The Next Day

After church on Sunday we decided to let the girls take their naps in the car and head out for a little "culture" that LA has to offer. Since we seem to live so close to everything we thought it wouldn't hurt anything if we decided to have a little "Sunday drive" to see the sights.

Amelia and "Banna" gearing up for the big ride ahead. They loved being able to see each other.

After a very long and windy drive we finally found a good viewing spot for the Hollywood sign. And I was able to discover that that lovely gene for car sickness that I inherited from my dad is still very much alive and well! Even made a little worse with pregnancy. So after we got this one photo, we headed back home to drop me off to see if I could sleep it off.

And hooray!! It's all better!! After dinner we decided to let the girls watch the sun go to bed over the beach. It was beautiful!!

Walking along the pier...

Enjoying the water. Don't worry we didn't let her go in!

Family photo. Thanks Alissa!! This is the most you'll be seeing of me and my baby bump, so enjoy!

Fun with Cousins

Last weekend we were able to have some of our very first visitors while here in California. Kendal and Alissa decided to book a cruise and lucky for us we took off from Long Beach, which is just down the road, so we got the privilege of having them in our home for a few nights. It was so much fun. Amelia LOVED waking up to more people than just mom and dad. Savanna was so sweet and so cute. We had a blast! Thanks for coming guys!!

Visiting the local park. Aren't they such good daddies?!

And later that evening Kacey and Amy brought their two cuties on up for a pizza party and cousin madness! These kids definitely keep us all on our toes, but it was so much fun. We had to keep the tradition alive from the Brinkerhoff family and get a photo with all the grandkids. And actually, I think this was the very first time they were all together in one location. So here is the best of what we got. These kids just didn't want to stay put.

This is how it started...

Then Amelia decided she needed some space...

For some jumping!!

And this is what the cousin visits do to her. We'll do cousin visits anytime if this is the end result!

I love these sleeping shots!!

So, I just absolutely love watching Amelia sleep. What parent doesn't enjoy watching their child sleep? I often sneak into her room before I head off to bed just to watch her a minute longer.

Last night was really just too funny. She doesn't like to put diapers on anymore, says they're for babies, so it's always a struggle to put them on at night...let alone to get her "pretty dress" off of her back. So we decided to not fight that fight last night and let her sleep in her dress. Then while we were reading scriptures she discovered her tutu laying on the ground and put it on. Brad and I were both just too tired to fight her, so she went to sleep in her tutu. What a funny little girl!!

Only too typical...

This is how you will usually find Amelia these days. Food all over her face (which can actually be rare considering she doesn't eat a whole lot), hair a mess, bows everywhere, and usually no clothes except for undies. This was a good day when she actually kept her shirt on.

It's a crime to be this cute!

This is how a lot of our days have been spent the last few weeks. I just couldn't help but snap a few. I'm so proud of this little girl.

Some BIG updates!!

We really need to start taking more photos!! I'll work on that one this week.

I am very happy to announce that Amelia is now very much POTTY TRAINED!!! We've made it through 4 days with no accidents!! She still wears a diaper for her naps and bedtime but she always wakes up from her naps dry. We are very proud of her. She has been waiting for this for a long time!! Well done Mi-Moos!!

Also we found out that we are having a little BOY!!! (I am finding it hard to believe we haven't posted that one yet. Must have been overshadowed by the potty training. Man it stinks to be the second child!!) Needless to say we are very excited and Brad is counting down the days till his very first Father and Son outing as a father!!

Thanks for all the suggestions...

Due to all your very helpful suggestions, (aside from the shot gun, although I would have tried that one had I the means. Thanks Uncle Jay!) I am now happy to report that the cookies have been delivered. We took them over to their door last night for Family Home Evening...unfortunately nobody answered so we didn't get the opportunity to talk with them face to face. So we just left the plate of cookies and a card explaining things and apologizing. Brad walked past an hour later and the cookies were gone, so let's hope that's a good sign! We'll see what happens from here.

Although, it has been very quiet on their end since I pounded back. :)

What would you do?

