Another Week Flys By...

Here's a few pictures of this past weekend... Nothing too exciting, but a nice relaxing weekend.

Hanging out in Derek's little pool.


Some more work in the planter... in nothing but his favorite gardening boots.


Dad & D at the beach today.


Catching some rays.


Derek totally amazed by all the pelicans.


On our way home from the beach Jason's bike got a TOTAL flat tire. It was hilarious! He was towing about 50 pounds worth of gear on a flat tire. HAHA! Glad it was you and not me, babe!


Our little man passed out by the time we made it home. How can kids fall asleep and stay asleep with their heads like that? I even put a towel on each side of him because I knew he'd fall asleep. But it still didn't help support that big head of his!


Guacamole, chips, and a popsicle... what a yucky combination.

Dogs, Gotta Love 'Em!

I am a huge animal lover, well, except for cats... I hate cats! (Sorry to you cat lovers!) But most animals I LOVE, especially dogs! I have a huge heart for them and if I had the money and the space, I would have a dog rescue in my yard. Anyway, when I got this this email from my grandpa I had to put it on my blog. It's just too cute!

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head. He then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.


An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.

The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks.

Curious I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.'

The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: 'He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3. He's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

My Brother

Troy and his girlfriend Alyssa came down last weekend from Fresno. They don't come down too often so it's always nice to get to see them. It was Troy's 29th birthday so Alyssa set up dinner and a party with his friends from Corona. We didn't get to spend much time with them and the time we did spend I forgot to take pictures of everyone together. Here are the few I did get.

The happy little couple


Troy and myself

Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease... Oh My!

Derek came down with a high fever on Sunday night. So of course that started out our week of a miserable 2 year old. Monday he still ran a fever off and on all day between the Tylenol and Motrin. The fever has passed, but now he won't eat a thing. He wants to eat, but he says it hurts and then he cries. His tongue has blisters all over it. So I took him to the doctor this morning and it turns out he has Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease. Poor little man! There's no antibiotic for it, just Motrin, Tylenol and lots of fluids and rest. It should go away in 5-7 days on it's own. I guess it's common in the Summer months and it's very contagious. Apparently it's going around our community right now. I'm sure he caught it at story time last week at the library. Nice! So keep away from Derek for awhile. I've never seen someones mouth look the way his does. It's so sore looking! I remember always hearing other mom's say they would trade places with their kids in a heartbeat when they're sick, and that is definitely true in this case!

This is how he stayed ALL day yesterday! Today he's a little more active and getting used to not being able to eat. Just popsicles and ice cream... lucky boy!

More Of ... Yup, You Guessed It, Derek!

Sorry, but yes, here are more pictures of Derek. When Jason's at work it's just the little man and myself, so every picture is of Derek of course. I'll try and get some more exciting pictures of someone other than Derek this weekend. Maybe I'm a little bias, but I enjoy all Derek's pics!

Biking to the park... a favorite of his!


Showing off his muscles... again.


A few days ago I had taken off a wallpaper border I had up in the kitchen, so I needed to paint the wall where it had been. As I was getting more paint I look over at the ladder and there is Derek at the top trying to help. This is nothing new. If he sees a ladder, no matter how tall it is, he will climb it.

A Week In The Life Of Derek...

Just some random pictures of our week....

Derek loves tools! I mean loves anything that has to do with Home Depot, drills, saws, wood, paint, etc. Anything he sees daddy doing, he wants to help with. So today I was making dinner and I look in the backyard and he has somehow gotten a hold of Jason's tub of ceramic tile adhesive. He opened it up and stuck both hands in and decided to help dad finish the tile job on the planter he recently made (but hasn't finished yet)! Notice how he has no shirt on too. He had a shirt on and took it off himself. I'm assuming because he sees daddy working in the backyard with his shirt off. Cute! Luckily the adhesive cleaned off easily!


Is this not the most guilty face you've ever seen?


Working with his new Home Depot tool set.



Decided to get in grandma's bath with his clothes on!


Fun in the pool! Derek was getting brave and learned he loves to go under water now. The first time he went all the way under he came back up, wiped his face, and said "Oh my gosh"! It was hilarious! He's never said that before. My mom and I were cracking up!




His new thing is hanging from anything and everything!


And showing off his muscles!

Happy Father's Day!

So Glad My Son Has A Dad Who:

Takes him to the beach.


