Cali Jewel

Just in case

2010-01-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

Just in case you somehow missed it. The blog has moved.

www.jmurrayphotos.com/familyblog

Time to Move

2009-12-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

I have moved my blog... Please Click here to go to the new blog.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T00:18:00.000-08:00

Our 2009 Christmas Card
Merry Christmas!
Front and Back

Inside

Happy Birthday!

2009-12-21T13:24:00.001-08:00

It's my birthday! And it's been a great one! Wonderful husband, beautiful daughter and great in-laws.
I got just what I wanted for my birthday from my in-laws.

What a week

2009-12-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

Cali is feeling better. A couple of days she just laid around and watched some Disney movies. She watched "Finding Nemo" yesterday and it was so cute she kept commenting on the movie. When Nemo was taken away by the fishers she started yelling "oh no, oh no."
Last weekend Nana and Grandpa had their Christmas party and we had a blast.
Cali enjoyed being silly, as usual.

She had fun playing with all the little kids

She did not enjoy meeting Santa, wouldn't even look at him.

This is the only way she would even get close to Santa.

After Santa went back to the North Pole, she cheered up again.

And then she did a little Karaoke

And after a late night of singing we went home.

Sorry

2009-12-15T22:53:00.000-08:00

But I won't be updating the blog for a few days. I'm working on Cali's book again. My old boss finally contacted me and told me found the files! YAY!
I'm on page 170! Only 90 more to go!

One smart sick cookie

2009-12-13T22:10:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I found Cali putting the crayons back in the silicon molding, I didn't even teach her to do it.
She did it all by herself. I think we need to get her more puzzles for Christmas

You can her the she has had a runny nose for a few days.

It was a cold rainy day so we hungout in bed watching TV. Cali wanted to watch Monster Inc. and I wanted to watch Cougar Town

Today after Cali's nap she told me her ear had a booboo. So I decided to take her to the doctor, as soon as I said doctor she started crying (I guess she remembered she got shots last time she was there). I'm glad she was crying because the receptionist on the phone was trying to get us an appointment for tomorrow (Monday) but when she heard Cali crying she said we could go in right then but there would be a LONG wait. Yeah I know! So I took her in and we waited 35 minutes to see the NP on duty, not too bad. Cali cried the entire time we were there, mostly because she wanted to go home to lay down. Turns out Cali has her first ear infections, yes she has a double ear infection. She is on antibiotics and the NP wants to see her in 2 weeks. I hope she gets better soon, I don't like having a sick baby.

Alligator

2009-12-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

Since Cali is now 2 I've decided that it is time for her to start learning the alphabet. Or at least recognize the letters.

It's suppose to be an Alligator

And of course she requested a picture with her doll

One little Monkey

2009-12-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

Jumping on the bed

She's a good mom

2009-12-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

This morning Cali changed her babies' outfits and then fed them. She's so cute
You can see she's feeding her baby doll.

A small conversation Cali and I had tonight
Me:Cali can I have a kiss?
Cali:No
M:Please
C:No
M:I have a booboo
C:No, read mail
She was too busy reading the Target coupon booklet, that came in the mail, to give me a kiss. She's such a jerk!

Happy Girl!

2009-12-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

She was being such a good girl today that I rewarded her with a blowpop that I had been hiding for months.

We made holiday crayons for all the cousins. Well by we I meant "I."
Cali was suppose to help me but she didn't like taking the wrapping off the crayon and that's the only part she could really help with. We are also missing two ginger bread men, I'm thinking she fed them to Okie.

I'm trying to do more arts and crafts with Cali so if anyone has any suggestions please email me.

She is changing

2009-12-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how much she has changed in such a short time.

She is such a goofball! She loves to dance.

I got her all dressed up to go have pictures taken with Santa. I wanted to get a couple of pictures just in case she didn't want to sit on a strangers lap. And this is what I got.

And no she would not sit on Santa's lap or next to him so we didn't get any pictures :(

Too Short?

2009-12-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

I trimmed Cali's hair today. It looks like this

And this

But after I gave her a bath tonight her bangs look shorter?!?! Somehow her bangs shrunk.Weird.
Cali's Christmas present arrived today! SHHHH don't tell her what it is.

Thanksgiving Round Two

2009-11-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

On our way to Grandma and Poppop Simon on Friday nigh we stopped at the great grandparents house to eat dinner. We met great-great grandma Simon. After we ate we headed up to Smartsville to get some cooking done.
Cali got to open her birthday presents.

It took them a minute to put the tricycle together

And then we got to cooking. Madi making some rice crispy treats

Cali stayed up 'til midnight!!!

On Saturday we headed back to the great grandparents for Thanksgiving dinner
Cali was still tired

We took some pictures

The kids had a tea party

We played some Slap Jack

We ate some prime rib

cleaned up and took a few more pictures.
Four Generations. It would have been 5 but Great Grandpa was passing some kidney stones.

It was a great weekend!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

For those of you waiting on pictures from this weekend (Poppop Simon)
Here is just one. The rest will be posted later tonight

Bring on Christmas

2009-11-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

Today we started putting up the Christmas decoration.
We did some outside lights and the trees.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009!

2009-11-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

Nothing special going on at the Murray home. We are going to make some small finger foods and hangout.
So far we've done some Thanksgiving arts and craft.
Yesterday we went to the store to get supplies and Cali got mad because I would let her wear her pink slippers.

She loves wearing them

Yesterday her and I made the Turkey. Her feet are the body and her hands the feathers.
She loves to "glue"

Today her and Daddy made a tree

And the beautiful birthday gift from Aunt Zanne and Unkie Matt. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family that give her tons of presents.

The tree and turkey are suppose to go on the same sheet of paper but I didn't get big paper to fit both.

I saw a little turkey
standing by a tree
He gobbled and he wobbled
and ran away from me
Oh turkey, turkey, turkey
Please come out and play
I promise I won't eat you
on Thanksgiving Day!

Not Happening.

