Mathewson Memory Keeper

Our Christmas Card from Shutterfly!

2011-11-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to get back to our blog and now I have a great reason!

$10 off at Shutterfly for posting our project, woohoo

Here's a peek at the photo card you'll be getting from us in the mail...

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcsW7Zw3ctmTuY&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

Happy Holidays!

Irvine Park for Daddy's Spring Break!!

2010-04-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

Daddy was on spring break a few weeks ago, so we spent an entire morning at Irvine Park fishing, eating, bouncing, eating, riding ponies, eating, playing at the playground and finally some more eating!

Brixie Lee wanted to decorate a cupcake. BUT, she didn't put nearly enough frosting on it, so Mommy HAD to help!

Helene LOVED the cookie and wanted to see if it would make a good hair gel. What do you think? Good?

As always, Brixie Lee LOVED the pony ride!

Helene however, not so much :) Hahaha! Mean Mommy! Really, she loved it after the 3rd and final lap! Hehehehe!

If you would like to see all the pics, go to Don's Gallery!

Helene's 1st Birthday...

2010-02-02T07:29:00.000-08:00

WOW! My baby girl is 1 now!

We had such a great time on Helene's 1st Birthday (Jan 23, 2011)! Thanks to Miss Kelly, Miss Lori, Miss Lora and Mr. Matt, we had an All American Cupcake party with hot dogs, cupcakes and t-ball. I know... not very girlie, but I'll be shocked if Helene ever lets me make her girlie! Every time I put something in her hair she promptly pulls it right out. Totally different than Brixie Lee who let me put things in her hair from 3 months old. I know she looks like a boy in her birthday picture up there, but she is extremely strong willed. Plus, this is the Helene that everyone knows, so why change it for her 1st Birthday?!

Anyway, we had a great time and thank you so much to everyone for coming to the party and celebrating my baby girls big day! If you would like to see all the pictures from her party you can check it out on Don's Gallery.

The Silencer...

2010-01-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

So, for months I've been having a hard time getting Helene to stop crying during Stroller Strides. Then I discovered The Silencer...

I don't know why it took me to so long to figure it out, but I did and life in the stroller is now happy as long as she has a biscuit. I found out just how attached she is to her biscuit when I gave half of hers to her buddy Dillon. You would think that I had broke her arm in half and gave it to Dillon instead of the biscuit. The screaming that went on and on and on and on with tears and more tears and more tears was very, very sad... and kidda funny :)

I'm sorry baby girl... I will bring extra biscuits for your friends now instead of making you share your beloved biscuit. XOXO Mommy

Our Baby Girl Is 3...

2010-01-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

Brixie Lee woke to Mommy and Daddy singing Happy Birthday (good thing she's forgiving). Then she watched Little Einsteins while mommy did her princess hair and dressed her in a Princess Bell costume. A visit from Nana was the highlight of the morning by taking her to a special one-on-one breakfast at Denny's. Luck girl! We added to the special day with cupcakes at the park with her friends (Yum-O!). And we're only getting warmed up here!!!

We drove down to Irvine to pick-up Daddy and have a family lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Brixie Lee had been talking about it for days! She was so excited to see all the animals again. Helene however, didn't like the animals (except for the fish). We had a great lunch, but Brixie Lee enjoyed the birthday ice cream the most! No surprise there :)

The top of the afternoon was a surprise visit from Grandma. Both Grandmas in one day! It doesn't get much better than that! My sweet girl was most excited about the 50 cents that Grandma gave her for JJ The Jet Plane (a riding toy at Babies R Us). I hope the simple things continue to give her so much joy :)

After all the excitement both girls crashed and napped 2 hours later than normal. Unfortunately we missed one of Brixie Lee's last Kindermusik classes, but she preferred to help Mommy decorate her cake. She helped me bake the cake on Sunday night, then helped me make the frosting, BUT she put all the fruit on the cake (thank you Brenda!) My girl is more wonderful than words can say. She brings us so much joy and laughter. Mommy and Daddy love you with ALL OUR HEARTS!

If you would like to see the pictures from our day, you can check them out on Don's Gallery.

9 Months Flew By...

2009-11-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Still can't believe that my baby girl is 9 months old now. Well I guess she's actually 9-1/2 months old now because it's taken me so long to post these pictures! Her hair is finally long enough for me to put two very tiny clips in. The clips fall out quite easily, so I don't put them in too often for fear that she'll eat them like everything else she finds. When she's happy she says, "Dada, dada, dada!" And when she's hungry or tired she says, "Mama, mama, mama!" Other than that she babbles a lot and loves to say "oooooooo!" Which is what she's saying in our new header pic at the top of the blog :) She crawls very, very, very fast when she's trying to beat me to the bathroom or out the front door. Her favorite time of the day is bath time, closely followed by playtime at the park. She eats like a horse and yet is still only in the 50th percentile for everything (18 lbs 11oz, 27-1/2" and I say only because Brixie Lee was always in the high 90's). Her favorite food is yogurt, closely followed by cheese toast. She's a beautiful and stubborn baby girl and we all love her very, very, very much!

Brixie Lee is still Helene's favorite person in the world. Understandable because Brixie Lee loves to sing to her, dance for her and feed her. I guess she quickly forgets about all the toys that Brixie Lee takes from her, but that will change very soon. Brixie Lee is starting to understand so much more about her world. She loves to help me with everything and I try to let her do as much as possible. Mommy's little helper. She has swim lessons twice a week and always looks forward to her time with Miss Gabi. We're so proud of how independent she's getting in the water. By next summer she'll be a pro! Her love of music still blows me away. She loves all kinds of music and one of her favorite songs right now is Sentimental Journey. Just about brings a tear to my eye! Hugs and kisses big girl!

Our sweet girls!
Pure happiness!

We love you both with ALL OUR HEARTS! If you want to see all the pictures from this shoot, check out Don's Gallery!

Our 2nd Annual Micky's-Trick-Or-Treat Party!!!

2009-11-08T21:10:00.001-08:00

Last year we took Brixie Lee to Micky's Trick-Or-Treat Party at California Adventure. She had a great time, so we decided to do it again this year. Grandma Dianna had bought her a Snow White costume earlier this year and Brixie Lee said she wanted to wear it this year to go trick-or-treating with Micky Mouse. Couldn't say no to that! Luckily we had learned a few days earlier that Helene didn't like the late night adventures, so Grandma came down on last minute notice to spend the night with Helene while Don and I took Brixie Lee to the "party."

Our Beautiful Snow White!

We started off on her favorite carousel again. My girl is just so stink'n beautiful! Love her so much. If you have time you can click on the link at the top of this post and see the similar picture from last year when she wore her cat costume.

This year Brixie Lee was much more adventurous. She wanted to do nothing but ride as many rides as possible. She skipped the candy lines and was not very happy about stopping for Mommy and Daddy to grab a bite with her friends (sorry baby).

We couldn't find Micky and Minne for a picture, so we settled for Creuella Daville. Brixie Lee was not happy about that at all. She's so funny!

We didn't get home until just after midnight and Brixie Lee still wanted to party. I think this will be an annual event for us!

Thank you for taking care of our baby girl Grandma!

If you would like to see all the pictures from our two Disney adventures, you can check them out here on Don's Gallery.

Happiest Place On Earth... For Some...

2009-11-08T20:40:00.000-08:00

Back on September 27th, our favorite Crazy Lady, Miss Kristina, helped us
Non-Disneyland-Annual-Pass-Holding-Family (quite unusual compared to most our friends) get into the happiest place on earth. Brixie Lee LOVED Disneyland! We started off on the carousel, which we new would be a hit.

From there Daddy took her on Dumbo and she loved that too. I took Helene and Brixie Lee, but as you can see... Helene wasn't so happy.

Then we saw the parade and Brixie Lee loved every minute of that TOO. The girl was in heaven. We took the short walk to Toon Town and she toured all the houses (Mickey's, Minnie's, Donald Duck's and Goofy's).

Unfortunately, Helene didn't like one bit of the Happiest Place On Earth. Granted it was probably because we didn't get there until 5pm (2 short hours before bed time). She didn't eat well. She wouldn't relax in her favorite baby carrier. Then she cried almost all the way home. Very hard night for my baby girl!

It was a great learning experience for us and we decided that if we're ever going to become Annual Pass Holders, it will be AFTER Don is out of school and Helene is older.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Miss Kristina!

Once Upon A Potty...

2009-10-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you are rolling your eyes thinking... Brixie, you're nuts! What are you doing putting an 8 month old on the potty? She can't even walk yet and your potty training?????

So here's the scoop on poop... I HATE IT! When Brixie Lee was 6 months old I started reading about all the different potty training strategies. Everything from holding a bucket to their bare bottom at birth to letting them tell you when they are ready. Neither of those sounded good for me. Then I found the "Diaper Free By 3" book that was written by a pediatrician who saw the world as I do. The book has lots of good information in it, but the bottom line is an early "introduction" to the potty. Brixie Lee was 1 day shy of 7 months old when I first sat her on the baby potty... pictured below! She's so cute!

As you can see, she loved it. We would sit there for a few minutes everyday and read and sing and just have fun. In fact, her first word (duck) was from a book that we read everyday on the potty. That's also where she learned her ABC's, shapes, and colors. After a couple months she started to poop regularly on the baby potty and I was getting sick of cleaning out the baby potty. We put her on the regular potty when she was about 10 months old and never looked back. I can't tell you how happy I was to not be cleaning poops from a diaper! OK, there were occasional poopie diapers, but most of the time she waited to poop on the potty! Happy Mommy, Happy Daddy and Happy Brixie Lee!

I was even more pleased when Brixie Lee successfully started wearing panties 100% of the time when she was 21 months old. That's less than 2 years of diapers! I was over the moon!

Now for Helene... our lives have been dramatically more busy. I broke the potty out when she was almost 8 months old (a month late, I was not happy with myself). Unfortunately, Helene HATED the baby potty. I would sit her on it and she would scream bloody murder and try desperately to crawl away. We tried again a week later and the same thing happened. And again, and again. A few weeks ago she started pulling herself up and decided she wanted to play in big potty. Gross, but at least she was showing interest. I decided we needed to try the big potty but was having a hard time getting to the store to buy the potty seat (Brixie Lee never used one).

Grandma came to Helene's rescue and bought one for her yesterday. She sat on it for 10 minutes before bath and loved every minute. She even when pee! Basically she just wanted to do it like Big Sister does. On the big potty!

Ahhh... the beginning of my freedom from poopie diapers!

The End!

Playing Dress Up...

2009-10-12T20:26:00.001-07:00

It's sad to say that my twin is no longer my twin. We broke out some of my old baby clothes and played dress up with the girls. When Helene was a newborn she looked A LOT like me as a newborn. Things have changed and she's starting to have her very own look! My mom and I think this picture of me was taken when I was close to 1 year old.

Now here's my baby girl and it's quite clear that she doesn't look like me anymore :( I guess it was bound to happen sometime! My extremely determined little girl is growing up too fast and I'm spending a lot of time trying to savor every moment. She just recently started giving kisses when asked and I must say that melted my heart!

I know I've posted this picture of my mom and I before, but I wanted to show it again because of the picture below with Brixie Lee in the same dress. Brixie Lee never looked much like me as a newborn, but there are times when she looks like me as a toddler.

My bright, beautiful, big girl may not have her sister's determination, but she sure has her father's memory. This girl listens and remembers EVERYTHING! She knows over a 100 songs (seriously), can "read" numerous books to you via memory (some words), and is always reminding me of promises that I've made (like ice cream after dinner).

Someday I'll try to get some baby pictures of Don Lee so we can see how these girls compare with Daddy. There are many, many times when Brixie Lee looks exactly like her father.

