Deer Hollow Farm

So I know it's already the weekend, but we did do something fun last weekend and I just haven't had time to post.  Despite the cold, rainy weather I was determined to do something California-y since it has been awhile.  Our number of weekends left here are quickly dwindling away so I am set on making the most of them.  There is a gorgeous open space preserve near where we live with wonderful hiking trails, great picnic site, and overall spectacular views.  At the end of one of the trails is a little farm that is a huge hit with the kids.  The downside is having to hike the mile there and the mile back...we all know how opposed I am to exercise (unless it means walking around Disney for 14 hours a day!!).  Bella loved the ducks and the goats the most but there was also a cow, two huge pigs, and some bunnies that we couldn't see as they were hiding in their warm little home. 

I did mention it was cold and rainy, right? So while there one of Bella's shoes pops off, I don't notice, and so she is walking around in the wet mud....so we take her socks off, put her shoes back on but on the hike back to the car we take her shoes off (since they are so muddy) and wrap her legs in her blanket, which then proceeds to get stuck/pulled off in the wheels of her stroller.....ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh...what a MESS!!!!  Makes the whole not having a washer/dryer in your apartment thing a whole lot more inconvenient.  Thankfully the pictures below capture the happy part of our trip and not my scowling the whole way home!

I realized the pictures don't show the beauty of the place at all....as usual I just got pictures of Bella!

 This way pre shoe falling off!

 Look...goats!

 I think Bella would have stayed there all day if we let her!

These next few pictures are just random.  I look at them and am reminded how much joy Bella brings to my life!

Bella wants to help wrap Christmas presents.

 She is becoming quite an explorer!

 Great, my kid finds the trash can in the two seconds I'm not watching!

 So apparently I am a horrible child-proofer.  Thank goodness for video monitors and being able to see what the little rascal is up to.  She now finds jumping in her bed more exciting than napping and a lot of days she jumps instead of sleeping for her whole morning nap!  At least she is perfectly happy in her crib.

 This is truly my favorite thing Bella does right now....we got these Mickey ears at a Christmas party and I put them on the other day to see if Bella thought I was funny.  She ripped them right off my head and tried to put them on her own head.  I put them on for her and she proceeded to wear them for the next 30 minutes.  Ever since, she wears them throughout much of the day!!! She's a true Disney fanatic at heart like her mama!!

 Being such a good little shopper while we try on clothes.

Family begins to arrive tomorrow so posting will be on hold for the next 2 weeks.  Bella will be one year old in less than a week....a tear!!  After Christmas we (and my family) head to Yosemite, Sequoia, and Disney....YIPPEE!!!  Bella is cutting 4 top teeth, ran fever of 102 yesterday and has the sniffles....praying she feels better before our whirlwind trip.  Merry Christmas to all!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Festivities

I love Christmas time....hate the cold, rainy weather but love the lights, the music, the hot chocolate, and the general feeling of excitement.  I have noticed that each holiday this year has been so much more enjoyable having a child.  It is an excuse to really go all out and have a good time.  And in line with going all out, we had our Christmas tree up November 18th!!!  We usually wait until after Thanksgiving but we were in Texas for two weeks and I didn't want to wait until we got back to put it up...because December 4th is way too late!!!

Last week the city we live in did a tree lighting event with carollers, hot chocolate, pictures with santa, etc.  Perhaps my expectations were a little too high but the tree lighting was literally just an existing tree with a few strands of lights wrapped around it!!!  It was still fun to be out and enjoy the evening and get a few photos...including one with Santa.

To continue our holiday festivities, we were invited to a Christmas dinner at the home of the doctor (Dr. Vaughn) David works for.  A little background to how this evening came to be:  Turns out Dr. Vaughn was at a charity event a few weeks ago and they were having an auction to raise money.  One of the auction items was to have Top Chef Season 4 contestant, Chef Ryan Scott, cook for a party in your home.  Dr. Vaughn won the auction and therefore hosted a party for 14 guests, with the most spectacular food you can imagine cooked by a celebrity!!!  I have been on several cruises and a lot of really nice dinners back in my days practicing as a Physician Assistant, but this put any meal I have ever had to shame.  It was a 6, yes SIX, course meal and I swear each dish was better than the next and I have never been so full in all my life!! The menu included things I couldn't even pronounce!



Dr. Vaughn had all the furniture in his condo removed to fit this amazing table in his living room!! This picture doesn't do it justice, but the table looked like something out of a Martha Stewart magazine...the decorations were amazing.

Here was course one:  So pretty!

 This was our menu:  you got EVERYTHING on the menu!!!

 Best dessert EVER!!!

 And the celebrity himself, Chef Ryan Scott

 Good times!!!  We still have David's company christmas party next week and then our family arrives, Bella's birthday and then Christmas.....so fun!!!

