Crystal Cove and Orange Groves

Christmas break was extra exciting for the girls since Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike flew from Portland and Uncle Mike and Ali drove from Wyoming to play! The girls were so excited to hang out at Crystal Cove Beach with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Mike and Grammy. From hiking down the cliffs  and hunting for sea creatures in the tidepools to enjoying sandwiches and views at the Shake Shack, the girls loved playing tour guide. Photos by Aunt Sarah!

A little chilly for boardshorts, but that didn’t stop Meredith from splashing in the ocean with her pants.

Amelia the sandy.

Samantha contemplates the meaning of life.

 

Amelia feasts on seaweed (the Costco kind, not the fresh kind!)

Making a new friend.

Showing off a good find.

Finding crabs.

 

The girls also wanted to show Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike our local orange groves. They biked to the park first for a quick detour.

 

Meredith quickly got to work filling up her basket with oranges.

Amelia with her pickings.

Samantha’s harvest.

The girls biked the rest of the way to the exploration park playground and then it was a minor crisis getting everyone home since they were so exhausted! I think we ended up with me pushing Meredith in the stroller and carrying her bike, Uncle Mike carrying a bike and trading off twins on his shoulders, while Aunt Sarah gave moral support to the whichever twin was taking a turn riding her bike! The way back is all uphill and a few miles… but we did it. In the mean time, Grammy had taken Eleanor for a stroller ride to meet us at the park, but arrived right after we left. We almost dispatched a car to go find her and pick it up, but she and Eleanor made it home eventually!

Lots of love,

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San Diego and Eleanor’s Entourage

Meredith planned the perfect time to break her knee and have a full length cast on because just a week later, Grammy, Grandpa and Aunt Sarah came to town! By then, the cast didn’t deter Meredith much, so we went about our normal activities. We had always wanted to try taking the train down to San Diego, and the girls finally got their chance with Grammy, Grandpa and Aunt Sarah as their volunteer tour operators.

Photo by Sarah:

A life goal fulfilled.

Ok, I’m over it.

There’s a local blog I follow which had a “practically free” day trip to San Diego itinerary. Kids were free on the train and most of the activities were free as well, although we’d definitely skip some of the activities and just do the children’s museum or Balboa Park next time.

They stopped at Old Town for some sightseeing around the shops and Mexican food for lunch. They also played at the park and then hopped on the train back home, totally exhausted from their journey. Photos by Sarah.

While our visitors were here, Jake, the girls, and everyone else took a walk on the San Clemente beach trail and stopped for breakfast and dessert.

Meredith was not going to let her cast hold her back from rock climbing.

Eleanor also welcomed visitors from afar coming to pay her tribute! Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle David drove from Yucca and Annie and cousins Jack, Eleri, and Rhys came from Connecticut for the day, bearing gifts for everyone. Eleanor adored all the cuddles and attention. Meredith and the twins were so excited to play with their cousins and enjoyed a full day of swimming, playing and non-stop snacking.

Photos by Sarah:

Cuddles with Grandpa.

Chilling with Grammy.

Hugs from Great Aunt Linda.

Mesmerized by Great Uncle David’s beard.

Tea time with Great Aunt Annie.

The only person she would smile for was Great Grandpa!

So tired after a long day of visitors!

Rhys was especially so cute with Samantha and Amelia. It was a special treat to play with cousins all day!

All sugared up on strawberry shortcake.

Our pool was definitely at capacity!

Lots of love,

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Four Five And Under Week 1

Our first week home with newborn Elle was a whirlwind of feeding, late nights, early mornings, and driving the other girls around to all their activities! Thank goodness Grammy and Aunt Sarah were there to help out. The twins were still in preschool three days a week through the end of June, so there was drop-off, pick-up, lunch packing and Helper of the Day to take care of, plus swimming lessons for all three. We divided and conquered, with me handling mostly just the baby, and Grammy and Aunt Sarah taking charge of the twins, Meredith and pretty much everything else.

Our first night home with Eleanor was rough! She was awake all hours of the night and Jake and I had a few moments of “What have we done??!!!” as the sleep deprivation began to take its toll. Exhaustion and feeling like a cow are all I remember about the first few weeks! Eleanor liked to sleep a lot during the day, which we hoped would reverse into more night sleeping soon as she got used to her new environment. To add to the mayhem, due to her elevated jaundice levels, Jake and I took turns carting her to the pediatrician for her check-up and then to the hospital lab for blood work every day that week. It was exhausting and one more thing to worry about! Fortunately, her levels went down on their own by Saturday and we didn’t need to take home a special lamp for phototherapy or admit her to the hospital.

Before Eleanor was born, we worried about how Meredith would take a new little sister in our crew, but she did the best out of everyone! She was eager to help grab diapers, toys, cuddle and help feed a bottle to Eleanor. The twins were also enamored of their baby sister and showed their preschool classes pictures and made cards for her. The girls were especially excited when Eleanor brought them some “nice to meet you” presents and toys, and were also happy when anyone came to visit since that usually meant they received some “big sister” gifts as well.

