Our Christmas Lights

We got our Chrismas lights put up today.  Boy was Makayla constantly asking since the neighbors had theirs up.  We got to get new lights this year since our icicles kept going out last year.  We had a gift card to spend at Walmart anyways.  Can't tell from the photo but we went with the bigger old fashioned bulbs like I had when I was a little girl and Ry swapped them out one red and one clear.  Looked like candy canes.  We also had a walkway of little snowmen and some snowflakes on our tree.  It's super cute!  Makayla was so happy to see them up, Christmas is finally in the air for us!

Mylee 6-Months Old

Our little Mylee is getting so big so fast!  She's weighing in at 14lbs. and 24 inches long today.  We can't believe it's already been 1/2 a year since she's been born.  She is just super happy and easy as can be!  Easy peezie!  She's rolling over from one side to the next now and still sleeping through the night!  Thank goodness!  She's also cooing and giggling quite a bit too.  We started her on rice cereal and some solid foods.  She seems to like it so far.  I think that's it for this months report.

Disneyland Again......

We met up with the Shen's again today at Disneyland.  We're trying to go as much as we can during the holidays since it's so pretty and fun there!  Hopefully we can make some time to get there in the evening to check out the lights, especially on the Magic Castle!

Here's Makayla and Jordan after riding the Alice and Wonderland ride. These houses are just their size.  Look at Miss. Mak's pose with hands on her hips.  Couldn't believe she was doing that!  Not sure what it's really called.  It's Makayla's first time since the line is usually too long for us.  She had fun.  

We headed over to California Adventure to catch the Disney's Playhouse show but it got cancelled so we went to check out the new Toy Story ride.  Makayla with her 3D glasses.  It was quite a long wait but Jordan's dad said it was worth it so we waited and it went pretty quickly.  Probably 30 minutes and Makayla and I had a blast on it!  So much fun!  You all have to check it out! 

Of course afterwards they saw the carousel and had to hope on for a ride on their sea animal.

Then the Shen's took us to another area that we've never explored. I think it was Bear Country park or something like that.  Well, it was fun to just let the girls run around this area.  So much fun to explore so much with the Shen's.  They showed us a lot and have gotten us out of our little box and routine that we usually have when we go.

That pretty much called it a day for Makayla and I so we headed out so she could take a nap before getting too cranky on me.  We got to take some photos in front of the "CALIFORNIA" candy cane letters. Got the "A" here with Goofy.

And then the "C" with Mickey!

Janai's Birthday Crop

Pretty much after every Thanksgiving we try to squeeze in a scrapbooking day, especially because Lucy, Janai's mom is in town.  We got to do a two day crop for Janai's birthday too down at Shirley's house in San Diego.  She's a Creative Memories consultant and our good friend Phil's sis-in-law.  That was super nice of her to open up her home to us! 

Here's the birthday girls blowing out her birthday candles.  Her birthday was on the 12th so a little late on the celebration but it was worth it to wait to get her mom here and to do a two-dayer.

Open up her presents.  All the Scrap Queens pitched in for a big CM gift card for her and a new glue dispenser!  Thanks for having a birthday so we could scrapbook again!

Thanksgiving Day!

Well, it's our 3rd annual Thanksgiving Feast with the Arakaki's, Ly, Watkins & Bui Family!  It's where all the families get together so we don't have to split up during this special day!  The Watkins come all the way from Hanford, CA (close to Fresno) to join us.  Even Aunt Judy makes it too!  What a treat!  It's absolutely lots of fun getting everyone to pitch in for this big feast by each bringing a dish to our Clubhouse. Yes, the family is that big that we need the Clubhouse.  Well, it just makes it roomer so we can actually all eat together.  We are all very Thankful to have each other.  We are very blessed to have a wonderful family!

My M&M girls in their pretty dresses!  Mylee also started grabbing onto her bottle today.  I think she's going to start holding it on her own pretty soon now.

We managed to get a family photo in while Mylee was awake!  

The girls with my parents.  So happy!

Our annual turkey fryer chef...my brother Binh!  His fried turkeys are so yummy!  Nice and crispy and the seasoning is awesome!

The Bui family picture.  Good looking family.

Alan & Som by the nice fall floral arangement.  This is the first time Som was able to join us.  They were visiting her mom last year in Thailand.  So happy they could both be here with us this year!  

The Watkins all the way from Hanford.  Janai's (my brother's wife) parents.  They are the nicest couple!  

Janai & Aunt Judy, she came all the way down from Handford also.  She's famous for making our floral arrangement center pieces.  She's a great artist!

We had a special treat request today, to use Makayla's grace that she says at school before eating.  This is usually done by Mike Watkins, which he did but this place mat that Makayla made for her school Thanksgiving feast was copied for everyone to use today.  She felt so special and it was so cute.  We stand around in a circle and hold hands to say it.  We are all very Thankful that we had this awesome food to eat today!