If you would like to see all the pictures from our little dress-up session, you can check out Don's Gallery!

Helene... 8 Months Old! WOW!

2009-09-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

My goodness... I just can't keep up with these girls! Every time I turn around they are older, bigger and doing completely different things. Helene is now 8 months old and extremely busy. She crawls (hands and knees now, no more low crawl) all over the house saying mama, dada, and lots of other baby babble. Her favorite activities are climbing and standing. Usually she's climbing up on something to try to stand on it. Luckily she still needs to hold on to something to stand! That will change fast. For now her nickname it Billy (as in the goat).

Oh yeah, we also found out that this girl has rhythm! When we turn on music she bounces to the music and actually keeps up with the beat. Maybe it comes from the thousands and thousands of songs we listen to for Brixie Lee while driving all over Chino Valley and up to Bakersfield.

Helene's favorite foods include frozen peaches, stars (little puff like treats), yogurt and CHEESE. You can tell a child of ours by the constant cheese ring around their month!

Helene's favorite person in the world is Brixie Lee and the reverse it true too. They both look for each other as soon as they wake up. No one on earth can make Helene smile the way Brixie Lee does. It's the sweetest thing and I hope that doesn't go away. I would love for their bond to be forever.

At nite-nite time Brixie Lee usually comes in to read a story to Helene. Priceless :)

If you would like to see all of Helene's 8 Month pictures you can see them on Don's Gallery.

Aliso Creek Beach Excursion

2009-09-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

Daddy woke up on Sunday morning and said, "Let's go to the Beach!" So we packed up in 15 minutes (record time for us girls) and headed out! Brixie Lee was excited as we drove down to the beach and Helene was trying to take her morning nap. Once we got there, Brixie Lee decided she didn't like the beach. Pictures and books about the beach were much better than the actual beach itself!

I carried her down to the water... Daddy carried her down to the water... but every time we put her down on the shore she would take off back to the sand and play with her toys.
Helene was so exhausted that she slept in the Ergo for about 45 minutes! So glad she loves her Ergo! Best $$$ spent on Helene :)

After an hour of running as fast as she could from the waves, I asked Brixie Lee if she wanted to get the sand out of her bucket and go home. She said, "YES! Let's get water in my bucket!" And those were the magic words...

She was a little shocked when the waves knocked her down to the ground!

But that didn't stop her for getting lots and lots and lots and lots of buckets full of water! She would run up to the beach and dump the water out on her toes!

She didn't even mind when a big wave came by and soaked her up to her chin. Freaked Mommy out, but Daddy was able to get the picture anyway! Thank you Daddy!

We woke Helene up for the last 20 minutes at the beach and she had the same reaction to her first touch of ocean as Brixie Lee did... screaming bloody murder! So said that we laugh so hard at their terror! But we do anyway...

Daddy was able to calm her down and make her happy again. Once again, Daddy saves the day! We love you so much Daddy!

Here's a short video of Brixie Lee and her day at Aliso Creek Beach .

If you would like to see all Don's pictures of our Labor Day weekend at Aliso Creek Beach, check out his gallery!

And if you would like to see the pictures of Brixie Lee's first day at the Beach you can see these pictures on Don's gallery from Labor Day weekend 2007! There are two albums!

The Vasquez Wedding...

2009-09-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

On August 22nd my best friend married her sweetheart. It was a wonderful and beautiful wedding at Redondo Beach with all her friends and family. Tracy and Charles, we wish you all the best and thank you so much for including us on your special day. Everything was beautiful... the bride most of all!

Hugs and much love... The Mathewsons

If you would like to see all of Don's pictures from the rehearsal and the wedding, you can check them out on his gallery.

Thank You McCuen's

2009-09-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

Thank you very much McCuen Family... I loved you're playlist so much that I stole it!

Thank You Uncle Darryl!!

2009-08-28T20:54:00.001-07:00

Brixie Lee went to Bakersfield with Grandma last Sunday for some crazy B-town style fun. One of the days they went to the shop to visit Uncle Darryl and he gave Brixie Lee $10. She told me all about it when she got home and I asked her what she wanted to buy. At first she said she wanted to buy "lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of bananas!" That means 5... but, I told her that $10 would buy lots and lots... of bananas and she would still have some money leftover for something else. She then said, "I want to buy a train ticket!" Perfect, I had some coupons for the Irvine Park Railroad! So we called up the Carters and decided to head down to the park on Friday... now today... the hottest day of the month!

We were there a few minutes early so Brixie Lee had time for a quick photo-op with Miss Tracey on the wagon wheel bench! Brixie Lee is showing off her $10 and coupon for free ice cream like a proud big girl.

We practiced what she needed to say all morning and she got most of it out when I picked her up at the ticket window. She said, "Train ticket please." Which was pretty good, but we practiced, "I need 1 train ticket, 1 pony ride and 1 free ice cream please." She totally forgot the best part! The free ice cream. Good thing mommy was there to keep her on track! ;) Mommy doesn't miss out on free ice cream!

While we were waiting for the train she saw all the other stuff that she could buy. Lucky for me she was a dollar short for even the cheapest thing! Very good math lesson don't you think! I explained that she could save her $2 that she had left and when she earns or receives more money we can come back and she can buy a toy. Very good saving money lesson don't you think! Look what you started Uncle Darryl! She's getting more than you ever could have realized out of that $10!

Here she is giving her ticket to the conductor so she can get on the train. Lucky for us he was very understanding as we kept giving her each of our tickets to give to him so we could keep trying to get a good picture. Too bad none of them worked! Oh well, we'll blame it on the fact that we had 3 laughing women taking photos instead of our handsome Daddy photographer :)

Here we are! The Mathewson Girls and the Carter Girls! Great group of girls!

Tracey tried to convince Brixie Lee to scoot back into the hole in the tree. As you can see, Brixie Lee was pointing out the fact that there were spider webs in there! Mommy's girl! Love it!

After waiting an hour for the pony rides to open (in the extreme heat, not fun for us, but Brixie Lee didn't care) Brixie Lee and Tracey were able to take Freddy for 3 laps around the track. Poor Tracey had to witness Freddy relieving himself. I thought I was going to have to take over for the poor girl! Love you Tracey... you always make me laugh!

Now for the ICE CREAM! Now that was a much needed treat after all our hot-fun adventures! As Brixie Lee said over and over and over... THANK YOU UNCLE DARRYL!

Party Kingdom Open Play!!!

2009-08-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Kelly has now made the last week of August Stroller Strides official End Of Summer Fun Week! Today's activity was at the local jump house called Party Kingdom. We've been to several parties there and even had Brixie Lee's 2nd Birthday party there. She's just now starting to really enjoy herself in the jump house. Today she got a little crazy (yes, this is crazy for my shy, calm girl) and decided to kick it up a notch ;)

We started off with the normal, calm bouncing on the race horse (poor horse)...
Then when I had my back turned... she decided to climb a little wall... not such a big deal...
Then she climbed to the top of a rather big ladder... I thought I might have to help her down, but...
Nope! She flew down the slide like a pro! In fact, she did this about 20 times!

These pictures are pretty bad (except for the first one, thank you Kim!) because all I had on me was my phone. Next time I'll try to get some better shots. You can't see it here, but she smiles from ear to ear when she's going down the slide. You make me so happy Brixie Lee! Mommy loves you very, very much!

My Baby Is 2-1/2 Years Old...

2009-07-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

On Brixie Lee's 2-1/2 Birthday (July 11th) we went to Wahoo's and Yogurtland to celebrate. She LOVES it there!

First she relaxed on her bench...

Then she gave her sister some love...

Then she wanted to dunk Helene in the water...

Then she stuck her head in the fountain...

And finally we went home with totally happy, totally wet 2-1/2 year old...

Where does the time go????

If you want to see all the pictures from this day you can check them out on Don's Gallery.

Hugs!

It's All About Eating...

2009-07-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

Around here we do A LOT of eating!

Helene now knows exactly what she needs to do to get some grub...

And Brixie Lee was very excited to get her first lollipop at Gavin's birthday party...

Estep Driving School

2009-06-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much cousin Tommy for giving Brixie Lee her first driving lesson on your Jeep. You're a great teacher!

Mini-Movie Stars...

2009-06-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

For playgroup last week me made a movie staring some of our favorite kiddos! Gotta love it!

Helene 4 Month Update...

2009-05-31T09:07:00.000-07:00

Doc Appt 5/28: Weight 14.4 Height 23.75 HC 15.75

Helene Update

2009-03-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a LONG time, but there is a good reason that I'll get into later.

Helene had her 2 month check-up with Dr. Warren today and he said she's perfect! We knew that! She's 10 lbs 13 ozs and 22.5 inches long; 50th percentile for both. I believe that's exactly the same as Brixie Lee was at this point. She's sleeping much better now that we're back to Stroller Strides! Love it! Tonight may not be good because she got her shots today and we didn't go to Stroller Strides. We'll see!

Brixie Lee is even more loving to Helene now. She always wants to lay down with her and give her love. If Helene starts crying, Brixie Lee runs over there and starts singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. My big girl is such a sweetie!

Now, for why we have not be posting any updates and pictures. We've decided to sell our condo and get a new/bigger home. It's a crazy process, but needs to happen. The stairway leading to our condo is just to dangerous for me and girls to go up and down several times a day. We'll keep you posted on the sale, but for now we don't have a computer.

Take care everyone!

For Goma!

2009-02-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry we're so late Goma! Your girls made you some Birthday cookies, but we'll have to make you more because we've almost eaten then all!

Here is your Birthday song!

And here is your Birthday dance!

Helene Marie Update...

2009-02-06T19:43:00.000-08:00

Helene Marie is now 2 weeks old. We broke out the baby scale for the first time this morning and she's exactly 1 lb over her birth weight (she's 7 lbs 4oz). She's a great eater (just like her big sister) and starting to be a better sleeper (just like her big sister). We're hoping to take her announcement photos this weekend, so hang in there!

Her first week was spent going to the doctors office everyday, followed by a trip to the lab to get her jaundice levels checked. It was a bit extreme in my opinion, but her doctor wanted to keep a very close eye on her. She's perfectly-perfect now and starting to adjust to life outside the womb.

In fact, I think she's adjusting faster than we are. Going from 1 child to 2 children has been more difficult than we imagined. With Brixie Lee, it took me a couple of months to accept that going anywhere with a kid takes 3 times longer than going it alone. Now I'm starting to accept that it's going to take 10 time longer with 2 kids than with 1. I think that's one of the hardest things for me because I'm a go-go-go kinda girl.

Today Don took his girls shopping and we made it out the door by 9:30am! We started getting ready at 6:30am. And to think, Jerry used to say it was ridiculous when it took me and hour and a half to get just myself ready for high school. This morning all I got to do to myself was brush my teeth, pull my hair back and get dressed! Actually... that's all I do most days!

If you want to see all the pics from Helene's 2 Week photo shoot, check out Don's Gallery.

Brixie Lee Update...

2009-02-04T20:41:00.001-08:00

Today Brixie Lee had her 2 year appointment with Dr. Warren and he was extremely pleased with her growth and development. She came in at 29 lbs (75th percentile) and 34 inches (50th percentile). He asked if she could string at least 2 words together. We smiled at each other and said yes. She blew us away back in November when her and I were in Bakersfield. I was talking to Don on the phone (he was here in Chino Hills) and she said, "Goma and Papaw live far, far away from Mommy and Daddy." That would be 11 words! The girl talks my ear off EVERYDAY! She also has numerous songs memorized and loves to sing them to me all day long.

She can count up to 20 and down from 10 (I think that came from Stroller Strides because we count down all the time). She knows all her letters, except lower case b, d, and p get a little mixed up. For her birthday the Rimer Gang gave her the Leap Frog alphabet DVD, so now she knows what sound each letter makes. That is an awesome DVD! Thank you Rimers!

