Melissa’s Blog

Nicole greeted us in our bed around 6:30 this morning. Luckily we got her to go back to sleep. She was cuddled next to me snoring, so sweet to watch her sleep but there was no way I could go fall back to sleep. I was also afraid to make a move as I didn’t want to wake her up either. Justin slept in a bit this morning. I hired a sitter so I could run to a doctor’s app’t. So I left about 8:40. The kids love the sitter, Coach Stacie. I had an app’t with the endocronoligist. Everything is ok but one hormone is still a bit off so he altered medication a bit. I lost 10 pounds since my last visit there, I guess 3 months ago. It was so weird being off by myself this morning. I did a few errands and did some grocery shopping. The kids had a great time with the sitter. They went to the park and played. When I pulled up they were outside playing in the cul de sac with their Diego rescue pack/Dora backpacks and shovels. Nicole is wearing her ballet outfit today and looks adorable. When I got home we headed to our My Gym class. The kids had a great time in class. When asked what their favorite color is, Justin said green and Nicole said pink, red, yellow. We took daddy car today since dad rode his bike to work. The kids told everyone at My Gym we had daddy car. We came home and the kids played a bit then watched Curious George. We started an Easter craft but then looked at the time. We wanted to walk over to our friend’s dance class to check it out. We walked to Pacific Dance. Nicole was interested in the class but wanted me to go in with her. We just watched our friend, it was so cute. After the kids played outside the dance place. Nicole and Neela hid together while Justin hid then they switched. So cute watching them play together. We were there for so long that I just called daddy and had him meet us over there for dinner. We headed to the pizza place. The kids played games and now the place added motorcycle games which the kids enjoyed. They took a bite of pizza then played games, came back for a bite, more games and this went on for a while. We walked home. Dad had his bike so the kiddos wanted to ride on it a little bit. We came home and the kids picked out rocks to share with the class tomorrow. Yes I know rocks! They went upstairs and dad got them ready for bed and read books. Now to go relax!

I slept so well last night. I went running this morning, about 6 3/4 miles. It wasn’t as good of a run as yesterdays. I should have taken a day off in between. When I got home the kids were all dressed, fed breakfast, and playing with toys. It took us a while to figure out what to do today. We let the kids do some painting. The kids were so demanding, asking for pain, paper, etc Bret and I couldn’t get them things fast enough. We showed them the birds nest under our eves by the front door. We also brought a carpet outside and the kids were painting then went dancing on the carpet. They were having fun. The painting became messy and the kids started using their fingers. It was all good as they needed to take a bath anyway. Justin and daddy went out to get food for lunch while Nicole and I played at home. It was fun. We had a great time together playing babies. After lunch daddy filled up a million water balloons. The kids got their bathing suits on and they threw balloons at the fence and the street. They were having a great time and daddy couln’t fill balloons fast enough. After they played with their water table, then they moved onto the house. They were having a great time together, playing so well. I went inside and Justin had fun spraying me in the window. All of a sudden the day was half over and the kids watched The Tigger Movie. Dad and I cleaned some stuff out and listed things on Craigslist. There was one part of the movie the kids didn’t like. Poor Nicole she hasn’t found one movie that she loves. So far she has seen one at Sea World that sprayed water on her (4D), a little of Cars, and Tigger. She thought the cars were mean to each other and she didn’t like the snow storm in Tigger. Justin loves the TV and likes everything. After TV the kids played a little with their hot wheel cars and track. Then we decided to head to the Spectrum. The kids rode their usual animals on the carousal, bunny for Nicole, Ostrich for Justin. We went into the toy store and the pet store. Oh my goodness the puppies were so cute! Then Nicole and I ran off as I wanted to look for some new jeans while dad and Justin went into the Apple store. They tried to ride the ferris wheel but the wait was way too long as the seatbelts were broken. Nicole and I had fun, I gave her a piggy back ride, carried her a bit, and she went back and forth running from one of my arms to the other. We went into the Skechers store and both tried on shoes. So much fun, we walked around fountains. We met up with dad and Justin for dinner. I only got about 20 minutes with Nicole but it was precious. After dinner we headed home. The kids read books and off to bed.

