Our growing family
For all of you who have been concerned for Spunky, I’m here to report that he lives on. I’ve kept him alive for 2 weeks now and I take great pride in this. I feed him twice daily, clean out his bowl every day or every other day, he joins me and Emily for breakfast in the morning, she continues to plead with me to let her pet him…I’d say his life is good.
So thank you for your care and well wishes. Be encouraged in the “goldfish as pet” concept.
My friend Kelly Taylor came to town from Utah for a few days, which prompted a bunch of us gals to get together for some quality time.
Monday night we got together with the Taylors (Matt, Kelly, Hudson and Tatum), the Hoekmans (Greg, Kathy and Savannah) and The Johnsons (that’s us) for a BBQ dinner at the Yankoff’s house. For those of you who don’t know the Yankoff’s, their house is beautiful and has a 180 degree view of the ocean and Dana Point Harbor…so we were roughing it. We enjoyed a great dinner, some brownies and cookie bars, the ladies got to visit, and the guys played a couple rounds of put put. Fun Monday evening.
Wednesday afternoon, my college roommate Christina came down from Covina with her son Liam. Once the word was out that Christina was coming over, then came Kelly and Hudson and Tatum, and Nicole Daichendt with her two boys Jake and Joshua. I made lunch for us all and we ate and got caught up, while the kids played with every toy in our toy chest. I wish I had a picture of this. It was hilarious to see so many kids in our little place amongst such a disaster of legos, puzzle pieces, stuffed animals, balls, and especially all the toys that make lights and sounds all going at once. Emily napped during most of the visit, which was best because I quickly discovered that we need to start working on SHARING.
Friday morning, Kathy and I had made plans to drop off a gift for Nicole. So me and Emily, Kathy and Savannah, Nicole and Jake and Joshua, all spent the morning together. Nicole made us pancakes and coffee, the kids played great all together, and Nicole loved her gift – tears are the best affirmation of a good gift. 
After a while Nicole got a call from Kelly (who had fortunately decided to stay in town for another day), and in no time she joined us with Hudson and Tatum. So fun!
We were all enjoying oursleves too much to stop and take pictures but I hope I’ve captured the spirit of all the fun in words. College girl friends + kiddos = fantastic! A great week of quality time with friends.
Emily’s buddy, Charlie, turned 1 this past weekend. He had a fantastic Elmo themed party and the game prizes were little “Dorothy”s (Elmo’s pet goldfish). However, with all the action packed into his party we never got around to playing the games. So at the end of the party Alie was sending me home with all 5 goldfish. I felt a great deal of pressure to sustain the lives of these 5 little guys, but she told me that 9 of them had already died leading up to the party, which made me think “okay sure, some entertainment for Emily for a few days until they all die”. Sad but funny.
So they came home with us. 2 in one fish bowl and 3 in the other. Emily was so delighted saying “fishies, fishies”, we counted them together (she loves to count to 5, and then we high 5 at the end) and watching them swim around. I was so proud when we went to bed that night and still had 5 fish swimming happily.
The next morning I was greeted by our first loss. I didn’t get too down on myself. I scooped it up, tossed it and went on with my morning. When Emily woke up and came downstairs she said “fishies, fishies”, we counted them, fed them and watched them swim around. That night we lost another one.
Now three fish swimming about, 2 in one bowl which I found to be a very boring pair, and 1 in the other whom I nicknamed Spunky – because he had spunk. We made it a full day with these 3.
The next day we were gone all day, so I can’t say for sure when 1 of the two boring fish died. But I came home around 4:30 to his sad little lifeless body. It didn’t dawn on me that this would be an appropriate time to change the water again. At dinner Eric placed the two remaining fish in their bowls on the dining room table for Emily’s entertainment while we ate. The one who had lost his friend just stayed at the top. Eric even said “how funny, it looks like he’s trying to breath”. It wasn’t until later that I realized, maybe not breath in air but at least to get a break from the carcass water that he was being forced to live in. He died that night.
And then there was one! And lucky for me it’s Spunky, my favorite one. Emily got up this morning, she saw the fish and said “fishies, fishies”, she kept saying 2, but I corrected her that there was only 1, we changed his water, I let Emily feed him which was a thrill for her, and then we watched him pop his head to the top to eat it all up. Emily laughed and pointed, tried to pet him, wanted to hold him, but eventually settled on just watching and saying “fishy”.
This is day 5 with Spunky. Wish me luck.