So far she has been a great big sister to Helene. She loves to hold her (for 2 seconds max) and gives her lots of kisses on her head and toes. She even shares her toys, but that may change once Helene can actually play with them. The only negative action toward Helene was actually done in her room when we were not there. We have a video monitor in her room and it was on while she was playing with her doll house. There is a "baby" in the doll house and she was holding it saying, "Baaaaby Siiiiister." Then she would throw it across the room. That went on and on for about 5 minutes. I don't think I'll be having her babysit anytime soon :-)

Our baby girl is growing up so fast. She makes us so incredibly happy and we are so proud of her. We love you Brixie Lee!

Goodbye to The Little Gym :-(

2009-01-31T20:49:00.000-08:00

Today was Brixie Lee's last class at The Little Gym. The owners have had some health issues and have been trying to sell the franchise for some time now. Unfortunately they were not able to find a buyer, so The Little Gym in Chino Hills is closing. I can't tell you how incredibly sad we are about this. The Little Gym is one of Brixie Lee's favorite places and they have helped build her self confidence and so much more.

Below is Brixie Lee's favorite instructor, Miss Melissa. When ever we talk about going to class she always talks about Miss Melissa. Here she's working on her forward roll down the balance beam. Such a big girl!

At the end of class all the students went up to a little stage and received a certificate and ribbon. Brixie Lee was so proud of herself. It really makes us so happy to see her having so much fun.

Here are all the kids in her class. You'll notice that Brixie Lee is off to the side (as usual) and posing like a little model (as usual).

Mommy & Daddy are sooo proud of you Brixie Lee! We love you so much!

If you want to see all the pictures from Brixie Lee's last day at The Little Gym, check out Don's Gallery.

Helene Marie, Born Jan 23rd...

2009-01-25T21:04:00.001-08:00

Continuing from the last post... that afternoon alone with Brixie Lee was in fact my last real alone time with Brixie Lee. We put her to bed that night (Jan 22nd) and I started have very strong, hard contractions. We called Melissa and Grandma over again (at least it was 9pm instead of midnight) for another round of "run to the hospital."

By the time we got to the hospital I was sure Helene was just about to pop! They took me in for my first exam and there was no change! They were considering sending me home, but my screaming made them change their mind. I labored in triage alone for 2 hours and was begging to get something for the pain (I'm a huge baby). I will say right now that I have an entirely new respect for any woman that has gone through natural child birth. WOW, that was crazy pain!

They finally admitted me at mid-night and we got our labor room. Between 10pm and mid-night I only dilated another 1/2cm (up to 3-1/3cm now). I couldn't believe it. I knew I would not be able to handle a long labor, so I told them I wanted an epidural. Unfortunately the hospital was very busy that night and the anesthesiologist would not get to me for another hour (so I was told). He finally showed up at 3am (3 hours later) and I got the relief I had been wanting so desperately. Our amazing nurse, Megan, examined me again and I was only 4-1/2cm (I wanted to cry). At least the pain was gone. Don was able to get some sleep and my exam at 4:30am showed I was still progressing slowly, only at 5-1/2cm. The nurse said we would probably not see a baby until 9am or so. Again, at least the pain was gone.

At 5:30am the nurse came in and asked me if I was pushing. I was very confused and told her no. I had started to feel something different, but I had no clue what it was. She asked me if I knew my water had broke and I told her no. Don was still asleep when she did the next exam and Megan said, "oh... there she is... it's time to push!" I couldn't believe it. In one hour I went from 5-1/2cm to fully dilated (10cm) and Helene was ready to pop! I called Don over (he was still half-asleep) and he was completely shocked at what he saw... me in the pushing position, telling him to grab a leg. It was just the three of us in there and the look on Don's face was priceless when he realized just how hands-on he was going to have to be.

Being the perfect husband that he is, he shook off his shock and started helping me get into position to push. We pushed on every other contraction and about about 15 pushes (15 minutes) and then Megan said it was time to get the doc! Unfortunately the doc covering for my doc that night was in surgery, so we had to wait there for 20 minutes. That was a shock! The doc got there at 6:35am, said, "yes, it's time to push." He got into position and 1 push later Helene, as Don says, "popped" into the docs arms.

Helene Marie was born at 6:36am, weighed 6lb 4oz, and 17-3/4" long. She was beautiful! I know every mother says that, but now I know why!
Our first 24 hours with Helene was a bit of a haze because we hadn't slept in 2 days. By Saturday afternoon we started making some calls and letting people know what had happened. Sorry if we missed anyone, I'm still not sleeping, but things are getting much better. I wanted to get this story out there for everyone to enjoy and before I started to forget.

Hugs to you all,

The New Mathewson Family!!!!

38 Week Update...

2009-01-22T12:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had our 38 Week appointment with Dr. Cropper and decided that we would like to try a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) instead of a scheduled c-section. Don and I were having a hard time justifying an elective surgery to ourselves and our doctor is very supportive of VBAC's.

At 5pm, Dr. Cropper's exam showed that I was 3cm dilated and 75% effaced, so she stripped my membranes in hopes of moving things along for me. At midnight my contractions were 5 minutes apart and getting stronger. Our friend Melissa saved the night and came to watch Brixie Lee while Grandma drove to our rescue from Lakewood to wait with Brixie Lee until we got back. HUGE thanks to both Melissa and Grandma!

When we got to the hospital I expected them to tell me that I had dilated more and that we would be admitted. Unfortunately there was no change, but my doctor didn't want to send me home because my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and pretty strong. I was told to "walk the halls" for 2 hours and then I'd be reevaluated.

After a very long 2 hours of walking the halls the contractions were even stronger, but there was no change in my progress. They sent us home. We were happy and sad at the same time.

Oh! They were able to tell us with 100% certainty that this baby is in fact a little girl! At least we accomplished 1 thing last night!

By the time we got home Brixie Lee only had another 1/2 hour of sleep left in her, so her and I watched several Word World episodes while Daddy tried to get some rest. The contractions stopped while I was laying with my baby girl and I really enjoyed what may be some of my last few moments alone with my girl. Daddy took over a couple hours later and gave me a long break. Thank you Daddy!

Then Brixie Lee and I went for a short walk and there were still no more contractions until I made lunch. They were very mild contractions that eased up when I sat down so I know it's not "real labor." We'll keep you all posted the best we can! Hugs to all!

Brixie Lee's Birthday Pics!!!!

2009-01-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

Here are some of our favorite pics from Brixie Lee's Birthday party last weekend. All the pics are on Don's Gallery if you want to check them out!

This is Brixie Lee's BFF Malaya and her Daddy Matt. Matt got a glimpse at his future when Malaya (2-1/2 yrs old) and Brixie Lee's cousin Davy (8 yrs old) became buds at the the party. Below is what happens when Daddy trys to break-up young love :-)

These are all of Brixie Lee's friends. The girl to the right of Brixie Lee is Maddie (daughter to Anne-Marie, my good friend from Cal Poly). Maddie was such an awesome helper at the party. All the kids (and parents) loved her because she was helping them play on all the toys! Thank you Maddie!

This awesome cake creation could not have been accomplished without my good friend Melissa! I used the WordWorld idea and cut out the letters, but frosting the cake was not turning out well. Melissa took pity on my big-O bellied self and saved the day by coming over to frost the cake for me. I LOVED IT!!! She did such a great job! Thank You Melissa!!!!

The cake looked so good to all the kids that they just couldn't wait to try it. Once Jack (to the right of Brixie Lee) joined Brixie Lee all the other kids followed. All the kids did soooo great sharing the cake! Brixie Lee has such great friends! Hugs to you all kiddos!

We did learn one thing... don't try to take a family picture at the end of a 2-1/2 hour party (also 1 hour into nap time). Brixie Lee was not having any of it! She was completely wiped out and suffering from a sugar-high crash.

Thank you to all our wonderful family and friends for making Brixie Lee's Birthday Party such a blast! We loved sharing her special day with all of you! Hugs to all!

Happy 2nd Birthday Brixie Lee!!!

2009-01-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

Today is Brixie Lee's 2nd Birthday and she had a blast with all her friends at Party Kingdom.

Happy Birthday Sunshine!!!!

Mommy & Daddy love you soooooo much!!!!

Here a couple of pics, but many, many more will be coming when Don has time time to process all the pictures.

BTW... Brixie Lee is not crying because Papaw is holding her, she's crying because she just crashed into her cousin Tommy inside one of the bounce houses. She's such a girl! Tommy didn't cry one bit!

36 Week Update

2009-01-07T18:42:00.001-08:00

Finally! I'm posting on the same day of the event! It's almost as if life is returning to normal before the storm!!! It's been an interesting couple of days. On Sunday night (Jan-4) I started having some pretty hard contractions every 4-6 minutes for about 2 hours. I didn't want to get out of bed to see if I was supposed to be doing something, so I just waited for them to go away or get worse. Lucky for me they went away until the next morning. I called my doctor's office and they told me to go to the hospital to get checked out. The contractions were still pretty hard, but not as hard as they had been in the middle of the night. Turned out that I was starting to dilate, so the doctor on call put me on "relaxation" orders until I could see my doctor at my appointment today. We just got back and my doctor is not worried about it, but wants me to continue to rest and drink lots and lots of water. If I go into labor now they would not stop it and the baby would most likely be a preemie, but strong strong enough to come home with us. At a minimum I would like to make it through Brixie Lee's birthday this weekend. Most likely everything will be fine and we'll have our scheduled c-section on January 27th. Here's the latest pick and you'll notice that I'm not holding Brixie Lee in any of these pictures. One thing every doctor has said that I need to stop picking her up. Sooo hard!

Brixie Lee Loving Baby Sister...

2009-01-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

I know I said "baby sister" and we don't really KNOW that it's a girl, but that's what Brixie Lee calls the belly. If we're wrong then we'll have some explaining to do.

Anyway, the other night we were singing Where Is Thumbkin and Brixie Lee started loving Baby Sister. It was so sweet and Don was able to get a quick pick. My girl is such a sweetie pie!

Brixie Lee's First Pedicure...

2008-12-31T17:00:00.000-08:00

Brixie Lee got her first pedicure today after I got home from mine. She wanted it at first, but then she didn't like the feeling of the paint going on. Mama's girlie-girl!

Check Out My Trike... I Mean Motorcycle...

2008-12-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

After all the Christmas rains passed, we finally got to go outside and ride the trike! Brixie Lee actually calls it her motorcycle and Daddy said I'm not allowed to correct her. I slip up on that all the time!
Sweet ride huh!!

Christmas Day 2008!!!

2008-12-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

Guess what! Grandma and Papaw drove all the way down from Bakersfield to celebrate Christmas with me! And look what they bought me!! A trike!!!

Santa even forgave me for drinking his milk! He got me this awesome doll house. I'm going to keep it in my room, right next to my bed!

He also got me this cool, pink tea set! I love Christmas!

Blocks too! Now I can tap-tap-tap at home like I do with Daddy in Kindermusik!

And a new nite-nite story that's all about my first year!

Thank you for driving down and bringing me an awesome trike Grandma and Papaw! Thank you for the doll house and all the other wonderful gifts Santa! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for making my 2nd Christmas soooo wonderful!

Love,

Brixie Lee :)

PS... if you want to see all my Christmas pictures, check out Daddy's Gallery!

Making Cookies For Santa...

2008-12-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve... so it's time to make cookies for Santa! We decided to go with snickerdoodle cookies because we thought Brixie Lee would enjoy rolling the balls in the cinnamon and sugar. We were right on! She didn't exactly "roll" them around. It was more of a "squish" them around. Oh yeah, it was also more fun to drop them on the cookie sheet than it was to set them on the cookie sheet.