2009-11-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to be able to finish Cali's book this week. I realized that I am missing 4 months worth of pictures. I guess I never backed them up before I had my laptop reformatted, I contacted my old boss and he is going to check to see if he still has a copy of the ghosted image. Please keep your fingers crossed that he can recover the files, I'm missing November 08 through February 09! So I don't have any pictures from Cali's birthday party :( And the pictures on the blog are too small to print.
But here are some recent pictures.
Cali dancing with Okie

Dave working on my chalkboard for the kitchen

The finished product hanging on our pantry door, with a note he left before he went back to SD.

She looks like such a big girl

She wanted a picture with her baby

OMG!

2009-11-19T21:11:00.000-08:00

My heart is full of joy. Having to replace every picture is to time consuming but it brings back great memories.
June 2008

Time flies by so fast and there are so many great memories made but not enough room in our little brains to remember all of them. I am so glad I started this blog. I can't wait for this book to be printed. Every mother should start a blog.

Busy

2009-11-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

I'm am busy editing Cali's Blog Book. The purpose of this blog was to keep everyone updated and to be Cali's baby book, so now it is time to actually have this thing printed. Unfortunately I have to go edit each individual page and swap almost every photo, I have to swap the web image (smaller size) for the original (printable) image.
The book will probably end up being 250 pages and I'm only on page 40! So I won't be able to update the blog until I finish it. Sorry.
Here is a picture from this weekend.

Two Year Stats

2009-11-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

Cali is 35.5 Inches tall and weighs 29.8lbs fully dressed.
The doctor was literally there for 2 minutes after we waited an hour and 45 minutes. We did not receive the attention that we did with our old doctor. I'm going to switch Cali to a different clinic. The doctor we saw last week was more attentive but because it's a clinic we see which ever doctor is available and I didn't like this one.
I know there is nothing wrong with Cali but it was ridiculous that he was only there for 2 minutes!!!
According to this chart, which our old doctor used, Cali is between the 75-90% for height and 75 percentile for weight.

Birthday Weekend

2009-11-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

We started off the weekend by waiting outside for the Coxes and the ice-cream truck.

She is so cute. Every time she hears the ice-cream truck she yells "stop"

On Friday we got ready for the party and enjoyed sweet baby Levi and his cool parents.
At the birthday party we ate pork sandwiches, delicious baked beans and potato salad.
Then when the birthday girl woke up from her nap we opened presents

She got books, Yo Gabba Gabba toys, PJs, a baby doll, baby set, baby clothes, a bilingual play laptop, a camera, a coloring set...

We had to take a break to eat some cupcakes because she was too busy playing with the laptop and camera to open more presents.
She helped herself to some icing. Notice the laptop and camera next to her.

The Cox boys

The party ended soon after and Cali just enjoyed playing with are her new toys.
On Sunday, her actual birthday, Cali woke up at around 6am but because it was way too early for any of us to get up she went to sleep. When Daddy and I woke up at 8 Cali was still sleeping so we just laid in bed waiting for her to wake up. I was joking about letting Cali eat a cupcake for breakfast and right after I said that she wakes up and says "yeah," it was the funniest thing ever!
Getting ready to go out for lunch

Yummy mango smoothie

And after dinner she did have that birthday cupcake I joked about in bed.

Happy Birthday!

2009-11-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

We love you little girl!

We love you when you roll your eyes
When you make a mess in two minutes
When you come to our bedroom way too early in the morning
When you poke our eyes to wake us up
We love your kisses
We love it when you say "ove you"
We love every little stinky part of you! Can't wait to see you grow up into a beautiful person, but don't do it too fast.
Love Mom and Daddy.

More baking

2009-11-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

Cali's hand is still a little red and puffy, almost back to normal. We are not sure what happened to her hand. Just one of those things that happen, the doctor said it was an infection she had a scrape on the top of her hand so that probably got infected. Honestly I have no idea what happened. I can't really keep track of where and how Cali gets every bruise and scrape, she's a non-stop monkey. She is always climbing on everything and anything. When I put her down for a nap she usually opens her dresser drawers to climb and get everything off the top.
Today we made oatmeal raisin cookies.

Much Better

2009-11-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

Cali's hand is much better, still swollen but not too bad.
This was just meant to be a bad Halloween for us because Daddy couldn't be here and the weekend just got worse.
The day started out okay. Okie was felling sooo much better, I knew it because 2 minutes after we came downstairs she made Cali cry by jumping on her.
We had a good lunch, we made pumpkin shaped grilled cheese sandwiches.

Oh yeah we also made a bat shaped sandwich

After her nap we showered and that's when all the trouble began.
She didn't want to wear her monkey costume but I forced it on her and she kept saying it hurt so after 1 minute of crying we took it off.
I then noticed the red spots around her eyes. And this is pretty much how she looked the rest of the day.

It actually got worse before it got better.
We went over to grandma's for dinner and Shay made her new costume.
Our little hippie

Her first stop

I put a long sleeve shirt under because there were lots of mosquitoes out.
She was so tired from the benadryl.

Uncle Danny the redneck and Aiden the monkey

Zombie Hippie and Little hippie

Lets hope Halloween 2010 is better than Halloween 2009.

Today we made a trial batch of cupcakes. I'm planing on making them for Cali's birthday party on Saturday. We had a little hiccup, Cali poured the entire bottle of pure vanilla extract when it only calls for 1/2 a teaspoon. Lets hope they taste better on Saturday.

You can see her hand is almost back to its normal size.

How do they do it?

2009-11-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

How do working parents do it?
We had to make another trip to the doctor this morning, but this time we went to Cali's doctor. This is the first time Cali has gone to the doctor besides her well-checkups.
Yesterday afternoon I noticed the top of her hand was swollen, like really swollen she wasn't complaining or scratching it so I gave her some benadryl. I kept an eye on her and her hand. She acted completely normal all day long and I let her sleep with me so I could keep an eye one her. She slept like a baby. This morning it was worse, so I called the doctor and was there at 8:30. After 30 minutes in the waiting room we finally saw the doctor. He wasn't 100% sure it was a bug bite because there were no bite marks and it wasn't hard, just swollen. He gave us a prescription for some antibiotics and benadryl.
We headed to Wal-mart to fill the prescription and get some stuff we probably didn't need. An hour and a half and $100 (half was for the medicine) dollars later we were out of Wal-mart and on our way home.
But back to my original question, how do dual working parents do it?
I have gone to a "doctor" the last 4 work days in a row, (the vet 3 days in a row last week). And if Cali's hand doesn't get better by Wednesday I have to take her back in again. She also has her 2 year checkup the following week. This new doctor's office has extended hours so technically I could have taken Cali to the doctor after 5, her hand looked pretty bad so I wouldn't of waited.
When I worked full-time I know we got 5 personal days a year for this kind of stuff, I never got to use them because I never went back to work full-time, but that's not enough days.
See:

It's been a long week!

