The Horn Goes Beep Beep...

I always swore that my children would play with rocks, dirt and boxes and nothing else but when I saw Bailey's excitement about her new car that Aunt Pat and uncle Jim got for her my little Grinch heart grew ten sizes bigger.
It is meant to be used in stages with the first being just the steering wheel and buttons...

but once she saw it fully assembled there was no going back.
We were amazed that within a few weeks of sitting up she could balance on her car without falling...until she did, three times. Ever since though she has been a pro.

Sometimes she will get a little too excited and vigorously rock which will make her start to slip, but she always catches herself just in time.

She has started to use her plump little pointer finger to press each of the number buttons one at a time. This is of course very cute to watch.

The best part is the catchy kids songs that it plays. It includes timeless hits such as "Come along and play with me" and "the wheels on my bike go round and round." Songs which are often whistled late into the night, long after the toys are put away, which Terri just LOVES!

It also teaches important phrases when you hit the shift button like "Out of my way" and "Coming through!"

At this rate she will be able to pass her driver's test without a problem, just as soon as she turns 25.

Until then it will be just perfect for her; well, just as soon as I can figure out how to keep it from switching into Spanish mode.

Chubby Baby Photo Shoot

Our last night at my Grandma's house we ventured down stairs with our naked Bailey to try to snap a few pictures of her chubby rolls.

Of course she was more than okay with all the attention she received during the photo shoot.
I think we all should have been embarrassed at the voices we made and and the ridiculous faces we gave in order to get this chunky baby to smile.
Sometimes it worked...
Sometimes it scared her...
sometimes it confused her...
Occasionally she tried to grab the camera or act like a deer a caught in headlights...
She attempted to stand for awhile...
but quickly realized that lifting a body that size is not at all fun...
and laying down is much easier on the knees.
Of course there is nothing more exciting to a 7 1/2 month old than figuring out how lungs work and screaming as loud as possible.

Clapping hands is also a close 2nd in the fun department.
Good luck trying to count the fat rolls on this one! I am pretty sure it is impossible. Another thing that is impossible? Trying to put shoes on this little babies feet. Can you say cankles?
This is Bailey's disappointed face. She was mad at Uncle Craig. He got a flying helicopter for Christmas. My cousin Timmy tried to generously give it to Sam. Sam felt bad and said no so Craig gladly scooped it up. We now get to go buy one for Sam because he wants one so bad.
During the photo shoot this little helicopter was flying around the large room. It kept Bailey very entertained. That is until it flew right into her face. Then it made her cry.
For revenge she got to hold Craig's helicopter...
...and eat Craig's helicopter. And that brought a smile back to our happy chubby baby.
She also made sure to tell him that he better never do that again...
or else...
And then our little naked baby found her pajamas, Rex and a new bed to play on.

Sushi Rolling 101

While we were in northern California visiting everyone my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Judy took on the crazy task of trying to teach Dana and I how to roll sushi. I had seen it done a million times. I watched my Mom make California rolls when I was little, my Uncle showed me quickly when he was making them for Robby's reception, and heaven knows how much sushi I saw made when working at Happy Sumo, but I had never really attempted it on my own.

First my Aunt Judy showed us how to make the sushi rice. Then we prepped the sea weed (Sam's favorite), crab, and veggies. And then we started to roll.
Stopping only to pose for pictures :) ...

Sam had to document everything. He really wanted me to learn so I could make him his special vic roll on soy paper.

Then Rachel Baby wanted to try...
and we all learned quickly that wasn't a good idea :)

All rolled out...
and finally, the finished products all ready to eat...
and as soon as the calvary arrived...aka Robby, my Dad, Connie, and Brandon (the folk that went to church) it was gone as quickly as it was made.

And that is when the all the dancing started again...
funniest thing ever to watch.

And Bailey got her yummy dinner...
it wasn't sushi
But the kid sure does love sweet potatoes.

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning started out like every other morning on vacation. Bailey is our alarm clock and when she wakes up happy, we have to get up.

Happy as a clam since she got to sleep cuddled up next to me the whole night while simultaneously taking up half of the air mattress. Lucky baby.

we then ventured out of our room to spread the Christmas cheer.
After some breakfast and waving hi to everyone we all got ready and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Galeria's house.
Meeting for the first time.
half unsure, half curious...
And this is how we spent the next few hours. Sitting around talking, laughing, and opening presents.

Here is Craig laughing. Probably because Grandpa just called him a smart a$$, which Craig most likely deserved.
Robby stealing some jelly beans. Something we all used to love to do. Me? Not so much anymore since there is a possibility they are the same ones we used to fight over fifteen years ago.
Grandpa talking to his favorite grandchild.
If you thought for a second that bringing his first great grandchild into the world would have bumped me up on the favorite list you are probably right. But there is absolutely no competing with getting into Berkley law school at the ripe age of 20, finishing up the third year at Harvard, getting a prestigious clerk ship, and then landing a sweet job with a huge salary.

No amount of children trumps that...so we will settle for 2nd best.

Make that third. Because it just so happens that Janet probably can not even beat out my beautiful Mom for favorite.
In the words of my Grandpa..."Your Mom is a peach."
And who doesn't love peaches?

Bailey reading her new Christmas books from Great Grandma and Grandpa with her Grandpa...
My Sam...
and of course; more hanging out.
Grandma bought a few cookbooks for the girls. We got to pick which ones we wanted. There may or may not have been a few fights over who got what.

For the second half of Christmas we all loaded back into our cars and headed over to Aunt Teresa and Uncle Ron's house for delicious dinner and the white elephant gift exchange.

Dinner was so good. So much food and variety. Multiple kinds of salad, meats, potatoes, vegetables, california rolls, appetizers, etc. You name it, it was there and tasted good. And then before you knew it, it was time for the gift exchange. There was a fifteen foot table filled to the brim of presents both big and small. If you were Craig, you would always pick the biggest box you could find. You would announce that the best presents came in the biggest boxes, and then you would pick a twenty pound bag of bird seeds with a bird feeder. Then you would bribe every person to try to steal it from you, until it was Uncle Mel's turn.
He would steal the bird feeder and seeds from you. You would then proceed to pick the next biggest box. And then you would leave the gift exchange with a bag full of zip ties, still claiming that the best presents were in the biggest boxes.

Sam and I made out like bandits. I picked the last number, and he picked the third to last so we had the pick of the litter. We stole the Target gift card from Zenna and Toy Story 3 from Janet.

Bailey, however, did the best. She got a new car...
new clothes, stackable cups, books, money, toys...etc. She got so many things that we may or may not have decided to keep our Christmas present for her hidden away until her birthday comes around in May.

a picture of all the cousins...
too bad you can barely see the kids on top and Robby was thinking about what he was going to eat next.

And the whole Christmas gang...
we had such a fun Christmas day with the whole family. It was just like old times.