Waiting the 8 minutes for the cookies to bake was still the hardest part for her. Poor baby!

Nice girl making cookies for Santa!
Naughty girl drinking Santa's milk!

Nite-nite sweet girl! I hope Santa forgives you for drinking his milk!

If you want to see all the pictures from Making Cookies for Santa, check out Don's Gallery!

Grandma & Papa Early Christmas

2008-12-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

It's Grandma and Papa's Utah Christmas year, so we celebrated with them a couple days early! Brixie Lee was very excited to be able to open Christmas presents tonight because we had told her that she couldn't open presents until we got to the last link on our Countdown To Christmas Chain. It was like she was able to "break a rule," and we all know how fun that is!!!

Brixie Lee really, really enjoyed this cool railroad crossing toy that makes train sounds and has blinking lights. It was really cute to see her dancing to the train sounds (there is no music: just whistles, horns, ding-dongs, etc.)
Even with all the presents to open, she was still your typical kid and liked playing with the packaging more than the toy itself!

This girl LOVES her Grandma and Papa!
Grandma and Papa's gift this year was a large picture of all 8 grandkids that Don Lee took around the 4th of July. Turned out great! We're going to have to update that picture again soon!

Thank you very, very much Grandma and Papa for all the wonderful and yummy gifts. I know Mommy will be enjoying her Starbucks gift card tomorrow! If you want to see all the pictures from tonight, you can check out Don's Gallery!

Hugs & Kisses!

Don Lee, Brixie & Brixie Lee

34 Week Update

2008-12-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

Oops! Missed a few updates! The good news is that nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary has been happening. Up until last Wednesday, I had been teaching Stroller Strides classes 3 days a week. It was getting quite hard towards the end and I must admit that I'm very glad to be done teaching. I know I'll go back to attending classes after I am released for exercise, but I'm not sure if I'll go back to teaching. I would at least like to lose a significant amount of weight first. Then it would be based on my comfort with committing to something with 2 kids to take care of and if the franchise owner needs another instructor.

Here's a picture we took last Friday when I was 33 weeks.

Brixie Lee is not used to me being the focus of Daddy's camera, so she kept jumping in the picture. What a cutie pie!

I had another ultrasound on Monday and this baby is nothing like Brixie Lee was. This baby is very conservative with it's "parts." Again, the technician saw no sign of boy parts, but she did see what she thinks were the girl parts. So we still don't know for sure, but I would be very surprised if this baby is a boy. We'll be happy either way, but we'll be in a world of hurt if we have to figure out a boy name.

Still Santa's Favorite!!!

2008-12-22T08:19:00.000-08:00

A lot of our friends told us that the Santa at our new outdoor mall in Chino Hills (The Shoppes) was spectacular, so we went to check it out. We got Brixie Lee all dressed up in her "Santa's Favorite" shirt that Grandma got her. She was sooooo sweet and everyone was talking about how cute she was. Then I picked her up to put her on Santa's lap. As you can see that didn't go well. Santa was great and kept trying, but there was nothing we could do to stop the crying. Oh well! We love this pic!

This is the picture that Don got and you can see her face a little better. Poor Santa and Brixie Lee.

First Batch of Cookies!!!

2008-12-22T08:09:00.001-08:00

Last year for Christmas Goma and Papaw got Brixie Lee her first baking set that included a chefs hat and Christmas apron. We decided to put her and her tools to work and have her make us some cookies! We had so much fun with this! She loves helping me in the kitchen and this was an all out adventure for her.

It was a little difficult to keep her from eating the cookie dough, but check out that smile. She was sooo extremely happy doing this!

Mommy and Daddy's proud little baker bear!

Finally... tasting the cookies of her labor!

Here you go Mommy & Daddy! Yummy!

There were lots more photos from this evening and you can check them out on Don's Gallery.

WARM... in Barstow!!!

2008-12-22T07:11:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Papa took Brixie Lee and Don Lee up to Barstow last weekend to check out the trains. They were so kind to let me stay home and relax. It's hard missing one of Brixie Lee's "first" experiences, but she needed time with Grandma, Papa & Daddy and I needed time to relax. We all benefited!

Their first stop was Pearblossom Hwy off the 15 near Cajon. I understand it was extremely cold! As you can see below, Brixie Lee was having a total blast!

This was Daddy's first weekend off from school and as you can see Brixie Lee and Daddy were both thrilled to be spending the day together. My little girl loves her Daddy so much! Makes Mommy soooo happy!

Brixie Lee is so lucky to have such awesome Grandparents that take her to all these great places. Thank you Grandma and Papa!

In Barstow, they went to the Western America Railroad Museum (WARM). From what I understand Brixie Lee had a ton of fun. If you or your kids are into trains, I highly recommend you check this place out next time you're up for a drive! There are many more pictures on Don's Gallery, so check that out if you have time. I just can't upload all the pictures on this blog!

From here they went to the classification yard, but we don't have any pictures of that. From what I understand it's another must-see so if you're interested I can get specific information for you!

Christmas Lights With Friends!!!

2008-12-22T06:56:00.000-08:00

We were invited to check-out the famous Christmas lights in Rancho with some of Brixie Lee's friends and let me tell you... it was spectacular! It was probably about 1-1/2 miles (3 miles round trip) of non-stop lights and vendors. By vendors, I mean the people that owned the homes were selling hot cocoa, cookies, churros, popcorn, etc. We had so much fun! Thank you for inviting us Lora!

The kids are as follows from left to right... Malaya, ??-Malaya's friend (sorry I forgot her name), Jacob, Brixie Lee and Alec. We are so lucky that Brixie Lee has such great friends with such great parents!

It's a hard to see here, but Brixie Lee is snacking on a cookie! You can see it better in the picture below. She ate on that thing for an hour!

If you would like to see all the pictures, check out Don's Gallery!

Brixie Lee & Our Christmas Tree!!!

2008-12-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was Don's first weekend off from school, so we brought out all our Christmas decorations and put up the tree! Brixie Lee had a blast checking out all our stuff. I had no idea we had so much "stuff." My goodness, it's going to be hard to put it all away.

Anyway, it was drizzling off and on so we drank hot cocoa and listened to the Christmas Songs channel on TV. It was so much fun! Once all was done Don wanted to take a couple of shots of Brixie Lee by our little tree. She's sooo cute! We're soooo glad you're on break from school Daddy!!!!!

If you want to see all the pictures by the tree you can check out Don's Gallery!

Aunt Donna's Wedding!!!

2008-12-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

On December 6th we went to Aunt Donna's wedding to Richard John (now Uncle Richard)! It was at a beautiful little church in Bakersfield and everything was perfect. Before the wedding Brixie Lee was able to have lots and lots of fun with her 2nd cousin Patty. Brixie Lee absolutely loves playing with her! Thanks for being such a great babysitter Patty!

Once the wedding started Brixie Lee decided to turn on her non-stop chatter. We tried to get her to stop talking... that didn't work. We tried to get her to whisper... that didn't work. We then gave up and Daddy took her outside.

As you can see below, she was much, much happier outside anyway! We didn't want to post the pictures until after we sent out our Christmas cards because Don got an awesome shot of Brixie Lee (it's on his Gallery if you want to see it) where she looked so sweet and angelic picking up leaves in the grass. This picture below was a close 2nd, but Daddy just loved the other picture!

Aunt Donna's favorite coler is plum and as you can see we went a bit Plum Crazy with what we were wearing.

It was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful day! Congratulations again Aunt Donna and Uncle Richard!

If you want to see all the pictures you can check out Don's Gallery.

Thank you Kimmie!!!

2008-12-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

Thank for the yummy, yummy, yummy chocolates Kimmie! As you can see below Brixie Lee LOVED them very, very much :) We're still laughing over here, but it may be because we're her parents. Hugs!!!!!

Helping Daddy Build-A-BOB!!!

2008-12-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

Goma, Papaw, Uncle Darryl and Aunt Vicky got Mommy, Brixie Lee & Baby #2 a double BOB stroller for a baby shower gift. The stroller came in and we wanted to take it to the shower so they could see this puppy in action! Brixie Lee decided that Daddy needed some help putting it together. She's such a good helper!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the wonderful gift everyone! I guarantee that we're going to put LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of miles on this puppy in our Stroller Strides classes :)

Lunch With Daddy!!!

2008-11-24T18:29:00.000-08:00

Today we went on our first lunch date with Daddy down at his work in Irvine. Don has been working at Allergan for a year now and we wanted to celebrate his 1-year anniversary. We loved our lunch with you today Daddy!!!

Chino State Park Fires

2008-11-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

As many people know we have been experiencing some really bad fires here in Southern California. One of those fires came very, very close to us. Below is one of the latest fire damage images that is on google. We are located to the left of the 71 Fwy circle (just below the fork in the freeway on the right side of the picture).
These are some pictures Don took from our front porch.

At this point we were told to pack-up and be ready to evacuate if need be. We packed until about 2am and then decided to get some rest.

Luckily we have not had to evacuate but there were times last night when 10 or so fire trucks were just down the street setting an offensive back fire to protect our neighborhood. They called it a "controlled burn," but that name still makes me laugh. Controlled burns are managed, but never truly controlled.

Anyway, the winds have stopped and now the smoke is starting to get pretty thick around us. I'm planning to unpack Brixie Lee's and my stuff, so we can head to Bakersfield tomorrow to get out of the smoke. Here we come Goma!!!!

Another tooth!

2008-11-11T14:05:00.001-08:00

It's been ages from the last time Brixie Lee had a tooth come so I totally missed all the signs. I was brushing her teeth on Saturday and thought that she hurt her gums because she had a big-o chunk missing (sorry, kinda gross). The next day I could see the little white tooth starting to poke through. These 2nd molars are HUGE! Poor baby! No wonder she had been waking up at 4:15am and being so cranky. I thought she was starting her terrible 2's a little early. We've got 1 down and 3 more to go. Hang in there baby girl!

2 Weeks & Fingers Crossed...

2008-11-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

Today marks 2 weeks for Brixie Lee wearing her mama panties all day and all night. Little explanation for that... we called her cloth diapers her "big girl panties" (used those for a bit hoping she would hate being wet... that didn't work), we called her pull-ups her "princess panties" (they have princesses on them), so when she got around to "real" panties she called them "mama panties" (reasons I assume are obvious).

Many people where quite shocked when we started sitting Brixie Lee on the potty when she was almost 7 months old.

I have always hated changing #2 diapers, so I started reading about early potty training when BL was about 6 months old. Everything I read had a basic point of putting them on the potty as soon as possible so they get used to the potty and sitting on one becomes routine. We were shocked when she peed on her potty the very first time she sat on it. That didn't happen again for a couple of days, but she really enjoyed just sitting there reading whenever she got up from sleeping.

Withing a months she was going #2 on the potty quite regularly and the momentum gained. The most exciting transition was when she was about 15 months old and we started putting her on the adult potty. It was great! No mess to clean-up! I never wanted her to feel pressured to start going on the potty, so we took it at her pace. About a month ago she started waking up with a dry diaper so two weeks ago we decide it was probably time to take the plunge and get into "mama panties" full-time. Our fingers are still crossed that she is really done with diapers! She has a little over 2 months before her little sister gets here so we're hoping it will be very routine by then and she wont digress.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!!!