Our Thanksgiving Holiday

 I say this every year but I can't believe how fast the Thanksgiving holiday flew by. David had the whole week off so he, Bella, and I flew into Austin to spend the first part of the week with Bella's Kiki (David's mom), Allison & McKenzie. It was sweet to see cousins so close in age playing together...or should I say sweet seeing McKenzie trying to play with Bella and Bella only being interested in trying to walk!! They did have fun playing in the sand and taking baths together. We tried to get some Christmas pictures of the two of them but good luck getting both an 11 month old and 2 1/2 year old to look and smile at the same time!

For thanksgiving we went to my parents house.  As always there was a lot of food, kids running around, and smack talking about football.  I am very proud of my Aggies this year and think part of their win had to do with Bella sporting her A&M overalls!!  Us ladies did our traditional black Friday shopping (thanks to David for babysitting) and came home pretty empty handed, which has been the case the past few years.  I guess had I been in the market for a big TV I could have scored a deal!  Unfortunately Bella developed a fever of 102 and a subsequent cold that day so the next few days were trying to deal with a fussy baby and frequent awakenings at night. 

This is Bella's "stink face" that she does on command!! It is puckering of the lips, scrunching of the nose, and huffing and puffing through the nose....soo funny!!!

Bella in her Bonfire overalls, ready to cheer on her Aggies!!!  One of David's old bonfire buddy's wife made these for Bella when she was born!!

Bella's uncle got her some cowgirl boots.....yeehaw!! These will be perfect for the rodeo next year!

My daddy and his two granddaughters

Bella loving the ridiculously big dog at Sam's.

David flew back to Austin that Sunday to have a second interview for an ENT position at Scott & White in Temple and Bella and I stayed the whole next week with my parents. One day we went down to Houston to visit a few friends. It was great getting to hang out with Bella's original play group, just like old times.  We laughed at how although they have gotten bigger, their little personalities are still pretty much the same!

Bella, Hunt and Maddie-all are 2 weeks apart!

One day we decided to go to a bounce house and let the kids play. I think the moms had more fun than the kiddos but isn't that what "playgroup" is all about with infants?!

The last few days at my parents we just kinda hung around, took some random photos, went shopping, and just enjoyed being together.  My grandmother from New Mexico was also there so it was nice having Bella get to spend so much time with her Great Grandmother.

Bella loving on her pillow pet (yes, impulse purchase on my parents part...what Bella wants, Bella gets says my dad....yikes!!!)

Bella "helping" with Christmas decorations!

Grandma has the best tupperware cabinet!!

Enjoying the sunshine in the front yard.

Christmas fun on the golf course.

Look, I CAN crawl...I just don't WANT to!!!!

Aye, aye, aye....too many pictures!!!!!

I was dreading our flight back to California the minute we LEFT California.  David had even said to me on our flight over, "I'm gonna pray for you on your flight alone back with Bella".  Not that she was fussy or bad, she is just all over the place and it is really hard to try and feed her and keep her content in such a confined space.  So my parents bring me to the airport and walk me in.  I go to get my boarding pass and check my bag and it is 7 pounds over...are you kidding me....I didn't even buy anything.  So to avoid paying $50 (yea, NOT $25) I am pulling stuff out and handing it to my parents.  Four pounds later the nice guy told me he would let it go. He then asked for my parent's ID's and got them security passes so that they could walk me all the way up to my gate!!!  To top off my blessings that morning, the flight wasn't full so I not only got to bring on Bella's car seat but had the whole row to myself (and she slept for an hour!!!).  And alas, our trip is over.  Now to gear up for the Christmas crew that will be arriving in two weeks....David's mom, and then my parents, brother and his family.

I thought I had escaped the plague of illness but as always, once the stress leaves the illness set in.  The stress of travel has left and I am sitting at home battling the sniffles.  Oh well!!

A Morning At The Zoo

California has so many hidden gems.  I just love exploring and seeing everything there is to offer.  David and I were a little taken aback when we realized our time here is almost halfway done...crazy!  So today Bella and I and our friends took a trip to the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. It was sunny, warm and just beautiful.  The kids had such a great time (and it was free! well, besides donations)

Bella really enjoyed the hands-on museum portion.  She got a little frustrated at the animals because she wanted to touch them...which we all know is impossible!  We decided the museum portion will be a great activity to bring the kids back to on those upcoming cold winter days when we can't be outside.

Here's what we did:

There were several maze-like structures that you put the tennis ball in and watch it zig-zag down:

 Bella is going to be a Price is Right fan like her mama!! This exhibit was just like plinko....put the chip in and watch it fall down!

Little wooden animals "walked" down the ramp:

Bella loved flipping all the switches at this station:

Hey, where'd my ball go?!

Cruising along the froggie statue:

A sleeping goose in the background:

Bella and her friend Keira:

Bella, Keira, and Seraphina: 

 Caleb, Keira, Seraphina (with her hand on Keira's leg-sooo cute!), and Bella who is sooo over taking pictures!!

Good day with great friends!!!!