2009-10-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I noticed that Okie wasn't eating or drinking anything and was just laying around. I took her to the Vet on Wednesday morning and it turns out that she has parvo. What's parvo? A virus that attacks the small intestine. How do you treat it? Lots of time and waking up in the middle of the night. I had to give her antibiotics and fluids through a catheter in her leg. After 3 visits to the vet they finally removed the catheter today and now Okie is on a pedialyte and chicken baby food diet until she starts eating regular food. I was a little iffy when I left the vet this morning we saw a different Vet and tech and they weren't as thorough as the others so I'm still keeping a very close eye on her. And she isn't back to her normal self yet.
Doesn't she just look sad and miserable?

Good thing she's better because I really like my sleep and it was like having a newborn again.
Did you notice the new blog header? Kristy did us a great favor and took some great family pictures for us.
Dave has said that he has found Cali sleeping like this a few times but this was the first time I've seen it. How can she sleep like that?

Duck Season...BOOOOO

2009-10-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

Well duck season started and Dave went hunting on opening day. We went shooting a few days before.

We had family pictures taken on Sunday and as soon as I get the CD I'll post some of the pictures

Birthday Present

2009-10-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

Every time we visit someone with dogs Cali wants to see the dogs, she won't touch them but she loves looking at them so we decided to get her a puppy for her birthday.
Meet Okie, she's a Lab Mix we rescued from the animal shelter.

Busy Busy

2009-10-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

We've been busy shopping and working on the house.
So far:
The garage is clean (it was the first thing daddy did)
The backyard is getting green
The downstairs is painted
We have a new King size bed
Our guest have a real bed to sleep on.
We still have a lot more to do but no more money, if some of you would like to send us some money we won't say no.
We also celebrated daddy's birthday, it was the big TWO-FIVE so I decided to have a small surprise party.

Grandpa Roy and Grandma Christina came down to help celebrate and paint.
The colors are Valspar Ghost Ship and Autumn Fog.

It's been so nice having daddy back. I can't believe Cali will be 2 in less than three weeks, where has the time gone? Birthday Party invitations will go out this week.

More From our trip

2009-10-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

She looks like such a big girl... where did my baby go

Getting rocks to throw at the dogs, she was trying to play fetch with them.

Drinking "juice"

She also went swimming in the hot-tub, don't worry it wasn't hot.

We had a good time in Smartsville. The week was over before we knew it so that was good. We needed the distraction.

Oh so tired

2009-10-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well since Daddy's homecoming was postponed a week we packed our bags and headed north for the week. Cali loves GP & GM Simon's house.
She's loves running up and down the hill, trowing rocks at the dogs and watering the garden with Pop-Pop. I think her favorite part is eating the strawberries from the garden.

They have an awesome garden with some awesome pumpkins.
We took the small one on the left.

Look at Cali's butt crack. It's so funny. Now that she's potty trained her pants are too big around the waist.

One last cute picture more from our trip tomorrow when I'm awake.

Mini Photo Shot

2009-09-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

With my best girl.
She wanted to get a couple pictures of her and her baby.
Please ignore her dirty shirt, this was right after her afternoon avocado snack.

She didn't understand that she kept covering her baby's face.

CLICK HERE to see the rest of the pictures
It's finally started to feel like fall around here. It was in the triple digits on Saturday and it was in the low sixties when we woke up this morning. As soon as we got down stairs and ate breakfast Cali ran outside. I think she really enjoys the cool weather

I promise I will try to post more often. At least twice a week. I know I've been slacking.

More Ideas (updated again)

2009-09-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

More Ideas. My sister has already got a lot of the books on the list so I have removed them from the list and will add more later.
Elmo's Greatest Hits

Tricycle

LeapFrog AlphaPet Explorer

She's got most of the Dr. Seuss books. I will post which ones she didn't get.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar and in Spanish would be good too

The Giving Tree

Any other Books by Shel Silverstein
Where The Wild Things Are
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The Monster at the End of This Book
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Llama Llama Books

Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair in Pink

Ikea Doll Bed

Or you can go to Wal-Mart.com and find her wish list. It's under Cali Murray.

I decided to move the playroom

2009-09-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

Upstairs. At first the playroom was going to be upstairs but then I decided to just let it be downstairs, because Cali is incredibly attached to me and likes to be in the same room as me, even if it's the bathroom. For 6 weeks I just let her rule the downstairs but the house always looked messy because Cali's toys were everywhere, so I moved all her toys upstairs.
I went to target on Wednesday to check their clearance items. I had been eyeing this bookshelf for the last month, it was on clearance for $83 dollars (regularly $119). And I wasn't about to pay that much for it when we could get something similar from Ikea for a lot less. And I'm guessing everyone else thought the same way since no one bought it. So when I went on Wednesday it was marked down to $29 and I snatched it up.

It was really heavy and getting it upstairs by myself was not fun, but I've been hitting the gym so I was able to get it upstairs on my own. After putting it together I'm glad I only paid $29 for it because it's made like it's only worth that much.
I also moved the TV from our bedroom in there, I never watch TV in bed anyways. Yo Gabba Gabba is on TV, Cali's favorite and only show she watches. She also loves Beethoven (the movie). Those two are about the only things she watches.
Of course when Daddy gets home the room has to be painted so I haven't put anything on the walls.
I'm thinking about going with the Sesame Street theme because she has a lot of Sesame stuff and she LOVES Elmo.
I did put that one picture up because it was sitting on the floor and there was a nail in the wall already.