Teaches him a love for watching football.


Takes naps with him, even if it's just dad who naps!


Keeps him warm when he's cold.


Looks great in pictures! =)


Teaches him the value of hard work.


Gives him a ride when he needs one.


I'm so glad Derek has you as his dad! We love you and appreciate everything you do for us! Happy Father's Day!

And to my dad, I love you so much and am so thankful to always have you around when I need you.

Another Evening at the Park

Hurry up Dad!


The park we like to go to is connected to a Junior High School by our house. We like to take Derek to the field to run off all of his energy!




Jason told Derek there was a possum in the bushes, so he's unsure what to do about it... how mean!

Santa Ana Zoo... Yet Again

My sister came into town again this morning. After we picked her up from the airport, we went to the zoo. Derek can't get enough of it! I'm glad it's so cheap!

Derek with his Aunt posing by the monkey statue


Then sharing his hat and a kiss


I think I'm going through a hat phase. Almost all my posts I'm wearing one!


Derek feeding the goats one piece of food at a time... I'm sure they were getting very frustrated!


Wishing at the wishing well


The ugliest turkey I've ever seen!

A New Addition On The Way!

The night before I left on my adventure with my mom, we found out we're expecting baby number two. It never even sunk in that I was pregnant on the trip since it all happened so fast. Jason and I are very excited! Of course he wants another boy. I would be happy either way. A girl would be nice, but I would love for Derek to have a brother too. My mom seems to think it may be twins since they run in my family and Jason's. She says she just has a 'feeling'. We'll see about that! I'm probably about 4 or 5 weeks along. My first doctor appointment isn't until July 1st, so I have a few more weeks to wait. But if my calculations are correct, I'm due around February 15th or so. Let's see how close I am to that date when I go to the doctor.

FUN Random Weekend

Thursday afternoon I got a call from my mom asking if I wanted to go on a kayaking/camping trip down the Colorado River. We would need to leave that evening. Turned out that a trip one of my mom's friends goes on every year had 2 people cancel. It was already paid for so it would basically be a free trip. So I cleared it with Jason and packed as fast as I could. Derek went to Jason's parents for the night since he goes to work so early in the morning.

My mom and I headed to Bullhead City, Nevada to stay at a hotel right on Lake Mead. We met the group of 40 the next morning at 6:30 am. The kayak company picked us up and dropped us off at the base of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River side. Turns out we were taking canoes and not kayaks. I've kayaked a lot, but never canoed. I couldn't believe a canoe can hold 2 people, 2 ice chests, a tent, chairs, food, sleeping bags, and clothes. I thought we would sink! We started our journey down river against a strong head wind. It was so tough! The friend we went with told us in the 12 years they've been doing this trip, this was definitely the hardest they've ever had to work. We stopped along the way to our campsite for some hiking and site seeing. There were amazing hot springs, and I'm serious when I say hot springs... sometimes the water was so hot it was unbearable. There were cools caves that had formed stalagmite's and stalactites of salt and minerals. After a LONG trek down river, getting caught in rip currents, trees and rocks, battling the canoe so we wouldn't tip, we finally arrived at the campsite, Arizona Hot Springs. We were so relieved we made it. We camped 2 nights on an air mattress that deflated, not to mention when we opened the box it was a twin and not a queen. I've camped before, but I've never been so uncomfortable! But it ended up being so much fun! Our campsite had an awesome hike through a canyon with lots of waterfalls and more hot springs. The friends we made were so fun. One guy had his guitar and sang by the campfire. It totally reminded me of camping at Lake Mead with the Robinsons all those Summers when we were growing up. I definitely was wishing Jason had been there too. Next year were going back with my dad and Jason for sure! The trip down river to where we got picked up was so much better! No strong wind, no rapids! We tied about 8 canoes together and made a sail. We booked it down that river, even leaving a wake behind us! It was a weekend to remember for sure!

The start of our trip at the base of the dam



Enjoying a VERY HOT natural hot spring


Some beautiful scenery


Conquering my fear of the tall waterfall ladder


My mom having a shower


Some more rowing


Our home-made sail boat


My mom hiking down an awesome canyon that had such hot water we didn't want to even stick our feet in it


The entire group... who were all so friendly and fun!


Me and a few of the girls I spent the weekend with


So happy to be back where there was a real bathroom and lots of shade!