Coming home!

My brother Michael has been in Iraq since July... that's a long time to be away but especially long when you're newly married and newly an uncle! We are so excited that he is scheduled to leave Iraq next week and should be home a few days later. We can't wait to see him and I can't wait to introduce Liv to him.

Here he is with his new best friend... Rock on Walker Texas Ranger!

We are moving!!

We are in escrow! Hooray! We are so excited to be moving back to Orange! It's been 4.5 years since we left our awesome apartment above the Circle. We are moving just 5 blocks away from our first place which is so fun! The builder that built the place we had in Fullerton is building in Orange, near the train station. We placed an offer and they accepted it a week and a half ago. Last time we had 6 months to think and plan and this time we have a few weeks because the place is already built... it just needs flooring! We love the floorplan and can hardly wait to be back in Orange!


This is our place... 529 West Maple! I adore all the huge windows....


and we are particularly excited about the rooftop deck! Margaritas anyone??

Major catch-up time...

I can't believe it's been a month since I wrote... needless to say it's been a busy month and a lot has happened! I'll do my best to get up-to-date!

The weekend before Christmas, Meghan and I planned a surprise for our boys but when we got there, the place was closed. So, we headed over to Strawberry Farms for breakfast and then an impromptu photo shoot. More pics on Kurt's blog.


It was fun to see Kurt with Wallace... I get to see him all the time but Kurt doesn't. They had some good bonding time at the restaurant. I think he's looking so old! (Wallace, that is!)


Liv found her feet!! She is in love with these built in toys and has recently realized that she can get them in her mouth! She also started rolling over... first from stomach to back and now back to stomach. She can't keep still anymore and is pulling her little legs up underneath her when she's on her tummy and trying to scoot along. I'm afraid she's going to be an early crawler!


I love Christmas! We had a lovely day... we spent the morning as just the three of us which was so special and fun.


Liv knew something was different Christmas morning. She patiently waited as we got everything ready. She particularly enjoyed the wrapping paper!


Our first Christmas as a family!



Kurt's mom sent this super soft kitty for Liv. She included a note that said it was the best kind of family pet... with no litter box! Liv LOVES this guy! She immediately set to drooling all over him. She is certainly in an oral stage! Anything she can get in her hands goes into her mouth!


My sister Abigail and her husband Matt were in town for Christmas along with their two foster boys, M & S. We had a lot of fun with them & Liv finally got to meet her first biological aunt! The two boys are so cute and it was so fun to play auntie to them. We are hoping that Matt & Abigail will be able to adopt them!



We have been living on the beautiful Black Gold Golf Course for almost a year and we've never been able to try it out. It was closed on Christmas Day so we all went for a walk. Kurt borrowed some clubs to try a little driving. He looked pretty cool swinging that club but that ball hit a roof in our neighborhood and we took off running! :)

Christmas was a lot different this year. We typically have a quiet celebration with my parents, Kurt's mom and Gray when he was here. I do believe the years of quiet gatherings are done! We had so much fun with Liv and M & S! Kids make Christmas even better!

We spent New Year's Eve at Meg & Rian's. Liv was just about ready to go to bed when we got there but we just had to get a shot of her and Wallace for their first New Year's together. Needless to say, Liv was past the point of smiles & giggles. She's gonna love these pics when she's older! I love Wallace's "what are you crying about?" look!

Me & Heidi at midnight!