We still need to get more seating, Cali likes to snuggle when watching TV, probably a small couch.
Something like this, Ikea sofa bed for only $149

She was playing along with the TV

Left Side

Right Side

Oh and we definitely need more storage, half of her toys are still in the garage.

Time-out

2009-09-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

Cali put her baby in time out. She yelled at her and told her to "stop" and went and put her in the corner facing the wall. It was the funniest thing ever. So so cute.

Cool Braid

2009-09-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

It didn't last very long, but it was so cute

My mom taught me to braid when I was really young and I'm so glad she did.

Birthday List

2009-09-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Somehow it ended a few post down so scroll down to look at the birthday list or click HERE

Sprinkler fun

2009-09-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

Cali had so much fun running through the sprinklers a couple days ago. I just wish we had green grass.

Look at the excitement on her face

Looks like we will have green grass some day

We've had a rough couple of days but she finally took a much needed 2 hour nap yesterday. Hopefully she will take another 2 hour nap today. Even though she's been a total brat lately I still think she's the pretties little girl ever.

Details

2009-09-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

When I bought Cali's new bedding it was on clearance at target so I bought 2 sheet and 2 comforters because they don't make pillow cases and decorative pillows for infants.
So I took one of the comforters and made a pillow case and 2 decorative pillows.
SEE!!!

I still need to sew the basket lining, but you get the idea

I also repainted the night stand... see the little blue bird that started the whole blue bird theme. (Thanks Aunt Zanne and Unckie Matt)

I bought some tree branch curtain tie-backs

Prints from Alicia Bock

Look at this pretty birdcage mirrored hook

The key on there is because the key hole is on the inside of the room. Why you ask? Because it's the only way to keep her in her room. And sometime she runs out and locks me in.

And last our reading corner

I still need to get bookshelf and more pictures up.
And as requested by some I'm working on a birthday list for Cali.

Tired

2009-09-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

I am so very tired. I stayed up way too late last night but I promised Dave I would post new pictures.
This little girl

Is now in a toddler bed. It's the worst thing ever!! I wanted to keep her in her crib forever! But she started climbing out and hurting herself. My sweet little angel that used to nap 3 hours during the day now only naps for 45 minutes (an hour max). I knew she wasn't going to take 3 hour naps forever but I didn't expect them to go down to 45 minutes so quick.

Now it takes her forever to fall asleep and wants me to stay there until she falls asleep. I'm not used to this. I would put her in her crib and walk out the door and she would sleep, oh how I miss those days. I hope things get better soon.
Potty training was going great, she was pooing and peeing in the potty with no accidents, until we went to San Diego. Now we are having more accidents than we had on the second day, arrrrhhhhh. I can't wait for daddy to come home I need help! This is emotionally and physically tiring.
I added a couple more things to her room so I will post new pictures tomorrow night.

Birthday Ideas

2009-09-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

November 8th is quickly approaching so as requested Cali's wish list.
p.s. Her birthday party will be Saturday the 7th so mark your calendars.
Cali and I read before nap time and bedtime. So books are always good. Books with about 2 sentences per page, she gets impatient and likes to turn the pages.

Dr. Seuss's Beginners Book Collection Or you can buy it at Borders

The Very Hungry Caterpillar and in Spanish would be good too

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Moo, Baa LA LA LA or Spanish

The Giving Tree

Any other Books by Shel Silverstein
Where The Wild Things Are
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The Monster at the End of This Book
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Llama Llama Books

Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair in Pink

Ikea Doll Bed

Or you can go to Wal-Mart.com and find her wish list. It's under Cali Murray.
It's still really soon but I just want to get started on it sooner rather than later.

Wal-mart Elmo

Tricycle

LeapFrog AlphaPet Explorer

First House Warming Gift

2009-09-07T19:05:00.001-07:00

PopPop and Grandma Christina were here on Friday and Saturday to help me figure out the mysterious smell in Cali's room, turns out it was the paint in her room so we repainted the room with different paint. They also bought us a tree for our house warming gift.

Of course it's a lime tree! Can't wait for some limes. It will be a while though.

They also helped me prime the bottom floor.
The next morning Cali woke up with a slight cold.
She looked like this.

Our poor baby. She feels a lot better today.
Check out my 365 blog I will be updating it later tonight when Cali goes to bed.

Pop Pop we need you!

2009-08-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

To help us build a basement! Please come help us build a basement ASAP! We will need it like tomorrow.
Why did she have to get daddy's lips?

And Mommy's legs?

Why is our baby so cute? Potty training is going great. She has no pee accidents, poo isn't going so well but I know she will get it soon. Any advice is greatly appreciated. And if you have yet to receive our change of address card please email me and I will send it out ASAP. It's really cute, you will want to get one.

Cute

2009-08-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

Potty Training Again

2009-08-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

I started potty training Cali again because I was running low on diapers and the nearest Costco is 40 minutes away, so I figured I would give it another try and things couldn't be going any better.
Saturday (Day 1) was rough, more accidents than peeing in the potty. I was ready to give up.
Sunday (Day 2) 2 pee accidents and 1 poo accident. But she peed in the potty twice! And she didn't wet her diaper during nap time! She doesn't say she has too pee she just grabs herself.
Monday (Day 3) So far she has peed in the potty 3 times and no accidents! Woohoo! We even went to Target without a diaper. I took her to the gym and put a diaper on her but told her that she had to pee in the potty. She didn't wet her diaper!
She is taking her afternoon nap right now and has a diaper on so lets hope the success continues.
I was thinking about putting vinyl birdcages above Cali's crib. Yay or Nay?

Dishes too?

2009-08-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

I swear I don't make her do any of this! I was clearing the counter and the next thing I know she has her step stool next to the sink.

She had the cool side braid going on yesterday.

How cute is she?

Snack Time

2009-08-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

Since Cali cooked and cleaned yesterday I decided to make her a fun snack.

She was really excited

Cheese

What was she so excited for?

We've been having a good week except that she keeps waking up during the night and I think I know why. All her teeth are almost in except there is one little sucker that just won't come all the way out.

Oh yeah..

2009-08-19T14:14:00.001-07:00

Did I mention she sweeps and mops too. I'm the luckiest mom ever, most of the time!

