Life is Magical

Where has time gone!?! I did not realize so much time had passed since my last post! 

My life has been so busy and blessed as I run around with my two year old daughter. I am treasuring every day that we spend together! Most days consist of pixie dust  and princesses, and I love it! I love that my daughter wants us to wear crowns almost on a daily bases, she love to strap on her fairy wings and we fly around the house, our evenings consist of dance parties and cuddle fests. Life is great, by no means is it perfect, but it is exactly what I always wanted. I love being a mom, it is the greatest blessing!

We have our moments, okay lots of moments, I am raising a two year old here! We have our power struggles, she is learning about independence, and I am learning to pick my battles. So she spends most meals standing on a step-stool at the dining table...as long as she is eating, I'm fine with it!

She is little miss manners. She is quick to say please, thank you and excuse me...I just heard her saying excuse me to one of her toys this morning! She is so sweet and loving. She is so nurturing and takes very good care of everyone, including her dolls and stuffies.

I love watching her learn new things and it seems like she changes daily! She is growing up way too fast and I wish I could hit the pause button. Yet at the same time, I can't wait to see what God has in store for my little girl. I pray that He uses her in big ways!!

Hopefully I will be able to find the time to post more often and let you in on our everyday lives.

This past weekend, we ventured North to the Skagit Valley Tulip Fields. It was a beautiful day and we had fun walking through the fields and admiring all of the tulips. Kiara found the flowers fascinating but I think she loved the wide open spaces more. She had fun walking/running along the paths and was not too happy when it was time to leave.

18 Months

 Her first Easter egg hunt!

 Family photo Easter 2012

 Kiara's first time down the slide!

Kiara is now 18 months old! She is tiny and petite but growing and learning so many new things!!! She is running (yes, running!) around the house now, she is eating with a fork, and starting to say more and more words. She is growing up so fast! Zach and I are so amazed sometimes at things she says and does...she is just so smart! I know, we are quite biased, but I think we have good reason to believe this!

For the last month, Kiara has been dealing with a strange illness. After multiple Doctor appointments, we finally went to Children's Hospital to meet with a GI specialist. He diagnosed Kiara with the Rotavirus. He said that the typical duration of this virus is 4-8 weeks. He also thinks that she may have the beginnings of IBS which could be contributing to her long recovery from the Rotavirus. We look forward to a full recovery in the next few weeks. Kiara is such a trooper and continues to be in great spirits though this entire ordeal!

We are all looking forward to this Spring and Summer and the nicer weather. We love getting outside and look forward to taking Kiara on some hikes soon! She loves the outdoors, but like her Mother, does not like to get dirty! We also hope to take a family trip to Maui near the end of the summer! I love our family adventures!

15 Months

Wow, I can't believe how much time has passed since I last updated the blog! Welcome to parenthood and not having any time! :)

We had a great Christmas and New Year's and we hope you all did as well. We Spent our first week of the new year in Disneyland with my mom and my sister and her family. We had a blast! Kiara loved seeing all of the different characters and enjoyed the rides that she was able to go on. The weather was gorgeous, 75-80 the entire time we were there. None of us were prepared for that! We saw the Aladdin show, which Kiara loved and danced the entire time. She also really enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Ariel's Underwater Adventure...which we ended up doing twice! We had lunch with the princess' and dinner at Goofy's kitchen with Goofy, Chip & Dale, Pluto and many more friends. It was so fun to spend such good quality family time. Kiara loved spending so much time with her cousins. It is such a blessing that they are all so close in age and thoroughly enjoy being together!

Kiara is still small for her age but she is growing. She loves to eat and try new foods. I am greatful that we don't have a picky eater. She is very curious and always observing everyone and everything. She loves to move, she is cruising all over the house. She took two steps on her own last week, but is taking her time with the process. I think she is just having fun watching Zach and I make fools of ourselves trying to get her to walk. :) She loves music! She begins to dance as soon as she hears it. She loves to play Peek-a-boo and Patty Cake. She claps all the time and amazes her doctor by nodding and shaking her head when we ask her questions. She is getting better and better with sign language and loves creating her own language :) If you couldn't already tell, Zach and I are extremely proud parents!

Zach and I are doing great as well. He is still enjoying working at Costco and I am now working from home and watching a friend's 5 month old son. Kiara loves having a friend come over a few days a week and I love that I can spend so much time with Kiara. We are truly blessed!

We are looking forward to what God has in store for us this coming year.

8 Months

Kiara loves to read!

She is just so precious!

She was ready to go out and garden :)

Kiara is 8 months old now! I can't believe how fast time is going! She is learning new things everyday and Zach and I love to watch her explore her new talents. She can sit up on her own now, which means she now thinks that laying down and tummy time are for babies! She loves her toys, but she loves her books the most...looks like we are going to have another bookworm in the family :) She said Mama for the first time last week and now she can't stop saying it (much to my joy and satisfaction). Now we are working on saying Dada...she isn't there yet, but hopefully one day soon.

I had a fabulous first Mother's Day and Zach is really looking forward to his first Father's Day. He probably doesn't want me to share this...but the new Hallmark commercial for Father's Day gets him every time :) Kiara has him wrapped around her little finger! I love to see their relationship grow and develop...he is so good with her!

Kiara is growing so fast! She is still a petite little thing but she is getting very long! That isn't really a surprise with how tall Zach is. We had to move her up to 9 month clothes about a month ago because she was getting too long for the 6 month pants...everything is still baggy on her, she is so skinny!

She loves eating solid foods. She seems to be allergic to rice cereal, so we have stopped giving her cereal all together. Someday soon we might try barley cereal, hopefully she won't have a reaction to that. She loves sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, bananas and applesauce. Her least favorite is peas, they don't look very appetizing to me either :(

Zach and I are doing great. I can't believe that we have been living in our house for over a year now! We are still working on little projects here and there, the joys of owning a home :) Zach is loving his job...he likes the challenges it presents. I am still working two days a week and I am thrilled that I get to stay home with Kiara the rest of the time!

We pray that you are all doing well! Love you all