Morin Clan

Heidi's First Birthday!

2012-01-23T06:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had some friends over for dinner and celebrated Heidi's first birthday. She loved her cake...well, frosting. She did a pretty good job getting into her cake.

This month Heidi has started climbing onto chairs, tables and her high chair tray! (Scares me half to death!) She also got a few new teeth. She has a mouthful. She is quite dramatic when it comes to putting her down or taking something away from her. She cries and walks away or buries her head into the floor and cries. However, for the most part, she is still happy as can be. She loves attention from just about anyone and will walk up to them to get it. She loves to get into anything and everything. I will find random toys in my pots and pans cupboards. She is a funny little girl and we love everything about her. We love our Heidi and are grateful she is part of our family.

Some Things About Boston That I Will Never Get Over: "Carriage"

2012-01-11T04:41:00.000-08:00

When we moved to Boston, there was a lot of culture shock. We had to learn how to drive like Bostonians, we had to learn how to pronounce the cities "correctly," and remember that when people are talking to us, they're not really yelling at us, it just they way they talk.

There are a couple things that I don't think I'll ever "get over" while we're here. One of them is "carriages."

A "carriage" refers to a shopping cart or stroller. Nobody says "shopping cart" or "stroller." I just can't do it. Not because I'm better than the people here, because I'm not, but because my brain doesn't think that a shopping cart is a "carriage." I always think of a carriage as something pulled by a horse. I'm not about to think that I'm a horse either.

Post Christmas

2012-01-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 30th we went downtown to Faneuil Hall to check out their enormous Christmas tree. We met Joe at work, had dinner at his office and then bundled up the girls for an evening out. We didn't want to go on the 31st because it would have been way too crowded with First Night going on. It was our last chance to see it. We had fun walking around and checking out the Christmas ornament shop in particular.

Big Ol' Tree

Maia

The whole fam

Heidi

Christmas tree shop. I thought this tree was cute. I like how cleaver it was with the blue netted garland and the ornaments. I like the beach ball snowman ornament on the left. We picked up a little ornament (a cute ship steering wheel with garland) to commemorate our first year in Boston. The best news? Everything was 50% off. :)

Christmas 2011

2012-01-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

This was our first Christmas being totally away from family. It was different but we still had a great time. I love Christmas with my kids. It's magical and fun. We had a great December preparing for Christmas. We loved making gingerbread houses, stringing popcorn, watching Christmas movies, playing with the nativity set, making cookies for Santa, reading LOTS of Christmas stories, and just being together.

Christmas morning before Maia woke up.

Christmas morning when Maia woke up. ;)

This is how we hang stockings without a fireplace or mantle.

Maia insisted that we make peanut butter cookies for Santa because "Santa LOVES peanut butter cookies" according to Maia.

Notice we finally have a star. A couple days before Christmas I told Maia that Santa was coming really soon. She got a little upset and said, "But we don't even have a star on our tree yet!" We went out and got a star that night so Christmas could come.

Heidi playing with the nativity set

Decorating sugar cookies!

Heidi's cute holiday dress from Grandma Lin

Decorating the tree.

Building gingerbread houses.

Maia's and my gingerbread house (above)

Joe's gingerbread house. Joe is a true graham cracker artisan complete with walkway, bushes, icicles, chimney, and a taffy snowman.

Great Christmas.

Thanksgiving in KY

2012-01-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving, we went out to Kentucky to see Joe's brother and his family. Joe's mom flew out to be there too. It was a lot of fun. We got to do lots of fun things like play laser tag and volleyball. Joe got to play basketball and football too. For the kids, the highlight was going to the children's museum and being with their cousins. We wish the cousins lived closer.

Children's Museum in Cincinnati

I love Maia's cute cheeks in this profile shot. She's doing what she loves- drawing.

Dress-up with Olivia and Isabelle! Best week ever!

Heidi started walking more and more over Thanksgiving, taking lots of steps before falling.

Fall Visit from Voof and Grace

2012-01-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

Joe's dad and step-mom came out to visit us in the fall. It was fun to see them. While they were here it snowed! It was the strangest thing. It hasn't snowed since then. Anyway, we had a good time. We walked around Harvard Square one day for a couple of reasons. 1) We wanted to visit Harvard campus, mainly the Harvard Law School building where Joe's grandfather went to law school and 2) We wanted to visit Brattle Hall Theater where Joe's grandmother was performing when she and Joe's grandfather met years and years ago. It was a fun little family history lesson for us. We have since been back to Harvard Square and we think of them every time.

These next few pics are of a church that piqued my interest as we walked by. It was even more interesting when I read about the church. The cool thing about Boston is that everything has a story. And believe it or not, there are a lot of things here. ;)

On another day, Grace and I went up north to a certain sewing/fabric store. The area was beautiful. We had fun NOT finding gas stations and pizza joints. The story behind this picture is that we passed this pretty lake on our way to (not) finding a pizza place and then I wanted to get a picture of it later. Well, we couldn't remember exactly where this place was, so we drove forever. We finally found it again and got my fall scenic pic for the year. I was happy that I got my picture. We had a good time laughing and not finding where we needed to go.

Thanks for the fun time Voof and Grace!

Halloween 2011

2012-01-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

Halloween was fun this year. Maia loved carving pumpkins with daddy and going trick-or-treating with her friends. I was brave and made Maia's Strawberry Shortcake costume.

We also went to the ward Halloween party.

Here was a fun costume from the ward party that I had to share.

Catching Up: Boston in the Fall

2012-01-01T12:13:00.001-08:00

One of our favorite places in Boston is Boston Common. It is a gorgeous community park/garden. There is a nice playground, a carousel, a "frog pond" that turns into an outdoor ice skating rink in the winter, a pond (shown in the pic below), and lots of trees and plants.

The park is located across the street from Beacon Hill- a nice and ritzy area to live. I loved this porch so I took a pic of it.

This street below is Acorn Street. Supposedly it is one of the most photographed streets in Boston, as rumor has it. What you're not seeing is the other side of the street because it's not pretty.

In the whole park, this was the only tree that still wasn't green in October! It was a late fall this year. It was weird.

The pictures below are 2 trees from our apt. complex that were just gorgeous. The leaves turned at the very end of October, early November.

Hopefully the trees next fall will pull it together.

Catching Up: Hilton Head, SC

2012-01-01T11:23:00.001-08:00

Since the last post, we've done quite a bit. It's kind of overwhelming. The first week in October, we met my family in Hilton Head, South Carolina for a fun vacation on the beach for a week. We had such a great time and I had fun experiencing the south.

We got to stay at mom's timeshare and loved being ON the beach.

And surrounded by pools

We visited a lighthouse our first day and played

We also visited Fort Pulaski

We took a trip to Savannah, GA afterwards and had lunch (or a sampling of 3 desserts in my case) at Lady and Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant)

We took a walk on the riverfront of the Savannah River. We took a ferry down the river a ways and walked back, stopping at a couple candy shops along the way.

Hot Joe. I liked this picture.

Ferry boat

Statue of the Waving Girl

Mom, Chris, Amy, Alli, and I went to this awesome furniture warehouse shop. It was amazing. It had furniture with all sorts of styles. Some were really neat pieces. Some looked like they belonged in mansions. It was very fun.

This is a sign that was hung in the warehouse. The south does things a little differently.

One day we went on a bike ride and we had a blast. We tried to ride our bikes on the beach but it was SO WINDY that it was super hard to pedal against the wind. It was a bad idea but funny memories.

On our last day we went miniature golfing at a pirate-themed golf course. It was very fun. Afterward we had some yummy ice cream.

And, of course, since my sister was there, we had her take some family pictures. THANK YOU, LAURA!!! We love the pics!

Here's one pic of Heidi that Chris took that I love.

Great vacation! Hilton Head, SC 2011

Maia doing the Robot

2011-11-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

While we were in Newport, Rhode Island Maia busted out the robot. I was thrilled!

Honey Pot Hill Orchards

2011-10-24T09:27:00.001-07:00

On opening weekend in September, we took a trip to Honey Pot Hill Orchards out in Stow, MA.

We started with a hedge maze that we couldn't solve. We found the entrance and Maia suggested (or rather demanded) we leave while we could.

We checked out the cute animals (rabbits, pigs, goats, sheep, and chickens)

We picked out a cute little pumpkin (that sat on our counter until it rotted).

And Maia enjoyed sitting on the tractor like a real farmer.

Something I have never had is a cider donut. This place had homemade, fresh cider donuts. I guess they're pretty much everywhere out here but they were absolutely delicious. Joe and I both ate two! And I'd do it again!

Joe had to stand in line for a while to get these treasures. I have a new reason to look forward to the fall here.

Then off to apple picking. This was also very fun. It was especially fun to watch Maia.

Maia tried out the ladder and then wanted to pick apples that were only reachable by ladder. I was surprised. She's usually so cautious with heights but not this time.

My cute little apple picker. I loved being outside with my little family doing something new. My joy was spilling over. What a great time we had.

