We Have a 2 yr-old!

This little angel entered our lives two years ago today. It was such a perfect day. Woke up with contractions, had her four hours later. She was perfect. I remember holding her for hours and hours. Even at night, she'd go back to sleep after a quick feeding but I would stay up holding her and just looking at her. She just melted my heart.

Here is her first birthday. It was quite a party.

She still melts my heart.

She's trying to hold up her two fingers.

This year will be a pretty low-key party, considering we are in California and we don't have any friends around for a party. We'll probably go play on the beach and have cake and ice cream.

Happy birthday my little girl!

All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun...

...until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard.

:)

We hung out in Santa Monica today, it was pretty cool.

I especially liked the drive on the Pacific Coast HWY, the houses are amazing.

Ben and I really like to people watch so it was prime people watching territory on the pier.

We took a ride on the ferris wheel...

Kharisma kept saying she was done.

It was a little windy so she was cold.

After walking around down town we decided to cut across the sand back to our car.

It was not a short cut at all.

She had to do some sand swimming.

Tide Pools

We drove up the coast a little way to find some tide pools. It was overcast and a little rainy but still fun. The pools weren't as cool as we were hoping, just some sea anemones and a few crabs. Kharisma and Ben had a good time exploring though. A friend of Ben's from the Army who lives in Monterey came for the weekend so he explored with us. Willum was wrapped up in a blanket, nice and cozy, and I lugged him around while he slumbered through all the fun.

She found a little pool and of course plopped herself down in it.

Tug (Ben's friend--he's Turkish and no one can pronounce his name correctly so it's just Tug) found Kharisma a little clam shell that was still hooked together, she loved it, she used it pick up sand. It was pretty cute.

And off subject... I finished this project tonight. A scrap fabric US map that I'll hang in Willum's room. I also decided to embroider the states' abbreviations and a title which I've entered into a contest on Prudent Baby that can win me a new fancy-smancy sewing machine that is too advanced for my skills but would be awesome anyway. I should put a deadline on all my projects, that way I would actually finish them in a timely manner.

California--that's where all the sunshine is.

It's true.

California has stolen all the sunshine.

(although they say it's colder than usual right now)

See this secluded beach?

Yeah, we walked to it from where we are staying.

Kharisma loves the sand. Not so much the water though. I think it's too cold for her, even with her wetsuit on. This beach is just in the residential part of the city so it isn't crowded at all and people get to walk their dogs (a lot beaches that are mostly for the tourists won't let dogs on) so Kharisma is constantly following people up and down the beach with their dogs. Which leads to lots of conversations with strangers... which I don't always love. Is that bad that I don't like being social all the time?

Napping on the beach... what a life.

(It was a bit chilly in the shade, that's why he needed to be wrapped up)

Kharisma playing in the sand and Ben in the background attempting to surf.

He's sort of a wimp when it comes to the cold Pacific waves so it took

awhile for him to get and stay in the water.

There is a huge park nearby.

With a pirate ship.

And a playground.

On the beach of course.

On an entirely different note, today is my anniversary.

Five years today.

That seems like a long time, it also makes me feel old.

But, it has also been the best five years and I look forward to the rest.

I'm so grateful for Ben and all his hard work.

He's such a good dad, Kharisma and him are best friends and

I'm sure Willum will be right there with them as soon as he can keep up.

I love Ben and everything he does for our family.

Ma, Paca, and aunt Josie

While in Utah I was able to hang out with my family--or at least the ones that were around. Kharisma loves hanging out with "Paca" (that's how she says grandpa) and "Ma" (grandma). She has a lot of fun with my dad, any chance she gets she's playing with him. On Memorial Day the kids and I took a drive with my parents and my sister and just drove up one of the many canyons in Cache Valley. They've had a lot of rain the and snow and so the rivers super high and there has even been some flooding in the valley so we just drove around looking and all the water. We stopped for a break and had a little photo shoot.

Willum's Blessing

We spent last week in Utah at my parents' house and had Willum blessed in their ward, that way a lot more family and friends were able to make it. It was so good to see everyone, it had been too long since my last visit. Ben did a wonderful job with the blessing and Willum was looking more charming than ever. I tried to get a family picture but I've found that the bigger our family grows, the harder it is to get everyone to cooperate for a picture so these will have to do.

Here is my grandma Christensen (my dad's mom) with Willum. We had lunch at her house after the blessing, it was super crowded and I didn't get as many pictures as I should have. Sorry if I missed some of you!

My grandma and grandpa Buttars (my mom's parents) with the kids. Willum was quite ready to be out of his tux.

Ben's grandma Dixon reading to Kharisma. This was her early birthday present from great-grandma Dixon. She always gets her such great books.

It was a great day, we saw lots of family and friends, we really appreciated the love and support!

Two Months

I'm a little late again but here is Willum's two month photo. It didn't turn out very good, I'm still learning with my new camera. It's not a fancy camera or anything but better than my old one so I'm still learning. He weighed 13 lbs at his two month check-up. I love my little butter ball.

He's not so happy in this one but I wanted to get a picture of his cute church outfit.

Here's Kharisma reading a book to him.

She loves her brother so much.

Oh, and he rolled over the other day for the first time. Just from stomach to back but I was impressed. I forgot they could do that this early. I rarely put him on the floor for fear of being smooshed by his sister's loving hugs.