I went for a quick run this morning while dad and the kids played games. After breakfast I took the kiddos to My Gym. So cute. The hot dog thing (mat) was half full, so the kiddos sat on it then I would sit and make them go flying. We were all laughing hysterically. While I was with the kiddos dad went and got a smog check for his car. The kiddos and I ran to Target for a few things. We came home and picked up daddy so we could go to Jane’s 4th birthday. It was at a bounce house place. So much fun bouncing with the kids. Dad and I had a great time with the kids, but I am feeling my age. The kids slid, bounced, played basketball in the bounce house, and air hockey. The party was great. After we had pizza, cake, and ice-cream. The kids were excited for their goody bags. A perfect day for a 3 yr old! We headed to Target again to get Leapsters for the kids. Earlier I couldn’t decide whether to buy them or not but we thought we would try for our trip to Canada. The kids are doing ok with them but they may be a little advanced for them but time will tell. The kiddos watched Curious George. After they wanted to play their Leapsters again but with the mention of water balloons, Justin ears perked up and outside on the greenbelt we went. We did water balloons, played catch and threw them at the wall. We didn’t have much time to be out there as we needed to cook dinner. The kids and I played grocery store while dad cooked dinner. They can play that game for hours. We had fun. After dinner we had family bingo night. The kids are loving this game. We played a bit in the futon room and cleaned out a few toys. Grandma/pa were up this way so they stopped by. The kiddos had fun playing. They went to bed a little lat but are sleeping now

This morning Nicole greeted us in our bed. So funny. She said she got up because she went pee 5 times, ha ha. The kiddos played while I cleaned up a bit. The kiddos played with puzzles, trains, etc. While waiting for our playdate I let the kids relax in front of the TV. My kiddos were a little distant during play group. They really just wanted to be by themselves upstairs. So thats where they went. Nicole wanted all her friends to go upstairs with her and a few did. When it got a little less chaotic the kids came down to play. One little girl Jenna stayed for a while longer while her mom did some work. The kids had fun playing with her. They all played grocery store together. After everyone left I needed to go to the foot doctor to fix my orthodics. It felt like there was no room for my foot in the shoe anymore. He fixed it a bit so hopefully it will work well when I run tomorrow morning. The kid watched the DVD but Nicole had a fit when I turned it off. Then we decided to go up to South Coast Plaza on the way home. The kids went into Rainforest to see the Curious George stuff but when they heard the gorilla they wanted to leave. We walked around a bit played in some stores. The kids rode the bunny carousal, so cute. I was hoping they would sit by the Easter bunny. It was a little animated stuffed bunny. He even said hi Nicole and Jusitn, the look on their face was priceless, they were like how does he know my name? So funny. We stopped at In N Out Burger for dinner on the way home. The kids were a bit annpying at dinner, I had to tell Nicole to sit down, it felt like a million times. It wasn’t until I threatened to go home did she listen. Justin was hanging all over me at dinner, laying on me, etc. I was just tired. We came home and we all cleaned the toys up. Dad re-built the track on the train table. We went upstairs and the kids played a bit then we read books. They were a bit hyper but finally settled down after 15 minutes.

I dropped the kiddos off at pre school. I decided to be a little selfish and have time for me. But I still went to the grocery store. I came home and got ready for the play date. Before I knew it, it was almost time to pick up the kiddos. I ran to Ann Taylor too as I need some new jeans. The kids were so excited to have their friends over. All the kids played really well together. The only thing is my house gets so messy. I am always cleaning up, oh well that is part of being a mom. So great that the kids enjoyed their friends and I had fun with my mommy friends. We have such a diverse pre school, it is really interesting learning about everyone’s culture. After everyone left I cleaned up. The kids played. It is so gloomy out today, it is making me blah! I gave the kids a bath. I am always so busy. The kids had fun in the bath, preteding to give each other swim lessons. Of course neither of them know how to swim. The kids were in the bath for such a long time. Neither of them wanted to get dressed. It was 5:30 Bret had to work a little late, I had naked kids….so all I could think to make for dinner is breakfast. The kids are always asking for pancakes for every meal anyhow. We built a track for Justin so he was playing trains with me and Nicole was getting daddy time. Then both kids played with trains. We headed upstairs and the kids were throwing things on their canapies and getting them down. They were also playing with the rocking chair and ottoman. We read books and Justin wore his cute dino jammies. I love when the kiddos go right to bed. Bret got a great review at his job and a nice bonus. We are very lucky in this economy.

We went to our first Easter egg hunt of the season. We went to Irvine Regional Park. They had so much going on there and the kids wanted to do everything-I think it would have been cheaper to go to Disney. We had a great time. First we did the egg hunt. They were allowed to get 8 eggs each. There were a lot of other kids that got to the eggs first. But they kept putting more out. Nicole is mad at the Easter bunny because one of her eggs was empty. The kids had fun opening their eggs and seeing all the stuff they got. Of course the candy was the highlight. They put all the stickers on their clothes. Justin wanted to keep everything in his pants pockets but I told him the things may fall out when he goes in the bounce house. I got some cute pics.