13 Year Relationship Has Ended...

2008-11-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

After 13 years at Cal Poly Pomona as a student and/or staff, I've called it quits. It was not an easy career decision, but it was an easy Mommy decision. I started Cal Poly Pomona in Sept of 1995 as freshman in the Collins School of Hospitality Management and I worked nights/weekends at Longs Drug Store in Upland. In my sophomore year I started working at Cal Poly in the Facilities Management Department as a student assistant because the commute to Upland was just too hard. My student assistant position in Facilities turned into a full-time position just after I graduated in June 2000. I decided to take advantage of the employee fee wavier benefit and started the evening MBA Program while I worked full-time in Facilities. I graduated from the MBA Program in June 2003 and then received Senior Budget Analyst position in the College of Science Dean's Office in October. I started my leave of absence when Brixe Lee was born in January 2007. What a ride!

Thank you to everyone that helped and supported my career at Cal Poly Pomona! I learned so much from so many people there. Thank you all!

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

After our Stroller Strides Halloween party at the park, we came home for a big lunch and a power nap before our plan of going to The Shoppes in Chino Hills for some kid friendly trick-or-treating. I'm sure you can tell from my words "our plan" that things did not go according to "our plan." Brixie Lee fell asleep late and woke up after the fun was already over at The Shoppes.

We ended up having a Mommy's Favorite snack, chips and salsa of course, while we decided if we were going to knock on any of our neighbors doors. Brixie Lee was feeding me chips and Don thought it was cute so he grabbed the camera to get it on video. This is what happened next...

... Don and I both tear up in laughter hours after it happened. Maybe it's just a parent thing??? Hopefully you get a kick out of it too.

From there we did decide to go stroll the condo complex so Brixie Lee could show off her Kimono outfit that Grandma Barbara made for her.

We only knew of one couple that was planning to hand out candy and they turned out to be the only ones in the complex that did. Brixie Lee got to knock on one door! Turned out to be the best door in the complex because we got candy and cupcakes! Thank you Desirae!!! Yummy!!!! Unfortunately, Brixie Lee thanked her by taking her entire basket of candy. I don't mean all the candy... I mean the entire basket. If you're going to go for it, go for it big time baby!

On our way back home Brixie Lee had to stop at her favorite sign (it's our complex directory) to read off the letters. Happy, happy, happy baby girl!

Back at home we enjoyed the fruits of her labor (cupcakes) and downed a big glass of milk each. Cross your fingers that she doesn't wet the bed tonight!

If you want to see all the pictures from Brixie Lee's first real Halloween adventure, you can check it out on Don's Gallery.

Mickey's Trick-Or-Treat Party

2008-10-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday October 28th we all went to Mickey's Trick-Or-Treat Party at California Adventure (Disneyland basically). It was my and Don's first trip back to Disneyland in 8 years. What can I say... we're just not the happiest place on earth kind of people. Brixie Lee has helped us relax and enjoy life soooo much more (thank you sweetie!) Anyway, we caravaned over there with some of Brixie Lee's friends. I must say that it was the most organized chaos that I've ever experienced. Back on point... Brixie Lee had a BLAST!

All the kids were sooo cute! From left to right, here are Brixie Lee's friends: Malaya, Brixie Lee, Jack, Jacob, Alec, and Christian!

Here Brixie Lee is in her first picture with Micky and Minnie Mouse. I was shocked that she didn't run away screaming!

The best part was when she got to ride on the carousel. She absolutely loved it! I must say that this little girl warms my heart completely. I just love seeing her smile and enjoy life!

If you would like to see all the pictures check out Don's Gallery.

Apple Picking at Riley's Farm

2008-10-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday October 25th, Brixie Lee and I carpooled with Karen and Jack out to Oak Glenn to do some apple picking at Riley's Farm while Daddy got some much needed studying done. Oak Glenn is about an hour away and the kids did GREAT in the car the entire time. Such good kids we have!

We started off sharing a hot'n'fresh apple turnover that was very, very yummy! From there we got directions to the where we would be picking some apples. We were told, "it's just a 1/4-mile up the road." So, us two 3rd'ish trimester prego mommies pushed our 2 year old'ish kids up, up, up the 1/4-mile hill. More of a workout than either of us had had in a long time!

From there we had to ask for more directions and we were told, "it's just around the corner." After what seemed like another 1/4-mile walk we ended up in the apple orchard. It was perfect! The apples were hanging low enough for the kids to pick them on their own.

Jack is one of Brixie Lee's favorite buddies! He's such a sweet little boy :)

Jack was so funny! He didn't want more than a couple of apples in his bag so Karen ended up carrying the apples back to the strollers. The things we do to make our kids happy!

Cal Poly Pumpkin Festival

2008-10-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to the Annual Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Festival and as expected it was better than ever! Every year they add something new and it attracts that many more people. When I first started going back in 1995 it was a big deal because you got to "pick" your pumpkin from an actual pumpkin patch. After a couple of freezes and some budgeting decisions, they now ship the pumpkins in and have a HUGE fair to go along with the pick'n party. We got there at 8am (when they open) and there were already 40+ cars in the parking lot. As you can see in a lot of the pics we were not able to beat the crowds. When we left at 9:30 there was no parking what-so-ever! Next year we're going to have to get there before they open and wait in line like it's Black Friday!

All the people didn't stop Brixie Lee's good time. At first she didn't want to touch the pumpkins but it didn't take long and she was off and running.
Daddy finally caught up to her half-way across the pumpkin patch for some special one-on-one time. They are sooooo cute together!
When we got home we carved our first family pumpkin. Brixie Lee was quite shocked to find "seeds!!!!!" inside the pumpkin. She's such a doll!
Here she is giving her first jack-o-lantern some love. She has a heart of gold I tell ya!
If you want to see all the pictures from the pumpkin patch and our carving adventure, check out Don's Gallery!

24'ish Week Update

2008-10-21T18:41:00.001-07:00

The weeks are flying buy now! I had another appointment with Dr. Cropper last week and she said that everything was looking great! That means I still get to have my corn dog when we make our trips to the Irvine Railroad Park, YES!!!! I'm now 24 weeks and 6 days prego.

If you want to compare to the 20'ish Week Update pic you can click here.

The most exciting news from Dr. Cropper was that our c-section has been scheduled with Pomona Valley Hospital for Tuesday, January 27th. Now I just need the hospital to stop fighting with Blue Cross so I don't have to change doctors and hospitals this late in my pregnancy. Dr. Cropper's billing assistant is trying her best to work with the hospital and our insurance, but no one knows what's going to happen. I think I'll cry if Dr. Cropper can't deliver this baby.

I'm much more tired now and starting to have some sleepless nights. I remember having trouble sleeping with Brixie Lee, but I don't remember how long it lasted. Hopefully I'll be back to sleeping through the night soon! Brixie Lee and my Stroller Strides mamas need me full of energy! Heck, I need me full of energy!

Helene Marie (assuming she's a girl) is very, very active now. She wiggles and kicks anytime I sit down. I feel like she's telling me to get up and get moving! So I guess I've already got my two girls telling me what to do. I better get used to it. Bye, bye for now!

Watch what you say Mommy!!!

2008-10-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

A little background on this story. With this pregnancy I have not wanted to wear anything around my waist so I've been wearing lots and lots of over sized dresses that I call my Moo-moos. Brixie Lee loves to pull on my moo-moo and say, "Mommy wearing moo-moo!!!"

Sunday night we were playing downstairs outside our condo when one of our neighbors walked by with her dogs. The woman walked by closer so Brixie Lee could get a good look at them. What excited our dear daughter even more was the sundress this woman was wearing. Brixie Lee got a big huge smile on her face and said, "Wearing moo-moo!"

The woman was a bit upset and just kept on walking. We laughed so hard we almost cried!

Lesson learned... watch what you say Mommy! Kids repeat EVERYTHING!

She can sing... she can dance...

2008-10-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

When we got back from Yellowstone Brixie Lee was in rare form. She was singing and dancing more than usually so we got it on video (Sept 25th). Our little angel!

Brixie Lee's rendition of Baa Baa Black Sheep

Brixie Lee dancing to Five Little Monkeys

Visiting Riverside...

2008-10-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today we went to visit Kim & Caleb in Riverside and we had a blast. Caleb is 7 months old now and is a very, very active little man! His mama was just voted the Mom of the Month for Stroller Strides of Riverside and we couldn't be happier for Kim. I've known Kim for five years now and she's one outstanding woman and mother. Congrats Kim!

We should have taken their picture in the middle of the visit and not half-an-hour into Brixie Lee's missed nap time. She looks a bit zombie like, but Caleb was able to put on the charm! What cute kids we have!

Here Caleb was trying to keep Brixie Lee from getting out of the picture . You know it's bad when a 7 month old is trying to get a 21 month old to say in line. Goodness Brixie Lee!

The Pumpkins Are Here, The Pumpkins Are Here...

2008-09-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

It's shocking to me that Fall is here and we're getting ready to start the busiest season of the year. The Mathewson calendar is jam packed thru February (including a new addition to the family at the end of January). We started off Fall 2008 at the Irvine Park Railroad and what a huge hit that was for Brixie Lee. She got to ride the train, jump on pumpkins, ride a tractor, get her face painted, ride a pony, jump around and pose for a zillion pictures!
This was a bit shocking to me... I didn't realize how close she was getting to 3 foot tall! My baby is sooooo not a baby anymore!
Face painting didn't go too well so the lady gave us our tickets back. She was able to paint a heart and dots on my hand and then I transferred that to Brixie Lee's cheeks. I can see her loving this next year!
I didn't know if we were going to be able to do the pony ride because she was very unhappy when we first put her on. Then with just a couple of steps she started to pet the pony and say, "niiice pony, niiice pony." She didn't want to leave at the end.

If you want to see all the pictures from Irvine Park Railroad you can check out Don's Gallery.

First Bowling Trip

2008-09-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

We took Brixie Lee bowling for the first time with some friends and she had a blast! I love the little ball ramp that the kids get to use because pushing the ball was just not working. She was a bit unsure at first but she caught on and ended up having a great time!

Look Mommy! It's an "O!"

Watching, watching, watching... YAY!!!! You hit one pin baby girl!

Check out all the letters Daddy!

Yellowstone 2008!!!

2008-09-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of years the Mathewson Crew has been vacationing in Yellowstone. This was the first time that Don, Brixie Lee and I went along for the ride and let me tell you... a RIDE it was! I'm sure you can imagine 8 adults vs 8 kids... guess who won most of the time... the KIDS!!! We stayed at one of the most beautiful vacation homes I've ever been in. It was in West Yellowstone, just 15 minutes from the park entrance. Huge, beautiful and in the middle of no where. Just our style! Great find Cindy!

Our first day out took us to good Old Faithful Geyser. It was just like Disneyland! A huge crowd of people gathered around to see a huge explosion of water. Awesome as usual and the kids loved it! Below is The Crew from top to bottom, left to right: Henry, David, Jack, Grady, Annalise, Brixie Lee, Donovan, and Bobby. What a great group of kids!

Before lunch we went on an "adventure" down to a creek by one of the picnic areas around Craig Pass just south of Old Faithful. Everything in Yellowstone is beautiful... even the baby girl that decided to pull her hair out of her hairbands. After the short adventure we had a short lunch due to rain. Darn!

From there we took of to the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center to duck out of the rain in hopes of the weather passing so we could go on a little hike before heading in for the night. Brixie Lee loved looking at all the birds, but couldn't get away from the lake fast enough. My little land-only baby! We did get to go on our hike but Don Lee didn't have his camera with him so we're waiting for our family pic to come from whomever took the picture (hint, hint, hint).

The next day we started out at the Upper Falls and it was darn right cold! Good thing we had gone shopping to get Brixie Lee a knit hat to keep her head and ears warm. Unfortunately the jacket we had just wasn't good enough so she got stuck carrying around her blanket too. And, I got stuck picking it up out of the mud. Really, she didn't mind one little bit!

