Preschool update...

Actually, there's not a whole lot to report, but just thought I would include a few pictures. I will say that Dakota still loves going to class and continues to learn new things. She's pretty good about sharing (especially when I ask her to), putting toys away when it's time to clean up, and following directions. She has her days when nothing seems to click, and other days where I'm wondering if aliens took over her body because she's doing everything "right." Today was an exceptional day at preschool, she got along great with the other kids, she was polite to the teacher, and she listened to e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g I told her to do - and without skipping a beat. We're looking forward to next session, especially because her buddy Kylan will be attending. Ok, now for the pictures....

Making some sort of craft...

Making her Valentine's Day bag...

Enjoying some Valentine's Day goodies at snacktime...

Passing out & receiving Valentine's Day cards...

Spring is in the air....

...and we couldn't be any more HAPPY!!!

Unfortunately, we'll get a day or two of warm temperatures and then get hit by a nasty storm. Once again, we'll take what we can get. I just wish Mother Nature would make up her mind and at least give us a 4 or 5 day stretch of sunshine. Not sucker punch us with a horrendous rainstorm after giving us one measly day of beautiful blue skies and temps in the mid-70s!! @#&$%!!!!

Dakota has definitely been lovin' the warm weather. We've spent the past few weeks living it up at the local parks, as well as the backyard! We've just been cooped up way too long, and us Californians don't fair too well when we can't get outside after about 2 days. So, when the weather's nice, we hightail it outdoors!

The best part of all, we've discovered that Dakota loves soccer. If you give her a ball, she'll kick it to the moon and back. It's not just a kick here, and a kick there; she'll kick and kick and kick AND KICK!! It's like she actually knows how to dribble. I'm only impressed with this because this is the same kid that pretty much refused to kick a ball last summer. So, it was a lot of fun watching her run all over the field as she aggressively attacked the ball. I really want a swimmer in the family, but I'll be happy with any sport. This mom loves wearing baseball caps and screaming at the top of her lungs at games! =)

She was all over the field with the ball!

Not sure why she wanted to kick the bigger ball...

She's been going down the twisty slide since she was about 18 months old
I can't tell you how much she loves them...

The other weekend, Dakota and daddy had so much fun hanging out with each other in the garage. Once again, it was a beautiful day!!! Kevin found the bubbles that Dakota got for her birthday, and those two had a total blast blowing bubbles and making a mess all over the driveway and mommy's car. Gee thanks guys! Then, while daddy wasn't looking, Dakota got ahold of the bubble solution and dumped it all over her head. Good job dad! Needless to say, bubble time was O-V-E-R!! She was super bummed that she couldn't make any more bubbles, but daddy quickly distracted her with a ride on her tricycle, as well as a game of tag. It was so fun to watch them together!!

I think she looks JUST LIKE Kevin here....

Daddy is SO cool!! LOL

Enjoying a game of tag...

Just being a ham...

Gosh, I LOVE this weather!!!

Family Photos...

I have one word for my friend, Drew. Amazing! You're simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! What this friend did for me and my familly means more to me than I could ever express in words. I know some might think, "they're just photos," but they're so much more to me than that.

Ever since I met Drew I've admired her photography. How can you not?! Have you seen her pictures. They're phenomenal. SHE'S phenomenal! When she first told me she was a photographer, I figured she was just someone that liked to take lots of pictures of her adorable son with her fancy camera. Boy was I wrong! Drew, I'm so sorry I didn't give you more credit than that!!

Let me back up a little bit. I met Drew in August of 2008. We actually met at Gymboree when both Dakota and Brayden (yes, the same Brayden that I always rave about) were six months old. They were barely sitting, and I'm almost certain they weren't crawling. Something just clicked with us and we became friends, along with our other good friend Kathy (Kylan's mommy). Both Drew and Kathy have become really good friends of mine and we've shared some awesome times, and A LOT of crazy times! Watching our kids go from blobs to high-enery, rambunctious two year olds has created some incredible memories. And, some memories that I probably wouldn't have made it through without them!!

As I mentioned in a prior post, it was hard to say 'goodbye' to Gymboree a few months ago. Fortuntaly, we still make it a point to get the kids together several times a month. Brayden and Dakota are actually in the same preschool class, and Kylan will be joining the fun in April for the next session.

Drew, thank you again for these amazing pictures. The appreciation and gratitude that I have can never be summed up in words. But, just know that it was a HUGE honor to be the subject of one of your photo sessions. I kinda feel like a celebrity now, haha! And thank you for the much needed direction of picking out my clothes!! For those of you who don't know, I'm fashion retarded. I can totally dress my kid, and I'm pretty good at making Kevin look good, but I can't dress myself to save my life. I was so happy that she picked out the tanktop and sweater for me because it made me feel like a million bucks!

Stay tuned for more pictures from this photo session. I'll be getting the rest in a few weeks, which I CANNOT wait for!!! There are also a few more pictures in a slideshow that Drew was so nice to make for us. Check them out...slideshow!!!

Sushi...

Most people I know cringe at the thought of eating raw fish. Those who know me, know that I LOOOOOVE it! My dad turned me onto it when I was about 13 yrs old and I've been hooked ever since. I'm not a picky eater by any means, and I'll try anything once. Fortunately, I haven't found many things that I don't like. Except peas and cooked carrots. BARF!