Cooking Time

2009-08-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

Cali was cooking for us this morning. Her Dollies and I thought it was delicious.
Here she is running to get more raisins.

Miss you!

2009-08-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

Birth Day August 18, 1984

Home Sweet Home, Almost

2009-08-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

There is one big thing missing! This guy right here!

It's just not the same without him but we're trying to get by without him.
This pretty face keeps me busy most of the day. I do get three hours to clean, cook, blog, and me time during her afternoon nap.

So here's what I've added to her room. I'm only working on her room because we're waiting for daddy to get back from Japan to work on the rest of the house.
I'm still not sure what I'm going to add above her crib. I was thinking of adding a quote but I can't seem to find the right quote. Any ideas? I'm looking for something to go with the bird theme.

I've added a bird house that I was thinking of repainted but I think I'm going to leave it.

I do have more birds to really bring in the bird theme but I need shelves hung before I can put them out.
I think I'm getting a mirror and putting it and the shelves above the dresser and probably move the pictures on the shelves

Now back down to the other room we spend most of our time in... the kitchen

Notice the new 5 burner stainless steal stove, pretty huh?
Closeup

We will be getting a stainless steal overhead microwave.

And the sink... nothing exciting there

Finally the kitchen and dinning room

That's it for now.

Internet

2009-08-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

We got internet in the house yesterday, Friday, so I'm finally able to post.
We moved in a week ago Thursday, August 6. This is Cali watching Beethoven while we unpack

I had already told Ashley that I would go wedding venue shopping with her that weekend so we didn't get to sleep in our house that weekend. We drove up to Smartville on Friday and spend the weekend there.
We colored a little

She swam a little

Hung out on the hammack a little

Cali went to Maddie and Cameron's Birthday party on Saturday while I went with Ashley and her mom to look a venues.
Later that night Ashley brought her future sister in law over to play with Cali.
Millie and Cali had a blast hanging out in the cool red Mustang

And Sunday morning Grandpa Roy came home with a new puppy
Meet Pearl, named after the Black Pearl.

She is the cutest Black Lab/Rottweiler Mix. I wanted to bring her home.

We came back Sunday evening and finally slept in our own house, after 4 months of being homeless. The first thing I did was paint Cali's room. I wanted to get her room ready so that she could settle in and adjust. I explained that it was her room and that this was her house and I think she understood because she didn't say a peep when I put her down for her first nap in her new room on Tuesday (had to let the low VOC paint dry and air out).
Her first nap in her new room.

Here's a better picture of her room.

I need to paint the night stand black. I've added a few accent to her room since then, haven't taken another picture yet, I'll take another picture soon and post that.
That's it for now. And Daddy we miss you!

Lots of work

2009-08-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you all know that moving is lots of work. I spent most of the day cleaning, priming and making trips to Lowe's/Home Depot.
First thing I did was take a picture of the front of the house

While I waited for the carpet cleaner guy I took out a couple (hundred) thumbtacks and staples out the walls in Cali's new bedroom.

While our carpets were being cleaned I cleaned the kitchen cabinets! As most of you know clutter and I are BFFs, but I do not like living in other people's germs so scrubbed fried fish smell out of the cabinets. I took me 2 hours to clean the cabinets. I think I got most of the fish smell out. I left the cabinets open to air out.

I have learned a little about the family that used to live there. They had a boy and a girl. The boys names is written on one of the walls in the blue bedroom (can't remember his name now) and the girl's name was on the door, but was removed when they were replacing all the missing fixtures. The girl was probably between 11 and 15 because only someone that age would have that many holes in the wall. The boy was the youngest because he had the smaller room. I also learned where they kept their coffee pot because when I wiped the walls the smell of coffee was very potent in a particular area.
After I cleaned the kitchen I took a break to hang out with my little girl. When she went down for a nap I went back to the house to prime Cali's room. It took FOREVER and I'm still not done. I ran out of primer and I needed a latter, so I stopped for the day. I did go buy more primer and a ladder. Oh yeah this is getting expensive.
After dinner I gave Cali a bath and put her to bed, but not before we read.
This is her reading corner, we read almost every night.

No I don't make her sit in the corner before bed, that's where she likes to sit.
Her favorite book right now is Hop on Pop, I have to read it every night.

YAY!

2009-08-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

About freaking time! We close on the house tomorrow morning!!!
She will finally have her own house to destroy!

And a quick flashback
August 2008-August 09

Is she getting prettier or what? I think we are going to have to build a basement to lock her in!

"Don't"

2009-08-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

What are Cali's current favorite words you wonder? "Don't" and "No"
She can't seem to get enough of those words! And honestly I don't know how much more I can take it. She has developed this little attitude!
Here she is saying "NO!" to the camera

Thankfully she's still a toddler and drops the attitude in a matter of seconds, sometimes minutes, and we have our happy baby back

Are you wondering if we have moved into our house yet? Take a guess! You're right! NO! We still can't move into our house! What's the holdup? The selling back needs to sign it over so they can get their money, you would think they would be more anxious to get their money considering the house has been theirs since December!
Maybe tomorrow will be the day.
In the mean time I have been keeping myself busy shopping and reading.
I bought this lamp for Cali's room

Her room is going to be birds in blue and pink.
I also got a library card and got a couple of books

The Happiest Baby on the Block is to help me take control of Cali's new found attitude.
Mommywood is for pure entertainment
And California Real Estate is so that I can make some money since we moved to a small town that lacks well paying jobs!
That's the update so far! Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Home Owners

2009-07-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Daddy and I will soon be home owners, YAY!!!

We signed the loan documents on Tuesday afternoon and now we are just waiting for our money!
We are so sad because daddy won't be there when we finally close and can move in. He left for Japan yesterday morning and won't be back for a little while.
Here's our new home

Sorry it's so small but I haven't taken a picture of the front of the house and this is a picture from the listing. You can go here to see more pictures of the house.

Last Weekend

2009-07-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

This was the last weekend with Daddy before he leaves for Japan in a few days. We had a pretty laid back weekend.
We went to the Garlic Festival on Friday, Dave was still in SD, I brought my camera but left the memory card in the truck so I couldn't take any pictures, the worst part is that I had to lug my camera around and it's sooo heavy! We tried several different garlic foods, the worst was garlic ice cream and you can pretty much guess what it taste like, garlic, it was NOT good.
Saturday we just hung out, we did not sign house papers. It was really hot so Cali sported a new hair style.

