San Francisco

I can not get the pictures to post for the life of me, so you'll just have to imagine them:) I think most of you have seen them on facebook anyway, so here you go. Michael and I had one of the best vacations last weekend in San Francisco. We left early Friday morning and got into the city at a little after 11. We headed over to this fabulous place called Pete's Tavern across from AT&T park for lunch. It was so good. Then we headed over to the Exploratorium. Michael had never been there, and me being the science nerd that I am, I was excited to take him. We had so much fun! We were seriously like two little kids in there. After checking out the condo we were staying in (our room on the 22nd floor had a pretty good view), we headed down to Fisherman's wharf, which happens to be one of our favorite places. If you're ever there you have to go to The Fudge House and get the Raspberry bark. It is heaven! We hung out there for a while and then went upstairs to Swiss Louis for dinner. Out of all the restaurants we ate at that weekend, it was by far my favorite! The food and service were amazing, plus you sit overlooking the sea lions and you have a great view of the bay. I really recommend this place. Later that night we went down to Baker Beach (a nude beach!) with our clothes fully on :) to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge at night. The view was spectacular, I have never seen anything like it. It was kind of creepy though as we were walking back we realized someone else was on the beach and we hadn't noticed them! The next day we got up and found an amazing doughnut place while we were looking for a McDonald's. Those doughnuts totally have Mickey D's beat. They were fantastic. We drove on over to the beach right below the Cliff House. Did you know that at low tide you can walk out to Seal Rocks and look at/touch all the marine life living on the rocks? It was so cool! From there we crossed the street to the zoo. We had been there before, but it is a great zoo and fun to visit. They had a whole bunch of baby animals, including the cutest baby gorilla I have ever seen. He was dancing all over the place! After the zoo we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens inside Golden Gate Park. They are so beautiful and tranquil, I loved it! We walked around the Botanical Garden inside the park which was pretty too. We left there and went to get ready for a fancy dinner at Palio D'Asti, a great Italian place. It was fun to get dressed up and since it wasn't too far from the condo we walked. The weather was perfect for walking all weekend. After dinner we walked to different hotels in the Financial District (The Mandarin, The Hyatt Regency and the Hilton) that all offer spectacular views of the city. Let me tell you, they are even more incredible at night. So yes, we snuck up to the top floors of these hotels to snap some pictures. It was worth it. The next morning we headed back to Pier 39, walked around Ghiradelli square and checked out the ships at the Hyde Street Pier. They have some really cool old ships and barrels along the pier that have ropes and instructions on how to tie sailors knots. We took a Bay Cruise (if you go with a small boat instead of one of the large commercial ones it is a LOT cheaper) which took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. I've seen the bridge from many viewpoints, walked it , driven across it, but none of these was ever as amazing as going underneath it. Seeing the immense power was incredible. We had lunch again at Swiss Louis ( I told you I liked it) and headed home. It was a busy weekend but truly incredible!

She's a maniac!

Man that song is catchy. Okay, so I have been reading like a maniac, hence the title. In case you didn't notice I added a list of the books I have read so far this year. Yes, since January first I have averaged about 6 books a month, and I am hoping to reach 50 (at least!) by December 31st. The books with asterisks next to them are ones that I LOVED. I seriously could not put them down, and some of them I even finished in two days, they were that good. I've been on a young adult fiction streak lately (why are those books so much fun to read) even though I am almost 25. Everyone has a weakness right? So those of you who read my blog could help me out by letting me know what your favorite books are. Come on let's fill up that list!

Happy Easter!

So with the crappy weather, it sure doesn't feel like Easter, but the calendar doesn't lie right? Is this year flying by for anyone else? I feel like we make it through one holiday and the next one is already upon us. This Easter was fun though because the girls could participate a little bit more. We had a small egg hunt in the backyard with eggs that Michael and I colored. It was so cute to see them get so excited when they found an egg and they were so proud to put it in their baskets. As far as other news, Bailey is working on teeth numbers 7 and 8 right now and Reagan is catching up with #5. Needless to say they are both kind of grumpy. They are both walking (okay, more like running) and they are always into everything. They keep me super busy, especially with Daddy being at work now. Their new favorite thing is to stick their hands in the toilet and suck the water off before somebody catches them. Why don't we just keep the toilet lids closed you ask? Good question; because we have a dog who is incapable of drinking out of anything but the toilet. Seriously. He will sit there dying of thirst until somebody lets him to the toilet. Guess it's time to retrain the dog, because I gag just thinking about the girls hands in there. Anyway, they're still a ton of fun and they light up our lives. Our next exciting milestone will be going to nursery after April 16th. Woohoo, Mommy and Daddy are excited!