After we went apple picking, we stopped by our friend, Tom's, mom's house. We were so close to her house, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to say HI. We were so glad we did stop. She has this amazing farm with 30 horses. She offers riding lessons and has a foundation to allow every child to ride horses, especially those with special needs.

We had such a fun time that we decided to make Honey Pot Hill Orchard (and a stop off at Rita's house) a yearly tradition for as long as we are here.

Preschool

2011-10-24T09:24:00.001-07:00

We live in an apartment complex where a lot of our dental student friends live. It's nice to have friends close (especially when I don't have a car every day). Four of us moms got together back in September and arranged a rotating preschool that meets 2 times a week. I know it will save me and Maia when it's snowing outside and I can't go anywhere. Maia LOVES it. She's the only girl.

Here is her first day. She sat down and pulled out her pencil box before anyone else really showed up.

Her cute "classmates"

Newport Mansions

2011-10-24T09:05:00.001-07:00

We headed to Rhode Island in September to see the Newport Mansions. These were fascinating! On our way, we found a little slice of California... How cute. It's own mini Compton.

Our first stop was at the Green Animals Topiary Garden. This was my favorite stop. It was absolutely gorgeous. The air was so clean and it smelled so good here. It awakened something in me. It was awesome!

I loved these cute girls standing outside the visitor's center. We forgot our bug spray (it's all new to us) but the people were so kind to let us borrow some so we didn't get eaten alive. We first picnicked on the lawn overlooking the bay, then got down to business and checked out the garden.

The flowers were beautiful!

We got to swing on an old school tree swing.

Even Joe.

Some kind of squash hanging. I just liked what I saw.

Green Animals!

This was my favorite part of the garden. These are grape vines with grapes hanging. It smelled like candy! I never knew that grapes could really smell like a purple sucker but better. I loved it! I had to visit this particular spot more than once because it was so awesome.

Joe and Heidi on the porch of this home...

This is the home of the woman who owned the garden. Her gardener was the one who created the green animals. We got to tour this very old home.

On the second floor of the home was an old toy collection. Maia (and I) LOVED the dolls and tea sets and doll houses.

Serious doll houses. Check out the height of this one compared to Maia.

Bedroom

Dining Room

Library

The trees. If Joe could have, he would have uprooted this tree, strapped it to our car and planted it in our backyard. (We don't have a backyard so he couldn't do it)

It was a big ol' tree. GREEN ANIMALS TOPIARY GARDENS WAS A SUCCESS!

Next stop: THE ELMS

This place was at one point planned to be bulldozed and turned into a shopping mall. Uh, what? Luckily the preservation society saved it.

Interestingly, most of the house was empty because they sold all the furniture and stuff.

Maia thought the plans should have been put into action about 1/2 hour before this was taken.

And the trees. This was actually pretty nuts. Inside these hanging branches is a very nice place to hang out. It's open inside. Just some tree trunks and dirt. Very cool place to play if you were a kid living here.

Next stop: THE BREAKERS!

The view here was amazing. A huge lawn and ocean. LOVE!

This is the back of the house. The Preservation Society hosts parties on this lawn. If you're a member of the society, you can go to these parties with your kids. They're pretty extravagant I hear.

The inside of the home was decorated ceiling to floor with paintings, mosaics, tapestries, tiles, intricate woodwork, etc. There wasn't one inch that wasn't decorated. The furniture was interesting and the grand entrance was awesome! Staircases and indoor fountains.

I think the best part of the day was playing on the grass and Maia busting out her "robot" dance. Joe and I had no idea she even knew how to do the robot. Perfect ending to a great day!

Stone Zoo (Sept. 9, 2011)

2011-10-24T09:00:00.001-07:00

Back in September we made it to the local zoo in Stoneham. We met up with our friends, Porter and Zach, and checked out the animals. We had a great time and enjoyed the nice weather (and bee season)!

Maia liked this painting because "it's like baby jaguar from Go! Diego! Go!"

Maia and the cute boys!

This bear was awesome. I think it was our favorite attraction besides...

the train! The train trumps every other attraction.

Amelia Bedelia's Lemon Meringue Pie

2011-10-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

Maia loves the Amelia Bedelia books. In one of the books Amelia Bedelia's job is on the line but is saved when she surprises Mr. & Mrs. Rogers with a delicious lemon meringue pie. Maia insisted we make a lemon meringue pie. So we did.

Maia loved that we used marbles to set the pie crust.

It turned out pretty good but I don't think Maia liked the taste as much as she thought she would. We still had fun making it.

California Part 2 (August)

2011-10-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

While we were in California my sister, Laura, took pics of Heidi. Laura is my photographer for everything. I love these pics she took of my little girl.

This picture managed to be turned upside down. It wasn't this way when I uploaded it. Whatever. Maia decided to cut her hair with children's scissors. I was speechless when I saw what she did. I didn't know what to do.

Luckily mom came to a mini rescue and tried her best to even things out.

Maia cut the top of her hair.

Cousins camp was the biggest highlight. All the older girls got together to do cousins camp but because we were staying at mom's, we were right in the middle of it. Maia loves being with her cousins. The older girls were so sweet and didn't complain about the little girls crashing their fun.

At cousins camp the girls got to hang birdseed eggs in the trees,

Make bead necklaces,

Have a tea party and make their own hats,

dress up for the tea party,

Add sugar to their lemonade with rock sugar sticks,

paint nails,

Have lunch in a beach tent while the older girls were gone,

And watch a movie outside at night.

Some of the WAY older kids went to In-N-Out. I LOVED being with my brothers and my sis-in-law.

Also while we were in California, Heidi started really crawling.

At the end of cousins camp there are always awards given to the kids. This year Maia won the "best haircut" award and Kimball got the "most red hair" award.

Before we headed back to Boston, we made sure to go to Disneyland one time. My Disneyland pass was still good for a couple more days so I got use it one last time.

Mom got me a ticket to see Pageant of the Masters with Laura and Michael. I enjoyed being the third wheel that night. I saw this cool piece of art and had to take a picture of it. Although, I don't think I was supposed to. Oops.

Those were our California highlights. We miss our family and nearly perfect weather but we also love being in Boston for now and experiencing the east coast.

California- Part 1 & Wyoming

2011-09-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

Start at the bottom of this post. It'll make sense.

This little stinker started to crawl just a little while we were in Wyoming. We sure had a great time with dad!

Dad tying the 4 wheelers down.

Four-wheeling in the mountains. Maia fell asleep on the way up the mountain. I have no idea how she was able to do that.

Campfire!

If you work in an auto shop, this purse is for you!

These were a steal!

Oh, this belt? "Chasin Grace" Of course! How much? Oh about $475.

Xochi and I took a trip ALONE to Jackson Hole. What did we do without any children? Embraced the cowgirl life! (or just tried on a few things we fell in love with, and laughed a few times). "Being a cowgirl is expensive!"- Xochi

Hiking back, throwing a couple rocks, and looking for more berries.

Cousins

Cute Santi

At the spring.

Hiking to Intermittent Spring. It was gorgeous! AND, we got to pick real, wild (and safe to eat), fresh black berries.

Santi and Marin gathering nature for "Nature Scouts"- a fun program created by these two creative cousins for those interested in learning more about nature. Maia almost earned all her badges!

Grandpa grandpa (that's how Maia distinguishes between Joe's dad and my dad. This is my dad- grandpa grandpa.)

Swimming in Grandpa's pool.

Maia and Abram watching "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" on the big tv. Maia's dream come true.

On our way to Wyoming, Maia had to strap in Buddy or "Budders" (formerly know as "Snow Puppy" or "Snow Pups") while she went potty on the plane. We want to make sure Buddy is always safe.

A MANDATORY trip to Rite Aid for some Thrifty's ice cream. MMMmmm!

We went to the beach with grandma and cousins! YAY! A nice beach!! Maia loved holding grandma's hand.

START READING HERE!!!

HI! Thanks for following instructions. I am too lazy to rearrange ALL these pictures so we will begin here!

The girls and I were able to go out to California for 3 weeks in August. We had so much fun seeing all the family again. We spent about 4 days in California and then spent a week in Wyoming with my dad, and then back to California for the remaining week and a half. We did all sorts of fun stuff. {Scroll up to see the explanation of pics}

"I'm Just Mad"

2011-09-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

We were having a great day at the playground with friends until Punky Brewster (aka Maia when she dresses herself) sat at the very end of a bench all by herself with her head down. I asked Maia, "What's wrong?"

Her reply, "I'm just mad!"

"Why are you mad?"

"Nothing. I'm just mad."

There was no reason for it. She just decided to be mad.

Alrighty then. I'll take some pictures of it.

While we were at the playground, it started to really warm up. Luckily the sprinklers came on. I felt like mom of the year when I told Maia to go run in the sprinklers. (I ran through the sprinklers with her a little too. It really felt good.) I didn't care if she were soaked head to toe. As long as she was experiencing something fun and having a good time, I was happy.

I think we accomplished a lot that day.