When Dakota started eating solids she seemed to like most things we gave her. Sure, she went through phases of sticking her nose up to certain foods, but she'd eventually eat it and usually like it. Now that she's T-W-O, she's one of the pickiest kids I know. It's actually quite frustrating. I'm starting to think the stork dropped off the wrong kid. But then I remind myself that that's not possible, because Dakota LOVES sushi. Therefore, she must be my child!

I can't describe how much this kid loves the stuff. She wigs out at the site of it, and will literally lean out of her highchair with her mouth wide open, saying, "bite, bite!" Her favorites are the California Roll, Salmon, and scallops. She'll eat everything, but those are her favorites!

Sushi has now become our fallback food for Dakota. When she goes through one of her infamous food strikes, all we need to do is order her a California roll and we'll have an eating machine! I swear it's like the girl instantly grows a second stomach and just mentioning the word sushi sends her into a mad dash for the dining room table. When we were out for sushi with Grandpa, we actually had to stop her from eating anymore because she had already devoured the equivalent of eight rolls. The girl looked like a pot belly pig.

All I have to say about my little sushi lover is that I couldn't be more proud. To have such a picky eater actually love sushi baffles me, but you'll never hear me complain. Fish is one of the healthiest things one could eat! And for those of you concerned about the mercury content, there's no need to worry! The fish that have the highest amounts of mercury (shark, swordfish, mackerel and tilefish) are ones that I haven't even tried. Our favorites (salmon, shrimp and tuna) actually have the least amount. And of course, we always go to restaurants that we know handles and prepares fish correctly, and that are popular and have high turnover!

Mmmmmmmmm!!!

Who lives at Disneyland??

If you ask Dakota this question she'll quickly tell you, "Mickey Mousch, Dol-Duck, Goo-pee (Goofy), and To-po (Pluto)." LOL. It's pretty darn cute if you ask me. But I'm also a little worried that my daughter might be a tad dyslexic. I mean, "to-po"????? Haha! I'm sure she'll grow out of her backwards talk, but it's still a little odd.

Anyway, we've been to Disneyland several times since the last time I posted about one of our trips, but I just wanted to share some fun pictures that we've taken over the past month or so. =)

Ringing the door bell...excessively!

On the phone with the po-po...

The carousel, always a fave!

On the carousel with her friend Natalie...

Can you tell she's Natalie's biggest fan??

Chugga-Chugga, Chugga-Chugga...

...Choo-Choo!!!

I know I do a lot of posts on our trips to the train station, but I couldn't resist this visit. I got some super cute photos of Dakota and Daddy hanging out by the tracks. We always have so much fun there, and love that we can grab lunch or dinner at the cafe while we wait for the choo-choos!!

Waving to mommy...

Uh oh, here comes daddy!!

Gotcha!!!

I love this one, she was running away from daddy who was trying to get her booty

Good friends...

...good times!

Our friends Elizabeth and Chris are our very bestest friends! I've known Elizabeth since I was about 10 yrs old. I think she was 8. I was a total tomboy and she was a girly-girl. We couldn't have been more opposite, but yet we were still good friends. I thought she was a total sweetheart, even if she ratted me out every chance she got. I'm sure I deserved it though. I know I wasn't always that nice to her. I think I roughed her up a few times, so I certainly deserved to get tattled on. LOL. We actually lost touch during those tumultuous teen years, but we were always in each others thoughts.

Fortunately, we reconnected about four years ago and we've been inseperable ever since. Before our daughters were born, the four of us spent so many awesome nights hanging out, BBQing, drinking, playing Apples to Apples, and kicking plastic flamingos off the front lawn, haha!! We had our occasional "girls night" sleep over (yes, sleepovers at 27...haha), and even took a fun trip out to Vegas one weekend, just the two of us. We had a blast!

I think the best time was when we all took a camping trip out to Los Padres. Man, that was a good time and a VERY memorable one (wink wink). I think Liz and Chris are the only ones that know why this trip was so memorable for Kevin and I. =)

In June of 2007, I found out I was pregnant with Dakota. Liz was the second person I told and she was so excited for me. We had both talked about having kids one day and hoped that they would be close in age. Fast forward a year and Liz called me up with the news that she was pregnant! Dakota was only a couple months old, so I was ecstatic to receive the news that Dakota's future BFF, Katie, was on the way!!

Dakota & Katie are so sweet together. They love each others company and they're at the age where they actually play together. It has been so much fun to watch them over the past year, and I can't wait to see all that the future has in store for us. If they're anything like us, they're gonna be wreaking all sorts of havoc.

A few weekends ago, Liz, Chris and Katie came over for some good times! We BBQ'd on Saturday night, watched the girls play together, sent them to bed, then enjoyed the night playing charades. Oh man, did we have some good laughs. Let's put it this way, Kevin acting out contractions will forever be burned into our memory!!! Sunday was just as fun. We spent the day hiking a local trail, and hanging out at the train station. Dakota even helped Katie to walk. It was so much fun!
Here are some photos from that weekend....

Taking an afternoon walk...

It was such a beautiful day!

Hanging out at the train station....

Is she not the sweetest thing ever?! Katie-bug, we love you!

Waitin' for the choo-choos!!!

This was so sweet. Dakota took Katie's hand to help her walk...