We did pretty much nothing on Sunday too, Dave went back to SD. Cali was really mad for some reason so she didn't want so say bye, fortunately I have to drive to SD so that we can sign papers so I get to see Daddy one more time before he leaves. Keep your fingers crossed that we actually get the house this week.
After Dave left Cali wanted to go with him. She got her purse and walked to the truck.

So instead of going for a drive we went for a walk. Cali LOVES going for walks it really relaxes her.

San Diego Fun

2009-07-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like we will be signing papers on Saturday, but who knows if we will.
We went to San Diego this last weekend for a friend's baby shower. It was so nice to go back but it made me miss it even more.
We went to their baby shower

Thrown by this crazy person... I will admit she's one of my good friends

Okay I will admit she's one of my good friends
Can you believe she's the mother is this cute baby?

We had a good time at the shower but I think Cali had more fun hanging out with her little friends.
Cali got to ride Bethany's bike and she looked so cute in the helmet
"Peace"

Cali's Best Bud Bethany making sure Cali is being safe

And that was our weekend.
This picture was from last week sometime.
Yummy Popsicle that she wouldn't share

Too Much Shopping

2009-07-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

Well we still don't have a home and might not have a home before Dave leaves for Japan.
But we figured that we are close enough to closing so we have started buying house stuff. We couldn't help ourselves.
We purchased this stove

It was on sale at Sears and it will take 3 weeks to arrive so we figured we might as well hit "buy."
We bought this fridge

the one we were going to get from Ikea (which we found 3 weeks ago) is out of stock and they don't know when it will be back in stock but they do know that when it is back in stock the price will increase by $500. I started freaking out when I heard that because I haven't seen a French door, bottom freezer for that prize anywhere else, I guess Ikea figured that out too.
So I immediately started looking online for another fridge. I found that one one sale at Sears but it was smaller than the Ikea one so I wanted to go see a fridge that same size before we bought it. We went to Home Depot to look well it turns out that Home Depot has a 10% Price Match Policy, most stores have a similar policy but it's rare to find the exact item at 2 stores. It so happens that Home Depot had the exact same fridge. The fridge was 10% off at Sears and we got an additional 10% off and free delivery and installation.
We are buying a foreclosed home so the previous owners took EVERYTHING!!! Even the smoke detectors! Some items had to be replaced by the selling bank, those two big ticket items weren't part of the deal.
We also bought these patio chairs at Tractor Supply

We fell in love with them a couple weeks ago, Dave wanted to purchase them on the spot. The clerk told us that they were going to have a Grand Opening Sale the following Saturday so they would probably be on sale. We go them this past weekend for 10% off.
We plan on buying this overhead microwave

We saw it when we bought the fridge but decided to wait because I wanted to do research and see if I could find it cheaper anywhere else. Good thing we waited because Home Depot has a 10% moving coupon.
The house already has a dishwasher, it won't match but we are okay with that for now.
And what's a post without a picture of Cali

Her hair is slowly getting longer.

More pictures

2009-07-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

Here are the rest of this pictures from yesterday

It's late

2009-07-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here is one picture from today

I have more but it's too late so I will post the rest of them tomorrow.

4th of July weekend

2009-07-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

We went up to Grandma Christina and Grandpa Roy's for the holiday weekend and we had a blast. Cali went to the lake and rode on a boat for the first time. I didn't get any pictures of Cali at the lake or in the boat because I didn't want to take my camera on the water. These are the only pictures I got.
Grandpa securing the boat

Christina trying to be sneaky (Sorry Christina I had to post this picture)

Cali in her 4th outfit

And Cali and Daddy. I asked Cali to do the peace sign and this was her version of it. Cute right?

I will try to post more often, I promise.
I think Cali and I are going to take a day trip up to Sacramento to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Simon later this week. So Grandma Jewel call me and let me know what day would work.

She peed in the potty!

2009-06-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

We started potty training again yesterday and things didn't go so well. She peed and pooped on the floor every single time, I almost didn't want to try again today but I knew that wasn't a good idea. So as soon as we woke up this morning I took her diaper off and watched over her like a hawk. After 3 hours of chasing her, making her sit in the potty and some bribery she finally peed in the potty. I told her that I would give her fruit snacks if she would pee in the potty and while she was eating her fruit snacks she peed in the potty! It kind of freaked her out for some reason so hopefully she isn't scared and we can continue potty training.

So sorry

2009-06-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since you've heard from us but I have good excuses!
Dave got back from Bahrain and we came back to California and well it's just been crazy!
We have been traveling the last 3 months and we are just exhausted.
We were so sad to leave Oklahoma, well not Oklahoma but the people there. And when we're sad we don't take many pictures. Here's one of the few pictures from our last weekend there.

Dave flew out to Oklahoma on Friday the 12th and we left OK that Sunday.
We then drove to Albuquerque, NM and spent the night there. All three of us slept in a king size bed because all they had was a pack-n-play and well Cali can climb out of those, I think this is the first time the three of us have slept in the same bed for an entire night.
The next day we drove through the rest of New Mexico and Arizona ( I don't like AZ all the people there are horrible drivers). And we finally made it to beautiful Southern California.

Road trips are no fun with a 19-month-old and with Dave. He has to pee all the time and can't hold it. We have to pull over on the side of the because he can't hold it to the next exit.

We stayed with Jen and Nick for a few days. We went to Jen's baby shower that weekend and hung out with her family. Cali made a new best friend, Jen's mom. We woke up the next morning had Father's Day Breakfast with Dave and then we drove 7 hours to Los Banos. We are staying with Dave's parents, Karen and Shilo, until we have a home.
Once again I'm sorry for the lack of updates but sometimes I'm just too tired.

Almost forgot

2009-06-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

Does she look anything like me? I was a little older than she is in this picture, but do you see the resemblance? We will be going to Dave's moms house in a couple of weeks and I'll try to get a baby picture of him.