From there we had another short lunch followed by a short rainfall while we drove to see the elk at Mammoth Hot Springs. For some reason Brixie Lee had it stuck in her mind that these giant animals were monkeys. We have taken the girl to the zoo and she's seen lots of monkeys on her DVD's, so I'm not sure why she called them monkeys for half a day. What goes through my child's mind I will never know. The good news is that after some lessons from Auntie Steff, Brixie Lee finally understood the difference between an elk, a moose and a monkey. Thank you Auntie Steff!

Our last adventure took us on a longer hike... we'll... we hiked... Brixie Lee was in her carrier. I'd trade places with her any day! If you check out Don's Gallery where all his vacation pictures are, you'll see that this was his favorite place. Many of the pictures were taken there. Below is Brixie Lee all bundled up before we tossed her in the carrier and took off. What a cutie pie!

Overall the vacation was a huge success and everyone agreed that we should stay a couple more days next year. There are so many more adventures to be had in Yellowstone!

Oh yeah... Brixie Lee loved her first airplane ride and she was a rock star in her car seat. She sure misses having Grandma and Papa back there entertaining her!

Thank you so much for the wonderful vacation Grandma and Papa! We had a blast!

20'ish Week Update

2008-09-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

OK... I was supposed to take pictures last Wednesday but life was just too busy the day before we left for Yellowstone. My appointment with Dr. Cropper was delayed by over an hour because she was delivering a baby, thus behind on her appointments. So we didn't have time to get the 20 week pic when we got home. The good news is that all the ultrasound reports from a couple of weeks ago came back great and everything is right on track. As promised, belly pictures...

... the picture above in my green shirt is this pregnancy at 20 weeks and 6 days.

The picture below in my white shirt is my pregnancy with Brixie Lee at 20 weeks.

I look a bit older now, but I've heard that children do that to you faster than time. It's a bit shocking to me how much bigger my belly is this time at 20'ish weeks. I've heard that it's very normal and expected, but still it's odd.

Should Have Known When...

2008-09-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

...I woke-up at 5:45am and realized that I forgot to set the alarm for Don to get up at 5:20am. Not Good #1

Don starts his truck, it sounds like a Harley, he has to take my car to work. Not Good #2

Made a phone call, got my Stroller Strides class covered (Thanks Kristina!). Awesome #1

AAA said they would be there in half-an-hour. Awesome #2

AAA driver told me that someone stole our muffler and catalytic converter. Not Good #3

AAA driver upset because it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to install Brixie Lee's car seat in his truck. Not Good #4

Toyota was 1/4-mile within our towing coverage through AAA. Awesome #3

Toyota told me that it was most likely going to be a couple of days for them to get the parts and make the repairs. Not Good #5

Toyota shuttle service was immediately ready to take Brixie Lee and I home. No waiting!!! Awesome #4

Other guy in shuttle was first to be dropped off, but it was 15 miles in the opposite direction... in 9am LA traffic. Took an hour to get the 6-3/4 miles home from Toyota. To make it worse, Brixie Lee kept saying "whoa" every time the drive hit the brake hard. Not Good #6

Get home, get upstairs, realize that I forgot the house key on the truck key chain. Not Good #7

Don had to drive home from work in Irvine to let us in the house. Not Good #8

Allstate message said they were experiencing extremely heavy volume due to the severe weather (AKA... Ike). Projected hold time 1-1/2 hours. Not Good #9

Toyota dealer called to say that repairs would cost $1700 +tax and recommended waiting for Allstate clearance to begin repairs. Meaning no car for Mommy until after Yellowstone. Not Good #10

Don got home and said he had a headache and couldn't take Brixie Lee to her first day back at Kindermusik. Not Good #11

Bottom Line: Not Good vs Awesome (11 to 4)

Time for bed! But I'm going to set the alarm first :-)

Getting Ready For Yellowstone...

2008-09-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

Today we spent ALL DAY getting ready for our upcoming trip to Yellowstone. We started out with a small hike around the Claremont Gardens. It has been a couple of months since Brixie Lee was in her backpack carrier and the last time she was in it she wasn't all that happy about it. This time she couldn't wait to get in! Keep your fingers crossed for us that she'll feel the same way in Yellowstone!

From there we did some shopping at Victoria Gardens and then went on a HUGE shopping spree at REI. I kid you not, Don and I are like kids in a candy store there! They gave my jogging stroller a lube and tune and I couldn't be happier! From there we bought something from every department... really, it was so bad. The best part was getting Brixie Lee sunglasses and a hat. Oh, and Crocs for $8!!! Love a good sale!

When we took off to Babies-R-Us she refused to take off the sunglasses and hat. She didn't want to get out of the car either (it had been 5 hours of shopping by then) and she feel asleep in her seat while Mommy was shopping. Poor thing was startled half to death when she woke up an hour later with her sunglasses on in our garage.

After a LONG nap from our big shopping day she wanted to play with her new hat and sunglasses again. Here are some cute pics of our little star!

A Weekend With Grandma...

2008-09-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

Brixie Lee spent the last weekend up in Bakersfield with Grandma so that Papa Don, Don Lee, and I could get some things done around the house. Don Lee and I managed to fit in some fun too... dinner The Yard House, shopping at Trader Joes, breakfast at Tropical Smoothie, a tea time baby shower, dinner and dessert with Tracy and Charles, and a couple hours dedicated to UFC 88 Breakthru (poor Liddel). However, we did manage to get the showers fixed, turn the bed (harder than it sounds), organize Brixie Lee's closet (much harder than it sounds), freecycle.com a bunch of stuff (ahhhh, space), discover we need a plumber for the sink, fix the garage door, and get several loads of laundry done! YAY!!! A very successful weekend! Thank you Grandma!

Now here are some words from Grandma about her weekend with Brixie Lee...

Boy, what an exciting Grandparent weekend! On Friday I picked Brixie Lee up in Valencia for a weekend of excitement, adventure and edification. We were going to play!

First we recovered from our drive by eating, playing with the dogs, Snickers and Patsy, and watching cartoons. Did you know there are 24 hour cartoons on several channels? Hmmm? I did not see Popeye or Yosemite Sam though. On Saturday, we unfolded the stroller, harnessed and leashed the dogs and went for a walk. The walk took 45 minutes and the getting ready took 45 minutes. Hmmm? It was cute to watch a 10 pound and 15 pound dog pull a heavy stroller up hill like a pair of Huskies. Brixie held the leashes and I kept expecting her to yell MUSH! MUSH! Next we went to Shafter to see her Great Grandma Helen and drive through Sonic for a little milk shake. Then home to swim in our custom pool with Patsy.

Sunday, after walking the dogs, we went to Starbucks, shopping, Carrow’s, shopping and more dog walking. She wanted to know where Papa was so I told her he was fishing in his boat. That brought on many repeats of “Papa-fishing-boat, row-row-row, merrily-merrily-merrily” Papa came home late Sunday, so on Monday she was able to sit in the boat. She told Papa that it was, “My boat Papa” When we finally met Mommy at lunchtime, she was ready to go home but I think she will be back.

Mathewson's Make Great Girl's!!!

2008-09-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's (kinda) official! We think it's a girl (kinda)!!!

Yesterday we had another ultrasound and the technician was not as confident calling this baby a girl as the doctor that told us Brixie Lee was a girl. In fact he couldn't tell us anything except for that he's 99% sure it's a girl because he "didn't see testicles." That sounds a lot like all those stories out there about baby girls that came out as baby boys. Oh well!

We should have another ultrasound with our favorite doctor at Pomona Valley Hospital in the next couple of months and hopefully she'll give us a more positive answer. When we asked her how likely it was that Brixie Lee was really a girl she said, "100% positive because here are her girl parts!" Too bad that didn't happen yesterday. The good thing is that now we don't have to buy anything because we kept all of Brixie Lee's clothes and stuff. If the technician had told us that he was 99% sure that it was a boy and it turned out to be a girl then we would have most likely filled our drawers and closets with boy cloths and stuff. If this one turns out to be a boy then we'll just pick some clothes up when we get home. We're much, much, much more laid back this time!!!

With Brixie Lee I took the tags off of all the baby shower clothes and washed everything. Dumb! She didn't wear all of it and what a waist to wear each thing once. Dumb, dumb, dumb!!! Oh well. Know we know better.

Here's a cute little pic of little Helene Marie Mathewson!

Finally Felt Something!!!

2008-09-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last night Don Lee and I both got to feel our little bump move for the first time. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting to feel him or her. What a relief! Only a few more days until we find out boy or girl!!!

There's A New Estep Girl In Town... Almost!

2008-08-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

We just found out that my step-brother, John, and his wife, Erin, are expecting a little girl at the end of the year! YEAH!!! Below if a picture of their first born, Tommy at Disneyland a couple of days ago. He just turned 2 in Feb-08, so he'll be almost 3 just after his little sister gets here. He's going to be such a great big brother. He is already so gentle with Brixie Lee every time that we visit. Love you guys and congrats!

Check Your Car Seat!

2008-08-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend we got a new car seat for Brixie Lee and put the old one in Grandma's car (thanks Grandma!). When we were changing the seats we noticed that the adjuster strap (comes up from between the child's legs) on the old car seat was showing a lot of wear. It's hard to see in the picture below but I wanted to show you which strap.
We didn't think it was a huge deal, but it did give me some concern. I just got off a 4 minute phone call with Britax and they said they would ship a new strap and that we should have it in 3 days. WOW! What was the best customer service I've had in YEARS!!! No muss, no fuss, they just needed to verify my address.

We also ordered a new buckle because Brixie Lee had spilled so much junk in the old one that it was starting to stick. So, for $10 we're going to have what feels like a brand new seat for Grandma's car. YAY!!!! If only everything in life was that easy.

Bottom line, check your car seat and be sure your straps are looking good. Replacements and peace of mind are cheap and fast!

Big Girl Bed!!!!

2008-08-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Last night was Brixie Lee's first night in her new Big Girl Bed! The shipment finally arrived yesterday afternoon and we all worked hard to get the bed put together so she could spend one night in it before we head off to Bakersfield. Looks like she's got a little of her Mommy's handy side huh!

Here she was telling us that the sheep was "up-side-down." Smart girl!
Nothing better than enjoying the fruits of your labor! Ahhhh relax!!!
My Big Girl Pillow, on my Big Girl Bed, with my Big Girl Bunny and my Big Girl Sheets! Such a Big Girl!

She's even started sitting on the toilet like a Big Girl (no child's seat and no help from Mommy). I just can't believe how fast she's turning into our Big Girl.

He Proposed!!!

2008-08-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

My very best friend, Tracy Lynn Voorheis, is getting married!!!!! Her long-time boyfriend, Charles Vasquez, proposed to her tonight after a beautiful dinner out in New York City! He's such a romantic. Congratulations to you both and we couldn't be happier for you guys! See you soon!!!!

I know these pictures are old, but I couldn't find Tracy's Birthday pictures! You guys look great anyway! What a smashing couple :)

Preggo Update - 16 Weeks

2008-08-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

Today I'm 16 weeks along in this pregnancy and things are progressing very well and very fast. I had an appointment with my Doctor today and she said that last round of ultrasounds came back normal (well, as normal as could be expected for a child of Don's... hehehe... love you Honey!).

Back on point, I've packed on quite a bit of weight, but the doc says that I'm still very much in the normal range and that I have nothing to worry about. So, I boxed up all my skinny clothes and said goodbye to them for at least a year. I washed every bit of my old maternity clothes and now I'm into comfort 100% of the time. According to the books, Baby #2 should only be about 4 1/2 inches long now, so I can't really explain why he (we don't know it's a he, but I'll explain more later) requires me to eat a 2nd breakfast, a 2nd lunch, and a 2nd dinner. I know I didn't eat this much when I was pregnant with Brixie Lee so I'm sure that I'm going to start making my scale scream shortly.

