My Little Monkey Turns 3!

Last Friday Julia had her third birthday! I can't belive it's already been three years since Julia came into our lives! We love her so much and she brings us so much joy!
On her birthday, she woke up to balloons and a table full of her birthay presents.
She does a real good surprise face.
I think this one was her favorite gift.
After opening her presents, we headed off to The Magic Kingdom! We had birthday reservations at the Cafe Orleans where Julia would get a birthday cake in a princess treasure chest, but our reservations got all mixed up. They were able to still get us in, but were all out of cake. So instead they gave us a free desert, and still gave Julia the treasure chest with mirror and princess flag. She loved it. And the dessert was these yummy donut-like things in the shape of Mickey Mouse. They put a candle in one and decorated it with sprinkles for Julia. She liked it.
We bought her her season pass and she was already tuckered out from standing in line to have her picture taken for the pass. She also got her birthday buttons.
A visit with Winnie the Pooh.
We shouldn't have waited for the end of the day to take this picture. Mason was too tired. He looks like he's crying harder than he actually was. He was only whimpering a little.
Also, my Mom and sister, Kourtney, were in town because my sisters choir was singing at Fullerton College and then going to Disneyland on Saturday. So my Dad, who's been working in Las Vegas, decided to come over to LA and stay with us for the weekend, rather than back to AZ. He drove straight to Fullerton to see my mom and we headed over there to see my mom and sister after Disneyland, where she succeeded in talking me to come to Disneyland the next day. (Going to Dland on a Saturday did not sound fun to me and we were originally supposed to go down to San Diego to find a place to live.) Well, it was really crowded, but I had a fun time with my parents. Glad my Dad was able to stay with us!
Hanging out with Grandpa at Grandma's hotel after Disneyland!

Strawberries, mmmmm

A few days ago we gave Mason a strawberry for the first time. As you can see in the pictures, he thoroughly enjoyed it.
We put the strawberries in this cool netted feeder so that he couldn't gum any big pieces off.
You can see the excitment in his eyes.
You can see all the juices running down him and the Bumbo to the floor. Yum yum!

Also this weekend my friends Meagan and Nadene (Meg's mom) came to LA to get fabric for Meagan's wedding dress. We were so happy to be able to meet them for dinner in Woodland Hills where Nadene grew up.

Easter Weekend

This Easter was very fun. Now that Julia is older, she was really into the whole egg hunt and Easter bunny thing. I did try to explain the true meaning of the holiday to her, she didn't really grasp it. Maybe next year.
We started off the weekend with an egg hunt at one of the local rec centers. They did a really good job, and had cookie decorating, egg coloring, face painting and a bounce house.

Then Saturday night we decorated eggs for the Easter bunny to hide. Julia really liked this.The next morning the Easter Bunny had come and left some fun toys, new swimsuits and eggs for the kids. And he hid the ones we decorated. Julia started strong, but about half way through, she just layed on the floor. I think the Easter Bunny overdid it with the eggs. You can see how full her basket is already...
Julia and Mason in their Easter best. This picture cracks me up, because as most of you know due to complaining in past posts, Julia is really hard to get a good picture of. I have a hard time getting her to smile, look at the camera and open her eyes all at once. I usually only get only one or two of the three. Anyway, in this particular picture, she had been closing her eyes in all the pictures, so I said, "Open your eyes nice and big like Disney Princess eyes!" and she did. Needless to say, a little unnatural looking.
Since our church building is right next to the temple, we decided to take a few shots of the kids. The grounds are beautiful, and so are our kids, of course, but the pictures weren't as well as I hoped, since they were both tired after church.I was able to get a really nice shot of Julia. She looks so sweet and innocent. Looks can be deceiving...

Mason's First Swim

Although I started Julia swimming at two months, Mason couldn't start until now. Since he was born in November, it has always been too cold. We have been in AZ for the past couple weeks, though, and we went to the local public heated pool and went swimming a few times where Mason had his first swim. and tuckered out from all the fun :)
Once Nathan joined me in AZ, I got some film of him going under. He's gonna be a fish, just like Big Sis!

Grandma & Morgan came to visit

A couple weeks ago, Nathan's mom and sister came to visit us. While they were here we went to Disneyland. Julia had a great time showing them her home away from home! And her aunt Morgan bought here a beautiful umbrella with her name on it. Julia calls it her Mary Poppins umbrella.
It was hard to get a good picture at the end of the day. You can see her holding her umbrella.