Then the kids bounced and bounced. The whole time I heard “mommy watch, watch me”. I didn’t mind at all. Of course we couldn’t go to this park without going on the train. But then we noticed the wagon ride. Nicole said she liked the bouncing and the egg hunt the best. Justin liked the wagon ride and the egg hunt the best. Before we left the park Nicole wanted to speak to the Easter bunny about the one egg being empty. We went over there I was hoping the kiddos would sit on the Easter bunny’s lap but they just watched. I explained to Nicole she got lots of other eggs. Just a nice time with the kids. On they way home we stopped at Costco. We needed lots of stuff and snacks for a play group tomorrow. The kiddos got to watch Curious George, still the all time favortie. After TV we were playing a bit and noticed we needed to leave for storytime. We met some friends at Katie Wheeler Library for story time and craft. The kids liked the stories about bunnies and made bunny masks out of paper plates, really cute. After we played outside for a little while, hide and seek. Justin was hiding and decided if he couldn’t see the seeker, then the seeker couldn’t see him. So he sat on a bench with his back to the seeker, so funny! Then Justin said his belly hurt so we left. It was just gas, he was much better after going to the bathroom. Daddy rode his bike home and I went out for a quick jog. After dinner the kids played in the backyard. They were in their jammies and getting all wet, ugh. But they were so proud of themselves washing my windows, using dirty brooms. We went upstairs and played hide and seek (rescuing). Somehow hides and yells help help and then they get rescued. So fun, the kids just love it. Daddy was busy using the comforter to throw the kids on the bed and the loved that. Daddy read some books and the kids were looking really tired. Nicole put her baby to bed and Justin had his dog.

We had a great day. It was a little stressful getting out of the house as I had to get the house ready for the cleaners too. It took a little while to get to the aquarium but the kids did so great in the car. The kids loved looking at all the different fish. There was a guy in one of the fish tanks cleaning the tank, so the kids decided he was Dan the Diver. We were outside for the longest time. We went into the larakeet area, scarey all these birds coming at you and they got to pet a turtle. The kids loved the sea lions and the sharks the best. There was a shark who had his mouth open (Tiger Shark), so scary. The kids loved watching him and waiting for him to go around and around. The kids could have watched the sea lions for hours. They loved it when they got on their little raft and went under the water that was shooting down which the kids called the shower. Justin touched a sting ray and they both touched star fish and other stuff found in tide pools. After we just walked around the outside, big grassy area. The kids chased birds and just loved it. We stopped at Shoreline Village on the way home. There was an arcade so the kids had fun doing ske ball and driving games. We walked around and the kids saw the big boat-the Queen Mary. Thankfully there was no traffic on the way home and the kids stayed awake. We came home and the kids just played. They pretended to go grocery shopping and put all the play food in their baskets. Also played in the backyard. They were making mud and I was mean and made them stop. I am tried of cleaning the backyard up. We will have to find an area they can play or just let them do it every once in a while. We did puzzles with the kiddos. Justin is getting really good at the bigger puzzles. After dinner we went for a walk. I mentioned possibly going on an egg hunt tomorrow and the kids grabbed their easter baskets and took them on the walk. The kids looked so silly out in their jammies with the baskets on their heads. They had a great time running together. A police man was on our street, so he gave Justin some badge stickers and one for his sister. Justin ran off so excited to give it to Nicole, so cute. We went upstairs and the kids pretended to be animal rescuers and rescued me. I hid all over the upstairs. The best one was I was in the tent and shook it when they came in the room, they were running and laughing hysterically. Also why looking for me I heard them say mommy are you in the walls and another one was are you in the drain? So funny. We had a fun night with the kiddos, dad read some books. I still hear Nicole but hopefully she will be asleep soon.

This morning we ran out so I could get a blood test for a routine doctor app’t next week. The kids just watched and I smiled the whole time. After we came home. The kids wanted to play at home and I was able to get some stuff done. Lots of toys went upstairs and downstairs. A mess always gets started if I don’t watch 100% of the time. They pretended to sleep on the stairs saying it was their bunk beds. They just learned about bunk beds. Their imagination is just incredible. They read books and played really well. The kids said they wanted pancakes for lunch, so pancakes they had. They thought it was really silly which made it even more fun. We had our My Gym class today. I love Mondays class as it is not really crowded but there is a really badly behaved boy. Nicole called him the green boy today as he was wearing a green shirt. They had a great time at My Gym and did some new things on the parallel bars, crawled on them like a bear. I tried to get to class early so I could play with the kiddos. Mostly we had fun jumping on the trampoline. I had fun watching the kiddos. On the way home we stopped at Toys “R” Us to get a gift for a birthday party we ae going to this weekend. The girl (Jane) is into bugs, that was a challenging present to find. Of course a toy store with the kids takes a while. The kiddos got some big shovels and hulla hoops. They wanted to go to the park right away and use their shovels, however, they needed a bath. They are going on day 3 without a bath. The kiddos had fun in bath. Before getting in they used their shovels to put all the bath toys in. After bath I was getting cranky for some reason-probably just off from the blood test this morning and I was off on eating. So I took control put the kiddos in the Bob stroller and I jogged to Blue Gum Park. The kids were thrilled to go to the park to be able to use their shovels. If I started walking, Justin asked why I stopped running so I ran. Hard to run with the jogger stroller. We had so much fun at the park. They used their shovels and made “sand” cakes. They patted it, stirred it with a stick, and put it in the oven. They also grabbed some books out of the stroller, The Diego Wolf Pup One and Snow White. They books were used as maps. We searched for the wolf pups and the birds from the Snow White book. It was fun hanging out with the kids. The play structure was a boat so we steered it to rescue the animals. We also slid down the slide over and over again. They sat on my lap then one of the kids would push the two of us down. Being with the kiddos at the park was just what I needed to get out of my mood. Dad made some spaghetti and when we got home it was already. We were all hungry. After dinner the kiddos watched a little bit of the Tigger Movie. Now Nicole is pretending to be Roo and we are Kanga. Justin said he liked the movie Cars better. The kids played with money for a bit then we read some books. The kiddos gave us lots of hugs, so sweet.