Hopscotch

2011-09-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Maia loves playing outside. Here's Maia's first attempt at hopscotch. I think she did a pretty good job. I taught her how to throw a rock (or in this case a wood chip) and then jump over it going up and then picking it up on the way back. Jump roping is next. :)

Secret Blogger

2011-09-21T06:04:00.001-07:00

I've started a new blog. It's called Just One Mom Trying. That's what I am. I've posted some crafts and other little things from jammie school.

http://justonemomtrying.blogspot.com/

There's some other things too. Just stuff I like.

Check it out if you'd like.

Nursery

2011-09-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

I get to work in nursery at church. It is a very fun calling. I get to be with Maia and about 11 other kids. I saw these shoes all lined up and couldn't help but take a picture. The big shoes on the very right are Maia's. :)

I get to be with 2 other great women. The kids LOVE hearing stories and touching all the pictures. They absolutely LOVE Brown Bear.

And they love a story called HUG. They think it's hilarious when the baby monkey starts crying.

We have a nice woman that comes in to do singing time and she parked her shoes right next to the kids' pile of shoes. I loved this picture too.

All seven of our 3-year olds will be moving up to Sunbeams in January. Part of me will miss them and another part of me will be happy for them (and me). ;)

Dating at Home: Chocolate Tasting!

2011-09-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

Joe and I have been trying to have different "dates" at home on the weekend rather than watching our Netflix movie or movies on TV every time.

A couple months ago we did some chocolate tasting. It was so fun. We gathered some chocolate bars from Trader Joe's and then rated the chocolate. I did some research on chocolate tasting and found out that it is quite complex (appearance, snap, feel, aroma, taste, mouthfeel). You can see from our chart below, how we rated the chocolates. The two chocolate bars shown here are our favorite. Oh my were they good.

These are the chocolates we rated (left=worst, right=best). The one on the far left tasted like dirt. So gross.

Anyway, we both agreed that it was a fun date. :)

Pools, Lakes, and Naps

2011-09-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Maia's baby "Toot" (She named her baby)

I love Maia's face and the clouds. (Winchester Beach)

More pools

Love this face.

Sand Castle Contest @ Revere Beach

2011-09-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Back in July we went to Revere Beach to check out the Sand Castle Competition that was going on. It turned out to be a festival with live music, food, and rides. It was the first time we had been to our own beach. We live in Revere. (We haven't been back since. No real reason not to. We've just been busy.)

Joe and Maia

Heidi's first experience with sand on her feet. She liked it.

Maia LOVING the sand, like always. (Check out those pretty lips! No photoshop here. I don't know how to use it.)

This one was called "Knock Knock"

This one is supposed to be a veiled woman. I liked this one a lot.

This turtle was hollow inside. AMAZING! I loved this one too.

There was a carousel there so Maia had to ride it. I was a little freaked out because it was like a shoddy carnival ride but she had fun.

Sisters

2011-09-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

I love having two girls! And what I also love is that Maia loves having a sister. She is so kind to Heidi. If Heidi is fussy Maia will give her Maia's favorite blanket and stuffed animal. When Heidi isn't crying Maia will hold her hand and play with her and give her toys to play with. Maia will get sad sometimes when Heidi has to go to bed because she still wants to play with Heidi. I'm so glad that she loves her sister. She is a really good big sister.

Maia gave Heidi the blanket that she has and at one point was holding her hand while they were watching cartoons together.

Pool Days

2011-09-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

We are grateful to have a pool in our apartment complex. We love going to the pool with our friends.

Maia, Kylie, Zachary, Porter

Kinslee

Charlie and Jack

Jonah

Heidi

2011-09-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

Just some pics of this little one.

MAINE!

2011-09-09T12:18:00.001-07:00

Over the fourth of July weekend, we took a trip to Maine with our friends, the Evans's. We had such a great time. We love Maine and the Evans's.

Before our trip: getting ready to go

At a little beach in Wells, Maine.

Heidi's first time in a swimsuit...I think.

The pool at our little resort.

Getting on the trolly to go back to our villa.

Sparklers! Maia loved the sparklers. First time holding fire.

I thought I was going to get to eat famous Maine lobster and have it pronounced "lobster" instead of "lobstah" like they do in Boston. One of those things happened. The lobstah was delicious.

Lobstah dinner.

Crystal, Ryan and Porter in front of our cozy cottage. Zach was asleep in the car.

Us.

We made it back to Boston just in time for us to go to bed and miss the fireworks downtown. We were all exhausted but we had such a great time. I stayed up to watch the fireworks from our apartment window. We have a great view of the city from our apt. I actually go to see several firework shows that night for about 3 hours! Boston really knows how to celebrate freedom.

July = Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

2011-09-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

July was full of birthdays!! It was Joe's birthday but there were also 3 of Maia's friends that had birthdays! It was fun to go to all the parties.

Here's Logan's birthday carnival! So fun!

All the cute kids.

Maia wins the cake walk.

New balloon hat.

Joe did the face painting.

Look at the cute concessions table. Cotton candy, pretzels, candied and caramel apples, nachos, and popcorn.

And on the other end were the cupcakes and the cake. Darling.

We went down to Piers Park in East Boston for Porter's birthday! It couldn't have been anymore perfect. It was the most beautiful day!

Downtown Boston in the background.

Maia loved the train that they brought to the party.

Then there was Gavin's pirate party. Gavin's dad was Captain Hook- very convincing. I like the coat personally. The kids loved going on a treasure hunt, walking the plank, making telescopes and wearing their pirate gear- hats and eye patches. It was very cool.

Mall Tots: T-ball vs. Basketball

2011-07-20T04:51:00.000-07:00

There is a mall close-ish to us that has an indoor play space. It is actually really nice. They have slides and bouncy castles, and little tikes cars and trikes. They also have a big area for indoor soccer and t-ball. The t-ball part was Maia's favorite. As it turns out, Maia had a little hard time with basketball (mainly because it was a bouncy ball) but she is pretty good at t-ball! Who knew? Joe had a dream, before Heidi was born, that we had three girls and Maia was a good softball player. Pretty fun.

We bought her a whiffle ball and bat shortly after this and she is pretty good at hitting a ball that is pitched to her too! We'll have to post one of those videos too.

A Grand Day Out! (June 4, 2011)

2011-07-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

It was a nice weekend back in June so we continued to explore our surroundings. I was dying to go to Quincy Market because I heard how awesome it was. So we started at Joe's work for the free parking and close walk to the train. This is Joe's work and Joe. He looks good.

First family trip on the train. Maia really did like it.

Quincy Market and these minute men. Sadly, I was under impressed by Quincy Market. I'll have to go back and give it a second chance. We kept walking though.

We found a carousel across the street from Quincy Market at the North End Harbor. Maia had to ride it.

While we were in the North End, I remembered that Mike's Pastry was in the North End. We checked it out on my iPhone and we were blocks away. We stopped for our first encounter with Mike's famous cannolis. YES! They were AWESOME!!! Probably the best part of the day.

Paul Revere has his own Bruins jersey. This was taken before the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup. We saw this on our way to eat our cannolis. Which was in a little plaza behind the North Church.

Our next stop- The North Church. How convenient! I took a quick self-guided tour with Maia. I will need to go back when Maia isn't there to distract me from reading and learning.

Maia loved the pews in their little booths.

After a long but very fun day, we went home. (Here is a pic of one of the cute little alley ways.) Who would have thought that a day planned to go to Quincy Market would have ended up like this! Not me! But I'm sure glad it did.

Heidi: Just about 6 months!

2011-07-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Heidi is almost 6 months old! I can't believe it!

She is still just a joy to have! She is a good eater and a good sleeper. She is so smiley (unless she is tired). She is ticklish and loves any attention.

She can roll both ways and sit up on her own. She can hold her own bottle too. She prefers her thumb over her pacifier. As a matter of fact, if you give her a pacifier, she will give it a couple sucks, then take it out and stick her thumb in. She's so funny.

Heidi has developed a reaction to fruit and so we are waiting until she grows out of it. She can eat vegetables just great but when she eats fruits she gets some redness on her temples, mostly on her right side. It will last for about 5 minutes after she's done eating. It doesn't seem to bother her. I've done a little research on the matter and it seems like it's something she'll just grow out of. We will ask about it more at her 6 mo. appt. But it's not quite an intolerance nor an allergy.

That is Heidi in a nutshell. Remember when we took pics of Maia like this? Click HERE to see Maia's old pics. So cute. Maia was pretty much the exact age of Heidi in these pics.

I certainly missed having my sisters be the photographers and having an extra hand with these.

Maia's 3rd Birthday Party

2011-06-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

We had Maia's birthday party on Memorial Day weekend. Surprisingly, most of her friends were there. However, the pizza almost didn't show up. We ordered pizza from Costco and after 2 hours of Joe being on the road and having gone less than 2 miles, we had to ditch the Costco idea and order delivery. Luckily Joe was thinking and ordered pizza about an hour into the traffic. Pizza got to us before Joe did. But the rest of the party turned out fairly well. We had a pinata- one of those pull-string kind but now we know not to get one of those again. ;) We thought it would be the safe way of doing it, and it was also Maia's decision to get the Elmo pinata when we first moved here about 2 months ago. Anyway, here's a video of the pinata.