Showering the new babe with love! Photos by Sarah Arnoff

Kisses for Queen Eleanor.

Meredith’s antics always make for good photo opportunities.

Who needs camping when we can have s’mores in our backyard.

More photos from Week 1 (my cell phone pics because I was too out of it to take any good ones!)

Those newborn alien eyes!

Where am I??!!

The girls loved checking the mail every day for cute baby gifts from friends and family.

Aunt Sarah and the baby queen.

Dreamy smile.

Meredith always has way too much fun with Snapchat filters.

Since Eleanor was born on the day their preschool had their Daddy Daughter day, Jake took them out for pancakes another day to make up for not being there. The girls agreed it was an acceptable trade.

Samantha and Amelia are great climbers– their favorite is practicing in a tree at the end of our cul-de-sac.

The twins were always picking bouquets for me on their walks.

Saturday morning paddle boarding adventure in Newport while I stayed home with the baby.

Our twins club had a playdate/party at the park, complete with a little petting zoo, and a traveling reptile zoo.

Meredith meets a tortoise.

Eek snake.

Snuggle time! Mmmmm that newborn smell (and the smell of Dreft) is so delicious!

Grammy and Eleanor.

Meeting Great Grandpa.

Meeting Great Auntie Lynn and Great Uncle Steve.

It’s officially summer! Let the daily watermelon extravaganza begin.

Juicy!

Lots of love,

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June Recap

Our June was filled with perfect weather, lots of beach and pool days, wrapping up preschool, and basically just surviving until the baby came. Those last few weeks of pregnancy were not exactly comfortable, (if I had a dime for every time someone told me I looked like I would pop any day now, I’d be rich!) and every day was filled with the uncertainty of if that would be our last day as a family of five or not! I was exhausted and Meredith was frustrated that I couldn’t do much– including sitting down on the floor to play with her or reading with anyone in my lap. I was also in full-on nesting mode, staying up all hours of the night to organize the pantry, dust the baseboards, clean the fridge, and frantically pleading with Jake to do the most random jobs (changing out lightbulbs, painting the bathroom– not joking!)  Saint that he is, he took it all in stride and tried not to point out the fact that I was crazy! Somehow, we made it through the month.

Celebrating our friend, Marisa’s, graduation from college at the beach in Newport since we wouldn’t be able to attend the ceremony. At some point during our morning, Meredith crashed some kid’s birthday party and I found her over at their picnic table, eating treats and trying to steal balloons!

Weekly park day with our friends. We usually have some boys in the mix, but this day it was all girls and for whatever reason, the balance was off and the girls fought the whole time! Maple and Meredith both ended up with scraped knees and bruised faces (not from each other– each took a spill). It was a crazy playdate!

Field trip to the Discovery Cube Museum. Since there was no way I was fitting my pregnant self into those tiny bus seats, Jake valiantly chaperoned in my place.

 

I was just about to commend ourselves on how peaceful of a morning we were having, when Amelia threw up in the pool and the lifeguards had to shut it down for a few hours to shock the system with chlorine. She mostly threw up water, after swallowing a ton of it swimming, but it was still gross! Fortunately, there weren’t too many people there, but we still apologized as we took our walk of shame back home. For the rest of the summer, we stayed at our own pool!

We somehow made it the entire summer without Meredith pooping in the pool! The waterpark in our neighborhood is constantly getting shut down because of “code browns,” and if your kid is the one who pooped and was not wearing one of the diaper cover ups they hand out for free, you will be publicly shamed on the Ladera Moms Facebook Page! I usually put three layers of swim diaper/diaper cover ups on Meredith, but was still paranoid whenever we went out to the public pool. The only pool she ended up having an accident in was our own pool!

Meredith investigates a two bicycle crash.

You guys okay?

Morning at the park.

Meredith somehow grabbed my phone and was taking pictures of me at school pick-up. I guess this is how I look from the kids’ point of view!

We had several false labor alarms, one of which was right before heading on a family Costco run. After feeling some contractions, I told Jake we better zip it to Costco to stock up on food, and we raced around the store, literally telling people to move out of the way because I was in labor! I was doubled over in pain a few times in the  middle of the aisle, but we made it through and still had time for what we thought would be our last meal as a family of five. I took a picture to commemorate, but it didn’t end up being our last evening out. I was dilated to a 3 for WEEKS before going into labor for real!

Samantha and Amelia have an obsession with putting undies on their heads at bedtime.

The weekend of my due date (June 17), Grammy and Aunt Sarah came to town. Even though the baby hadn’t come yet, it was perfect timing since I was too exhausted to really do much of anything with the girls. They took the girls to the Oso trail for a nature walk and fairy hunting. A local artist had set up cute fairy houses all along the trail and the girls loved examining the teeny tiny fairy sculptures. 

Movie night with Aunt Sarah!

Our last few weeks of June were quite eventful– birth story up next!

Lots of love,

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