Brixie Lee still has no clue what's going on. We tell her about the baby in Mommy's tummy, but she just looks at us like, "you guys are silly... it's just a belly button... see mine!" She has been playing with my old Cabbage Patch baby dolls (the really, really little ones) but she seems afraid of them most of the time. Maybe it's the big plastic heads and the small fabric arms that turn her off. Right now she just puts the baby nite-nites all the time. I guess it's time to start getting some advice on preparing Baby #1 for Baby #2.

Don Lee and I on the other hand keep forgetting that I'm preggo. We are just so busy with our day-to-day lives and Baby #2 just isn't all that noticeable yet. I mean, aside for the loss of energy, lack of sleep and addition of weight. I would show you what I mean, but that would just not be a pretty picture right now. We'll start taking pictures at 20 weeks because right now I still just look fat and tired... because I am fat and tired.

Now for the hot topic. The sex of Baby #2! We just made our appointment today for a Sept 4th ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. Now, be warned, I'm not going to post the sex of the baby until the evening of Sept 5th because we're having some fun with this in my Stroller Strides class. The mama that comes up with the best after class lunch idea (see everything revolves around food) will be the only mama that I tell the sex of the baby to on Sept 4th. Now, I'll tell my family and a couple close friends, but everyone else will have to hear it from my winning mama. It should be fun! Some of the mama's have been thinking about their lunch date submissions for quite some time. Love my mamas!

So why are we convinced that Baby #2 is a boy... we just don't have a plan for a boy. We have all the clothes and gadgets for a girl. I mean, I have a brown and PINK stroller for goodness sakes. We have a name picked out if it's a girl (Helene Marie... and I don't want to hear anything else about another girl name... Grandma D that means you too!) and we have NO IDEA what to name a boy (aside from a HUGE list of absolutely-not's). We would probably end up calling him Boy. There are a couple of really cool things about a boy. First, we would have a Mathewson boy to carry on the Mathewson name. Second, I would spend so much less time doing hair in the morning. A boy would be buzzed all the time to match Daddy! Love that!

Until next our Sept 5th update... nite-nite!

Concert in the Park - R&B

2008-08-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to another Chino Hills concert in the park. Brixie Lee just loves going to these because she gets to rock out all night and go to bed late.

Bakersfield Spa Party!!!

2008-08-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Papaw's Birthday... Bakersfield Style!!!

4 Kid Cups - $4
1 Hose Ring - $5
2 Doggie Pools - $10
1 Bakersfield Spa Experience for Brixie Lee - PRICELESS!!!!

Check out the video and you'll understand!

Mathewson Crew!!!

2008-08-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today the Mathewson Crew got together to celebrate Papa's Birthday. Each of Don Earl's 8 grand kids were at his house in their stars and stripes. From left to right, top to bottom we have Donovan, David, Robert, Jack, Brixie Lee, Grady, Annalise, and Henry! What an awesome crew!!!!
Brixie Lee found Daddy's old tricycle and kept saying "pedal, pedal, pedal." Her legs were too short to reach the pedals, but she loved having Mommy push her around the yard. We love this pic!
She also took some time to feed Papa's tortoise. He ate so much lettuce that we thought he was going to pop out of his shell. Silly tortoise!
Thanks for an awesome afternoon Papa! The burgers were great!

Happy 6th Anniversary Honey!!!

2008-08-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

Six years ago today Don Lee and I promised to spend the rest of our lives together. If only I had known then what I know now... I would have done it twice!!! Don is an amazing husband and an outstanding dad. He works so hard to make sure that we have everything we need and almost everything we want. I'm still waiting for those diamond earrings that we saw 6+ years ago when we picked up his wedding ring, but I can wait! I love you honey and I'm looking forward to the many, many, many more years we have together. Love, Wife

Here is our story that was printed in our wedding program...

Their story started at the wedding of Mark & Claudine Hollack in Prague on September 14, 2000. It was one of those nights that you only read about in love stories, where boy and girl stroll all through the night in a land far, far away. Their first kiss, overlooking the historical Charles Bridge, was lit by the light of the moon. The nights’ story ends with the break of day as the two, not quite strangers, return to their lofts to pack for a group trip to Munich.

In Munich, the two spent more time together talking about their lives back in “the real world.” They realized that they wanted to spend more time together, so an exchange of one phone number was made.

Back at home, Don’s phone rang for the first time from Brixie, and numerous calls after has resulted in the meeting of us all here today.

Chino Hills Earthquake!!!!

2008-07-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you heard about the 5.4 earthquake that was centered in Chino Hills today at 11:42am. Brixie Lee and I were sitting at our dinning room table and the condo started to shake. It was a jerking shake instead of the normal rolling that I'm used to. It was fairly short and not that exciting for us. Two picture frames fell over, but both of them are extremely wobbly frames. Brixie Lee look more confused than anything. I don't think she was scared. When it was over, I looked at her and said "Earthquake! Welcome to California!" After that she laughed and repeated that line all afternoon. I think she may have wanted me to do it again. Silly girl!

15 minutes after the quake Brixie Lee went down for a 2-1/2 hour nap and didn't have a care in the world. I watched the news and found out that the shaking in the hills (Chino Hills) was less violent than for those in the flat lands around us (Chino, Pomona, etc.) Some of my friends in Chino said that bookshelves and lamps toppled over. My friends at Cal Poly said it was a very hard ride. Diane Carter was actually trapped in her office with stuff falling off the bookshelf. Apparently they closed the CLA tower, but the rest of campus was open for business. I did hear on the news that Mt. Sac (just over the hill from Cal Poly) was evacuated and closed for the rest of the day. Lots of action outside of Chino Hills!

I would like to thank all my family and friends that called to check on me. I'm sorry I couldn't answer all your calls but my cell phone kept sending my calls to my voice mail. Then I wasn't able to return a lot of calls because the lines were so busy. Again, thank you all so very much for checking on us. Take care and be safe!

Thank You Amy!!!

2008-07-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

One of Don's friends from school made Brixie Lee a soft ball with a bell inside. This is her opening her gift. She loves her new ball and ran around the house saying "thank you Amy."

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

2008-07-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Auntie Cindy and Grandma we finally took Brixie Lee to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach! Grandma said that Brixie Lee looked like she was taking after Don Lee because when he was little he would sit and watch the fish ALL DAY LONG! And to think, I thought he was just kissing up to Papaw all this time! Back to the point... the place was jam packed with people but that didn't stop Brixie Lee from enjoying herself for 4 straight hours!
You wouldn't know it from this awesome picture that Grandma took, but I had to stop a couple of times to prevent an anxiety attack. Large groups of people are not my idea of a good time. Oh well... this is life, welcome to it! Can you believe what a great looking family I have????
Brixie Lee's favorite part was the touch pools. Surprise, surprise, surprise... this little girl likes to touch everything and it's almost a guarantee that if she touches it she'll try to put it in her mouth! I caught her licking up the water in the touch pools when Daddy was in charge. DADDY!!!
They also had these cute little birds that you could feed. Everyone was shocked that Brixie Lee wanted to touch it. I think she wanted to taste it! The best about visiting the birds was that Daddy got pooped on. He, he, he, he, he!!!! I'm still laughing about that!
Here's the link to Daddy's gallery if you would like to check out all the pictures from our awesome day! Thanks Auntie Cindy and Grandma! We had a blast!

The Rumors are True!

2008-07-24T12:45:00.001-07:00

Don Lee and I are expecting a second child at the end of January. We had both planned on only having one child but Brixie Lee has been such a joy that we decided we could do even better with the second one! I mean, we know it all now, so #2 should be perfect. Right? That's how it works, right? Cross your fingers for us!

Today marks the first day of my 2nd trimester and we are going to celebrate with 2 skinny cows each tonight! I know, it's kinda crazy, but hey... we deserve it. This pregnancy has been much harder than Brixie Lee. The nausea started right at 6 weeks and started to let up at 11 weeks (a week ago). I went from my extremely active lifestyle of Stroller Strides 4-5 days a week to laying around with my eyes crossed. I was ready to resume my classes this week but we had doctors appointments that conflicted everyday! It's a good thing I didn't toss all my prego clothes because I'm already wearing them.

Below is one of our ultrasound pictures from Tuesday July 22. The technician couldn't tell us anything but she did say that "it" was extremely active and must have liked breakfast. I didn't tell her about the hamburger that I also had right before our 9:15am appt. You are what you eat and I'm a COW!!!!

Kindermusik rocks again!!!

2008-07-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

I finally gave up on the Blogger video upload and opened a YouTube account. Not a single problem uploading to YouTube!!! YEAH!!!!

Above is the video of Brixie Lee at her 2nd Kindermusik class with Ms. Annette. I can't even begin to explain how much fun she has in these classes. She completely loves Ms. Annette and wants to be next to her all the time.

Don and I are also excited because he's finally going to be able to do some of these activities with Brixie Lee. Up until now I've hogged all the fun! In the fall Don will be taking her to Kindermusik on Monday nights and Little Gym on Saturdays. I can't wait for them to do these activities together. We both felt like he was missing out and now he's going to be able to join in all the fun. YAY Daddy!!!!

Silly, silly girl...

2008-07-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

OK... I know this is really mild compared to most other kids we know, but for Brixie Lee this was kinda funny. The box she was playing with has been a "no" because she was breaking it. Well, while I was collecting the house trash she took advantage of mommy's absence. Silly, silly girl!!!

Mommy didn't quite get the camera in time for a "balanced" Brixie Lee.

Drinking & Driving... so much fun!!!!!

2008-07-13T20:57:00.001-07:00

OK... today Brixie Lee got her first taste of D&D... not drunk and disorderly... drinking and driving silly! We ended up at Sam's Club 15 minutes before they opened, so we released the beast from the car seat and let her join mommy in the driver's seat.

Now this video needs some explaining... when you give a video camera to a photographer, you're going to need to adjust your head or your computer screen on occasion. You see... Daddy forgets (often) that you can't turn the video camera and record in portrait view. I hope you enjoy the video and that you don't hurt your neck trying to view it.

Our drink of choice was a Starbucks Iced Decaf Sugar Free Soy Vanilla Latte! Did you really think I would give my crazy child caffeine??? That's for Grandmas to do!

Happy Birthday Auntie Diane!!!

2008-07-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today we went to lunch with Auntie Diane, Tracey, Kim & Caleb at Red Robin. We had soooo much fun. It was Auntie Diane's 30th Birthday (for like the 20th time). We miss our Carter's so much! Hopefully Auntie Diane will retire soon and we can all enjoy some more time together ;) Caleb was such a good boy too! I'm 100% sure that he made Diane's Birthday celebration a huge hit. Good job kiddo!

Kindermusik Rocks!!!!

2008-07-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

Today was Brixie Lee's first day at Kindermusik and she had such a wonderful time! A lot of our mommy friends have been taking there kids there for a long time and I was really looking forward to getting Brixie in Miss Annette's summer class. WOW!!! I can't even explain how great it was to see Brixie Lee smiling, dancing, jumping and playing in this class. She was completely independent from me and absolutely loved Miss Annette. I'll try to get some video next week!

Here's Brixie Lee dancing for Daddy when we got back from class!

Just Beachy!

2008-06-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today we took Brixie Lee to Crystal Cove down in Laguna Beach for some much needed fun in the sun... or so we thought. The last time we took her to the beach she was 8 months old and it took several days for her to warm up to the idea of it. This time, she started out welcoming... and then wouldn't touch the water for nothing.
I guess it's time to invest in some sand toys and give the water a break.
Oh well... bye-bye beach!

Totally Wiped Out!!!!