We had cupcakes:

And presents. And that was it. We were going to go play at the playground but it was a little too cool. I think Maia had a great time. She got to pick out her pinata (Elmo), her plates (Cars and Minnie Mouse), her napkins (Dora and Minnie) and cups (Tinkerbell). Very eclectic. Love that little Maia girl.

Maia's 3rd Birthday

2011-06-06T12:05:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of Maia's bday at home on her actual bday.

My cute girls in their jams.

Maia's rockin' cake that I made...that's why it was so good.

Maia's new table and chairs from Gpa Fin and Lainie. And her new tea set from Gma Lin.

All the stuffed animals were invited.

Maia's Minnie Mouse Princess ears from the bday card from Gpa Fin and Lainie.

The cake before it was eaten.

BIG HAPPY SMILE for the BIRTHDAY GIRL!

It was Maia's choice what to have for dinner. What did she want? A bowl of canned Cambell's Chicken Noodle Soup... the Princess version. Easy for me.

I took Maia to Chuck E. Cheese during the day. She loves the rides.

Here's the best part. Her excitement for her bday song. :)

I wrote this in July (just a little late). Happy birthday to my Big Girl Maia! We love you so much and are so grateful to have you in our family. We are so blessed to have you as our firstborn and we just love you to pieces. We love your happy spirit, your incredible imagination, your cute humor, and your sweet kisses that you give. We love that you are so nice to your sister, that you are so willing to share with her and protect her. You even give her your own favorite rainbow blanket to calm her when she's crying. You are a true artist, have an amazing memory for things, and pay attention to detail. You can draw people with eyes (iris and pupil), eyebrows, nose, mouth, cheeks, hair, ears and glasses! You are a quick learner and we enjoy hearing you quote movies and dialogue. You'll even re-enact a lot of scenes like from Little Rascals and Tangled.

You still love your snow puppy and rainbow blanket. You love your baby that you have named "Toot" that is dressed in pink but it a boy. You like showers now more than baths. You like to help mom make stuff in the kitchen. You still play with your food A LOT and pour water all over your plate and tray. You squish things with your hands and "wash" your hands with all your leftover food and paint the high chair tray. You like to dip food in sauces and can eat straight up butter, or any kind of salad dressing or sauce. You love fruit- especially strawberries and blueberries. You are warming up to sandwiches and quesadillas. YAY for me! On most mornings you ask if daddy is still here. You love your daddy. You're bummed when he is at work. You love Special Agent Oso, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel. You like to do your "three special steps" and reenact what Special Agent Oso does- especially the jump rope one. Every night before bed, we will dress you in new jammies (since you're already wearing a pair of jammies from nap time and then have soiled from eating dinner), have you use the potty, brush your teeth, read you 2 stories that you pick out (which is different every night), and then sing "Whenever I Hear" along with the book. You have named the girl in the book Addy and her cat is named Hootie and the frog is named Hodda (or something like that). You always ask us to sing it fast. You think it's funny. In your crib you must have puppy, baby, Peach (rabbit from Easter), and Snow Bear along with your rainbow blanket, a sippy of water, and a book or two to read to snow pups. Mickey, Goofy, and Moosey, Christmas Bear (once in a while), make it in the crib occasionally. You love it when you have a million stuffed animals in your crib. Daddy doesn't like it as much. Too many things.

You like to play with your table and chairs and rearrange the chairs to make a "car." You set the chairs up two by two in front of my old cedar chest and stick your plastic keys into the lock hole of the cedar chest as part of your car. You also stack a bunch of toys on the cedar chest as if it's the trunk of your car. You are always driving to an "adventure" as you say. Your room has been renamed "the jungle" and often times you say you are "going on an adventure to the jungle." You crack us up. You still sleep in your crib because we haven't gotten you a big girl bed yet but you don't mind. You are patient and haven't tried to climb out of your crib. Every morning you sit up in your crib and yell, "I'm awake! I'm awake!" and when we come in to get you, you say, "I'm awake! The sun is awake!"

You like to play games! Any kind of game. Board games like the Ladybug game or the Bees game. You like puzzles and Go Fish. You like to play stop & go and pretend stuff like store. You make me buy stuff and then you check me out at the register. We take turns buying and checking out. Lately you like to pretend that your room is your house and you always want me to "come over to your house" and play. I knock on your door and you invite me in. Your manners are exceptional.

For the longest time you would only watch Monsters Inc., Cars, or Little Rascals (aka Kids and Dogs). You have really broadened your movie choices. You like to watch Snow White, Pete's Dragon, Tangled (although it took you a while to really watch it because you didn't like Mother Gothel), Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and some other classics. You like to try some new ones once in a while.

You love to go to the playground here. You could go there every day just to swing on the swings. You like to play in the play room and you like to play with your friends. You have nice friends. Your nursery friends are: , Porter Evans, Jonah Benson, Emmeline Shumway (moved to Spanish branch), Honey and Avery Miller, Kaihe Allen, Gavin McEwen, and Jaclyn Mangelson, Charlie Adams. Logan McCammon, Jase Anderson, and Kylie Baldwin are your friends too. Logan McCammon and Jase Anderson are just a little older and Kylie is a year or two younger.

We are glad you are healthy and strong and happy. You are the joy of our lives. We love you more than you will ever know.

Jammie Preschool: fun experiments

2011-06-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we did some spring cleaning. Our ward was doing a swap of our used stuff. I had collected Maia's blocks and thought, "She only uses these every once in a while and I hate cleaning them up. We can donate them." Well, Joe couldn't drop off the stuff I collected so I had to drop it off myself WITH the girls in the car. It didn't go over so well. I had dropped off the blocks, thinking I was all discreet and stuff. But once I got back in the car Maia has this sad look on her face and says, "Mom, where are my blocks?" I tried to play it off but Maia knew that I had taken her blocks and left them at church. She was so sad. I had to run back into the church and take our donated blocks back. I felt so lame. But, Maia has found a new love for her blocks. And this week she used every block in the bag to create this:

We also made some coffee filter butterflies. Maia's butterflies turned out so well. I don't know what her secret was but mine weren't half as good so you won't see any of mine on this post.

First she colored,

Then sprayed with water

And more water,

And even more water

Until her filter was completely soaked.

This is a different filter but it shows how the colors just ran.

I don't know how she got those cool color spots on her butterfly wings but she did. (Click on butterfly to enlarge)

This was awesome. What happens when you put Ivory bar soap in the microwave for 2 minutes? Watch this...

Very cool. It doesn't ruin your microwave or your plates or anything. It's just cool! If you're going to try it, just remember that the soap is hot after heating it up. Wait for it to cool before you touch it. I think I got this idea from Tinker Lab. It's a fun website for kid experiments.

A Revealing Game

2011-05-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

One day I was just sitting on the couch watching a disaster unfold. I was impressed when I counted the blankets that had accumulated on the floor. How many blankets can you spot?

Nice? or Scary?

2011-05-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

So, we had plans to go to Quincy Market last weekend. But, it was so cold that we didn't end up going. However, we did get to go here!

Check out this restaurant! Nice fireplace with a nice flat screen. Wow this is a great MCDONALDS!!!
What? There's a time limit for eating now?

Oh dang! We better jam. Where the heck are we? Scaryville. There was one small mirror in the bathroom with 2 posters on it.
Here's the close-up.
We left right before our 30 minutes expired on us. If I had found this poster earlier, we would have probably just gone through the drive thru...which had 2 lanes to choose from. WHAT?

It's Spring!...OUTSIDE!

2011-05-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

We are lucky enough to live in an apartment complex with a great playground and friends that live close by. We like to go to the playground often. It's one of Maia's favorite things to do. Here she is with her buddy, Gavin.

A couple of weeks ago we went to this "beach" with some friends. It is known as Winchester Beach, Memorial Beach or Sandy Beach. However, it's a lake! Nevertheless, we had fun.

Maia, Porter, and Zachary building their sand castles. Maia was in heaven! She has missed the beach and the sand so much.

Heidi: What has she been up to?

2011-05-16T11:27:00.001-07:00

.So, I blog mostly about Maia, maybe because she actually does stuff but Heidi is still here and she is just the sweetest thing. She is still my happy baby and is still so good. She is such a sweetheart. I just love this little angel.

This is typical Heidi waking up from a nap. (pic. taken this morning) All smiles. She didn't get this from me. I'm not the happiest when I wake up.

Heidi has her 2 bottom teeth coming in. YIKES! 3 months old, 2 teeth. Maia was an early teether as well (at 4 months)

Looking cute. Always happy.

Always.

Before Heidi was born we asked Maia what she wanted to name her baby sister. She said, "Big Cow!" That has changed since then...thankfully. A couple weeks ago I was talking to Heidi and looking at her shirt I said, "Are you my big cow?" and Maia quickly said, "Mom, Heidi is not a big cow!" I was beginning to think to myself how sweet Maia is to stick up for her baby sister when she continued, "She's a SMALL cow."

Below is a video of Heidi's first little 'laughs.' Too cute. She is one ticklish baby.