The second South County Project event was a Throwback 4th of July Party. They had carnival type games, a petting zoo, pony rides, sno-cones, popcorn, cotton candy, watermelon and pie eating contest…it was fantastic! Em’s favorite part was the balloons decorating the area and the petting zoo. We just got to sit down in the middle and all the animals made their rounds coming up to us (to see if we were offering food of course). We got to hold bunnies, and pet goats, and chickens, even a pig and a baby lama. Eric and I played a bunch of the carnival games, which awarded us with tickets to redeem for sno-cones. Emily got to share with us.
That night we had the Bridgmans over for dinner and fireworks. Then we put the girls to bed and pulled an all-nighter playing Sequence and the Wii, watching AliG, and eating too much candy. It was way fun!
Here the girls are taking in their first Piccolo Pete. WARNING: It’s loud.
The next morning Brandon made some delicious breakfast burritos for us all, and then we hit up the pool for some summertime fun.
Great weekend!
We are thrilled to announce we are expecting another baby! I’ve just passed my first trimester and I’m feeling great. We are so excited to be a family of 4. Other than my due date (January 10th) people usually ask if we’re going to find out if we’re having a boy or girl, and my answer to that is “absolutely”! I’ve already scheduled an ultrasound to find out (August 1st). I’ll keep you posted.
Eric and I spent all day together to celebrate my 29th birthday. He took the day off work, and Betty and Lyle offered to watch Emily for us. We started our day at the gym. Then we picked up some sandwiches, headed down to Crystal Cove, did some shopping at the Gap, stopped off at the Shake Shack for some Oreo shakes, then headed down to Crystal Cove beach just as the fog had burned off for a beautiful day at the beach. Smash ball, frisbee, swimming in the ocean, reading, we took a nap. It was glorious! After the beach we headed to Avila’s El Ranchito for dinner. Then to the movie theater to see Away We Go which was hilarious.
A heavenly day with my hubby. It was a perfect way to celebrate my 29 years.
My Dad’s Birthday was June 7th. We all headed down to Coastline Church in Carlsbad where my dad has been the interim pastor for the past several months. We enjoyed a great service, then headed back to our house for lunch and dessert. It was great fun to be with my family for a day of church and lunch – It reminded me of my youth.
Betty’s Birthday was June 10th. We all pitched in for a picnic lunch at the Montage in Laguna. We played bocce and ladder golf, and enjoyed the perfect view. After the beach we came back to our house for some appetizers and dessert, and Betty opened her gift. We’d been working for a couple months on a memory album for her with pictures and memories from each of us. It was a great day.
Camy’s 5th Birthday was June 16th. We went to the American Girl Place in Los Angeles. Camy was glowing! She wore a special dress, with her hair all done up, she even got to wear some blush for her special day. The “Place” was an exquisite display of these special dolls and accesories, with a theater, a cafe, and even clothes for the little girls to wear to match with their dolls. We enjoyed a birthday lunch in the cafe where they served glorified childlike fare, and gave the girls little latch on seats for their dolls to sit at the table with us. It was adorable.
Happy Fathers Day, my love!
Every day when Eric gets home, I hear the jingle of his keys, then the turning of the doorknob, and then finally the front door opens. This is a highlight for both Emily and me, as we look forward to his arrival home most of the day. When I hear the door open I typically call down to him “Hey Baby!”. Then I say “Daddy’s home”, and Emily runs to the baby gate to greet him as he comes up the stairs. I guess Emily has picked up on this little routine. Today when Eric got home from his soccer game, she and I were playing on the couch together. I heard the jingle, the knob, then the door, and I yelled down to him, “Hey Baby”, which came quickly followed by Emily yelling “Hey Baby!” to him too.
It was adorable, and it gave Eric and me a great laugh.
This little girl just continues to fill our lives with joy. She seems to be learning something new every day, adding to her vocabulary, and keeping us on our toes (literally). Her favorite words right now are up, nonono (with a scolding finger), bird, Elmo, bottle, blueberries, paci, water, walk, outside and flag. Mind you, none of these sound quite like the actual words. For example “flag” its actually “alickylickylicky” – no idea why. Paci is “Pssss”. And “bird” is “Bbbbba”. What matters is that we know what she’s saying. She’s also doing a great job with her sign language. She’s becoming a very polite little lady with her “pleases” and “thank yous”.
Her personality abounds. Here are some peaks into her latest favorites.
Graham crackers and fishy faces
Building Lego towers
Hanging with her cousin Camryn
Playing dress up
Doing it on her own
Swim lessons and play time with her best friend Bailey
After bath time robe, sippy cup and Elmo
Playing piano
Snuggling with Henrietta and Dotti
Playing catch-and-kick with her big pink ball