So I guess I have a bit of a moral question for you all. What would you do if you were in this situation? You have all lived in apartment complexes, I'm sure, where the walls seemed to be absolutely paper thin, where you can hear everything that transpires next door. Well, we currently live in a place like that. We have a very soon to be terrible two year old in our house. She's loud, very loud. We have tried lots of different things to keep her quiet to no avail. She is just passionate about what she wants be it a tantrum or her singing. It's always as loud as possible. We have this neighbor, a male, who is always pounding on the walls yelling, "Be quiet, " and for the record, there is also a 4 month old baby that lives just above him that is crying all the time as well. I hear kids around this area all the time. This guy is there ALL DAY LONG, yelling and pounding.

This morning Amelia woke up at 6 AM and was quite grumpy all morning. She was throwing tantrum after tantrum after tantrum. I would often put her in her room and just let her cry. Well, the pounding came, so I pounded back. To which he yelled profanities at me, to which I yelled back "you try raising kids!" I then broke down in tears.

I understand it's not fun to listen to kids cry and scream, especially when it seems there is going to be no end to it. Believe me, I know. So, my question to you all is, what would you do? I'd really like to do something, but am a little scared to approach him as I am afraid of what he might do. I am planning on calling the rental agency and reporting him, but I'd also like to make contact with this guy as well. What would be the best way? Again, what would you do?

Awesome Pot Roast!!

I made this AWESOME pot roast on Sunday! It was a new recipe, I had never tried it before so I was a little nervous, but it turned out great. Had to share it with you all!

Dripped Beef

3-4 lb. chuck roast (I used a round roast)

1 tsp. salt (could have used a little less)

1 tsp. seasoned salt

1 tsp. white pepper (I just used black pepper)

1 Tbsp. rosemary (I just used dried stuff)

1 Tbsp. dried Oregano

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 cup water

You combine it all together in your crock pot. Cook it for about 6-7 hours on low. Just before you're ready to eat it shred the meat and serve over mashed potatos! It was so good! Brad even commented on it which is very rare!

Our Beautiful Fairy Princess!!

Two halloween's ago, I made this little fairy costume for Amelia.

I thought she just look adorable in it then...but look at her now!!

Is that not the cutest thing ever?

She couldn't stop looking in the mirror, not even for two seconds for a photo!

Too cute!

Noah's Ark

A couple weeks ago I went with a few other moms in the ward up to an art gallery showcasing a Noah's Ark exhibit. It was very cool. Totally kid friendly which made it even better! The kids could climb on everything, touch everything, play with everything. It was fantastic!!

Amelia had to check on all the animals before they boarded the ark.

Then make sure they were properly put into place.

Prepare the meals so everyone was happy.

And make sure all the animals made it through.

My view of Amelia these days...

Just thought I'd share. (And yes, apparently I spilled some water from my drink on my belly...don't lose respect for me ok?)

The Apple of my Eye

OK, so I know this is really disgusting, but I just had to document it. If you're not into bodily functions, or malfunctions in this case, you can just skip this post. But I developed a STYE in my eye for the very first time in my life. I have never EVER had anything even remotely close to this before. I was reading online and apparently they are cause by stress and malnutrition. I suppose I fit into both those catagories lately with this move and all. Crazy, crazy, crazy!! It took about two and a half weeks to go away, and then yesterday I noticed one starting on my top eyelid on the very same eye! How annoying huh?!

Horsie's

Amelia bought these horses with her easter money from Grandma and hasn't put them down since. I'm not kidding, she sleeps with them, bathes with them, eats with them, takes them for walks...everywhere we go, they go! She loves them!

Beach fun in LA!

Brad was so anxious to give his birthday pressie's a go that we met up with Kacey, Amy, Josh, and Emma the very next day to try it out.

Little Emma not looking too excited about the whole adventure.

Returning from the surf. Don't they just look like they had a blast?!

Brad trys to coax Amelia out into the FREEZING cold water, but she wasn't having any of it.

Happy Belated Birthday Brad!!

Brad has now reached that ripe old age of 29!! Can you believe it?! Isn't that just so old?!

Enjoying the birthday spoils.

Been awhile!

I know it's been a while since I've posted. Been a bit out of the blogging feeling lately. But I know you all would like some updates...so here they are! I have quite a few more to follow to keep checking.

This is a photo my mom, or maybe it was Kristen, took while we were visiting them last month, (or was it two months ago?). Anyway, it's been a while. But this one was cute and fun and totally Amelia!