lovely baby humps

hi there..with summer less than a month away Vale got an early dose of pool action at the beautiful Aviara in Carlsbad a few months back and ever since one of her favorite words is "berca" her way of saying "alberca" which is the Mexican word for swimming pool, I say Mexican because other spanish speaking countries call it piscina. I guess we sometimes call is that too, when we want to sound fancy and stuff. Vale had a blast splashing in the 1 foot pool which was fun even for the adults. Kevin and I took turns playing with Vale in the pool while the other parent lounged and sipped cold beverages. It was super relaxing and a lovely time spent with the family it was also a little preview in to what our summer is gonna look like, Vale is currently signed up for daily swim lessons that start in a couple weeks. I'm a little terrified that they'll make us dunk her. yikes, poor V. but alas, she's gotta learn since my parents pool has always been a source of worry. I'll be sure to share some of the many pictures we'll be taking of Vale as she begins her swimming career :)

p.s. thanks to tita J for letting us crash her relaxing vacation a bunch of times, and a shout out to tita Kalani for the awesome mommy and baby swimsuits! gracias!

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!

Kevin's 30th Part II

To not leave all the fun details of Kevin's 30th b-day to only our memories and hence ourselves, I brought my camera along for the fun, here's a brief recap of Vale celebrating her daddy's big day with him. First stop was the delicious and always happening bird rock coffee roasters in la jolla, this place not only has the best coffee in town, but they also have a kids play area, healthy kid snacks and there is always an abundance of babies, toddlers, big kids and dogs for Vale's entertainment. I'm only a coffee sip stealer and not a regular drinker but I do love their tea latte, yum yum! Vale is always watching daddy and getting a hold of the empty coffee cup was a total score for our little one.

The next stop was La Jolla shores to check out the seals and let Vale run around in the lush grass area. People couldn't get enough of her with her oh so cool dress, a christmas gift from tita Kalani. Standing in that grass I couldn't help but remember all the times I've been there...Once pregnant waiting for my dad to finish the half marathon and later running into Kevin and Mr. K and Kalani who had also just finished the la Jolla half marathon. And last year with Vale now in tow, waiting for Kevin and my dad to finish the race. I wonder who we'll be cheering on this year...

none b-day side note: I want to give Vale bangs, but I'm such a CHICKEN! I love her side sweep and there's something about her first haircut that makes me want to postpone it as much as possible. I don't want her to look like a big girl and I think that bangs will make her look it. But by the end of most days the tips of her hair are full of oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, cough syrup (she's battling a nagging cough right now), you name it, if she ate it, there are remnants of it in her hair. I think we'll wait till her 1 1/2 to give her the trim she so desperately needs. Also, I think with the way her hair falls naturally to one side it won't look like those cute bowl looking bangs every girl wears as a baby. What do you guys think?

that face!

dancing with grandpa to the jukebox tunes

After a delicious meal cooked by Mr K, came the cake and the traditional jukebox happy birthday song!

last year!

Happy Birthday Kevin :)

mariquita Vale

Our very first repeat holiday!(Is halloween a holiday?) Last year Vale was a sleeping M&M, this year a ravenous ladybug. Vale strongly dislikes beanies, hats or anything covering her head so we weren't too sure she'd let us pull the hood over her head...but once the ooo's and ahhh's started she couldn't be more excited about wearing the super cute antennae.

The first set of pics are from tita Kristin's soul session partaay, (which was a total blast btw) and the last two pics are from the 31st. We got together with our apartment buddies to watch the Chargers game and pass out candy. Vale munched on a delicious apple cinnamon rice cake throughout the evening completely unaware of the delicious chocolate she was carrying around the whole time.. sneaky parents, mwahaha!


It doesn't look like we dressed up, but we did...I was a leaf and Kevin a gardener-the perfect accessories to our little bug.