Twenty-Four Years Later, almost

2009-06-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

The Dress still fits. Well sort of, it doesn't fit me but it fits Cali.
This picture was taken at my second birthday party. This is probably the only thing my parents saved from my childhood so my mother insisted that I took pictures of Cali dress and I figured that Cali might not fit into the dress at the age of two.

MIA

2009-06-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

These little suckers are the reason why I have been missing for the last few day! Cali woke up on Saturday morning with a fever and it's been bad ever since! We haven't had a good night sleep since then! She doesn't want to sleep in her crib, she wants to stay way pass her bedtime, when she finally goes to sleep in bed with me she wakes up every few hours and wants to stay up and play. Lets hope she sleeps well tonight.

Olympic Athlete in the Making

2009-06-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

How did I forget?

2009-06-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

Cali pretends to snore!!! It is the cutest thing ever. When I ask her if she wants to take a nap she'll lay her head down and start snoring. It is the cutest things ever. I think she learned it from my parents because when they pretend to be sleeping they snore.
She has her cell phone and cars keys in hand and wants me to go outside with her! She's so bossy!

Doggy!

2009-06-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

I was getting a little worried because Cali just didn't want to talk, she is a smart girl and understand everything but she is completely content using signs to communicate.
Over the weekend she finally started expanding her vocabulary.
She will now say; doggy, done, and down. She also stopped saying daddy, I guess out of sight out of vocabulary, but she started saying it again.
I don't know what it is about the letter D but she seems to like it.
Oh and she learned one more word that I don't like! "NO" She now tells me "NO"
Her vocabulary includes:
Mom
Dad
Daddy
Done
Down
Doggy
Stinky
That
There
Yup
No
Hi
Hello
Cheese
Please
Ma, I think she means grandma and not mom.

Splash Pad

2009-05-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

I took Cali to the Splash Pad at a park near by... She wanted nothing to do with the water at first, it was so bad that I wanted to leave because she wasn't having a good time. I was so surprised because she's such a water baby. But after 20 minutes of trying to get her to enjoy it she finally decided she liked it.

Cali is such a water baby and a daredevil! She wants to swim on her own (with a life jacket of course) and doesn't want me to touch her when she's in the pool. She's actually really good at it, except for keeping her mouth shut. She doesn't know how to keep he mouth closed so she is constantly drinking the pool water, I have to hold her the entire time so she doesn't drink too much water.
Maybe I can get my dad to get in the pool with her so I can take pictures of our little swimmer.

Nail Polish

2009-05-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

Cali found the nail polish somewhere, it's my mom's, and she insisted I painted her nails and it was so nice that Marissa was here to capture the moments.
I can't believe she actually sat still!

(I went a little overboard on the vignetting)

All done!

Don't worry it was removed later that night.

PEEEEE!

2009-05-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad we spent all that money on our Blackberry's! This video wouldn't be possible without it!
I know I say this all the time but Cali is so stinkin' cute! Please notice where she goes to sit after she gets her fruit snack.

My parents replaced their carpet not too long ago so no one is allowed to eat in the living room or bedrooms. There is a small piece of carpet in the dinning room which is where Madi eats because she likes to watch TV while she eats so Cali quickly learned that she wasn't allowed in the living room with food. Kids are so smart!

Summer is here!

2009-05-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

Cali loves the pool! She can't get enough!

She's climbing out to jump back in!

I love how photos freeze perfect moments like these.

Yay or Nay?

2009-05-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

Like the new look?

Peace

2009-05-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

Madi is so sweet and always so willing to smile at the camera, but the best part of Madi is that she always throws the peace sign!

And my baby is always dirty!

Stinkin' Cute

2009-05-19T11:15:00.001-07:00

Even in the morning

Rock Stars

2009-05-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

How cute are these two?!

UGH!!!

2009-05-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

Cali's reaction to my new camera!

I guess she's not happy that my camera is here!

Great news!

2009-05-12T11:37:00.001-07:00

Well I just got 2 great email!
1. My camera shipped today so it should be here Friday.
2. Our pictures are up!! The photographer hasn't posted them on her blog yet so if you want to see them email me or comment on here and I will send you the link and password. I forgot to sign a release form so she didn't post them on her blog.

I took Cali to the park this morning before it started raining and all she wanted to do was stare at the ducks. I don't think she's going to enjoy duck hunting with daddy.

About time!

2009-05-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

After weeks of rescheduling our photo shoot it finally happened! There were clouds still lingering around but that didn't stop us. The wonderful Sarah did the honor of taking our pictures, I will post a link as soon as the sneak peek is up!

Almost Ready

2009-05-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

It finally stopped raining for a day and Dad finally got a chance to clean the pool! It's suppose to rain again tomorrow though, boooooo.
I did get a chance to get a couple of pictures of the girls helping him clean the pool. It was a little green but they didn't care.

Grandpa and Cali

All pictures courtesy of my blackberry, I hope my camera comes back soon :(

18 MONTHS!

2009-05-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

We were hanging out tonight and Cali picked up the Wii controller, she thought it was a phone so she put up to her ear and was saying hello. She then handed me my phone so that we could "talk" on the phone. We were "talking" when a Pepsi commercial came on TV and she started dancing, why do kids love to dance? No matter what she is doing if she hears a song with a beat she starts dancing.
She is now 18 months and she is the sweetest baby ever! She gives me goodnight kisses and she loves to hug other kids. The best part is when she gives kisses without being asked.
She is slowly learning to talk. She can say; mom, daddy, yup, that, peee (please), chee (cheese), and hi, and hello.
She can sign; more, please, milk, all done, she knows thank you but doesn't do it very often and she has made up her own sign for where.
She learned to sign "please" before she could say it but now that she know how to say it and what it means she says it all the time, well not all the time only when she wants something.
And of course what kind of an 18-month-old would she be without tantrums?! She doesn't throw many fits yet, thankfully, and when she does I ignore her and she gets over it in a few seconds. If she does something bad she goes to time-out. All-in-all she is a well behaved kid. She is starting to hit when she get mad so we are working on it.
She still doesn't seem to care too much about TV, she LOVES Elmo and Sesame Street it's the only show she watches but she can't even sit still for an entire episode.
She prefers to run and make big messes.
She loves to share, if you have spend a day with her you have seen her "baby" (the Precious Moments doll) she loves to share the doll's foot with everyone she meets.
She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES babies! She wants to hold them and touch them and kiss them. So if Cali meets your baby I hope you don't mind dirty toddler hands.

