Charlotte at 2yrs 1 mo Old

Charlotte is 2 years 1 mo old and is now a big sister! She is talking a whole lot lately. She still is taking naps everyday for about 2 hours, sometimes 3 hours. And her hair is getting long enough on the sides to put up into little pony tails. She is learning her color and shapes. She knows the names of colors and shapes but most of the time does not identify they correctly yet. So, we will be working on that this holiday season. She loves her new big sister role and is very sweet to her baby sister Natalie.

                                        Wearing my sister's light-up shoes. I put them on myself.

                                                                             Peek-a-boo!

                                                             Getting ready for the day, Mom!

                                                              Busy getting my artistry on.

Felix The Cat

Ava and Charlotte have always loved dogs and cats but most recently they are obsessed with our cat Felix.  Every morning and afternoon around 4:30 the poor cat gets hugged and carried around by Ava. He's actually a really good sport about it and lets the kids practically do anything to him. He gets bibs put on him, nests made for him, special treats, milk poured for him, pet a lot. He's a lover. Usually he's the one who is all over you, this time the tables are turned. Felix is very sweet with kids and loves the attention. We've had him since he was a kitten and he will be 8 years old this spring. Ava says "He's my best buddy".

                          Ava and Felix. Ava colors her nose with washable marker to play "kitty cat".

Charlotte's Latest Drawings

Charlotte learning to draw happy faces from Ava a few weeks ago and is very much into using notebooks, note pads, pens, and markers. She asks for notebooks and pens everyday. These are some of her latest pictures that she is drawing on her own.

                 This is a sideways view of her drawing. It's a face with arms and legs basically.

These pictures where all drawn on different days. I just took a few snap shots here and there to remember.

                                             Concentrating on her drawings of happy faces.

Erika at 38.5 Weeks Pregnant

This is what I looked like about a week ago. I am about 38.5 weeks pregnant in these pictures.

Ocean Institute Tide Pools- Dana Point

We visited the Ocean Institute earlier this week just so that we could walk along the shore and enjoy the sea breeze and beautiful scenery. I love being along the shore and smelling the salty sea air. It's so relaxing. The institute is actually only open the the public on the weekends because during the week they are packed with elementary school field trips. We had a great time just enjoying a small stretch of the tide pool shore line. The tide was high when we went so there actually were not any pools for us to check out, but we still had a fabulous time just walking and enjoying the shore. I am hoping we will be returning with the kids again soon during the weekend (if we don't have baby #3 before then. Ha!).  Here are a few pictures of our adventure along the shore.

Can you spot my little one? Charlotte was free to run up and down since this portion of the beach is very small and there was hardly anyone around but us.

Ava found a nice spot on top of this rock. She played on it and around it for about 30 minutes. The weather this time was awesome. It was about 72 degrees with a nice breeze.

Grandma, Ava and Charlotte running to the end of the beach area. Around the rocky corner is a path to the tide pools. Had the tide been lower it would have been easier to access and view them.

Ava made a long path with her shovel and Charlotte followed it all the way up and down. Ava got a kick out of Charlotte enjoying it so much.

                                                            Yep, still working on that path.

                                 The simple pleasures of digging in the wet sand and going barefoot.

                                                                       Ready, set, & jump!

                                                    Showing me a broken abalone shell she found.

We all had a great time at the beach, but I think Ava had the best time of all. She was actually singing to herself while she stood at the top of this rock. It wasn't a particular song, just a song she made up at the moment. She was totally into it.