Just a shot of our table setting for everyone.  It's even in a big T.  Again, so much fun and so pretty too!  We need to really enjoy it this year since the Watkins & my brother and Janai won't be able to make it next year.  They will be up in Hanford to spend it with Aunt Sandra that hasn't been able to make it down here the past few years.  We hope we can change their mind but we totally understand.

My Makayla grubbing away!  She really enjoyed the turkey meal!  You can tell by the big bite!

All the cousins and Auntie 9 hanging out outside after the big feast!  The girls are running around working off the food already. (Theodore & Elizabeth)

We also took this time while the whole family was together to acknowledge Janai conquering her Master's degree in Forensics Science.  We are super proud of her since this is a huge deal to complete!  All the families pitched in so she could have additional funds for her big Africa trip in 2009!  Congrats again Janai!  

One last picture finally!  Food coma after the big feast!  Sorry for all the pics but tried to get most of the family in.  There was more but I just couldn't do too many more just for one post.  We did miss Grandma Arakaki since she was under the weather.

Disney w/ Jordan

We went to Disneyland with Makayla's friend Jordan and her family today.  They have all their holiday decorations out so it should be lots of fun!  This is my favorite time of year at Disneyland!  It really gets you into the spirit of things.   Jordan's Daddy, David really knows his way around Disneyland.  We did so much and we never do.  We usually only spend a few hours there doing the same old same old and this time we were there almost all day.  The girls had so much fun!  Jordan's Uncle Mike went with us too and I think Makayla just inherited another Uncle.  He's great with the girls!

We took a break here after a few rides including the new Holiday Small World so the girls could craft and see Santa and his reindeer's at Big Thunder Ranch.  So much fun except they only wanted to wave to Santa from afar. 

Who's this guy.  Small world.  Makayla thought she recognized his voice and tricks.  He's the same guy that she saw at the Halloween Magic Show at the library 

So cute Jordan & Makayla getting into the holiday spirit!  So pretty with all the Christmas trees surrounding them.

Hanging out on the sleigh.

Makayla's 1st picture in front of the giant Christmas tree on Main Street.  Those are some big presents!

On our way out she wanted to get autographs from her Disney pals.  She's gotta be in the mood to do this since we saw them throughout the day but she had no interest until we were on our way out.  So cute with Pluto and his Santa hat.

Big hugs to Minnie in her cute little holiday outfit.  It's so cute Makayla opens up her autograph book to the page she wants them to sign and then she gives them big hugs and takes a picture. She's got it down!  Thanks for such a fun day Jordan, Chiara, David, Shirley & Uncle Mike!

Eye Doctor

Makayla went to see an eye doctor for the 1st time.  She's had these weird grayish spots on her eye pretty much since she's been born.  We keep asking her pediatrician every time we see him and he assures us it's nothing and pretty common.  But then this time around he told us to go see a specialist just so we have peace of mind and stop asking.  So we did. We got a referral to see Dr. Ching a pediatrics optometrist and boy is he a hard man to get an appointment with.  We had to wait a month before he had an opening.  It was a really fun experience and Makayla did great!  He had all kinds of tricks and gadgets in his office to get the kids to look a certain way so he can check their eyes.  Makayla even let him put drops in her eyes so they dilate for thorough examination.  After that we had to wait 20 minutes or so for the drops to absorb......

When we went back in, eyes were dilated and now he's checking her out in the dark.  He even put a little projector movie on for her.  He assured us that it's nothing to worry about and is common in non-Caucasian children.  Just what her pediatrician has been saying. What she has is episcleral pigruenlalide around episleral nerves.  So technical and long.  She also has a slight stigmatism but it's common and about 85% of children have it and he states that you're just born with it.  We'll probably take her back in a year to keep an eye on things as a routine.

Buster Balloon

Another event at the library, Buster Balloon.  They do such a good job and it's cheap and fun.  Grandma is always taking care of us in this department so we can't pass it up!  Buster did the most beautiful balloon things we've ever seen!  I think they said he's the best in the world!  And he's pretty comical too!

He had a lot of kids participate from the audience and each got a really neat balloon out of it.  I didn't get pictures of the really good ones.  Didn't dawn on me until later in the show to get the camera.

Now that's a GIANT balloon!  He even got a machine to blow it up.   It was a big whoopie cushion.

Buster is crazy!  Now he's in the balloon.  Makayla had lots of laughs with this one and after the show said she wanted balloons for her birthday.  Oh no!  The want requests are getting big for her birthday party!  I don't think Buster does parties and even if he did I'm sure he's out of our budget.

