Beach House Vacation in California

A couple weeks ago we went on our first family vacation with the girls; this means a trip other then to Grandma's house or other family, even though we like those trips too! Growing up I remember my mom talking about doing a spring break at a beach house, but for one reason or another we never did it so ever since then it has been something we've been wanting to do. 

We originally went in on a beach house with my parents for the week of their spring vacation. The beach house we got slept 12 so we decided why not invite Eric's grandparents and little brother too. I bet some of you think that was a bold move planning a vacation with both of our in-laws and while we did have minor bumps here and there, it was a really fun experience, especially since we don't know how many more things like this Eric's grandparents will be able to do in the future.

As luck would have it we picked the chilliest week out of the month, however that didn't seem to stop us from having fun! We took morning walks along the beach, played in the sand, celebrated Easter with an Easter egg hunt and dinner, went whale watching, played at a nearby park, went to some movies, Eric got to go deep sea fishing, we went to the LA temple and as usual we ate way too much food, including some really good sea food!

The beach house couldn't have been more perfect either! It was right on the beach. had lots of room and had this great fenced in patio off the side of the house where the kids could play without wandering off.

Leading up to our vacation I checked out some books with a beach theme or about the beach to help Mia get a sense of what it would be like. One great one was "Ladybug Girl Goes to the Beach". Mia loves the Ladybug girl series. If you have a little girl read those books! Anyway Mia went right out and got right in the waves. She was so brave and having so much fun until she was being a little too crazy, lost her balance and literally face-planted it in the sand. She came up with a big mouth full of sand and crying and pretty much wouldn't get in after that.

For Easter weekend, my brother Tyler who lives in California came up with his two kids. Mia has SO much fun playing with her cousin. They only came up for air from playing for meal times.

Eric's family has a tradition of dying Easter eggs every Easter. My family isn't as big on Easter so it was fun to still be able to do those fun things with the kids since his Grandparent's were with us.

I borrowed my friend's camera for this trip so I could take videos of our vacation. If I was to do it over I would probably figure out had to take a video before actually wanting to capture things and possible learn a lesson in holding more still but hey, it's a fun little keepsake from our first vacation nonetheless!

A little update and a little rambling

It's pretty apparent that since starting Stripes and Polka Dots...now Preciously Paired I haven't been very good at staying up on my personal blog. Sometimes I miss the outlet this particular blog gave me when documenting the growth and events of our family would sometimes lead to writing more of what was really on my mind with being a mother of two toddlers. This blog is a place where I don't really worry about writing proper sentences and structured posts; something I'm terrible at anyway. I guess it seems more like me.

Speaking of my other blog, now shop, it has been fun and an outlet in a whole other way. Sara and I get to be creative again using each other's strengths and share it with others. We're meeting so many amazing and inspiring people. I'm sure we're possibly setting our sights way higher then we'll ever achieve but it's a fun challenge. Recently we decided that blogging a couple times a week on different projects we came up with wasn't very satisfying. I love a good diy or craft but I don't believe I have the creative mind or energy to come up with multiple projects a week to share. Instead we both found that we really love more of the shop side of things. There's still a lot we have to learn and a some mistakes we're making along the way but it's exciting to create things that are for others rather then just yourself.

As for my full-time job...being a mom, I have my ups and downs with it. Both Mia and Livy are in phases that require me to constantly stay on top of them in one form or another. With Mia it's having to discipline and teach her how to be a good big sister to Livy, not talk back and listen to mom and dad. Most days I want to scream into a pillow and have my doubts that anything is getting through while in the back of my mind I wonder if I'm doing things right or instead just screwing Mia up to be a non-functioning human being. On the brighter side Mia has learned to be a really good friend to others, she still loves learning and helping and can do a lot more things by herself which she prefers. Livy is in the classic 1 year old phase where she goes from one things to the next, destroying everything in her path. My house can look like a tornado hit it about 30 minutes after the girls get up and most of it is Livy's doing. She's into EVERYTHING! She also likes to think she's Miss Independent by thinking she can run off in all directions the moment I set her down in public. However, no matter how independent she tries to be she still always comes up for a snuggle every now and again. Livy is also officially done with pacifiers. This involves a lot more screaming at our house...happy and sad. Even though it's easy to see all the difficult things about being a parent, there's something about kids that still make you love it and never want to give it up. It's funny how that works.

Basically our every day isn't much different then most people's. We have our bad days, our normal days and our really good days, but all in all we can't really complain. Life is good.

Now what most of you came here for; some picture updates:

Mia's first day of Preschool

We've started sticker charts with Mia for being good and listening. The prize for filling one was a pony ride.

It's a rare occasion when these two can play together, let alone sit next to each other without one of them screaming. I'm praying these two can grow up to be friends rather then enemies.

A few weeks ago we went out to Ely for a week. One day we went up to Cave Lake and Eric and Mia fished. Mia caught 5 fish on her little princess fishing pool. It was the cutest thing to watch her reel the fish in.

While there I also took some pictures of my little brother and parents. Even though I'm sure none of them will fess up to it, I think the pictures turned out pretty good :)

And of course a few from Halloween.

Until the next update...

Livy's One Year Book

I kept putting off this book and even wondered if I should make one. Livy being the second child, she got a little neglected in the picture taking department. I also wasn't as good at documenting Livy's progress and "firsts" over year 1 as I was with Mia so I was worried there wouldn't be much to put in a book. However, with a code for a free book from Shutterfly and seeing how much Mia has loved looking at the two photo books I've made of her I convinced myself to sit down and do it!

It's crazy to see how much Livy has grown since first holding her in the hospital over a year ago. She is SO different from Mia in more then just her looks. She can be very sweet and then sassy all within a few seconds, definitely knowing how to hold her own with an older sister. My favorite thing is that Livy has been such a smiley and giggle baby from what seems like birth!

Boy, I love this little girl and the joy she has brought into our family this last year and a half! Oh and for a quick update...Livy is officially walking everywhere! It only took her 15 months.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own custom photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Family Pictures: Lifestyle Shoot

With growing children it is near impossible to stay up on family pictures and have them not look outdated just months after taking them. One thing I've been seeing a lot more of over the last year or two with photographers is doing a lifestyle shoot which naturally captures life spent together as a family without all the posing and staging. Granted I can't say either Eric and I are super natural or comfortable in front of a camera, but I figured something like this would be so precious to have once the girls are grown up. It will help us remember and let the girls see life as it was when they were care free and young.

I'd been closely following a neighbor we lived by when Eric and I were first married who was majoring in photography at BYU. I have seen her talent grow into a business and all her lovely shoots. She mostly has done weddings in the past but has started doing more lifestyle family shoots. When I saw this I knew I wanted her to be the one to do our shoot!

I love how she was able to capture our little family, especially our beautiful girls. This shoot will be something I will treasure!

Photos taken by Danielle Woodall