1.7

mi niña dulce..who kisses more than she hits and laughs more than she throws tantrums. And who says sorry when she's done something wrong faster than you can register that you've been wronged. Who dominates all the parks in our area, even those scary iron steps that rainbow over, and the slides that go too fast even for me. Who wants to eat all day and be out having fun so long as she doesn't have to be tied to her car seat to get there. who says "parque" many many times a day in hopes of being taken over and over again. Who has the strongest will I've seen on a child, she asks for what she wants food or fun and that is what we do... not because we're such obliging parents but because she has such a sweet way of asking for "galletitas" or "dora, dora" or "cicycleta" or "fuera" her eyes always shining and her gapped grin always in a smile and always with a "please" "gracias" or "de nada." Vale who never wants to go to sleep until she gets her Goodnight moon book and her own goodnight apartment routine completed by dad who is now in charge of putting her to bed...a favorite of mine that is now his own with her. Little Vale not so little anymore taking up three fourths of her crib. Vale who is fitting into her 2 year old clothes like a champ and chugging smoothies mommy sneaks kale into..who bathes in her "berca" until her water is cold and she's exhausted. I don't know how we can love you more than this and yet we do with every new day.

April

Hi!! I'm soo behind on the blog and I apologize but you can count on the fact that I've taken pictures of all the sh*t that happens in our day to day (more on that later) and that one day it'll make an appearance on here. So lets catch up....Some of these events are slightly out of order but they did all occur in late May and April...Easter in Mexicali, these are the kinds of memories I hope Vale can one day recall...running around in a huge field of dirt with rocks in her hands and a soccer ball at her feet. her aunts and uncles talking and laughing loudly in the casita while her cousins, which she has only met a time or two, play nearby. I don't think I've ever seen her as mystified by her surrounding as she is here. She hardly knows anyone, but everyone seems to know her, she allowed to run alone in the gated dirt field and for the second time in her life (that I know of) she's eating chocolate! This was also the first time she experienced a confetti filled easter egg! We both had a moment of pride when she broke her egg almost immediately and upon seeing her tia Lola distributing the eggs to 10+ kids,charged into the crowd and with a quick pant tug and a loud "wovo, wovo" (huevo) got the attention on my aunt and another fragile egg to crack on herself. You go girl!

There's a whole army of pictures from our trips to hang out with J's family in Carlsbad but I'll save those for another day and instead just share a few from the easter party! I love how quickly Vale catches up on lost time with her titas...There's never an awkward "how have you been?" or "what's new?" possibly because she can't ask or answer such a question yet but whatever they just dive right in where they left off last time and it's nothing but smiles, kisses and fun with her beautiful titas!

April gals

showing off her Easter loot with matching shades and all!

Kevin and I (but mostly Kevin) diligently saved all the egg shells for weeks so that we could dye them and fill them with confetti for Vale and her cousins. They were a total hit with the kids and the adults. We also learned that when cracking the egg on someone's head you should do it on the eggs side not the top or bottom of the egg because....surprise..it hurts! haha!

I turned 30! I'm not sure how this happened as I'm pretty sure I just celebrated turning 25...I guess these things occur...on another note I want to share a job I did last year that might just be the coolest gig I've ever gotten....now I know that most of the bragging I do these days is Vale related but it's not everyday I get to see billboards of myself around town ;) There's also a commercial is you care to check it out right here

And back to the little ruler in our home...we've started potty training, kinda. I stayed home with her for a whole week and in those days she started to run to the baby toilet on her own when she felt she was going. We had many many accidents of the 1 and 2 type that will give me funny stories to tell her when she grows up. But the following week I had to go back to work and with all the fun there is to be had at her grandparents and abuelitas houses she forgot she was in training and well, she's back in diapers. I do hope to give it another go in another week or two and hopefully this one will stick.

baby knickers

Two BEAUTIFUL weddings to celebrate the union of two BEAUTIFUL couples!

oh yes we did!!! Kalani must be a psychic when she predicted in a blog comment months ago that I'd join the 1/2 marathon craze cause I did and I'm hooked! I was so touched by all the people that lined the streets with signs and cow bells and cold orange slices and otter pops to give to the runners. And the traffic control people who snuck a car or two in between groups of runners so as not to disturb anyones running zen. As we reached the 13th mile my dad, Kevin and I spotted my mom holding Vale and in one crazy moment we grabbed Vale and ran with her in arms the last .1 of the race. The whole experience was super emotional for me and I gotta admit as we crossed the finish line I was fighting back tears with all my might!

guess what...??? We got engaged! Kevin asked me to marry him! Everyday with Kevin is the best day of my life and I'm ridiculously excited that he wants to share it with me for better or worse. We don't have a date yet and since we're planning on only being engaged once in our life we might just enjoy this phase for a little while, although I'll admit to looking at dresses and center pieces non stop since he popped the question. :) He asked me in Balboa park, in the same area where we sat on the day we found out we were expecting Vale..I had no idea he was going to do it and was so shocked that I couldn't stop sobbing not even to answer his question all I could get out was "mhm, mhm, mhm." I love the memory of him reading me a poem about all the things we've been through and then me reaching over to hug him and in the process feeling his heart mysteriously pounding uncontrollably, seconds later he was no longer sitting beside me but instead down on one knee. The most beautiful surprise of my life!