Melissa’s Blog

Before our little play group came over, we ran to the grocery store. The kids had fun pushing the little carts-it was so cute. Everyone was smiling at them. The kids did really well at play group and had fun. The house was a mess but oh well the kids had fun and that is all that matters. It took a while to get the kids down for a nap. Finally they went down and then an hour later someone rang the door bell. Luckily they were happy and ready to get up. Then we got ready for Samantha’s (Cheryl Stivers) 5th birthday at Bears, Buddies, and Toys. The party was so cute. I took both kids. But Bret got off work early and picked up Justin after a bit. Justin was just happy playing at the train table while Nik and I played at the party. Nicole and I had a great time. She dressed up as Dorothy and wore her red sparkly shoes-it was so cute. All the girls looked beautiful. Then all the kids got to stuff a bear (build a bear). Nicole picked out a dalmation doggie. She calls it polka dots. Justin was interested in figuring out how the machine worked for stuffing the animals. After there was a story time and Nicole just sat there and listened. Dad and Justin had a great time together. They went to the train station and watched trains. They got milk and a snack together and J drank milk like a big boy. The minute Nicole and I got home Justin came running up to me and said “I saw trains”. We need to separate the kids more often, we both had a great time.

Happy Valentine’s Day! We went to music class this morning. Nicole was fascinated with the instructor, Miss Judy. Nicole just stood in front of her and watched her. And tried to touch the guitar any chance she got. Both kids gave her hugs as they left. After I met Maggie and Aliya to go to the park but it was too cold and a little rainy. So we went and checked out the nature center and there was a little area for the kids to play. It wasn’t all that exciting though. After we stopped at the grocery store and came home and had lunch. The kids finally went down for a nap, after I went up there about 10 times. During nap, I made cookies and did Valentine’s for the V-Day Party. After nap we headed to Melissa’s for the party. Nicole loved Melissa’s daughter Gloria’s bed (see pic). There is one more picture of Nicole than Justin as my camera battery died on me. The kids had fun until they saw a kid dressed up as Spiderman with a mask. They were in the trampoline with him and the kids were terrified. At that point I decided to just come home. The kids opened their Valentine’s presents, books and bubble machine. Since it was too cold we just did the bubble machine in the downstairs bathroom. So Justin has been doing super on going pee pee in the potty. The special reward now is they get to flush their pee pee and say bye bye to it. They love it and pee’d a lot in their potty.

Today was our last Little People Morning’s class. The kids painted about 10 pictures each; they had a blast. It was a cute class. We brought Valentines for each of the kids. The kids made envelopes for the V-Day cards and then passed out their Valentine’s. Of course when my kiddos went to pass theirs out they put all of them in one person’s envelope-silly munch kins. After class we ran to the store as we were out of milk. Then home for lunch and nap. But I got a surprise when we got home, beautiful Valentine’s roses. It took the kiddos a while to fall asleep but finally did. After nap we went to Bears, Buddies, and Toys for story time. The train table won their attention over story time. Then the kids got to decorate Valentine’s Day cookies. It was cute, of course they needed a million sprinkles. I wanted the kids to wait and eat their cookies after dinner and they totally listened-I was so proud. Of course at dinner Bret said after you are all done you can have your cookie and Justin declared all done 🙂 HA So Nicole had to try on a bunch of clothes tonight. She is getting so girly. The kids are getting so good at telling us what words in the book that comes next.

This morning (7:45) we met some friends, Vena, Candice, Penny, Stacey at IHOP with kids all in their pj’s. They were giving away free short stack of pancakes. There were 3 sets of twins there. We had so much fun and it was something different. I have never taken the kids to breakfast. The kids learned that jumping in a booth is really fun-ugh. We left a huge mess behind. After we went to a nearby park. The kids had fun climbing, sliding, and swinging at the park. They did fight a bit over a bike that was there. I thought they were tired so we came home had snack. I tried to get them to take a nap before mommy and me pre school-what was I thinking? They just played, jumped, and threw everything out of their cribs. So I gave up, fed them lunch quickly and off to pre school. They had a blast. Nicole, of course, was busy washing her hands. They made Valentine cards, painted, played in rice and pasta-poured it, scooped it, etc. It was cute. Outside they played with bubbles, painted more, etc. They both took a nap today, maybe because it was later than usual. After nap we went to Bears, Buddies, and Toys to buy a gift for Samantha’s princess party on Friday. The kids had a great time playing with everything in the store. They both saw a dog with its tongue hanging out and said doggy like this and stuck out their tongues. We were in the store for about an hour playing since they ha so much fun. Tonight I left to go play Bunco. Daddy did so great reading and putting the kids to bed. I had a great time and it was nice to go out.

This morning we met Paula and gang at the zoo. We had a great time. The kids got to pet a snake-ewwwwww (picture below of Justin). We did the usual zoo stuff, saw the monkeys, played in the play area, rode the train, etc. The kids love washing their hands in the big basin there, hence the picture below. We had a picnic lunch there. Then we went to the multiples Valentine’s Day party. On the way there, Nicole said “I miss daddy today”-so cute. Then the kids slept a bit on the way there. Nicole slept a little longer then Justin. So Justin and I played in the car until Nicole woke up. We had fun pretending to drive, rolling down the windows, and turning on the breeze (the fan). The kids had a great time at the V-Day party. They played in tents, tunnels, did crafts, story time, etc. Since we were down that way we stopped by to say hi to grandma/pa. They had fun playing peek a boo-hide and seek at the bottom of grandma/pa’s bed. They love listening to their music cd from the south coast music together in the car. Nicole knows almost all the words to All Around the Cobbler Bench. We came home and had dinner and the kids told daddy all about their day. They were pretty tired and went right to sleep tonight.

