Christmas in CA

This was our first Christmas where we didn't get to travel to be with our family.  It was a little weird, but it turned out fun.  Tyler had to work on Christmas Eve and was on call that night, so we had to be flexible and creative.  Bridgette and I went up to have lunch with Tyler at BJ's across from the hospital.  It was a lovely day- we sat outside in the sunshine and had a nice little date.  That night Bridgette and I went over to our Relief Society President's house for dinner.  It was nice to not be alone!

Christmas morning Tyler didn't get home until 10 AM, so we just did our normal morning routine.  Books, walk outside and then home for breakfast.

 I wasn't going to make the traditional Melville Christmas morning pull-aparts, but I dreamt about them 2 days before and so had to make them!  Bridgette loved them!  Tyler walked in the door right as we were finishing breakfast. 

I sent Tyler and Bridgette to the shower and *surprise* Santa came!  Haha, we are lucky to have a 2 year old who doesn't know the Santa routine!  Santa brought her a pink tricycle and helmet.  She was scared to get on at first, so Tyler had to pick her up crying and push her around.  She's warmed up quite a bit but mostly loves to ring the bell.

Bridgette loved opening all her presents!

 With her Mickey and Minnie figures from Mommy and Daddy.  She loves them!

 Her cute "snuggly pillow" from Grammy and Popcan.

 Eating a pretend sandwich with her new play food from cousin, Gauge.

 With all her loot!  She was super spoiled and has been playing with all her new things.  Thanks to all her grandparents and Gauge for being so thoughtful!

After both Tyler and Bridgette got naps in, we went outside (super hot!) and tested out her bike and new chalk.

Tyler got a wetsuit, and tie downs for his surf board- he's all set for surfing!  He got an apple TV and is ready to be a walking advertisement for all apple products.  He also got some clothes, books to read with Bridgette and an ipad case. 
I got giftcards, some clothes, some kitchen utensils and towels, and a new crockpot.
We finished the day off with leftover ham sandwiches in yummy homemade rolls.  Early to bed for both Bridgette and Tyler, who is on call again tonight!  
I hope everyone else had a great day.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cutie

Merry Christmas!  Bridgette looked adorable today for church in her "Christmas Dress".  I didn't buy an actual Christmas one, but this is new and cute and we put her hair in a new hairdo (which she LOVED).  She insisted on these pink sandals she found in her closet and since it is 75 degrees today, I couldn't say no.

 

We made these cute felt trees at enrichment and Bridgette loves putting on "decorations" all day long.  It's perfect!  She can practice her colors and shapes, and leave me alone while I cook.

Farewell (for now) to Disneyland

Our Disneyland annual passes expired last week.  We have loved going regularly and Bridgette has really started to love everything about Disneyland.  She especially loves Mickey, Minnie and Pluto.  This is from about 1 month ago, but she still talks about how she gave him a hug.  We have to wave to all her favorites each time we go.

 On our last trip, we hit all of Bridgette's favorite rides- Dumbo, teacups, the carousel, Jungle River cruise, rocket ships, "Seashell Ride" aka Little Mermaid and Lady bug ride.  Right now she loves Small World because it sings the "Jingle Bells Song". 

 Since it was so warm, we got the fresh pineapple soft serve ice cream and ate it outside.  Yay for Southern California!  (I seriously can't get enough of "winter" here- it's fabulous!)

I wasn't planning on renewing our passes, but since Bridgette loves it so much and we aren't going to live 20 minutes away from Disneyland for very long, we'll get them a few months after this baby gets here.  Got to take advantage right?! 

Thanksgiving time

Emily and Alejandro came out to visit the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Bridgette and Frederick had so much fun playing together! 

 Bridgette and Bradley swinging.

 I let Emily test drive our double jogger.

Bridgette quickly learned everyone's name and regularly talks about them.  We mostly let the kids play, but we got to go to our park, Emily watched Bridgette for a doctor's appointment (thanks) and we went to the cute petting zoo we love.  They loved jumping on the bed.  They were going nuts!