Jammie Preschool: It's SPRING...inside.

2011-05-16T11:06:00.001-07:00

Spring is in bloom and here is the proof:

I am loving the springtime blossoms! (I'm grateful that I don't have allergies.) I've been thinking about the "Poppcorn Popping" primary song when I see these pretty trees of all diff. colors of blossoms. I decided to make some of our own "colored blossoms" and do a little craft.
We made some Jell-O popcorn. Very pretty and yummy. And then we made our own springtime trees. Maia decided she wanted to do this craft without her shirt on this time.
The blue thing on the right of her tree is a beehive and there are yellow bees on it. Maia is very creative.
Even though the sun is shining a tiny bit more, it is still cold. Joe stopped at Dunkin' Donuts one morning for a research project and grabbed a cup of hot chocolate. He highly recommended it so Maia and I stopped and checked it out ourselves. Joe was right. It is really good! Better than Starbucks by far- but that's not saying much. I don't like Starbucks hot chocolate.

We did some foot prints (Heidi on the left, Maia on the right)

And hand prints for Mother's Day. This was a present to myself.

Maia likes to help me cook so we baked my favorite chocolate chip cookies one afternoon between projects.

This week we learned about primary colors and color mixing. Maia loved this one.

We also strung some Froot Loops on some yarn. Maia's necklace didn't quite fit so she made a crown instead.

Heidi hanging out.

Tissue paper flowers.

Singing and playing "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree" (from http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com)

Counting 3 candles and preparing for her own birthday coming up this week. (idea comes from http://thoughtsofesme.blogspot.com)

Cheers!

2011-05-01T20:42:00.001-07:00

It was beautiful on Saturday so we decided to do some more Boston stuff and enjoy the spring we are beginning to have. We decided to go to Boston Common which is the "Central Park" of Boston. We parked on this street with these cute, old apartments. I liked this little scene so that's why there is a picture of it. I like the flag hanging from the building.

On this same street we found the "Cheers" bar. It wasn't all that impressive- mainly because we don't drink and we had our kids with us. But they were serving drinks inside and it was quite busy. We thought a picture would suffice. There was one thing that I thought was pretty funny in their gift shop- a baby onesie that had the "Cheers" logo on the front, and on the back it read, "I don't even know my name."

This is Boston Common. It was absolutely beautiful. This may be my new favorite place in Boston so far. There was this pretty pond where they have the "Swan Boats,"
and these trees with the most gorgeous blossoms.
There were tulips of all colors there. I loved these red and yellow tulips. I have never seen anything like them.
Joe and I have been watching "John Adams" the 7 part series through Netflix (my dad's brilliant suggestion). It has been really neat to see the history and connect it with the places around here.
This is a fun picture of the city in the background.
We stopped to play a little game of catch on the grass.
More tulips.
Check out these beautiful blossoms! I love! There was "Popcorn Popping" on all the trees. It is just a beautiful spring here.
There was also a carousel in the park that we HAD to check out. Maia picked the frog. Adjacent to this carousel is the Frog Pond which is a shallow pond that turns into a public ice skating rink in the winter. Absolutely darling. There is also a nice big playground close by. We ran out of time. We will be back soon to check it out.

Heidi is 3 months

2011-05-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

Heidi is 3 months old! I can't believe it. She is growing so fast. She is still the happiest baby ever. She just smiles all the time. (Smiling's her favorite.) She will smile at 3:00 am when she's hungry. She will smile at strangers. She will smile when you just look at her. She's got a personality that is so cute. She coos and "talks" when she wants some attention. She won't cry (unless she's really hungry). She is still just so calm and sweet. I just love this little girl. She is such a joy.

She is starting to teethe! Her two bottom teeth will be making an appearance soon. She also has some rolls on her thighs. You can see one of them on HER right leg. (The others are covered by her diaper.) Love those rolly thighs!

This was a funny face she made. I thought it was cute.

Preschool?

2011-05-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

This past week, we didn't have a lot of "Jammie Preschool." But we did some fun things.

Maia discovered this thing at the playground. It's basically a "Sit-N-Spin" but slightly off the ground. Lots of dizzy fun.

We went to "Monkey Joe's" with her friend Porter and his little bro. Zack. They had a fun time bouncing around and playing on all the inflatable toys.
We did some activities about the body this week. Maia is really close to writing her own name. She knows how to spell it but is starting to write her letters. (She also knows my phone number, area code and all. She just started spouting it off one day. Do I really repeat my phone number THAT many times? I guess you do when you're new in the area.)

We talked about "all the time foods" (aka good for you foods) and "sometimes foods" (aka taste good but shouldn't have all the time). We placed pictures of the "all the time foods" IN the body and the "sometimes foods" OUTSIDE the body. I had fun quizzing Maia which foods belonged where. To Maia, cookies are an "all the time food." (I almost agreed.) Salad is a "never ever food." "I don't like it," she tells me.
We finally finished coloring in her body. She wanted me to help. She told me what to do. One black hand, one yellow hand, purple stripes, brown hair, flowers on the pants, etc. She wanted to do the brown flower on the shirt along with some other details.

I think we'll be working on zoo animals this week. She likes the animals. As a matter of fact, let us introduce you to Maia's newest crib member: "Peach" the white Easter bunny. A sweet gift from Grandpa and Lainie. Maia didn't even have to think about the name. It was obvious that her white bunny was "Peach."

Easter Morning

2011-05-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

(I had a video here but it was too long.)

Maia was loving Easter this year. In the morning, she went through her basket to find stuff that the "Easter bunny" left, or what mom and Maia picked up at the store weeks ago. I thought she didn't see me buy the sunglasses. Oh well. At least the Easter bunny left her some original stuff. She loved her packet of Swedish Fish (just like the ones Amy used to give to Maia in California). Maia was thrilled. After seeing her basket, she got to go on a little egg hunt to find some plastic eggs filled with some chocolates. She loved finding the eggs more than the chocolate inside.

The next day we hid her dyed eggs. The day after that, she wanted to do it again. We had loads of fun hiding and finding eggs. (Mom, don't worry, all eggs have been accounted for and will not be lost in someone's closet in months to come when they begin to stink.)

We went to church that afternoon and we had great lessons. Both Joe and I felt like we celebrated the true meaning of Easter at church. We learned more about the atonement and the mission of the Savior. Maia also loved her Easter lesson in nursery about Jesus' resurrection.

I can't believe how big Maia is getting. She is growing way too fast. She talks and talks and talks and has an amazing vocabulary. She describes things incredibly well. My baby is no longer a baby. Sometimes it makes me sad to think that one day she'll be too big to hold and too old to play with me. She's my little buddy and my sweetheart. I love her so much. There's nothing quite like your firstborn, the one who taught you how to love more than you've ever loved, and live like you've never lived.

Easter Eve

2011-05-01T17:27:00.001-07:00

This year, we dyed Easter eggs the day before Easter. This year was fun because I Maia is understanding more. She loves to experiment with anything new too. This was the perfect project. Look at her cute little face.

(above) One of my favorite pics of her silly smile. Love it.

In the morning we had a ward Easter egg hunt. It was very cute. All the nursery-age children were put in one room to find eggs while the older Primary children looked for eggs around the building. It was so fun for Maia.

Here is Maia's new pal Porter (aka Portah! His parents are from Arizona and Tustin. They hate it when Bostonians say Portah. We just think it's funny.) Even though Porter is Maia's new pal, there is no way she can replace her friends/cousins in CA.

We were coming home from our fun playground here and I asked Maia if she likes being in Boston. She said, "Uh-huh." I then asked her, "do you like it here in Boston or California better?" She said, "California." I asked her what was in California that she liked so much. She said, "Andi." Melt my heart. She is always thinking about her cousins in California and always has plans to go to grandma's, go to the beach, go to Disneyland, go to Lyla's house, etc. "tomorrow."

Here is the Easter bag that Maia made for the hunt.

Are You My Mother?

2011-05-01T17:01:00.001-07:00

One of Maia's favorite stories is Are You My Mother? It's a story about a baby bird that hatches while his mother is gone from the nest. The baby bird is on a quest to find his mother. We read it often.

When we read this story Maia likes to change some of the words so that she can relate better. Ex. The "kitten" is not a kitten. It's a "kitty." The "hen" is not a hen. It's a "chicken." When the bird comes to a "dog," it's not a dog. It's "Buddy" (Grandpa Voof's adopted dog). If you try using the words "kitten," "hen," or "dog," Maia will be sure to correct you. FYI, Buddy is probably the only dog Maia likes. She met Buddy last Thanksgiving and continues to talk about him.

Last time we read the story, I came to this page that poses the question, "Could that old thing be his mother?" Maia listening to the question said, "No! That would be too dangerous!" I was happy to see that she is understanding how dangerous cars can be.

Grandpa Voof, this post is just for you. I think you're probably one of the very few that still reads this blog. :)

Amy and Chris Got Married!!!

2011-04-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

This is the best pic that I took of Chris. Sorry Chris. But he still looks handsome.