This morning we did boring errands, but with the kids nothing is boring. We went to Target and Costco. The kids got lots of snacks at Coscto including a smoothie sample. Then we played in the backyard. We filled the sand box again, the kids were way more thrilled then I was. Sand everywhere. They loved it and had so much fun making sand castles. We ate our lunch outside since the weather is still so nice. The kids took a nap today. Daddy was determined to have them take a nap-they were tired too, so he settled them down and stayed with them until they fell asleep. After nap we walked over to Janet, Zach, Alaina, and Evan’s house for dinner. On the way over Nicole showed her baby a big red truck-it was cute. Alaina, Nicole, and Justin all sat at the little picnic table-it was too cute. The kids had a great time playing. Nicole was so into Alaina’s digital camera toy, so much in fact we may need to get Nicole one. The kids did great walking to and from their house. It was a fun night.

It was too nice out today, so we couldn’t stay indoors. We went to the Spectrum this morning and had a great time. We ran in to Neyha, Sudhir, Krish, and Baby Isha there. The kids all went on the carousal and loved it. Nicole gets off and says “I do it again”. Then we played in the toy store. Of course the trains were a big hit. Sudhir gave the kids little cars and that amused our kids for hours. After that we went to the pet store and saw dogs and birds. We had lunch with Neyha and gang at Red Robin. We sat outside in front of the carousal and all the activity, so the kids did great. We went down to the fountains and watched the water. Justin loved it and said “I get wet”. They were excited to watch the train go by. It was so weird not to be out and worried about nap. We came home and played for a bit before getting in the car to drive to South Pasadena for Jermey’s 3rd birthday party. The kids fell asleep in the car for a short time. They hadWe left a bit early to make sure the kids didn’t fall asleep on the way home. .  a blast at Jeremy’s. When I told Nicole we were going to Jeremy’s she said “Jeremy make me laugh, funny”. Their backyard is a park with a play structure, sandbox, basketball hoop, etc. The kids learned to climb the little rock wall and did great. They sat at the little picnic table and ate dinner, so cute. Nicole was pushing the big dump truck while Justin was playing with the dog’s tennis ball. It was fun watching them have a great time

The weather was so great today. This morning we met some friends, Neyha, Kristen, and Christy at the Santa Ana Zoo. The kids had a great time, although, they were so hungry. They liked the monkeys, the train ride, the pigs, and washing their hands in the big basin. We had a nice morning. There was no napping in this household today-ugh. So we went to Toys R Us to get a present for Jeremy. The kids had fun carrying things around (buckets, bubbles) and playing with the train table. Then we met some friends at Blue Gum Park, Neyha and Kristen. The kids played with bubbles and spent a lot of time playing in the sand. They had a great time. We came home and picked up daddy and tried a new restaurant called Pastagina. We played by the fountain and came home for a bath. The kids went right to sleep tonight (the only good part of no nap).

This morning we went to music class. They were so excited to go to the class. They had fun, dancing, playing with instruments. When the instruments come out my kids go for the drums and drum sticks. After music class, the weather was so nice so we decided to go to the park with some friends. We went to Canyon View Park in Aliso Viejo, the kids loved this park. They played on the see saw most of the time and had fun playing in the sand. On the way home from the park they kept on saying I want to see daddy. Guess they had so much fun visiting him at work yesterday. I put the kids down for a nap about a half hour ago and I still hear them laughing and playing. It is really cute though. As you can see from them picture below they threw everything out of their cribs and both didn’t nap. After our non-nap we went and met Vena and Candice at the Irvine Regional Park. We did the zoo for a bit, fed the ducks, and just walked around. The kids had so much fun chasing the ducks. They really liked the white ducks. We came home and met our new next door neighbors. They seem really nice. We got a tour of their house and we gave them a tour of ours. Then I met Neyha for gelato. It was a nice little break. The kiddos were tired and went right to bed tonight-the only advantage to no nap.

This morning was our Little People Morning class. The kids just wanted to paint. I think they each painted like 5 pictures. I guess it is time to get an easel. We did a craft that included glue and the kids went crazy with the glue. They put so much glue on their craft that I had to start over with no glue. They had fun so thats all that matters. Class was cute and the kids had fun. We were there late just looking at all the books. We came home had lunch and both napped today. After nap I told the kids we were going to go to the park. Silly kids just wanted to color. I couldn’t believe it. So we colored for a bit. Then we went to see daddy at work. It was cute the kids kept on saying daddy drive. That was their way of saying come with us. The kids had fun at daddy’s work. Then we went to Costco. They kids had a blast getting their snack via all the samples. They were so well behaved that I just let them walk with me. Tonight we did some paint and made some cards for Valentine’s Day. Very messy but amazingly fun. Dad was reading books to Justin and Nicole decided to give daddy a pretend haircut. She was so funny, she mimicked what happened at Justin’s haircut. She kept on saying “almost done” “other side” and even mentioned a lollipop. We were laughing so hard.