 All the pictures I have, Frederick is somewhere else on the bed and Bridgette is just staring at me.  Haha!

 For Thanksgiving, we headed inland to our friends, the Mildensteins, in Loma Linda.   Kurt and Tyler were classmates at U of R and we loved having Thanksgiving with them again, like the good old days!  Their girls loved Bridgette and were great "little mothers" to her.

It was a little stressful in the morning since Tyler was on call the night before, had a horrible night with only 30 minutes of sleep, and was stuck in the OR in the morning.  He didn't get home until 1pm and we were planning on leaving at 12:30.  We got stuck in traffic on the way there but made it only 1 hour late.
 Bridgette loved helping with all the baking. 

She knew the kind of pies we brought and especially loved rolling out the dough for the rolls.  I have a great helper!

 

I pulled out the rolling pin from her kitchen and she thought it was fabulous.

 We spent Saturday at the beach.  It was pretty chilly (haha, like 70 degrees), but we still found plenty of seashells and played in the water.

 Bridgette has to "wash, wash, wash" all the seashells she finds in the waves.  Pretty cute.  We've got quite the collection growing at home!

That night we picked out our Christmas tree and decorated it on Sunday.  Bridgette loves the lights and our decorations!

 She was clearly thrilled putting the star on the top.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tyler's Vacation Week

Tyler finally had some vacation time the middle of November!  And boy did he need it after working the last few months at 90-100 hrs/week.  (Yes, it is actually accurate of his work schedule).
We decided to just stick around here so we could relax and feel like a normal family.  We did several fun outings and had some visitors too.

 We used our aquarium passes to visit the Long Beach Aquarium.  Bridgette of course loved it and liked showing Daddy all the fish.

 Cute little splash pad area.

 Tyler's mom and Grandma came out for 2 days.  We had a great hot day at the beach and the next day we went up to the LA zoo. 

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With the giraffes

 After seeing all the big animals like elephants, gorillas and giraffes, the animal she kept talking about was a toucan!  Really, a toucan?  We thought it was hilarious!

We also spent a full day at Disneyland, one of our favorite places lately!  Bridgette and I get to go all the time, but Tyler never gets to see the cuteness.  We were glad to show him all of Bridgette's favorites.

 We stayed for the Christmas parade which was so fun!  Bridgette kept waving to all her favorite characters without being prompted.  I love this age.

 We ate yummy sourdough bread bowls and Ghiradelli chocolate sundae for dinner and then watched the World of Color show.  By this point Bridgette was completely slap happy and nuts.  Such a silly girl!

 We had a great time.

We miss having Daddy around so much.  Every morning Bridgette woke up she would ask, "Dadda  home?"  Hopefully we can all get through these next few months until Tyler's next vacation.

Big Girl

Bridgette just keeps getting more and more like a big girl, and less like a baby!  About 1 month ago, we said "bye bye" to her binky.  I was holding on to it more than she was.  She got to switch it for this cute penguin she picked out from the aquarium.  We were laughing because apparently she can only have black and white stuffed animals (penguin, panda and Shamu)!  She had 2 rough days with her naps, but has been completely fine since.

I took this video to document the process.  It's a little long, and probably just interesting to family, but I think it's cute.

 There's sure not much baby left in Bridgette!  Potty trained, speaking in full sentences and now no binky.  Where did my tiny baby go?

2 year old pictures

I had my talented friend Darcy take Bridgette's 2 year old pictures.  They turned out absolutely darling and captured her cute little personality so well.  We love our expressive girl!
2 years old!

 It's pretty serious business being 2...

 Running around like crazy.

 Doing her "tricks"- running fast.

 Sweet girl.

 I love this one!

 Where's Bridgette?

 Peek-a-boo!

 Showing off her big girl climbing skills.

 Always so expressive!

It just doesn't get much cuter than a 2 year old with lots of personality and pig tails!