2008-06-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome day today! One of Brixie Lee's friends, Gavin, had his 3rd Birthday Party at a place here in Chino called Party Kingdom. They have a bunch of HUGE inflateables in these 2 GIANT rooms. Brixie Lee and I ran around for an hour and a half on these inflateables. I'm so sorry that we didn't get any pictures, but Daddy was home studying and it's just too hard for mommy to take care of BL and take pictures. Another time!

Instead, here are some pictures that we took just before we left. This first one is Brixie Lee on her new "rocker" as she calls it. Grandma, may I remind you that we have a 2 bedroom condo and the next time you bring something like this down you're going to have to take something else back with you to Bakersfield (yes, I know we've already filled your guest room with our stuff, but still).
And here you can see that there is nothing better than "relaxing" (as Brixie Lee calls it) with Daddy with a snack and a toy.

80's Concert in the Park

2008-06-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

Last night we made a last minute decision to go with some of our friends to the 80's Concert in the Park here in Chino Hills. I've been wanting to go to these concerts every summer, but the timing just never worked out before. We had a blast! Brixie Lee got to spend the evening dancing with some of her friends and we just sat back and relaxed. Totally awesome evening!

Coloring

2008-06-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I didn't think of letting Brixie Lee color sooner, but oh well. Today she got her first box of Crayons and we started coloring. Or, at least taking the wrappers off the Crayons. That was more appealing in the beginning. As she started taking the wrappers she started putting them on her fingers. I followed up with the rest of her fingers and she was in total aw! It really is amazing to watch her discover new things. I can imagine that it's only going to get better with time!

Kicked out of swim lessons

2008-06-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

OK... today we were kicked out of our pricey private swim lesson class. Today was Brixie Lee's 3rd class and she continued to cry her eyes out again. It was all very sad. I asked the instructor if I could get in the pool with her (before I was hiding), but the instructor said "we don't do that, so I'll give you a refund for the rest of your classes. Thank you. Bye-bye."

I thought... oh, we just got kicked out of swim lessons. Oh well!

Just so you do know, Brixie Lee does just fine in the pool with Don and I. In fact, she loves it! So, we're just going to pick-up a teach your baby to swim book and do it ourselves.

Boys vs Girls!!! Girls WON!!!

2008-06-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today we went to visit my preschool teacher, Mrs. Linda, and her family in Taft. Talk about a family that knows how to party! They have a huge lot in Taft with tons of play equipment and food. You can't go wrong with that combination. It even inspired a Boys vs Girls competition between the Grandparents! As you can see, Grandma and Brixie Lee won that competition bottoms down ;)

The sky's the limit...

2008-05-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Part of my Mother's Day gift was this awesome carrier. One of the cool things about this carrier is that Daddy gets to carry it everywhere! Too cool! Maybe I should have called it a Father's Day gift and then my shopping would be done. We took off for our first pre-hike (the 2 mile walk we do around our neighborhood) and Brixie Lee was LOVING it! It was like she was seeing the world for the first time.
1 mile into our walk Don decided that the carrier was comfortable enough for us to do our normal loop that includes a big hill. Let's go Daddy!
When we got to the top of our normal hill, Daddy said that he still felt really good that we could do our bonus hike up to our water tower. Check out that view of Norco baby! Daddy's a rock star!
Brixie Lee was so excited when we saw a pack of horses on the hill. They were so beautiful and it just made our first carrier hike that much better.

In a few months we'll be going to Yellowstone with Don's family (Grandma, Papa, Aunties, Uncles, and 7 cousins) and this carrier is going to be perfect all those trails. In the mean time, we'll be doing lots of local hikes and enjoying this beautiful summer weather!

Grandpa's tractor is sooooooo cool!

2008-05-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Today we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Claypool in the beautiful Tehachapi mountains. WOW! I really miss how awesome it is up there. For those that don't know, my first 4 years of life were spent in Tehachapi before we moved to Bakersfield. I only have a couple of memories of that time, but I've seen a lot of pictures and I can say that it sure was an awesome place. I visited my Grandma (my Dad's mom) up there quite a bit and we went to play in the snow sometimes. If money was no object, Don and I would love to raise Brixie Lee in a town like Tehachapi. I don't see any pharmaceutical companies moving to the mountains so I guess we'll just have to be happy with the occasional visits.

See you soon Grandpa and Grandma!

While we were there Brixie Lee got to play on Grandpa's brand new tractor! She had a blast! If I could figure out how to get a little video clip on here I would, but I just don't have time to figure out how to shrink the video file. Last time I tried to add a little clip it just kept loading for hours and never did anything. Maybe that's just how long it takes... anyway, back to the point. Here are a couple of cute pics of Brixie Lee on Grandpa's tractor!

They're getting sooooo BIG...

2008-05-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

Kim and Caleb came to visit us today! He's such a good boy. He slept right up until lunch was ready (I think Brixie Lee taught him that) and then he just wanted to eat and go back to sleep. Kim and I actually got to "talk"... like... adults... because Brixie Lee went down for her nap right after lunch and Caleb was just so easy going the entire time. I was WONDERFUL to be able to "talk" to Kimmie! I just can't get over it.

Then I found this picture that Don took of me giving Brixie Lee a kiss and it just hit me how BIG she has gotten. It's just so shocking to me in this picture. My baby girl is just not a baby anymore!

Slippery Fish, slippery fish...

2008-05-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

My little slippery fish was covered with sand when we got home from the park today, so we decided to hose her off out on the porch. I didn't know how she was going to react because for some reason she has been kinda scared in the bathtub. Weired because she had always loved it before.

Well, nothing to worry about there! She couldn't wait to play in the water. She can be such a goofy little girl and I LOVE IT! We hung the hose over the balcony bars so she got her first outdoor shower. Maybe we'll do this instead of bath time and then I don't have to scrub the tub every week.
After about 15 minutes she was freezing. It wasn't very cold outside but a breeze kept blowing on her and making her cold. Her little goose bumps were cute but I couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to leave, but I just HAD to get her warmed up. She was soooo incredibly upset when I took her inside.
She starts swim lessons next month and now I don't have any worries! If you would like to see all the photos from the outdoor shower, check out Don's gallery.

With The Boys...

2008-05-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

Today we had a great day with some of Brixie Lee's boys.

We started off the day in Riverside with Aunt Kimmie and Baby Caleb. Brixie Lee said "ca-ib" all the way there and when we got there she found him much more interesting then when we saw him last month. For some reason she's really into babies right now. Back on point... today was Kim's first Stroller Strides class and she was such a rock-star! The girl acts like she didn't spend the last half of her pregnancy on bed rest, go through hours of labor ending up with an emergency c-section and all while dealing with excruciating pelvis pain. Nope, none of that slowed Kimmie down! She just kept on truck'n with the rest of these awesome mamas. To make it even better, Caleb slept through the entire class, woke for some yummy boobies, and sacked back out. Great job Kimmie and Caleb! Perfect way to start the morning.

From there Brixie Lee came home and took a nice LONG nap and we headed out to the evening class that I teach in Chino Hills. Two of Brixie Lee's favorite boys were there and after class Brixie Lee was taking there hands and dragging them to the playground. It was the cutest thing and us mamas laughed our butts off. We told the boys to get used to being dragged around by a girl cause it's never gonna stop. We were saying that we wished we had a camera and then I remembered (later in the car) that my phone has a camera. Oh well. I guess I was just enjoying them moment and lost my mind. Typical!

Fit as a fiddle!

2008-04-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Brixie Lee's pediatrician, Dr. Warren, said that she is "fit as a fiddle" at her 15 month check-up today! She has dropped down to the 60th percentile in height and weight (high 90's during her first year) and is doing really well all around. He asked me if she says 5 or 6 words and was pleased to hear that she has a huge (50-60 word) vocabulary. Mama soooo proud!

Then he said he heard a VERY SLIGHT heart murmur. That brought me back down out of the clouds. He believes it is a very mild murmur and that no action will need to be taken at this time. But, just to be safe, he's running a couple of tests (EKG and X-Ray) and sending those to his preferred specialist (Dr. Loits). We should hear back next week with the test results, but we're all very confident that she'll be just fine.

Make a plan... make God laugh!

2008-04-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've said it for years! One way to make God laugh is to make a plan. Well, turns out that is still true. Don and I planned our first weekend away... WITHOUT Brixie Lee! Huge step for me, but Grandma made it as smooth as butter. Grandma agreed to come down to Chino Hills to watch Brixie Lee while Don and I went down to La Jolla (our favorite quick get-away place for about 4 years now).

Here was the plan...

Stop in Temecula for lunch, olive oil and ice cream. Done! Check! Perfect!
Check into our favorite hotel and take a nap. God laughs... the hotel is under construction and it was impossible to nap with the constant hammering on the ENTIRE floor below us. I know, I know, I know... we should have said something, but I just wasn't in the mood to argue with anyone.
Walk to a nearby brewery and enjoy a couple of beers and a pizza. God laughs... all 8 beer options were nasty and the pizza crust was made from some kinda cake batter. Not sure what chef thought that was a good idea!
Hunt down a REAL corn dog (not that frozen junk that you get at Hot-Dog on a Stick). I take a look at the menu of one of our favorite bars and they have corn dogs on the menu! Can't believe it! Sooooo excited! We ask the waiter if it's a REAL corn dog and he says, "Yup... best in town!" Sign me up waiter man! Delish!!! Done! Check! Perfect!
Find a bar with music and park our butts for the evening. Turned out that our hotel had just what we were looking for and our bartender was outstanding! Done! Check! Perfect!
Turn in for the night ;) and sleep in as late as we like. God laughs... Don got food poisoning sometime that day and spent the night praying to the porcelain gods. Trust me, this was not from the alcohol! We were both up all night and he finally started to get some sleep around 5am.
Read my book club book on the beach while I sit back in my pop-up recliner chair and sip on raspberry ice tea (Don was going to be taking pictures). God laughs... at Don mostly... I did get to read my book in the hotel room while Don got some good sleep from 5am to 2pm. I asked him if he needed to go home, but he insisted that he was feeling better and that we should stay another night.
Enjoy a 2nd night ;) and sleep in as late as we like. God laughs... the a/c went out in our room. Too tired and frustrated to call the service desk, we decide to open the window. We just couldn't get the temp right. It was too hot, too cold, the down comforter was too much, no down comforter was too little, etc. Another night with no sleep. It was like the first few months of getting up all night, every night when Brixie Lee was a newborn.
Enjoy a cup of coffee down at the cove before we head home. God laughs... after 2 nights of no sleep we were just not in the mood to enjoy the cove and Don's tummy was still not feeling up to his favorite Starbucks triple-shot, non-fat latte, no foam.
Get home and enjoy the afternoon with our baby girl. Done! Check! Perfect!

Even though we enjoyed only 40% of our plan, we enjoyed each other's company 110%. Don is still my best friend and I think he's the best husband/father in the world. Love you honey and I can't wait to try again!

Special thank you, thank you, thank you to Grandma for taking care of Brixie Lee. We never worried about her because we knew she was enjoying her wonderful time with Grandma and the puppies! Love you Grandma!

Carters Rock!!!!

2008-04-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Auntie Diane and Tracey (the Carter's) took care of Brixie Lee tonight while Daddy and I went out on a much needed date. Before we left it already felt more like Daddy and Mommy were getting out of Brixie Lee's way so she could play with Tracey's toys (yes, Tracey is 18 but she has had several boy "friends" that have provided her with numerous toys. Lucky Brixie Lee!).
Here you can see that Tracey was having just as much fun as Brixie Lee.
Oh yes, Tracey is also an expert on the piano (just like her Dad). Do I hear free lessons in Brixie Lee's future???? Hehehe!
Thank you Auntie Diane and Tracey for taking such good care of my girl! You girls rock!!