Christmas 2009 video

Here is a video of our Christmas in San Diego. We enjoyed having a quiet Christmas, but we did miss spending time with family. Hopefully next year!!!

Hope you enjoy the video.

Kelli

Mariah learning to swim

So, it has been a while since we posted an update and I just wanted to show a video of Mariah's swimming skills. She has been taking swimming lessons since August and is doing really well!!! She is learning to do "polar bears" now, which is basically what we use to call "dog paddling." She is doing a better job of swimming almost independently with just a little support from her instructor Tracy. It is amazing what they can learn at such young ages and she just loves it. So, we are in the dilemma now of trying to decide whether or not to renew for another 12 sessions. She has 3 left and of course, all of the progress is seen toward the end of the sessions which makes you want to renew and do more since she will progress even more :) She also just learned to slide along the side of the pool wall during this session, which is a safety skill to help the kids get to the steps so they can get out if they fall in the pool.

Check it out and see for yourself.

Okay, so we are a little behind on making videos...

So, Matt and I had wonderful plans of making videos of Mariah as she grows and changes to share with our family and friends who don't see her that often; however, the last one we posted was of Halloween. Now we are trying to get caught up and that is my goal for the summer since I won't be working again until late August.

The following video is of Mariah's 1st birthday, so although it is a little bit after the fact, we hope you enjoy the video of her cake eating madness :)

4 Wonderful Years!!!

So, tomorrow Matt and I have been married for 4 years. It has been an amazing 4 years and I can't believe how much life has changed in that 4 years. We have gone through so many changes together, which included moving from ND to Santa Clarita, CA, and from Santa Clarita to San Diego. We got our first dog together (even though I vowed to never be a pet person). Matt and I also welcomed our beautiful daughter into the world. Life has changed so much, but each day that we spend together seems to somehow be better than the last.

We are celebrating our Anniversary by going on a romantic getaway to Ojai, CA. Matt's Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Jon have graciously offered to watch Mariah and Nala for the weekend. We are very excited to have some time to ourselves, but I am sure that we will miss Mariah. This will be my first night away from her, but she will be in good hands and will be having tons of fun, I am sure.

Matt has truly been a blessing in my life and I could not imagine a better husband or father. Thank you for the amazing 4 years of marriage Matt. I love you very much!!! Happy 4th Anniversary.

Future DG

So, for those of you who don't know about the sorority that I was in, Delta Gamma's symbol is the anchor, therefore, I enjoy all things related to anchors. Right now, Old Navy has anchor clothing for girls in almost every color. Of course, when I saw that online, I had to rush out to the store to get her something and ended up buying her a navy blue shirt with pink anchors and two swimsuits with anchors on them. I could not decide between the two, and I decided, well we live in Southern California, the girl needs swimsuits, right?

I brought them home and had to have her model them to see if they fit, so here is the result:

Little Peanut

So, Matt and I took Mariah to the doctor yesterday for her 15 month check up. The little stinker only gained 1 oz over the last 3 months. She went from 18 lbs 6 oz to 18 lbs 7 oz; however, she grew 2 inches and is now 31 inches long. That puts her at the 2nd percentile for weight and 64th for height. I am not sure if she knows who her parents are, but I don't think either of us were ever at the 64th percentile for height :) It is crazy to think that over the last 15 months she has gained 13.5 lbs and grown 12 inches!!!

She has also gotten to be quite the girly girl lately. She has a couple of purses that she puts on her arm and carries around as she walks around the house. She has to hold her arm up by her face so that she makes sure to not drop the purses. Mariah also loves to carry her chapstick around and wear clicky, girly shoes. (She's also infatuated with carrying around wet wipes, as an odd aside)

In addition to acting quite girly, Mariah's personality is showing through quite a bit lately. She loves to laugh, chase Nala, and raise her eyebrows when something seems odd to her. Thankfully, instead of destroying everything 24/7, she's starting to catch on and pick up after herself. It's pretty cute when she tries to put the towel back on the rack or put her tub toys away; they can't be out of place. I can't imagine where that comes from...couldn't be either of her parents.

We love watching her grow and learn everyday and could not ask for a better daughter.

Home Sweet Home

Well, after a 6 month process of putting an offer on a townhome, getting outbid on the offer, outbidding that offer, waiting for the bank to approve the offer, and then waiting for the bank and escrow company to close the deal, we are FINALLY homeowners. It has been a long wait and has really tested our patience, but we are very excited to finally be working on our own home and getting ready to move in soon. The picture above is what our current place that we are renting looks like on the outside, but that is pretty much what the new place looks like as well. It was dark so I couldn't take exterior pics this evening.

So, the details on our new place are that it is in the same townhome complex that we currently live in, so we get to continue to use our wonderful facilities including pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, fitness center, indoor racquetball court, etc, etc. It is a 1300 sq foot one-level townhome with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a 2 car garage.

This is a picture of the entry way, living room, and off to the right is the 3rd bedroom/den.Here is the dining room/kitchen and sliding doors that go out to our patio.


More living room/dining room.This is a picture of Mariah's/Guest bathroom.

Master Bedroom pics.
Master bathroom.

Mariah has a bedroom too, but it was too difficult to take a picture of it. I will take pics once her furniture is in there and post those.

Also, wanted to post this pic of Mariah hanging out on the couch at our old house watching Mickey Mouse club and eating a snack. She looks so grown up in this pic, I can't hardly believe it.

Milestones

So, I just wanted to update everyone that Mariah is finally walking!!! Matt and I were getting a little concerned as we expect her to be above average :) She started taking a couple of steps on Tuesday when I picked her up from our neighbor's after work and now she is taking 10 steps or so back and forth between us. Now when people say, "Is she walking yet?" as that seems to be the common question lately, we can finally say that she is.

She is so cute when she does it too as she is all smiles. It is very exciting, but a little sad at the same time. I see all these little babies out and about and I realize that she was like that just a short time ago, but now she is in the toddler stage. Everyone says time flies when you have a child, but you don't realize it until you watch your 5 pound little baby who is so dependent on you change into a little girl overnight. Tear :(

We will post some video soon, so that you can all enjoy her walking as well.

We are still waiting on closing on the house and keys, which is getting kind of annoying, but I guess we are learning patience through this whole ordeal.

Changes

So, we are hoping to close on our condo/townhome on Tuesday. This has been quite the process for us since we have had an offer on the place since July. It was a "short sale," which is apparently defined as a really long sale. We are very excited, but the thought of all the work that will be coming up in the next few weeks with painting, moving, working full time, and taking care of a 14 month old just makes me exhausted thinking about it. We are buying a place in the same complex that we live in right now, so the move is essentially down the street, but it is still a lot of work. We will post pictures as soon as we get our keys :)

Also, we felt another earthquake tonight. It was centered about an hour and a half from here, but we could feel it nonetheless. The California sunshine and beaches really entice you to move here, but when you feel the ground shake beneath your feet, it kind of makes you want to move back to blizzard-country :) However, Matt thinks earthquakes are exciting. Nala and I disagree, but I am not sure what Mariah thinks about them as she really doesn't seem to notice. This is the 4th earthquake that I have felt since moving to San Diego in June of 2007. When we lived in L.A. for 2 years, I didn't feel a single earthquake. All in all, earthquakes are not my favorite thing and instantly raise my blood pressure.