halloween

i love halloween! something about little ones in their costumes...gets me every time! i remember going over to my brother's house every year for halloween and going with them and the kids trick-or-treating.  sometimes i took them by myself while mita stayed behind to pass out candy.  

i've been so excited to dress sophie in her first costume.  this whole month jake's been talking about ghosts, "gawbwins", spiders, things being "spooooky" and our halloween decorations that matt put up.  my mom and i took the kids around our neighborhood while matt and nava stayed behind to pass out candy scare people. they were in the spirit this year with scary masks, lights off, flashlights to the chin and spooky music.

we started early this year trying to let jake decide what he wanted to be.  after weeks of mind changing, we ended up last minute at target throwing a cowboy costume in the cart and rollin to the register like "whatever...it is what it is".  well, i had the cutest cowboy and ladybug on earth!

 forgot to take a picture of the house when he was done...best one on the street.

with grandma jeanene

 daddy in the spirit

 all he wanted was the lollipops

pumpkin carving

so i was really excited to see matt carve a jack-o-lantern with jake this year.  they went to pick out a pumpkin together (well really they went to lowe's, with sophie, too, since i was at work and according to matt it took him over an hour to get them out of the house) but hey...they went! i couldn't wait to get home from work to see the carving in action.  i made matt wait to start until i had my camera charged and ready to go.  so without further adieu...the first couple of photos are how i always pictured this time in my dreams mind.  the second set of photos are how it actually was.

 now the reality...jake lost interest after about 5 minutes but matt being the committed dad, kept at it. 

pa's pumpkin patch

we went to the same pumpkin patch we've been to since jake's 1st halloween.  matt wasn't busy building a fence this year, so he came with us and my mom came, too.  jake loved riding all of the rides, while sophie just chilled in the stroller with grandma.  he loved the petting zoo of course and kept calling it the animal circus because of the big tent.  he wasn't scared to feed the animals, like a few months ago at adventure city.  he loved the big jumbo slide and had no fear of going all the way to the top without us.  he was hesitant to ride the pony (he actually picked the horse to ride) but like a good mommy, i forced him to get on.  my mom and matt were going to let him pass but i'm determined to have a kid opposite of me (worrier, anxiety-ridden and fearful of the unknown...ok, a bit exaggerated but mostly true).  so we i forced him on even while he was saying " i want to get off", and you know what...he rode without crying and and afterwards, he said, "mommy, i did it!".  proud moment!

labor day

i love my family!  i was so blessed when God created families because i hit the jackpot TWICE!  i was born to the most amazing parents and i continue to realize that more as i'm older and now a parent.  i also have the most fantastic relationship with my brother that any sister could ask for.  and 20 years ago when i moved here to lb, and i was "adopted" by my sister-in-law, mita's family, that made my life complete.  i've watched over the years as we always got together for family functions, just waiting until i could eventually have my kids involved in all of the fun things we do.  now that it's here i look forward to the holidays, trips, parties and random get-togethers more than ever.  

i was telling matt on our way to the beach that i worry now since all of my family's kids are grown that they'll stop doing as much and jake won't get to experience what we've been doing for the last 20 years.  i wish he was closer to his side because they have all of the little ones jake's age and i want him to have the memories with his cousins.  one can dream...

anyway, labor was a blast!  we all met at mother's beach and had a day filled with fun!  jake lived in the water and sand (and in the punch and chips) and sophie was passed around to everyone.  my dad was here which made it extra special.  life is good.

my nieces... best babysitters around!  

 tafa playing with jake

 grandpa marks

 deep conversation with auntie carma

 sophie stylin' with uncle jason

 mommy got overridden on the decision to take jake on the kayak

uncle jason and sophie wiped out

flashback...day at shoreline...before summer 2012

i was looking through pics trying to remember the "before sophie" events with jake that i lagged on blogging about and i couldn't not post this one.

matt has lived in the lb since he moved here from hawaii 1984.  i've been here for 20 years. we've been to shoreline village separately and together tons of times BUT we've never rented the bikes and rode the beach path.  leave it to me to suggest it at 7 1/2 months pregnant and with a 2 year old in tow.  i can't tell you how many times i've seen people pedaling away on these bikes while talking and laughing and me thinking oh that looks fun and easy.  and here's matt..."babe, take it easy and let me do most of the work."  here's me..."i work out 5 days a week, spin, run and all of this while pregnant....i got this, i can pull my half."

hahahahahaha...to both of us!  we stopped so many times to rest and were sweating and talking about turning back every few minutes.  but the burger stand at the end point was like a dangling carrot and we were the rabbits.  real talk though...so much fun, jake loved it, especially the french fries, and a great bonding experience for matt and i.

finishing up with the much-loved arcade

fingers crossed for a future Laker

summer...santa ana zoo

lisa and i decided to take the boys to santa ana zoo.  it's definitely smaller than the la zoo and there really aren't too many interesting animals besides the monkeys.  luckily they had  a carousel, train ride and a playground.  those were the highlights.  considering how animal-obsessed my kid is, we'll stick with the la zoo and hopefully san diego zoo real soon.  he kept asking for the lions, elephants and giraffes.  i did what any mom who didn't want to feel like a failure would do...i told him that those particular animals were taking a nap and we couldn't wake them up.  yep, i'm saving my money for therapy.

with charlie and harrison