was another ride he wanted, he pointed to the Ferris wheel.  Great! I am afraid of heights!! So to please the kiddos I got on, and as Anna said later, I regretted it.  I was holding on for dear life, and Bryant kept swinging it to see Jordan.  But we did have a lot of fun there...even though it was pricey.

It was my mom's birthday so we went to the Elephant Bar for dinner.  Bryant of course helping grandma with her birthday cake and ice-cream.   

It is a month of birthdays...This is Abby's and Audrey party.  The picture is of my mom with Bryant eating all the watermelon and Abby and her grandma, i.e. my aunt Lucy. The picture on the right is of Max and Eli, they whole time Bryant is eating there were on the waterslide having fun and getting wet.