Sorry no pictures, I sent my camera away :(

Then and Now

2009-05-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our baby will be 18 months in just 5 day! Where has the time gone?
I came across some old pictures of Cali and it just amazes me how much she has changed in her short life.
Cali at 2 months (JcPenny pic) and just last month at 17 months

When did her hair get so light and when did she get so big?!

YAY

2009-05-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Cali and I

At my sister's baby shower

We're getting pictures done sometime this week (if it ever stops raining in Oklahoma)

Ice Cream Craze

2009-04-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

This is what a child with a mouth full of peanuts looks like

And this is what ice cream does to a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old

Click HERE to view the larger version

oh so sweet

2009-04-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

This little girl is the sweetest thing ever. Last night she woke up at 11:30 screaming her head off and I just didn't want to deal with it so I brought her to bed with me and she slept fine the rest of the night. When she woke up this morning she just played in bed for about 30 minutes and I pretend to be sleeping. She finally got bored and decided it was time to wake me up so she puts her head on my chest, caresses my cheek and gives me a kiss to wake me up. She is so stinkin' adorable. Please don't be jealous because I'm having to deal with her "independence" and it isn't always fun.
Here's a picture of our morning breakfast, her trying to be a big girl, eating in the big kids chair with the big kids spoon.

1st Braids

2009-04-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't think it was possible to braid her hair but I was wrong!

Cali is doing a lot better she is finally eating everything in sight and sleeping a lot better.

Haning out with her Abuelito

2009-04-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

Helping Mow

We made it

2009-04-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

To my parents' house. Cali and I are staying in my old bedroom and I can't believe I picked those ugly colors on the wall, good thing they are painting the entire house.
Cali has had 2 bad nights. The first night she had diarrhea and wanted to sleep on my chest and last night she was throwing up, not good. But besides that she is adjusting well, having a wonderful time with Madison.

Cutie

2009-04-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

Matt and Suzanne have such a great house. The hallways is so long Cali loves running up and down it.

If you look closely you can see she is making the same face in all the pictures.

Finally

2009-04-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

Back in the grove...I've been in a photography slump and I think I'm finally getting better. Probably because this truck business if resolved and Cali is finally back to normal. She has been getting her 10th tooth (second molar) and it has been horrible for all of us, she would cry all day and all night long. I'm glad to have my happy baby back. I'm sure Matt and Suzanne feel the same way.

Beautiful eyes!

Easter Pictures

2009-04-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

I didn't get cute pictures of Cali in her Easter outfit because we only had like 3 minutes before it started raining. So here are the not so good pictures from that day.

Excited about her basket.

yes!

2009-04-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

We heart Clay!

And tell me she isn't the cutest thing ever

2009-04-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

ummmm.......

2009-04-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

please tell me that all 17-month-old's have this looks

Hanging out in Houston

2009-04-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

The only picture from the zoo... I took pictures of some of the animals but I don't feel like posting them. I think that goat wants a bite of Cali.

Our cute baby cleaning up. I don't know why some of my pictures looks hazy. It has something to do with Flickr (the site that hosts the pictures), they looks fine on my computer.

She's such a mess.

We've had a great time hanging out in Houston. Matt and Suzanne are gone during the day so it's mostly Cali and I but it's nice to be around good friends. Cali loves Suzanne, I think she likes her more than me sometimes. She's slowly falling in love with Matt too.

Oh My...

2009-04-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since my last post.
We went kite flying

We took our belongings up North

We took a little detour to visit Grandma and Grandpa Simon and saw the cute puppies.

Dave was off to the Middle East and Suzanne, Cali and I drove to Houston TX

We got to Houston with no major incidents. I did get pulled over for doing "90 in an 80 zone" and of course I didn't think I was doing 90 so I argued with the officer, probably not the smartest thing to do, but I got away with a warning. And like always Cali did a lot better than I thought she would do. She is the best baby ever.
We woke up Monday morning, 12 hours after we got there, and realized that someone broke into the truck and tried to steal it. Eight hours later the truck was at the repair shop and I was in a rental car. Suzanne got some bad news from her brother (second bad news in less than a week). We parked the rental in the garage because Suzanne had never had any incidents with parking her car in front of her house and we didn't want to risk another break-in. They say bad things come in three so we figured we were in the clear (Two bad news from Suzanne's brother and a break-in). I wake up Tuesday morning to Suzanne talking on the phone with Matt about the insurance claim, turns out someone hit Suzanne's car. I just wanted to go crawl in bed and cry, but I have a toddler to care for so I can't have breakdown.
We put on our happy faces and headed to the Houston Children's Museum. I spent most of the time on the phone with the insurance company. I spent most of the time on the phone with the insurance company and Cali had a blast.

We hit the a park on Wednesday and the Houston Zoo today. Will post pictures of the zoo later.

Done!

2009-03-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

We are finally done packing all our stuff. This has been so difficult for Dave and I, packing our lives into three separate piles; storage, Cali and I, and Dave's deployment. We have to keep reminding ourselves that it's a sacrifice that will pay off, well at least we hope. He will be gone for 10 weeks (I normally don't post how long Dave will be gone because it's the Internet and I don't want creeps coming to our house while he's away). When he returns he will be back in San Diego for 6 weeks (I think) and then he will be gone again. We are doing this to save money for when he gets out of the Navy next spring, we pay so much in rent that we are actually saving money even though I quit my job. Cali and I will be going to Houston, Oklahoma and then end up in Los Banos, oh yeah and Grass Valley, to pick up Cali's puppy (maybe).
On Saturday Cali and I will be on our way to Houston, Suzanne has so kindly agreed to spend her weekend in the car with us (she's crazy for agreeing to help me drive), and Dave will be on his way to the Middle East. And Yes, I will still keep updating our blog.
We just hope that Cali can adjust to our crazy life, because at the end of the day this is all for her.