View From My Kitchen

As I was busy cooking dinner yesterday, I suddenly fell in love my kitchen. Here's what I can see from my kitchen sink.

The view of the front room out into the courtyard:

The view out the back door into the yard. We have left these door open all day for the past week. I love the ocean breeze that comes into the house.

And with me at the sink, of course, two busy bodies.

James was in a grumpy mood during that picture, so here's one more of him:

Lately, life has been crazy. Most days I feel like I am on the verge of insanity when Joseph at last walks through the door. Endurance and patience... my two motivating words these days.

Update

Okay, well now James is eating us out of the house. For example, he polished off two helpings of breakfast and ate an ENTIRE peanut butter sandwich today. It seems that he is making up for those lost calories. Hallelujah!

FOOD STRIKE!

You would never guess it from this cute little face. If I try to force food into his mouth, he promptly spits it back out. The airplane trick no longer works- he's lost trust in mommy's food choices. He's even finicky about milk in his sippy cup.

No more pretzels, cookies, or crackers for this kid, until he takes REAL food! Honestly, I really am concerned about this kid. Say a prayer for us!

Doctor David?

The past few weeks, David has been fascinated with the body. We are constantly talking about blood, lungs, the heart, you name it. Joseph finally pulled out my anatomy book and David's been looking at it throughout the day. Since it was POURING all day today, I considered it a good opportunity to take a field trip to get my blood drawn (one of those wonderful pregnancy things). While in the waiting room, we heard a baby screaming. David turned to me with a serious face and said, "mommy, I bet a baby is coming out of his mommy's belly. That's why he's crying." We were finally ushered over to our booth with 6 viles waiting for my blood. Since my little buddy seemed so attentive, I asked him to hold my hand to help me be brave ( I really did need some reassurance). He watched the whole process without moving an inch. On our way down the elevator to the car he said, "mommy, can you breath now? Try to take a breath." I showed him that I was okay and home we went.

Such a fun day with such a cute boy. If you ask David what he wants to be when he grows up, he will tell you, without delay, that he wants to be a lawyer. We'll see. Maybe he's got the same genes as his grandpa, Doctor Mumford.

This is David with our dog, Pilot. They have been buddies lately, so much that David has decided to share his blanky with the dog. While I am not to thrilled about it, it is fun to see him care about our little animal. He's also come up with some Christmas ideas, such as a doggie toilet, a bone holder, and Pilot's own blanket. Almost once a day he says, "Mom, I LOVE Pilot".

Our nest is growing...

And it's time to make room for baby #3!

Due date is August 3rd, one day before David's birthday.

(I took this picture yesterday in our backyard. Looks like we have baby hummingbirds again this year!)

Snow, snow.... well enough to get by

For New Years we drove two hours inland up to Green Valley Lake in the San Bernadino mountains. My sister, Holly and her family met up with us to share a cabin and get a taste of snow. As we drove up the mountain, we began to get worried because it was sunny and warm with only a few patched of snows. Fortunately, Green Valley Lake is at the highest elevation, so when we arrived, we found plenty of snow.

My kids were pretty funny about the whole experience. James threw a fit every time his fingers touched the cold, wet stuff and David acted like he was going to die of hypothermia. These California boys are sure going to be shocked someday when they discover what real winter feels like.

To add to our sledding experience, we took a few hikes. As soon as we climbed out of the valley, we hit dry ground. The kids got hot, so they snacked on a patch of snow.

Our final day, we did take a hike through the snow-filled forest. Next time we'll bring some snowshoes.

I love this picture. Yes, four people went down the hill on two tubes. Cute Eliza kept encouraging David to go down the slope.

Here's an action shot of David on Joseph's back.

James is not one to miss out on fun. I was worried about sending him down the hill, but he seemed to enjoy it.

When we arrived back at Mission Viejo, it was sunny and 75 degrees. We wondered why we had left, but did enjoy getting a flavor of winter and spending time with family. Thanks for the fun trip, Holly and Courtney!

Christmas wrap-up

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Though we missed being with our extended family, it was nice to have a year at home (especially since we would have been traveling through the blizzards on the east coast). I had decided to forfeit making sugar cookies this year, but changed my mind two days before Christmas. I forgot to half the recipe, so in one night, we baked and frosted over 6 dozen cookies. Yup, they all got eaten.

It didn't take James very long to discover how good those cookies tasted. The only way to keep him happy during our cookie-frosting activity was to feed him cookie after cookie. To appease him on Christmas morning, I gave him a few cookies as well.

Santa was good to us this year and gave David exactly what he asked for, a "knight riding a horse" (not pictured). The favorite toy in our house is Duplos, so we got a new box to add to our collection.

Though David asked for a knight, the transformer won his heart... seems like an inevitable part of boyhood.

We weren't too lonely on Christmas. Joseph's parents and grandparents came early in the morning for breakfast and that afternoon, my brother Jason drove down from Los Angeles. The boys enjoyed all the company. We are sure grateful to have family near by.