Kindergarten Open House

Tonight we went to the open house at Ava's elementary school. Open House is where all the classrooms are opened up for family and friends to see what the students have studied during the year, and to view various projects. It was fun to see what Ava has done during the year, as well as to see her friends and her teacher (who has been on bedrest for the past few months). It brought back memories of when I was in school and was excited for my family to see my classroom and all the work I had done during the year.


Ava's teacher, Mrs. Yu




Ava's kindergarten memory book. It contains projects and pictures from each month




Photo wall (and Jimin, one of Ava's friends)




Classroom whiteboard




Self portraits




Ava showing us more projects




Ladybug project

Keira turns 2!

On Cinco de Mayo our third daughter, Keira, turned 2. We celebrated with dinner at Chevy's, followed by cupcakes and opening presents at home. She is definitely a force to be reckoned with. She's fearless - she climbs on and over anything and everything, and can hold her own with her two older sisters.

Some stats on our little firecracker:

Height: 32 inches
Weight: 25 lbs

- loves to say "Don't be late!"
- favorite toys are her baby doll and stroller
- will often walk around the house wrapped up in her blankie
- when she wants to be held, she will back up into your legs
- loves to pat baby Serena on her head
- will eat almost anything
- enjoys building towers on the Lego table



Fun times at Chevy's!! We always knew Keira was a party girl.

Introducing Serena Christine

Our newest member of our family, Serena Christine, was born on Thursday, l April 14, 2011 at 2:26 am. She weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz and 19.5 inches long. And she has dark hair, and lots of it!

I went in to see my doctor on the 12th, which was my due date. I had been dilated to 5 cm for nearly a week, and my OB was quite surprised I hadn't gone into active labor yet. So at my request (because I was done being preggo!), she put me on the induction list at the hospital for that evening.

Well, the hospital was extremely busy with other women having babies, so they didn't call me in until the following night at 9:00 pm! It was around 11:00 pm by the time I was hooked up to the Pitocin. A few hours after that, my water broke on it's own, and around an hour later Baby Serena was here! Again, I didn't have an epidural. I just prefer not being hooked up to tons of IVs. Plus, I feel like the recovery is faster (and I really don't like having a catheter).

We just love having Serena in our family. Our other girls love her too - they like watching her sleep and putting stuffed animals into her bassinet.

Onto the pictures!

Couch Potatoes

So maybe I shouldn't let Keira watch TV, but they all looked so cozy while they were watching "Go Diego, Go."

Ava turns 6!

Today our oldest daughter, Ava, turns 6. I can't believe how much time has flown by! She is turning out to be a very caring, helpful young girl. We are so blessed to have her in our family. Some things about Ava:

- she loves her kindergarten class
- she enjoys throwing the frisbee and playing catch in the backyard
- she loves doing crafts, as well as drawing and coloring
- she'll read to her younger sisters
- she'll also remind her younger sisters of the house rules, lol
- she has a very vivid imagination
- she loves to learn


We love Ava!



Ava's presents




Opening presents with the family

Norah turns 4!

Today is Norah's birthday! She is four years old. We call her "Noo-noo" for short. Some things about Norah in a nutshell:

- she LOVES dinosaurs at the moment
- she loves to snuggle
- her favorite toys (besides the dinosaurs) are animals of all kinds
- she enjoys picking flowers in the backyard
- she will comfort Keira in the car if she is crying
- she is still apprehensive about being in Primary (she's a Sunbeam), but she's adjusting
- her favorite thing to eat is a quesodilla

We love Norah!



Norah's presents



Norah's dinosaur cake



She's excited!



Norah really loves dinosaurs

Day in San Francisco

On Saturday in honor of Ava and Norah's upcoming birthdays, we took a family day up to San Francisco. We visited the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39, then went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. The girls had fun looking at all the sea life, especially the tide pool area where they could touch sea stars and other creatures.


Looking in the tide pool




Norah making stink-eye faces in line for the carousel





Norah and Grandma on the carousel

Ava on the carousel



Mason, Ava, and Keira