our backyard visitor

This little guy was found hopping away from elvis in our grass last night. He came in to our house to visit for a little while. I asked Lyla what he was, and she said "kua-kua! kerro-kerro!" (japanese for froggy). Lyla was fascinated and pet him a few times, while mommy kept her distance. I only got close enough to get some decent pictures. I had this image of mr froggy jumping out of trav's hand and onto my face.

You can see he his actually pretty big. I have never seen a frog in the wild this large. He made a chirping/crying noise that sounded like a little monkey.

After we felt that we had tortured him enough, Trav placed him back safely in the grass so that he could go about his froggy way and catch some bugs for dinner. Thanks for visiting!

28 week belly love

Lyla loves her baby brother. 12 more weeks to go before we meet the little fella! No name yet, though.

Lyla's 2nd Birthday Party

Lyla checking out all her gifts. She didn't really understand that all the commotion was for her, but she had a great time regardless.

The funfetti birthday cake I baked for Lyla. I had great ambitions of baking a cake in the shape of Hello Kitty, but settled on just drawing her face on.

The spread. My mom made macaroni casserole and ribs that are not in the picture. Delicious!

Lyla enjoying her cake. If you ask her how old she is, she will shout out "Two!"

Lyla loves babies, so she got a lot of baby doll-related gifts.

Lyla's birthday gift from Baaba and grandpa. She got a pink retro kitchen set and sweet table and chairs for her room. Now she's ready for playdates! Trav stayed up late last night to assemble everything.

Lyla's 1st Haircut

Waiting in anticipation in daddy's chair. Let's cut off that mullet!

The master at work. Trav was tossing her locks on the ground like she was any other customer. I couldn't believe that he wasn't saving them! This is a momentous occasion. I need to save those baby hairs for her book! No worries, I picked them up off the ground.

Lyla got a cute little bob cut.

Happy 4 years to my excellent strong man

I love you and I love our life! Thank you for making me laugh every day. Thank you for being my best friend and my favorite person to hang out with.

XOXO, your wife.

new MLS listing

http://www.homefinder.com/CA/Aliso_Viejo/67593068d_16_Scrub_Oak

Look who recently put their home on the market! My parents are selling their home of 14 years in Aliso Viejo to move out to...

...drum roll please...

WINCHESTER!

They already put an offer on a 4 bdrm home that is only 10 minutes away from our place. We are so excited that they will be living close. We will have the same zip code! Traveling for the holidays will require only a 10 minute drive! This is a big move for my parents as they have been residing in Orange County for the past 30+ years. We are praying for a smooth transition for them as they begin their life in our new neighborhood.

new house! yay!

Front yard. Before we moved in, we already had letters from the HOA asking us to remove the weeds.

Our living room with our brand spankin' new couch that you just sink right into. We love this couch!

The kitchen with brand new everything. The kitchen counters and stainless steel appliances are new. The cabinets used to be wood-colored before Nick and Travis painted them white. This kitchen looks so different from the day we bought this house.

View of the living room and stairs from the kitchen. All the walls were painted "bungalow taupe" and the baseboards are new.

What a difference from the dingy white walls that were there before!

Our front room, which is our formal sitting and dining area. We need some furniture to fill up this space. I keep envisioning our christmas tree next to that piano. I can't wait to decorate our home for the holidays!

The formal dining room.

Left side of the backyard. We are hoping this grass comes back to life.

Right side of the yard. See that green patch? It just came in since we started watering, so we are REALLY hoping that it will spread.

The master bedroom. Unfortunately this picture came out really dark, but this bedroom is nice and bright with the sun coming in the windows in the morning.

Last, but not least, the 25 week belly picture. This non-maternity dress was really struggling to stretch across my stomach. I still get so many comments on how huge I am for 6 1/2 months. Well, hopefully it's just because I have a healthy baby boy in there.

three amigos

I stole this picture from sara mitchell's blogpage because I love it! Melissa (Sara's sister and the hair model that helped Trav get the job) took this photo of the girls at the Calvary Chapel bible college on Tuesday. Lyla is so blessed to spend a few days a week with her cousins while Trav and I are at work. These girls are all so sweet and have such different personalities. I love how Nia is taking the little girls by the hand and leading the way. I adore these girls!