Late Christmas Post and some randomness

Is it really a surprise to anyone that it has taken me this long to write my Christmas post? No, I didn't think so. And just a warning, there are a lot of pictures to follow because I am a slacker. So Christmas this year was awesome. The girls weren't really interested in opening their presents, just playing with the bows on top of them. Note to self: next year save a whole lot of money on presents and just buy a big bag of bows! Anyway, after our Christmas here, we went next door to Michael's parents and opened a bunch of awesome gifts there. Then we went up to my parents house and we got to speak to my brother on the phone. I'm not gonna lie, it is really weird not having him here, and even though he's been gone for 7 months now, I still miss him a ton. It was so great to hear from him. He is all grown up now! My family was all taking bets that I would cry first when talking to him. Um yeah, try the LAST person to cry! I'm pretty sure they owe me $25. So that was Christmas. It doesn't sound like much, but it was truly fantastic. I can proudly say that I now have two "walkers" in my house. The girls still prefer crawling as their method of transportation, but they can walk. Reagan is also doing so well developmentally that her Early Intervention specialist thinks we can start to phase her out of the program. This is a good thing and we are so proud of our little peanut. Okay, I guess we'll get to the pictures now.

First random, non Christmas picture... Reagan with a "big girl" ponytail!! I like to call it her pirate pony, because it reminds me of the ponytail Orlando Bloom sports in Pirates of the Carribbean :)
Bailey modeling her hat and pj's, both gifts from Mommy and Daddy.
Reagan also sports her gifts.
Bailey and Reagan digging into their stockings.
I love that face!
Poor Reagan had some major bed head going on Christmas morning.
Checking out the goods under the tree. Please ignore my appearance :)
Another random pic. Not only is our daughter a red head, but she is a red head with curls! Love it! We hope it stays that way.
Bailey LOVES to make funny faces so people will laugh at her.
And I just had to add this one because it is one of my favorite pictures of Reagan. Look at those eyes! They make me swoon!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He was at Dillard's to be exact. I was fully expecting the girls to cry (well, at least Reagan), but neither one did. It was a Christmas miracle! Reagan did try to jump off Santa's lap though, so as soon as the camera clicked he set her on the floor! Santa is not germ conscious like some of us. Bailey sat still but she wouldn't smile. I don't think she was impressed with the big guy. So even though they didn't smile in the pictures, I'm still happy we went. Maybe next year will be better. After Santa's visit, we went to Pottery Barn to say hi to my Mom's coworkers. That store is so gorgeous at Christmas time (and every other time) so we took some pictures in front of their tree. We were getting the weirdest looks, but at least my Mom actually works there. The manager told us they had random families come in last year to take family pictures! I've also been doing a lot of baking and decorating this year. The picture above is my first attempt at making "pretty" cookies. Some turned out pretty good, others... not so much. Anyway, we are really looking forward to Christmas and hopefully we'll have some more pictures to share soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was my first time holding both girls at the same time and I was a little nervous!
These photos are all from last Thanksgiving. I'm sharing them again to show how much we have to be thankful for. I know it has taken me a long time to realize that, and I apologize. It's just when you're in the situation we were in, it's hard to look past the present and think about a happy future. But we're finally there. These two little miracles are our whole lives. They are healthy and perfect. I promise, I am not writing this to get sympathy or anything. We were given so much of it at the time. I just really needed to let everyone know that I know how blessed I am, and that I am thankful for it all. I'm grateful that we had such an awesome NICU team, because without all of their hard work and dedication, they would not be where they are today. I'm also grateful that Michael and I have such amazing families who have been so supportive and helpful since the girls arrived. They sat with us during surgeries, fed us, took me to visit the girls (we only had one car at the time) and just engulfed us in love. I am so thankful for my friends who snuck (good) food and ice cream into the hospital, who showered us with love and support and who love our girls more than we could ask for. I am also thankful for the support, strength and guidance from my church and it's leaders. I hope everyone can be as blessed as we are in this coming year. As soon as Michael uploads the pictures from his camera, I will post our pics from yesterdays Thanksgiving.

Happy 1st Halloween!

Okay, so I know this technically wasn't the girls first Halloween, but Michael and I agreed that since their first one was spent in the NICU it didn't count. This year the girls went to two Halloween parties, one at my parents ward and the other at our own. They had so much fun seeing all the other costumes and sharing our food. I decided to get some more use out of their birthday tutus so I added wings, tights and wands and voila!, fairies! They were pretty darn cute! Of course they couldn't go trick-or-treating, but we figured they deserved some sort of Halloween treat. So we let them lick the beaters covered in chocolate frosting. They loved it! Also, Nov. 3rd was the one year anniversary of Reagan's heart surgery. Look at that little peanut now! Bailey's one year mark will be on Saturday the 7th. She has to do everything her big sister does! We are so proud of them because they have worked so hard to get to where they are today. Here are some pictures, enjoy!

I love the look Bailey is giving us!

You can tell that Reagan was very enthusiastic about her treat.

So cute! She wouldn't let me put her hair in a ponytail though :(

She'll make all your wishes and dreams come true!

I love how it looks like she's smelling the flower!

Such a cute happy girl!