March 26th Amy and Chris were sealed in the Newport Beach Temple. After 9 years of dating Amy, Chris is officially part of the family!!! We couldn't be happier for their union. Their sealing was absolutely beautiful. I had a hard time looking at my beautiful sister because I just wanted to cry. (I really didn't want to cry mostly because my sweet cousin Jeanette did my make-up too. She's a professional make-up artist.) But Amy looked so beautiful and I just love her and Chris. I am so happy for them.

Andi and Michael

My mom and me

Maia and cousin Abram dancing (This was not staged. It just happened. I just love these two.)

Gorgeous bride (might I add that Laura and Amy did all the flowers themselves!)Cute cousins

Pretty Amy

Halyn wanted some of the attention too.

Lyla and Alli

Maia in her pretty dress.

Kimball- not stoked about all this.

Preschool

2011-04-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

This week in "Jammie School":

Tumble Bunnies. This was fun. I found this at http://familyfun.go.com/easter/easter-crafts/all-easter-crafts/tumble-bunnies-1001208/. Easy. It made a fun little toy that Maia played with over and over and over again. We have a stack of boxes that made a nice ramp for the bunny to tumble down. You might have something better than boxes.

We started this but never finished. I traced Maia's body (kind of hard when she's wiggling) onto butcher paper. I cut it out and she was going to put clothes on it and a face but we never quite got there.
We did make some handprint bunnies and sponge painted the grass on. This was fun. Anytime we deal with paint, it's fun.
We also went to the Malden Public Library close to our home. This was interesting:
I've never seen a failed elevator certificate. Maybe because if it has failed, they don't let people ride in it. Hmm...no one stopping this elevator from being used by the public.

Anyway, there is a puppet show corner of the kid's section of the library for kids to play with. Maia especially liked the dragon and crocodile. She put on a little show for me.

We also did some "paint with water" pages for fun.
Maia colored a pizza. She made sure I knew that there were BLUE pepperonis, BLUE pickles, BLUE cheese and THAT'S IT!
We did some counting again. I actually found some cute counting cards at http://mamasmonkeys.blogspot.com/2011/04/pizza-tot-pack.html We also played a "Cars" alphabet game. (I found this at the same blog above) I would call out a letter and Maia would have to cover the letter with a peanut.
This is a rare occasion. So, I wanted to remember that she does take naps...once in a while.

We went to Costco! It felt so nice to go somewhere familiar. We had a good ol' hot dog and soda lunch.
We made these little Rice Krispy treat nests and put a little Peep birdie in it along with some Reese's peanut butter eggs.

http://www.food.com/recipe/chick-egg-krispies-nest-easter-treats-116299 I'm pretty sure I got the next idea from http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/. Maia did some number matching with plastic eggs and an egg carton too. She rocked it. It's the letters that we're still working on.Here's a little clip of her Tumble Bunny.

Battle Reenactment Failure

2011-04-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

So it was Patriot's Day last weekend. We had every intention and plan to go see the reenactment of the Battle at Old North Bridge in Concord where "the shot heard around the world" took place. You can see some of the pictures of this reenactment here:

http://mserfass.smugmug.com/History/Battle-at-Old-North-Bridge-in/5763429_RhpNz#356428670_CX2bC

Maia and Heidi were still sick with colds and at 8:30 am on this particular Saturday, it was in the 35 degree range. We decided to do something else. So we went to the mall.

Maia wanted her picture with Jeffrey the Toys R' Us giraffe so we did that. The Easter bunny was a little scary-looking and quite expensive so we didn't do that. But, we did want to do something that was touristy. So, we gave in, and stopped at Dunkin' Donuts IN THE MALL! Yes, they have them everywhere! It might be worse than Starbucks on the west coast. When you ask for directions, people will respond in terms of Dunkin' Donut locations. "Head north on hwy 1. Turn right at the third Dunkin' Donuts."

Here's the touristy part. Not only is it a Dunkin' Donut donut, but it's a BOSTON CREAM donut.

Maia thoroughly enjoyed her strawberry donut. I'm not sure if she's ever had a donut before but she loved it. (Last week we had a play group and there was an Easter scavenger hunt. At the end, there was a bucket of Dunkin' Donut "Munchkins" (aka donut holes). I think Maia ate 4 of them!

I'm so glad that we were able to check Dunkin' Donuts off our TO DO list. Phew!

Personally, I would have loved to see the battle reenactment but maybe next year. We'll probably have to pack a few "Munchkins" to keep the kids occupied and quiet. Nothing says battles like donuts.

Heidi's Baby Blessing

2011-04-15T14:19:00.001-07:00

Little Heidi Marie was blessed in the Wood Canyon by Joe on March 13th. Joe was assisted by my dad, Cory, Cameron, Chris, Michael, Jared, and Bishop Todd Keller. We were lucky to have Joe's mom, sister Marla, and her husband Jared in town for the blessing. My mom, Sadie, Kimball, Alli, Lyla, Autumn, Laura, Andi, and Maia were all in attendance. It was a great blessing and fun to see family. Joe was able to record the blessing so we are grateful to have that record to reread and to remind us of little Heidi's potential. She is a blessing to us.

USS Constitution & Temple

2011-04-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had some nice weather so we decided to jump right into things and do something touristy. We decided to visit the USS Constitution. We had to tell Maia that it was "Captain Hook's" ship so she would stay somewhat interested. To Joe and me, it was awesome. Very fascinating.

We stopped to eat lunch near the Navy Yard.

And visited the USS Constitution Museum.

Maia's favorite part was pretending to be the cook.

She also fell in love with this model of the USS Constitution. As you can see, it took 62,000 hours to complete the model. Maia stared and stared at it.

-Maia, do you like that big boat?

-Uh-huh. I want it for my birthday.

-Mmm...I don't think you're going to get it for your birthday.
When we were in California, we were sitting around the table one night asking Maia some questions. One of the questions was, "Where does Heavenly Father live?" She replied, "In Boston."

When we got to Boston, Maia woke up from her nap and started crying. She said she wanted to see Heavenly Father. Joe and I decided that we needed to take a trip to the temple to show her where the Lord's house was. When we got to the Boston Temple we explained to her whose house it was and she said, "No! Heavenly Father's house is in California!"

Books and Muffins

2011-04-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

We have been unpacking sloooooowly. But it has been fun for Maia. She is finding things that she never knew we had. Take this book for example.

This was my book when I was a kid. It is now one of Maia's favorite books. Joe had a brilliant idea for breakfast on Saturday. MUFFINS! Maia loved making muffins with daddy.

What a treat!

Jammie Preschool

2011-04-14T05:45:00.001-07:00

Heidi is still an amazing baby. She sleeps well and eats well and is pretty content just hanging out.

When Heidi is hanging out, Maia likes to have her own time with me. Maia loves watching TV too- sometimes TOO much. So, in order to fulfill both problems, we do "Jammie Preschool" which is just another phrase for "activities with mom while I wear my jammies." (Maia came up with "Jammie Preschool") Here are some of the things we have done so far:

Easter egg tree with hand print trunk/branches

Cupcake Sizes sequencing game: Maia is really good at sorting the cupcakes from biggest to smallest and from smallest to biggest.

Counting cards with clothespins: We made some cards with old Easter stickers. Maia is good at counting and recognizing her numbers.

Sounds Matching Game: I filled plastic Easter eggs with different things (beans, rice, cereal) to create different sounds when shaken. Maia had to find and match the 2 eggs that had the same sound.
Jelly Bean counting and graphing: this was more for just eating jelly beans. Not a real successful activity but a great ending.
Memory game: We would take turns closing our eyes while the other would take an egg away and then trying to guess which egg was taken away.
Practicing letter tracing and pencil skills: Maia is good at tracing her letters. We are still learning letters little by little and learning how to hold a pencil correctly. Maia has her own way of holding a pencil- quite interesting.
Paper bag cat puppet: Maia has been really wanting to make a sock puppet but we had no socks. So we resorted to the paper bag. (She colored everything except the nose, eyes, and right arm. She made me color those. She got too tired but she did a great job! Check out the ears on that cat! Nice work staying inside the lines)

Sensory bin: We opened up a can of dried black beans and put some googly eyes in it. Maia had to dig around to find them. She liked the feel of the beans and trying to find the eyes.
Puffy paint: This was fun. Maia and I made some "paint" that puffs up when it is microwaved. Pretty fun.

Maia had so much fun wearing her backpack and riding her tricycle "to school" that I packed her a lunch for "school." I was excited to see that she ate her entire lunch- sandwich and all.
Maia and I were coloring and I left the room for a minute. When I came back all of Maia's crayons were broken in half. I was a little upset because they were new crayons. I asked Maia, "Why did you break all your crayons?" She gently replied, "So we can share. Everybody needs to break their crayons so they can share with their friends and their moms." Boy did I feel bad.
Maia's first time writing a "B"

We've had fun at "Jammie Preschool." It gives us some good time away from the TV and some time one-on-one without little Heidi and Maia is learning.

