Bike Ride with Daddy  August 1st

Being pregnant,  I am unable to go for bike rides but Layla and Daddy still enjoy rides down to the beach in the evenings and on weekends!  Layla rubs Daddy’s back while singing the entire ride!

It’s a Boy!!  August 2nd

Here are his boy parts!!!

On August 2nd, at 18 weeks 6 days of my pregnancy we went in for our big ultra sound/body scan.  Baby looks great and we were able to find out the sex!  Yes, it is a boy!  I was shocked at first!  for some reason I just expected another girl, especially with how sick I had been.  I guess I assumed since I felt basically the same, throwing up, pretty much daily, that it had to be a girl.  It took a little while for it to sink in for me then I could not stop smiling!  Guy said he knew!  He had one of his intuitive feelings that it was a boy!  He was right!  Now we will have one of each and if we decide to try again for another child there is no pressure one way or another to have one of the sex we did not have! 

Here is his little ankle!

After the ultrasound we stopped and had lunch and picked up Sprinkles cupcakes in La Jolla to surprise Nicole and Layla with.  We set the box down in front of Layla and opened it up.  We had hoped that she would immediately guess boy because the tops of the cupcakes had blue decorations.  No such luck, Layla said, is it a girl?  We told her, no try again, so she then said, boy!  She said she knew it was a boy too!  She is thrilled that she is going to have a baby brother and so are we!

2nd Annual American Girl Lunch & Shopping Trip  August 3rd

Every summer for two years now we have taken a trip up to The Grove in Los Angeles to visit American Girl Place for lunch and a shopping trip.  This year it was Layla, Ahta, Mommy, Nonna, and Nanny!  We were so lucky Nanny was able to join us.  We all had a great time together.

Layla pushing her Bity Baby in the stroller with her Nonna and Nanny, so excited to be at American Girl.

Hugs for baby while we waited to be seated for lunch.

Layla and her baby in their matching outfits!  Thanks Aunt Karen.

Giving baby a drink at lunch!

Baby needed kisses too of course.

All of the girls at lunch.

Pushing Bity Baby through the American Girl Store before shopping!

Shopping in the Bity Baby department!

After shopping and showing Nanny the doll hair solon we took our annual group photo on the red couch in the front of the store!  It was a very fun day.

After American Girl we all took the trolley from the end of the Grove where American Girl is to the end where Nordstroms is so we could do some shoe shopping for Layla!  She got a new pair of aqua sparkly Toms and pink crocks.

Belly Kisses

Later that day Layla gave the belly some sweet kisses.

Peeling Carrots

Layla loves helping in the kitchen!  Daddy showed her how to peel carrots.

19 Weeks August 4th

Camping with The Calitigerones  August 5th through 7th

We joined The Caltigerone Family for a few days of camping at their camp site it Carlsbad.  We had fun sleeping in the tent, enjoying the camp fire, making smores, playing on the beach, and spending time with friends.

Layla and Mommy hanging out at the camp site.

Layla and Conner spent a lot of time together!  Layla adored Conner and he was so great with her!  She followed him everywhere!  It was very cute!

Daren and I hanging out around the camp fire getting ready for S’mores!

The girls sleeping in the tent!

Pregnant and tent camping don’t seem like they would be a good combination but here I am with a huge smile on my face!

Layla loved it!

One night while we were there Nicole and Valerie joined us for dinner, the sunset, camp fire, and s’mores.

The view from our campsite!  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Enjoying the sunset. 

We had a great time camping in our huge new tent and can’t wait to do it again after the baby comes!

20 Weeks  August 11th

Layla and Her Band August 14th

We had a Sunday family dinner on August 14th with lots of our “peeps” Nonna, Papa, Nanny, Ahta, Uncle Dave T., Mark and Aunt Donna.  Layla gave us all instruments, told us we were her band and instructed us on how and when to play!  It was a crack up to watch her instruct all of the adults.

There she is, the leader of the band.

21 Weeks  August 20th

Getting bigger and bigger and looking more and more tired!

Mary Poppins  August 20th

Layla got to enjoy her first Broadway play, Mary Poppins at the Civic Theater.  She did great and really enjoyed the play. 

