Hi hat girl

If you're been around Vale lately you know that upon seeing a loved one, she says "hi". Over and over again. Its really really cute and even when she's on her 15th hi, you can't help but continue saying hi to her which just encourages her to carry on with another half dozen hi's. She's a hi girl, she's also a hat girl! At some point she went from hating hats to loving them..It might have been when the helmet appeared in her life, or maybe when the amount of cool hats gifted to her increased by 1000%. Either way, here are a bunch of her fav head warmers. enjoy!

You're 1.4 bebe

hello there, happy to finally share a few pics of Vale at one year four months. I'm loving her gapped grin and her new pony tail. Her hair isn't the only thing growing, her vocab increases by the day and we love hearing her say things like..."see you," "thank you," "ew," "lola," "luv oo," "up," "down," "poppa," as well as the noises she makes for motorcycles, buses, ambulances, cop cars, bells, and even being cold! Her fav activities still include going to the zoo, going to the park on the bike, visiting her abuelitos and grandparents, reading all her books, playing with her stacking blocks and her pillow pets and going to the supermarket where she points at all the things she wants us to buy her. She also has a thing for hats (that post is up next).:)

In the 1.4 pics Vale's got a cold with a nasty 3 week lingering cough, but between week 2 and 3 she had a day or two where she was healthy and not worrying mom and dad, and that's when this one was taken.

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 :)

1.3

I couldn't decide which picture to use so in honor of her sitting nice and still for her picture I'll share them all! She steals our hearts on a regular basis with her cute words such as hi, love you, thank you, bah bye, mami, papi, her animal noises and very recently her growing range of facial expressions. She knows we love them and waits for our reaction before moving on to the next one. This week she debuted the "shy girl" and the "I want something" look and it's all fun and games until someone skips a nap and turns into a terrible two-er..oh man..Kevin and I are learning how to keep her tantrums at bay and how to discipline when needed. It hasn't been easy and leaves me very sad when we have to get strict with her but It's a necessary we're told. On a sweeter note, She has also started doing funny stuff such as wear mine and Kevin's shoes around the apartment. She wears mine backwards and on the wrong side but I swear I've never seen anything cuter, especially when she grabs her purse... We go on bike rides daily and Vale is no stranger to passing out our helmets and wanting us to wear them around the apartment. She loves wearing hers just for fun..during reading time, during play time...Vale wears her helmet..its hilarious! I was gonna keep this post just 1.3 but since I'm sharing her funny little baby habits I might as well include a few pictures :)

p.s. Outfit compliments of tita Kalani, shoes from my BFF Vanessa. Also, Kevin gave me a new canon lens for Christmas and I'm loooooving how bright and crisp the pictures look. :)

let it snow

Vale played in the snow for the very first time last week and loved it! She went from being super curious to excited to wet and cold! As you can see in the pictures below, she stayed hydrated by eating snow, and not only did I let her, I encouraged it by helping her find the cleanest most unplayed with patch :) My friends Norah, Paty, their kids, Vale and I drove up to Mount Laguna which was about 30 minutes outside Julian...we made a snowman, had a snowball fight, and had an all around gloriously childlike time. Afterwards we went into Julian and indulged a bit w a delicious apple pie and hot apple cider, yum!

(this is not actually a snow picture, it's from a trip to the zoo but it's on a polar bear and polar bears love snow, so there you go)

three oh

big shout out to Vale's dad and the man of my dreams on his 30th birthday! I'm so excited to share a whole new decade with you Kevin. I hear your 30's are the best, and with a sweet baby in your arms, a teaching credential under your belt and a nice chica by your side I think It'll be your best decade yet ;) We love you so very much! Feliz Cumpleaños!

Bate's

It's been too long dear friends, so sorry. But before I can put up the uber cute snow pictures from the other day I must, MUST share the pictures we took at Bate's nut farm way back in mid November :) We had a blast, mobbing the perfectly selected and neatly arranged pumpkins with a less than eager baby trying to get the shot. We even walked the entire field looking for the biggest and brightest pumpkin and totally found one, which Vale showed her approval off by planting a big wet one on it. Last year she was two months old and barely awake, Next year she'll probably want to ride the ponies and run through the corn maze, but this year she was soo happy just running through the pumpkin field, kissing pumpkins, bird watching, and staring in awe at the animals in the mini zoo.

Last year at Bate's, she was so little!