Now, I can't take credit for any of these ideas. I found them all online. Here are their links:

Cupcake sizes game: http://filefolderfun.com/Pages/PreschoolSequencing/CupcakeSizes.html

Most games and activities and printables come from the Oopsey Daisy Blog: http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2011/04/e-is-for-easter.html

I'm grateful for this woman who does "Mommy School" with her child. She creates the most amazing packets and shares them.

Puffy Paint Recipe: http://melissagoodsell.typepad.com/day_to_day/2008/01/holiday-activit.html

Our new digs: campus tour

2011-04-14T05:41:00.001-07:00

A lot of you have been wondering what our new place looks like. Well, we are still unpacking but here are some pics of the complex.

Here's the indoor basketball court where Joe and other guys from church play on Saturdays. Yes, Maia is watching Joe play in this pic. :)

Maia is our elevator girl. We live on the top floor (5th floor). She is in charge of pushing all the buttons. Maia likes to ride her tricycle from our door to the playground as shown in this pic.

There is an indoor dance studio and a playroom as shown in the pics above and below.

There is a really nice playground here for both older and younger kids. I love it! It is enclosed with a gate and there isn't any sand. LOVE!

Here is our building. If you split the building down the middle in half you can see our apt. It is the top right. I love all the windows we have. And, to have a corner apt. is awesome.

Come visit us anytime!!!

CA vs. MA

2011-04-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

This is what the weather was like in CA the day before going to MA. It was heaven!!!

When we arrived in MA, it was snowing/raining. So cold!!!

We stayed inside.

A view from our apt. of our first day.

The next day was nicer.

Last Day in CA

2011-04-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

The day before we left for Massachusetts, we were able to go out with friends and take a little cruise around the Dana Point Harbor. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

Earlier that day we put our car up for sale on a used car lot. Maia was literally crying when we said goodbye to the car and left it there. She was really upset that we weren't going to have our car. We decided that a Slurpee might be the cure for her sadness. Luckily it worked. Maia's first Slurpee. MMmmm... happy girl.

En route to our new home in Boston. Maia threw up the night before we left. I was praying that she wouldn't throw up on the plane. Our flight and travel went incredibly smooth. I felt so blessed.

Adios Disneyland

2011-04-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Before we moved to Massachusetts we had to take a couple last trips to Disneyland. We thoroughly enjoyed the time together.

Now that we are here in Boston, Maia keeps asking if we can go to Disneyland tomorrow. We miss Disneyland. The little quarter rides at the mall will have to suffice for now.

Maia Randoms

2011-04-14T04:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Maia that are just random but cute. I love this little girl. She is such a sweet girl. She's got the kindest heart.

Laura Dee Photography

2011-04-14T04:31:00.000-07:00

My sister, Laura, is becoming quite the photographer. Here are some pics she took back in February. I wish she were doing photography when Maia was a baby. Laura was the one who took our Christmas card pic of Maia in the Santa hat. Laura has some serious skills. I'm excited to see what she does as she learns more about photography.

Heidi Marie Morin

2011-02-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

one day old

3 weeks old

BIRTH DAY

Our sweet little Heidi was born January 24th at 6:42 pm. Heidi weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was delivered via c-section. We arrived at the hospital at 7:00 am for a planned induction but when it came time to push she just wouldn't come down and was also face up. The doctor tried to turn little Heidi but she just wasn't having it. The doctor suspected that something else was going on and decided that a c-section would be the best move. The doctor's intuition was right- there was something else going on. Heidi had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Gratefully, the operation was successful and Heidi was finally here.

NAMESAKE

Joe and I both love the name Heidi. Heidi is the name of Joe's late aunt. She was a wonderful woman and I have never met a Heidi I didn't like. Marie is my middle name. We were thinking that since Heidi is a family name on Joe's side, it would be appropriate to pick a family name on my side of the family. I was thinking of the names on my side: My dad's mother's name was Elva Mary and my Mom's mother's name was Vivian Frances. My mom's name is used a couple times already in the family. So, we decided to use my middle name for Heidi's middle name.

HEART ISSUES

Heidi was born with a heart murmer and the doctor ordered an Echocardiogram and EKG. The Echo showed that there were holes in Heidi's heart that didn't naturally close off after birth. The pediatric cardiologist is optimistic that the holes will close off on their own. We have a follow-up appointment on Wednesday.

BLESSED NEWBORN

We are so grateful to have little Heidi with us. She is a wonderful newborn. I think she saved our family. Before Heidi was born Joe said, "If this baby is anything like Maia was as a newborn, we're done!" For those of you who didn't know Maia as a newborn, she was extremely difficult. She was colicky and had formula issues and never slept. We were also brand new parents and had no idea what we were doing. Heidi is the complete opposite so far. She is a great eater and a great sleeper. She is a dream.

TOUGH RECOVERY

She has been a blessing to us. About a week and a half after Heidi was born, my c-section site became infected. It pushed my recovery back and made it more difficult to take care of my two girls. Luckily Heidi is a good newborn and gratefully we are living with my mom and sister. They have been the biggest help. I don't think I could have done it on my own. Joe has also done an amazing job stepping up to the plate and running things around the house. He has taken over all my usual jobs and more. He's done a great job and hasn't complained once. He has also been my in-house doctor when it comes to taking care of my wounds. (I'm not kidding. My doctor put him in charge of it. Usually a nurse of some sort would have to come into the home to do it but Joe does a great job and my doctor has been thoroughly impressed with his medical skills.)

BLESSINGS

On the day I found out about the infection, I was feeding Heidi when the doorbell rang. I didn't know who it was and thought it was just the UPS or FED EX guy dropping off wedding stuff for Amy. When the doorbell rang a second time, I thought I should answer the door. I put Heidi down and went to answer the door. No one was at the door but I saw a car parked outside the house. I tried to see who it was but the person in the car didn't see me. I decided to go back inside. As I was making my way back inside, that is when I discovered the infection making it's presence known. I tried to call Joe but he didn't answer. I called Amy, and my sisters but no one answered. I was alone. Joe called me back after I sent him an 'emergency' text. I told Joe what was going on and he told me that he was just on the phone with Bro. Codiga from the ward. Bro. Codiga was at our door trying to drop off dinner for us (which we had cancelled all meals since mom and Amy were taking care of us). Joe called Bro. Codiga back to come take a look at my infection. Bro. Codiga is a surgeon at Mission Hospital AND Saddleback Hospital. He called the group of doctors right away to see if I could see an on-call doctor instead of going to the ER. He got a hold of my own doctor who was at the hospital after hours waiting to deliver a baby. I got to talk to my doctor and she suggested that I go to the ER. Both Bro. Codiga and my doctor called the ER to see if they could get me in asap. They found out that the ER was slammed. My doctor called Bro. Codiga back and said that she would see me if I met her at labor and delivery. Gratefully, she was able to see me and I didn't have to pay for an ER bill or do anything major. Joe picked me up and we were in and out of the hospital within an hour- just in time to feed Heidi again. I felt that the Lord was watching over us and put wonderful friends and doctors in our path to care for us.

This has been quite the exciting journey welcoming baby Heidi into the world.

Moving!

2011-02-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

It's official. We're moving to Boston! Joe took a job with a great design firm, Altitude Inc. (check out their client list), and will be starting work April 4th. We're excited for a new experience but also sad to leave so much family that has been so good to us.

I know I'm excited to experience life on the east coast and to learn a lot about history in the U.S.

Some things you might not know about Boston:

1. There is a Berklee College (of Music) in Boston -not to be confused with Berkley College in CA. Their mascot is "Mingus" the jazz cat. (P.S. I have no idea who this woman is.)

2. My nieces made it known to me that Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman is filmed and based in Boston.

3. Quesadillas are a big deal in Boston- if you know how to make one. (Supposedly, they can be a bit tricky.)

4. Jet Blue now offers a direct flight from LAX to Boston, so you are welcome to stay ANYTIME! Please visit us!

I have never lived on the east coast nor have I ever been to Boston. If you have any suggestions or tips, please let me know!!!

I'm Joseph! (Family Nativity)

2011-01-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

This was the first year that all of the cousins got together to do the Nativity reenactment. It was absolutely darling. Maia was scripted to play one of the 3 wisemen. She was convinced that she was going to play Mary until we told her that Sadie was going to be Mary. Then she was convinced she was Joseph.

She picked out her costume- "the chocolate chip one."

Finally, Joe had the brilliant idea of getting out a Christmas book that we were reading to Maia and showed her who was going to be who in the nativity. Maia realized who she was after that. She did a good job. :)

Autumn's Baptism

2011-01-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

Maia and her cousins sang at Autumn's baptism on Dec. 18th. This was the practice. Maia was excited that it was her favorite song. We sing this song together EVERY night before she goes to bed.

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-02T12:20:00.001-08:00

Breakfast Guests

2011-01-02T12:12:00.001-08:00

Just about every morning we have at least one breakfast guest. One morning in November, we had three- Lamb, Piggy, and Puppy. Maia was super excited that they came. Each one had to have their own bowl, spoon and a little bit of oatmeal.