Family photo before leaving for downtown.

Enjoying her maraschino cherry out of her very first Shirley Temple.

She didn’t really like it the Shirley Temple, which is a good thing I guess!  She would rather drink Mommy’s lemonade or water!

My little girl before going into the theater for her first live musical!

Showing us her ticket.

Sitting in her seat!  She was so funny when we got to our seats, we always have very good seats, always in the orchestra about 10 rows back.  She points to the front and says, “I want to sit up there, in the front row!”  You’ve got to give it to her, the girl knows the good seats, I don’t blame her!  We explained to her that our seats are very good ones too and we have to sit where out seats are!  I guess she is spoiled in that aspect because the last three Disney on Ice shows she has gone to we have gotten front row, on the ice seats because they are the best ones!

Cooking with Daddy

Later that night, Layla helped Daddy with some prep work and cooking for Nonna’s Birthday celebration dinner which we would have the next night.

Celebrating Nonna’s Birthday August 21st

We had Nonna, Papa, Nanny, and Nicole over to help celebrate Nonna’s Birthday.  Layla helped her open her gifts.  Nonna loved her mushroom bird feeder, Layla chose the colors.

Layla also helped Nonna blow out the candles!

We all really enjoyed the delicious desert that Nonna requested.  One that Guy had made years before  but could not remember.  It took him days to remember and find the recipe!  It was all worth it though, delicious!  Home made chocolate pudding with a peanut butter cream and peanut crunch.  Happy Birthday Donna, we love you!

Layla’s First Day of Preschool August 23rd

On August 23rd Layla had her very first day of preschool!  She attends Mira Costa Child Development’s afternoon class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and absolutely loves it!  She never had an issue with me leaving and could care less that I say I love you and goodbye!  She is so happy to be there.  We are so happy she is there also.  Her teacher has her Master’s degree, all of the lead classroom teachers do at her school.  Normally, in order to teach preschool, it is only required to have 12 units, or 4 college classes.  There are also two apprentice teachers in every classroom who are on the road to becoming preschool teachers.  It is called a “Lab School” where students who are child development majors come in and observe and work with children as part of their schooling.  I feel so lucky that she is able to attend preschool at such a wonderful teaching and learning institution!  Everyday she asks if it is a preschool day!  Here are some first day photos!

Outside of her classroom, room 4!

Walking into her classroom.

With her plant and her teacher Yi-Chen.

Exploring in the science center.

Layla’s classroom plant  that she he gets to take care of.

A picture with Mommy on the first day of preschool!

Daddy Taking me to Preschool  August 25th

Second Day of Preschool

Daddy could not come with on her first day but was able to take the day off and come on the second day of school!  Here are Layla and Daddy on her second day of preschool.

Disneyland August 26th                                                                                     As a reward for being such an awesome big preschool girl, Guy and I took her to Disneyland on Friday after her second day of school!

Tea Cups with Daddy.

Watching the parade with Daddy.

Princess Belle.

Princess Tiana.

For the first time we attended the Royal Coronation Ceremony.  Layla learned to Curtsy and dance like a princess and loved every second of it!  She even got to dance with some of the real princess’!

For the longest time she thought this ladies in blue and pink helping with the coronation ceremony, teaching the dance and how to bow and curtsey were princess’ which is funny because she knows them all so well!  She was right by their sides the entire time, even holding their hands for part.   The rest of the children were out on the floor in front of them.

Here she is doing the Maypole dance with Snow White.

She was also able to give Cinderella some hugs after the coronation. 

After the Coronation, we noticed that Layla was really flush, red cheeks, and hot!  It was REALLY hot at Disneyland that day, we thought it was just the heat!  We made her drink cold water and got a frozen lemonade!  We even bought one of the fans that blow a cool mist on you!  She hung for a while and ended up falling asleep for a bit!  We were worried and asked her if she was ready to go, she said she was.  We bought her some pajamas, loaded into the car and drove home.  Once we got home we took her temperature and, yep she had a fever, 102!!  Poor little princess!  It was 2 days into preschool and she already brought home a fever!  She had to miss a birthday party because she was sick, which nearly broke my heart but she recuperated and made it back to preschool on the following Tuesday!