Another Busy Post!--Winter/Spring 2011

From January to March was another quarter of full-time school. With a quick Spring Break in March (and me and Bailey's Birthdays!) We went right into Spring Quarter from end of March to June--which included a trip to Greece for Chris and I! In a nutshell (because there is so much to catch up on) here are some highlights of January--June 2011!

February

Our good friend Julia did a photography session with Bailey after the daffodils bloomed--they turned out so beautiful! She's a great photographer and Bailey loved being around all the flowers and changing into different dresses :)














Valentine's Day!! What a fun holiday it was this year. With Bailey in preschool, we made homemade valentine's for everyone in her class out of construction paper, glitter and stickers. She loved making them. She also loved helping me make heart-shaped pink pancakes for breakfast that morning--with sprinkles on top of course:)




March

It was Birthday month for our little family! Bailey turned 3 on March 11. During Spring Break we had a big Princess Party in the Community Center at our complex and one of my friends even came dressed up as Sleeping Beauty. Bailey was SO thrilled about that:) Mom helped me with food and we had activities like wand decorating, bead necklaces and bracelets, face-painting and pin the crown on the princess. Later that weekend we celebrated my own Birthday by going out with my parents and our good friends Jolynn and Casey Mierovitz to a nice local restaurant called "Tuco's" that was SO delicious! It was a fun Birthday weekend!

On Bailey's Birthday, she got to be the special "Star of the Day" at her preschool where she got to lead circle time and be the special teacher's helper for the day. She LOVED it and she showed us her favorite activities to do around the classroom--which tended to be puzzles and number games.



a gift from Shayli:) She loves rockin' out!




Dad and Chris were troopers with all the setting up--and I wish I had gotten better pictures of the food tables with the gorgeous frosted cupcakes mom had piped, the muffins, fruit and fruit dip were all beautifully done and displayed thanks to her!

Hannah was our designated face painter:)



April

April was a fun-filled month! We had Chris' family come down and visit us for a weekend and we all went to Great America theme park in San Jose. I wish I would've gotten some pictures--but I got great one of Nana playing on the front grass with Bailey. They put pom-poms in their pants to make horse tails and were playing horses all afternoon!


Easter weekend my sister CAMILLA came to visit me!!! We had such a nice visit with her! We had an Easter Egg hunt Saturday at the complex and we did lots of bike riding round town, Farmer's Market, etc. I love my little sis so much and it was so good to see her! Austin couldn't come up since he was in the Bahamas doing research (talk about a nice place to do research!) It was really good to spend time with her before they headed out to Africa for the whole summer to do humanitarian work in Tanzania--we've been missing them!





At the end of the month, Bailey had her first Dance recital! She has LOVED taking ballet and she even makes me out on music all the time so she can dance around the living room and "practice" her steps. She knows first, second and third position and "leaping" is her favorite. The theme for the recital was "Under the Big Top" and Bailey's class did a routine dressed as black cats. It was cute!





May

May was probably the most EXCITING month so far this year! Chris had a conference in Greece and I flew out to meet him there! It was out first time ever flying and visiting another country besides Canada and the border of Mexico. It was so neat to experience another country--the food, culture, sights and history! We truly had such a wonderful time. Bailey stayed with my mom and Chris' mom in Medford. I flew out to meet Chris on the Island of Crete and we spent a couple days there, then took a ferry to another Island--Santorini (which was our favorite part of the trip!) and after spending a couple days there we went to mainland Greece and toured Athens and drove to Nafplion. There are WAY too many pictures to post and so I'll put them in another post following this one to show you all our adventures! We were so grateful to have such an opportunity to go. Chris had gotten a travel grant that paid all his expenses and flight and we had gotten our tax return in March so we could save up and pay for my flight and traveling expenses. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I'm so glad we took!

In the meantime, here are some pictures of our family in May before the trip.


Chris had been growing out his beard to see how long it could get. We discovered that instead of growing long...it grows out and poofs like an afro-beard! He finally shaved it off as a Mother's Day gift to me :)

Mother's Day!

Bailey has grown up so much. She is becoming so independent. One of the things she loves doing the most at home is tracing her name! Now she can write her name all by herself without tracing the letters and can write more than half the letters of the alphabet freehand.