When I asked Maia who was in our family, she replied, "Maia, Mommy, Daddy, Lamb, Piggy, Puppy, Snow Bear, Moosey..." The list ended when she named every stuffed animal in her crib. She takes good care of her stuffed animals and makes sure they are all in her crib at bed time. No one is left behind. If they are, she'll let you know and won't go to sleep until they are all there. We hope she treats her baby sister the same way.

Thanksgiving in AZ

2011-01-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we went to Arizona to see Grandpa Voof and Grandma Grace. We had a great time and enjoyed the scenery and cacti. Maia was so intrigued with the cacti. According to Joe it was a successful trip since Maia didn't end up in any pokey cactus.

Every morning Joe and Maia would take "Buddy" the dog for a walk with Grandpa Voof. Maia looked forward to seeing Buddy in the mornings.

Maia also loved just walking with her grandpa.

Before we left Arizona, we were able to see Uncle Conrad, Auntie Kristin, and cousins. Maia misses them. She said, "I want to play with Brielle right now" as we were pulling out of the driveway to head back to CA. We hope we can see them again soon.

Halloween Pics

2010-11-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

Lyla Bear dressed as the fairest of them all- Snow White

A-boy as the cutest pumpkin.

Maia as Bedtime Bear- how ironic. Maia? Bedtime?

Pumpkin patch fun.

Trying to figure out our new camera...

Our pumpkins: Maia wanted a piggy with it's tongue sticking out and a puppy. Joe was patient and creative enough to do both for Maia. I drilled holes in mine to make a lantern. Way easier than using a knife.

Penny Carnival at Grandma's: All 10 grandkids: Pocahontas, Snow White, Pumpkin, Dorothy, Bedtime Bear, Dancer, Pirate, Tinker Bell, Sailor Santi, and Nike

Joe dressed up too this year. I was supposed to dress up and do my part but never quite made it. We were going to be Juno MacGuff and Paulie Bleeker. Joe was very convincing in his costume.

We love Halloween!

December Birthdays: Jesus and Santa

2010-11-16T21:43:00.000-08:00

Maia and I were talking on Sunday night in the rocking chair because she wasn’t quite ready to go to sleep. We were talking about Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I was talking about the tree we’ll put up and how we’re going to pick out a special ornament and put it on our tree, etc. Then I talked about why we have Christmas.

E- We have Christmas because it’s Jesus’ birthday.

M- And we have a cake and some candles?

E- We can probably have a cake or a breakfast cake (cinnamon roll) for Jesus' birthday.

M- And we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

E- Sure, we can sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

(Maia starts whispering/singing Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Jesus, Happy Birthday to you.)

M- And after Jesus’ birthday it’s Santa’s birthday. Santa brings presents. And Jesus brings presents too!

It's time to talk about the TRUE meaning of Christmas now.

Halloween Party #1: Trunk-or-Treat (Wood Canyon Ward)

2010-11-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

This year we attended 3 Halloween parties: 2 at church and 1 with all the cousins. Our first Halloween party started like this...

Maia and I were in the car on our way to the church and I was trying to prep her.

-"We're going to a Halloween party at the church!" I said excitedly.
-"No! No church! I want to go trick-or-treating with Lyla Bear!" Maia responded.
-"Lyla is going to be at the church. We're going to see daddy there too! The party is at the church."
-"No! No church!"
-"We're not going to nursery. We're going to a fun party."
-"No singing and praying?"

She was relieved when I told her that we wouldn't be singing or praying. You can tell how much she usually loves church.

Maia Update

2010-10-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

Joe and I found out over a month ago that we are expecting another girl! We are so excited for another girl. I think Maia will like having a little sister even though she has no idea what's going on. We keep asking her what her baby sister's name is and she says, "Big Cow." Should I be worried?

Lately it has been raining here. Maia saw the dark clouds and the wet ground today and said, "Mom, the clouds are sad. They're crying."

On Sunday we were going home from church and Joe was strapping Maia into her car seat. Maia didn't like how Joe strapped her in and said, "Be soft, dad!" (Just an FYI, he was being gentle and didn't hurt her.)

Today I was checking my email and Maia saw a peppermint candy and she said, "I NEED this candy." I'm sure that's what she needs.

Today Maia was also drawing with some markers and lost the cap to the gray marker. She said, "Mom, where's the gray top?" I said, "I don't know." She said, "Maybe you have it?" I told her I didn't have it and she said, "Maybe it fall?" I told her that I didn't see it and she said, "Maybe it playing hide-and-seek."

Last Sunday I was brushing Maia's hair and I caught her hair in the brush and it pulled her hair. She screeched and said, "I want daddy do it!" I laughed and put some detangler in her hair and continued to do her hair. I was putting a ponytail in when she said, "It's a yucky ponytail, mom! It's yucky!" She wanted me to redo it so it looked better. Joe should have done her hair from the beginning. He does a great job with her hair. She definitely prefers daddy to do it than mommy.

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Maia has been so fun lately because she can express herself so much better. It's fun to hear her talk. She just goes on and on.

Maia is also an incredible little artist. I will have to take pictures of her artwork. She is so creative and loves any kind of art. She prefers to work with the markers. It's her favorite medium.

Maia also loves animals, especially her stuffed animals. She has to have the following in her crib when it's time to go to bed:

Snow Puppy, Snow Bear, Lamb, Moosey, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Pig, Baby, a sippy cup of water, a book, and her blanket. It's getting ridiculous. Time to clean out the crib. As a side note, Joe points out dogs to Maia and has also shown her a few chocolate labs. Since then, Maia often substitutes the word "brown" for "chocolate." A "brown marker" today may be a "chocolate marker" tomorrow. I don't oppose. I think everything sounds better in chocolate.

Some of Maia's favorite activities are:

Jumping on the trampoline, riding her tricycle, playing "Number 2" which is really "Connect 4," playing other games, singing songs, reading books, going to the library, watching Cars, Monsters Inc., Carebears, or Little Rascals, drawing, painting, going to "preschool" (when her cousin Andi comes over to play, sing songs, play games and do a craft), playing in the sand at the beach, playing with cousins, playing blocks with daddy, taking care of her baby, and getting into any creams, lotions, water, soaps, or paints- anything that squishes and creates a mess.

Maia is a good helper. She helps me load and unload the dishwasher and loves to "wash" the dishes (play in the water) with grandma. She likes to help me put clothes in the washer and dryer, and likes to cook with me. She has to drag a chair across the kitchen so she can see what I'm making. She loves to help with whatever she can.

Maia loves her daddy. This morning she woke up early and I was rocking her in the rocking chair to see if we could both fall back asleep for a little longer. At one point she looked up at me and said, "Daddy here?" I said, "You know what? Daddy had to go to work early this morning." She broke down in tears and said, "no! I want my dad!" I tried to explain to her that he had to go to work early to get some stuff done and that he was also going to try to get off of work early to see her. She didn't like anything I had to say and said, "I want my daddy." Later that morning I was singing, "If you're happy and you know it" and after my verse was over, Maia started singing, "If you want your daddy, clap your hands..." I texted Joe and told him what Maia was singing and how much she missed her dad this morning. Joe thought it was kind of funny but sad at the same time. His heart just melted. I love the relationship they have. It's so cute and endearing to see.

We love our little Maia-moos.

Walk Like a Penguin

2010-09-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last week Amy and I took Maia to the Montage beach in Laguna Beach to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer. There were a bunch of birds there. I took Maia down to the water to feel how cold it was. When we came back to our place on the sand, she started talking to the birds saying, “It’s cold birdies. It’s really cold.” After repeating herself several times and not getting the response from the birds that she was hoping for, Maia said, “Mom, the birdies not listening. The birdies need a daddy.”

One of my favorite things that Maia does is walk like a penguin:

Love this little girl.

Dogs

2010-09-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Both Maia and Andi love dogs! Neither of us will probably own dogs unless we are old and alone. But, we still want our girls to experience the joys of puppies that aren't ours. So we took them to the mall and let them see the puppies. This is what their reaction was to the dogs behind the glass...

We thought that the girls had so much fun with the dogs behind the glass that we decided to let them play with one in a little room. Andi loved throwing the ball at the dog and petting it. Maia was a little scared and had no interest in playing or touching the dog. She likes dogs at a distance. (She's just like me in that regard... thank goodness.) All in all, it was a fun and good experience.

No Creams, Lotions, Powders or Soaps!

2010-09-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

The only rule we try to drill into Maia's head is: "No creams, lotions, powders, or soaps!" (We've had to reinforce this rule many times after seeing toys and books covered in such substances.) A couple weeks ago I had removed all such substances from her room but I forgot about the brand new 16 oz. jar of Butt Paste left in her changing table drawer. Later that week I found the whole pound of cream on her legs and on the floor. I was furious!!! I decided to take a picture anyway because I thought I'd laugh later. I'm still wondering when I'm sincerely going to laugh.

Maia thought this was another cute photo moment.

Then she heard me talk.

Then I think it registered. She was very bummed that we had to throw her piggie shirt away. Today she reminded me that she only has piggie pants because the "piggie shirt is ruineded."

Note: Butt Paste does not come off with water. It's extremely oily. Paper towels are your best option to clean off children, bathtubs, carpets, etc.