New Year's Eve

Tonight we spent New Year's Eve at Legoland. We've gone to the celebration there for the last couple of years. Here is a look back...

2008

2009

2010

2011

We watched the lego brick drop at 6pm. Kailani and Zachary were very interested in watching. There was a nice fireworks show afterwards. Kailani was excited to find out that the fireworks looked like Legos with the special 3D glasses they gave out. It was actually pretty cool...something new. They did not give out a special New Year's Lego brick like they usually do.

Both kids fell asleep on the way home from Legoland and we'll probably be asleep soon too. It's been a long time since we've been able to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve. Jason and I were actually trying to remember some of the more memorable New Year's Eve nights we've had...one year we celebrated with his aunts and uncles at the Days Inn, one year I celebrated with friends in Reading, another year we celebrated in Philly with Hawaii friends, another year I celebrated in Vegas with friends (while Jason was deployed).

We'll celebrate New Year's Day with Becky and the girls.

Checking out the New Children's Museum

Today we decided to check out the New Children's Museum downtown. We've never been before and it was free for military. It was a three-story museum, but it was very small. The kids enjoyed themselves though, so it was worth it.

Gingerbread fun

Before our meetup this morning, we headed over to the "new" house for a tour. Jason hadn't seen the house yet and he wanted to take a look since we did already put an offer in. Our offer was actually counter offered by the bank and we accepted the counter offer. We're just waiting for the official letter of approval from the bank before we can move forward. The realtor thinks it's possible we could be moved in the house within a month:) As long as it's before the end of February, which is when our lease is up, it's fine with me. We do have a ways to go yet...

Today we made up a meetup that we had to reschedule because of the rain last week. We did a gingerbread day. One of the other organizers brought gingerbread cookies and lots of toppings for decorating. I brought all the materials for a gingerbread craft made out of sand paper and cinnamon sticks. It was such a nice day and the kids had a nice time playing together at the park. I love hosting meetups; I just wish people wouldn't cancel at the last minute.

Zachary had his 18-month check up today. He is doing well. He was about 27 pounds and 33 inches. He is in the 85th percentile for weight, but only the 55th percentile for height. The doctor joked that all of his weight is in his belly. I think she's right:)

Zachary's new wheels

Zachary tested out his new hot wheels today. He had a blast! Thanks Nana and Grandpa:)

Merry Christmas

Kailani was up until 11pm last night and up early this morning excited to see if Santa had left any presents. She ran downstairs right away to make sure there were presents under the tree. I didn't get to take a picture of her on the way down. The kids opened all of their presents. Kailani's favorites are the ladybug pillow pet and the Leapster Explorer. Zachary's favorite is the cleaning set, especially the vacuum.

Becky and the kids came down around lunch time and the kids exchanged gifts. The girls had a nice time playing with their new toys. We had a delicious ham dinner and ice cream sundaes for dessert. Hopefully we can get out of the house for a little bit tomorrow to go shopping:)

Relaxation and rain

Over the last few days we've just been relaxing at home. Jason had surgery on his knee on Tuesday, so he can't really go out yet. It's also been raining non-stop for the the last couple of days, so we haven't wanted to go out anyway. There has been flooding everywhere. People are saying this is the worst rain ever for San Diego. We even skipped the Chick-fil-A holiday party.
Last night Zachary was so tired he fell asleep at the dinner table.
Hopefully we'll be able to get out of the house a little tomorrow.

Watching the Eagles

Ready for the potty

I'm not sure if Zachary is trying to tell us he's ready for potty training...last night at Becky's he asked to go on the potty. This morning, he's been running around sans diaper, so I broke out the little potty.

Nutcracker

Tonight Kailani had her ballet performance of the Nutcracker. She had the cutest costume and did such a great job.