Thanksgiving Feast

Makayla had her Big Thanksgiving Feast at Preschool today.  It was so darn cute!  The school is wonderful as to prepping the kids for all the holidays and traditions.  Ryan & I both got to go and watch the festivities today.  We're so glad that we get to be there for all these events since she's only this little once!

Makayla with her Indian feather hat on.  They got to choose from this or a Pilgrim hat and this is what she wanted.  My little Indian!

The whole school came out to the yard area to all hold hands and say a prayer and sing us a song before going into their rooms for their Thanksgiving Feast.  It was so cute!  Makayla's Blue Room was a little late since they are the youngest one's and we had trouble getting them all their hats and things quickly.  We'll get better over time I'm sure!

They are back in their rooms for their feast.  They each have a little place mat with their prayer that they say before eating everyday.  Makayla knows it really well and loves it.

She's so happy feasting away!   She loved the corn and turkey and even asked for more!  What good way to start the Thanksgiving holiday!  So much fun!

Cake Tasting

We were invited to cake taste with Alan & Som again for their wedding and got a few photos in this time around since they were not 100% sure of the first place they tried.  We went to The Great Dane Bakery in Los Alamitos and it was yummy!  Makayla came with us and while we were there she even picked out her princess cake!  We'll see about that one.  Anyways, Alan & Som ended up choosing this bakery and boy are their cakes yummy!  Can't wait till the big day for them.  Getting so excited!  Everything is coming together so nicely for them!  

Here's the happy couple getting ready to dig in!

A close up of the samples!  I won't tell you what they chose since it'll be a yummy surprise!

Thanks for including us and inviting us to join you!

Flu Shot

Makayla gets her flu shot today, well that's what we got her all ready for and she was really good about it.  Then we were ready and the nurse offered the Flu Mist instead.  I was hesitant but then she really recommended it so we did it.  It's a gentle mist sprayed into the nose.  It was super easy and she did great!  So far so good, but then when I got home I felt like I should have asked more questions or known more about it before going for it, but that's okay.  All turned out fine and it was what they recommended and they should be the experts right?

Here's Makayla in the doctor's office waiting like a good girl for her Flu Mist.  Her pediatrician has a really fun office!

The Backyardigans

I took Makayla to see The Backyardigans at the OCPA center today.  Ry got her tickets but he couldn't join us because he was playing a big softball tournament.  It saved us some $$ too since these tickets do start to add up when we both go with her.  It was a fun mother/daughter day.  Thanks to Grandma for watching Mylee for me too.  Makayla started getting into these guys about 6-months ago.  Not sure what they really are, I think one is a moose, penguin, hippo and ?.   They have a cute theme song that she knows pretty well and she likes to watch their DVD's too.  The story today was about them and the Tale of the Might Knights.  Cute little story about The Backyardigans (Knights) protecting and egg that turned into a dragon.  

Makayla's first show at the OCPA center.  The crowd wasn't as fun as the Long Beach crowd where she's seen most of her other shows.

Sitting in her very own big girl seat waiting so nicely for the show to start.  She's got Tyrone, one of the characters in her hand and her little twinkle, twinkle star light.  They also gave us shields too to help them protect the King's egg.

This was the only picture I was able to get of them since it was prohibited to take any photos.  But of course I was able to sneak a few in and not get arrested.

Sugar Plum Tea Party

Makayla's ballet school put on a Sugar Plum Tea Party for the girls today at at local church.  It was super cute when we walked in.  Everything was pink and the tables were decorated so nicely!  I think it was to kick off the holiday season and promote their Nutcracker show.  There were crafts, pictures with the Rat King and the Sugar Plum Fairy and story time.  They also provided drinks and fun snacks for the girls little tea party.

Mia joined Makayla for this and they had so much fun here making their tiara's.

The 3 little fairy princesses, Makayla, Annabelle, & Mia.  Annabelle is in Makayla's ballet class and also goes to her school but in an older classroom and lives in our same community.  She's super nice and just adores Makayla.

Makayla's picture with the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Rat King from the Nutcracker story.

Mylee's 1st Food - Rice Cereal

Today was a big day for our little Mylee!  She's just growing way too fast too!  She's a little over 5-months old and we decided to have her try some real food today.  Well, don't know if you'd really call some rice cereal with milk real food but it's a start.  She saw her pediatrician at 4-months and said we can start anytime now so we decided that she's just drinking so much milk lately that she needed a little more of something solid.  Let's see how she does.......

What's going on here?  Spoon, bowl?  This is new....where's my bottle Mommy?

The first taste, not too sure about this.

Not opening for this weird stuff anymore.  She actually did real well for our first try.  We'll just keep at it and keep you posted.  I'm sure she'll be eating tons in no time once she figures out what to do since all she's had is milk from nursing or from a bottle and that's it!  All new stuff!