This morning we were greeted by Nicole. It was 7:00 but just so funny to have her come in our room. I was hoping she was going to sleep in but didn’t. We just played at home for a while. The kids were wanting us to play. Dad updated the outlet in our bathroom while I played store with the kiddos. They started playing store together. We had to go to Grammy’s to check on her sprinklers. The kiddos played there for a bit and we cleaned up all the toys. We headed to Little Pickle for lunch, so good! We came home and played outside. Dad and Justin mowed the lawn. Nicole was tired and laid down on the futon. All of a sudden she got up and said I am done with my nap! I did laundry then we worked in the garage. Both cars can go back in the garage. Messes are everywhere, garage is clean but now the house is a mess. The kids drove their cars on the green belt which gave us time to work in the garage. After the kiddos watched Curious George. I can’t believe that is the only thing they want to watch these days. Kiddos had a snack and played a bit then we were headed to a play date at the park with Spiderman. One of the kiddos from pre school had a birthday party @ Settler’s Park. While we were waiting for Spidey, the kids rode their bikes and went on the swings. Justin wasn’t scared of Spiderman but Nicole didn’t want anything to do with him. Justin hung out with the group and played with Spiderman, looked for bad guys, climbed up and went down the slides, did push ups, played games, raced Spiderman, etc.I am proud to say Justin out ran Spiderman.

While Justin played I got some cute pictures of Nicole.

Justin took a break from the party and the kids were on the swings. We were swinging them crazy high. We would run under them as well, good workout.

After swinging the kiddos re-joined the party. The bunny lady was there as well. Nicole got a kitty cat painted on her hand. The bunny lady and Spidey did the bunny fufu song/story so Nicole was ok with Spiderman after that. They kiddos all did the parachute. A great time was had by all, however, it was cold. On the way we stopped for dinner. When we got to dinner Justin said Spiderman made me hungry, it was aso funny. When we got home the kiddos wanted to play in the garage, since it is so clean. They pushed cars and trains and played ball. Then it was upstairs time. I worked on cleaning out the linen closet while dad read a ton of books. Kiddos went to sleep right away, we are all tired.

We are exhausted from a long but fun day. This morning I was up early and went running. We probably did about 6 miles or so. Bret had to work this morning a bit. I talked the kids into taking a shower with me. We went upstairs and the kiddos got naked. I got in the shower and no one followed me. Instead they threw all their toys in. We had fun playing upstairs and read books. When dad finished working we packed up and headed to Carlsbad. It was kids day at the flower fields. It was so crowded. It advertised they were going to have a snow area, well it was just a tiny little ice patch. The kids did sled down. Justin loved it. Nicole liked it until her sled tipped then it was so icey she fell getting up. They played in the play area for a bit,  but again it was crowded. We headed over to the Ronald McDonald show. It was mildly amusing and funny watching the kids laugh. We went through the sweet pea maze. The kids had fun and wanted to do it again and again. We stood inline for the tracor ride. Justin loved it. He wanted a green tractor and we got a green one. Nicole was getting sleepy on the tractor ride. After we headed over to the outlet mall. We just walked around, the kiddos played on the little ride things, and went into a toy store. We were pretty tired as we were in the sun the whole day. We stopped for dinner. The kids and I were hungry! After dinner we went to Wal-Mart to waste time before coming home. We didn’t want to leave early just in case the kids fell asleep in the car. We bought some stuff for Easter and then got the kiddos in their jammies. There was no way the kiddos were falling asleep, they were having too much fun together. So great to listen to them make each other giggle, etc. We had a great ride home. Kiddos went to be a little late-we will hope they sleep in. I am about to follow and go to bed.