2015 - LINGER

In 2014 we set out to CONQUER and conquer we did. Conquer was our word of the year and what a year of conquering it was for us!

I've been thinking about our "word of the year" for 2015 and although it took me a few weeks to decide on one, I finally established our word of the year. 

This year's word is LINGER. 2015 will be the year of lingering and I plan on making a cognizant effort to linger each and every day. I looked up the meaning of the word linger and the following is what popped up: 

lin·ger

ˈliNGɡər/

verb

stay in a place longer than necessary, typically because of a reluctance to leave.

"she lingered in the yard, enjoying the warm sunshine"

1. synonyms:

   wait around, stay, remain, wait, stay put

   • spend a long time over (something).

     
     

I plan to linger throughout 2015.  Amongst the hustle and bustle, "to do" lists, appointments and commitments, I plan on lingering....especially when it comes to moments like these. 

The kitchen construction zone can be organized later, the insurance phone calls can wait until tomorrow, the drool spots, all over our couch, will eventually be cleaned.....as for now, I'll be lingering in these moments.

1. • 
     

What A Week

Our kitchen renovation is nearly complete and should be wrapped up this weekend - hooray! This week has been a bit of a challenge because of all of the painting and sanding that has been going on. Ryder J and I have had to stay out of the house from 9am to 6pm and it's been an adventurous week of play dates, walks on the beach and many, many visits. Thankfully we have some pretty awesome family and friends who have gladly taken us in while we've needed to places to hang out as our home remains a construction zone. Each day was a new adventure and even though Ryder missed out on his daily naps, he was still the most precious super hero! 

Here are a few pics of some of the adventures we took this week. 

Romantic walks on the beach....

A beautiful sunset in Cali! 

Hanging with Conrad. 

Carousel rides with Emerson at South Coast Plaza. 

Play mat fun with Ella. 

Lunch with Apa (Ryder's great grandpa). 

Uncle Marcos and Ama joined us too!

Walks with Uncle Marcos. 

Sunday School

Ryder Jeremiah went to the big boy class at church today for the very first time! He did so well considering the fact that there were several other crying toddlers in his classroom. Daddy on the other hand didn't do so well.....he said he didn't want to talk about it. 

When we picked Ryder up after service his teacher said he did great! That's our superhero who's such a big boy! 

Princess Party!

We met some friends at Disneyland on Friday morning. Unfortunately, my girlfriend forgot her annual pass so we just walked around downtown Disney until our friends had to leave. When my girlfriend left, I decided to quickly pop into Disneyland with Ryder J. It was surprisingly not busy for a Friday (the measle-scare must have gotten to tourists) and we were able to walk onto most rides in Fantasyland. Even the princess visit was a 5 minute wait. It's a good thing we've got a little girl on the way because Ryder J was not a huge fan of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or Snow White.  Princess parties obviously aren't his thing.  Although he should really start learning how to charm the ladies. Let's just say he's a gentleman in training. 

This is the best photo we got of the 3 munchkins while at downtown Disney.

Birthdays Galore!

With the new year comes an abundance of birthdays. It's fun to see Ryder J's little social life develop as he grows up with so many of our friend's kiddos. This weekend is filled with 3 birthday parties and over the next 4 weekends we have 6 more birthday parties to attend - birthdays galore. It's a good thing Ryder Jeremiah is a party animal! 

Today's birthday was at Pretend City in Irvine (such a fun place) where we celebrated little Ricky's 4th birthday (I remember when he was born). My oh my how time flies! 

Before little Ricky's party we rode the carousel at the Irvine Spectrum. Can you tell Ryder's been working on his "cheese" face? Kinda looks like daddy's been working on it too....

Choo Choo

While daddy and Papa golfed this weekend we walked around downtown San Juan Capistrano. Such a beautiful Saturday and Ryder enjoyed seeing the "choo choo". We are practicing different sounds and "ooh ooh" is as close as we get to a train sound but it's great lip structure for Ryder. Speaking of which, Ryder Jeremiah has been in speech therapy for over a month now. We are making some progress but it's not as quick as the speech therapist would like to see so we are currently looking into some alternatives. I'm too emotional and frustrated to blog post about it now (plus I'm still dealing with insurance issues) but I promise to post an update about it soon.....when the prego hormones/mommy frustrations aren't hitting as hard. 

Here are a couple of pics of Ryder J checking out the choo choo tracks. 

23 Wks & 1st Haircut

I've been slacking on our week by week bump photos (second child syndrome) but I'm usually chasing around an 18 month old so taking baby bump photos is hardly on my radar screen. 

At 23 weeks pregnant my innie is turning into and outie. Sleeping is becoming uncomfortable. Putting Ryder Jeremiah in/out of his crib is getting difficult. We also do less baths and more showers because bending over that tub is hardly doable these days. And I wouldn't trade it for the world! I love being pregnant! It's an amazing time and I savor every second of growing life inside my belly! 

We picked out baby girl's bedding today and her nursery is coming together slowly yet surely. We're having her bedding custom made and I can't wait for it to arrive! 

Kitchen constriction is officially underway (hence the lack of blog posts - it's been a crazy week and I don't foresee things slowing down anytime soon). The kitchen was packed away today because tomorrow starts demolition and I can't wait! In approximately two weeks we will have a brand new kitchen! Wahoo! We are tackling our "to do" list one by one and it feels oh so good to check off each item! 

Speaking of "to do" lists, Ryder Jeremiah finally had his first haircut today. At 18 months it was time to give his curls a trim. Auntie Ashleigh came over and lovingly snipped away at Ryder's hair. Ryder J wasn't a fan of getting his curls chopped. He screamed bloody murder but mostly because we were holding his head still - I tried explaining that chicks dig clean cut boys - he wasn't buying any of it. 

I continuously ask myself "where did my baby go and who is this toddler?!?!" 

I Bite

Sometimes I bite him and it's not because I'm hungry.

Have I mentioned how much Ryder loves music and dancing/clapping to a beat? And yes, that is all drool on his shirt. Mommy does a lot of laundry......drool is cool! 

Flashback

Flashback to the 80's as we celebrated our cousin's wedding at an 80's-themed wedding reception. It was a totally awesome and we (meaning Joy and I) tried to dance the night away but it's kinda difficult to shake your groove thing when you're nearly 6 months prego and rocking high heals you haven't worn in a few months (or years). Also, this is 80's as you get when you're rock'n a belly bump. 

P.S. you know you're getting old when you're headed to a party themed around the decade you were born.