Sick kiddo

Poor Zachary has been sick all week:( I got a call from daycare on Monday afternoon...Zachary had a fever and I had to pick him up. Whenever I get a call like that about either of the kids, I rush to pick them up right away because of the history of seizures. Luckily Zachary did not have a seizure, but he was out of school for most of the week. I stayed home with him on Tuesday and Wednesday and Jason stayed home with him on Thursday. The doctor said he just has a virus, but that he's been in many times because of coughing and wheezing, and that she sees a diagnosis of asthma in the near future. Zachary went back to daycare on Friday, but again, I got a call that he had a slight fever. Luckily, we were at the vet close by, so I left Jason there with the animals and went to pick up the kids. I hope he starts to feel better soon, since we're on winter break now.

Doesn't "feel" like Christmas

We finally got around to decorating the outside. Kailani wanted to put the blow-up train out, so we all helped set it up...in the 90 degree temperature. It is still weird celebrating the Christmas season without the really cold weather.

USO Santa store

We signed up for the USO Santa Store, so we headed there this morning. Kailani couldn't do it last year because the kids have to be 4 to participate. Kailani got to pick out presents for me and Jason. She was scared to go in by herself, but she did it. We got to visit with Santa, and Kailani and Zachary both got presents. We had lunch there too. The event was at the Harley Davidson store, so it was something different...although we did show up at the downtown USO first!

Kailani spent the gift certificate to Gepetto's she had won when she was on the radio. Jason and I showed her several things she might like, but of course, she chose a doll. I told her she could pick whatever she wanted because it was her prize.

We were able to have dinner at Souplantation tonight, which is always a favorite. We can't do it often because it's buffet style and we really need two adults to help out with the kids.

We finally decorated or Christmas tree tonight. Jason actually picked it up on Thursday night (thanks Becky), but we didn't have a chance to put it up until today. Zachary didn't understand what to do with the ornaments, and Kailani put everything in one spot. Kids...gotta love 'em! Decorating the tree was pretty stressful, but it turned out nicely.

Keeping busy

Well, Jason finally made it home late on Saturday night. We thought we might not make it in to the airport, but the kids woke up long enough to walk in and welcome daddy home. Kailani was really excited to see him, but Zachary seemed a little unsure. It took him a day or two to really warm up to Jason. Now he's doing fine. It must be hard at that age when someone comes and goes like this.
It is so nice to have Jason back for some adult company and to share the responsibilities. It's little things like taking a shower that are so nice without having to worry about what the kids are getting in to. I loved coming home from work every day to a cooked meal:) I don't mind giving up cooking at all...although I didn't do much while he was gone!
We went to Chick-fil-A this week with Jason and the kids colored Christmas gift tags.
This afternoon, Jason and I were able to have lunch together without the kids. We also got a little Christmas shopping done. I picked the kids up a little early from daycare to head to My Kids Clubhouse for the meetup groups monthly meet n greet. I've been a part of the group for a year and a half now and it's the first time I was able to be at a meet n greet. They are usually held in the middle of the week. It's nice being an organizer now because I have some say in when things are scheduled:) The kids played at MKC and the moms chatted. Every once in a while, the kids stopped by to make an ornament that we had brought with us. Kailani's art class is over, but she had a special ballet practice for an hour tonight to prepare for next week's Nutcracker. I can't wait to see her in the show!

It's starting to feel like Xmas

Yesterday was Kailani's last art class, so we decided to take Zachary along. They worked on her gingerbread house together. He was actually really good during the class. He didn't even try to "help" any of the other kids with their houses:)This morning we went to a cookie decorating play date at the house of one of the little girls from daycare. The house was absolutely gorgeous....way out of our league. There were lots of kids there from daycare. The tables were set up with different shaped cut-out cookies and lots and lots of frosting, sprinkles, candy, etc. They each got to decorate as many cookies as they wanted. Kailani chose to decorate only one; although I think she could have decorated about five with the amount of goodies she put on it! We stayed and had pizza for lunch and the kids played together. It was nice to get together with the kids (and moms) outside of daycare.
After the play date, we headed to the Target shopping center to see Santa arrive by fire engine. We started off at the ceramic cafe, where Kailani and Zachary painted a free Christmas ornament. It was very difficult with the two kids because it was really crowded...not really a good place for a stroller. The kids had a great time and we get to pick up the ornaments in two weeks.

Now, we're just trying to fill the time until Daddy gets home!