Emmerson's Birthday Weekend

There was a reason why Baby Girl's birthday was as mellow as it was… her birthday weekend was action packed! On Saturday morning after Emmerson's birthday I took the kids and drove up to Orange County with my Mom to Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Jill's house. It was Clare's ballet recital and also Laurel's 2nd birthday celebration. 

Dustin left for San Diego to prepare for a marathon he was running the next day. 

 Clare looked absolutely adorable in her ballet costume!

 And the best surprise of all was that our birthday girl, Laurel, got to dance in Clare's recital too! Cuteness overload! Donovan was hilarious during the recital. He wanted to be up on the stage sooo badly! He danced in the aisles and had quite the audience of his own. Oh, this boy of ours. 

 Birthday girl Laurel with her Oma. 

 I can't believe she's 2 already!! Time for another niece or nephew Jill and Jonathan????!!!!! 

Pretty please!!!!! Ha! (I love you guys) 

Proof that we were there, although I'm not sure where my own tiny dancer was in this picture. 

Sunday morning, I woke up the kids bright and early and drove with my Dad to San Diego to watch Dustin run his second full marathon. Dustin's family drove down from Sacramento too so we all met up at their hotel before walking to the finish line. This is the one picture I got that morning. Donovan is always so excited to see his Daddy run races! Dustin set a new PR and did such an incredible job. He continues to amaze (and motivate) me!  

It was an action packed weekend but we were so grateful to be able to spend it with our families.  

Catching Up

So, let's see... the weeks of summer keep zooming by and I hardly feel like I can keep up. I think this is mostly due to the lack of nap time around these parts. (See post below) Donovan keeps me on my toes all day long. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Here are a few pics of what we've been up to lately. 

Hanging out with my family: 

Last weekend we had a last minute impromptu get together with everyone! (Minus the hubs, who's been working non-stop these last few weeks)

I seriously find SO much joy in being an aunt. I love my nieces more than anything and am so happy when I get to spend time with them. 

 Clare just steals my heart. I definitely get my girly fix when I'm with her. Here we are playing dress up dolls. 

 And this little love bug is making her debut on my blog, although you can see many more posts about her here or here. Let me introduce you to Miss Laurel Elizabeth. Is she not the cutest princess you've ever seen? I'm in love!

 And I was able to sneak in a couple of cuddles with her when she was over last weekend, which completely made my day. 

 Was Donovan ever this small? I completely forgot how tiny they are. So crazy!

Onto the next: Our anniversary. Dustin had to work that day but when he got home we celebrated in true Hein form... Roberto's burritos and the beach. This time we took the whole family and just ate in the car overlooking the ocean. We're classy like that. 

Daddy and Dono in the back seat.

 Our lovely view.

 Molly was there, too. 

 Me and my silly boy. 

 And a quick shot outside the 4runner to document the evening. 

 The rest of our days have been pretty laid back. It's been hot, so we've spent lots of days in our little back yard plastic pool or at the beach. 

Here we are playing in the afternoon, waiting for Daddy to get home from work. 

(P.S. thanks for the cute shirt Aunt Barb. Donovan loves showing off his big muscles!)

 And when Daddy gets home from a day of working at the golf course, guess what he does... MORE golf with his little sidekick of course. Watching my boys together always brings a smile to my face.

Next up: Some plans to redo a few things in Donovan's room. A little bit of painting and some fun projects to update his nursery a bit. And then a much needed get away with the Mr. this weekend in Palm Springs. (Compliments of Grammie who is babysitting for us!) Woo hoo! 

Summer, please slow down! These days are moving much too fast. 

Family Breakfast

Every year Oma treats the entire family to breakfast at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach. It is so yummy and the views are priceless.

Be prepared for the many, many pictures ahead.

Road Trip time...

Little man in his big boy car seat.

I am obsessed with the little houses in Laguna. Especially this time of year when they're decorated for Autumn. I had to take these quickly because Dustin was shaking his head at me and calling me a stalker... but if my house was this cute and in Laguna, I think I would understand and even appreciate people wanting to snap a picture of it.

This one is my favorite. Look at the 2 little Molly dogs just waiting to be let in the front door. Yep, I could see us living here.

My boys walking down the hill to the restaurant.

Breakfast with a perfect view of the Pacific.

Tired Donovan

Cousins

All of the girls + D

Family shot

I am loving how Donovan just rests his head on our shoulder now. It's the littlest thing but it just melts my heart.

Clare and her Oma aka "Moma" marching together

I think I have the cutest niece in the entire world!

She was a great sport putting up with her cousin who was way too interested in her hat.

LOVE!

Happy Grandparents

Moma and Clare

And Grampy and Moma with their cuties.

Thank you Oma for a beautiful day! It gets better and better each year.

Lately

Donovan is such a big boy these days!!!

We have officially lowered his crib all the way down to the floor because he's pulling himself up and using his mattress as a trampoline. He rolls around like it's a playground. We also had to put the bumper pads back on again because mini man managed to hit his face so hard against the rails that he gave himself a big bruise on his right cheek. Poor baby! He's pulling himself up on chairs and the coffee table. The time has come to baby proof the house for sure.

Donovan had his first Sunday in the church nursery last weekend. He did great!

He also attended his first wedding this weekend. We drove to Redlands to see my sister in law's brother get married. It was the most beautiful wedding and we had a wonderful time!

Clare was the cutest flower girl I have ever seen in a dress her Oma made just for the occasion.

My brother and I being the dorks that we are.

Daddy and Donovan playing around.

The ladies and one little guy having a great time.

And a few more pictures of my super crawler who now knows where we house all of his toys. He crawls on over, pulls himself up, and pulls out as many toys as he can before I come over and toss them all back in.

I can't believe how quickly this little boy is growing!

skirt-shower-weekend

So here's the skirt that my momma whipped up in a jiffy. I love, love, love it and I hope that there'll be more to follow. (Hint, hint mom) I think this will become my new work uniform because trying to squeeze a pumping session into a 40 minute lunch break just won't mesh with fancy dresses or fussy blouses. But that's a whole other story that I'm choosing not to worry about just yet.

This weekend we piled into the family mobile and headed off to a bridal shower for my sister in law's brother's fiancee up in Orange County. Did you follow that one... it doesn't really matter too much because I mostly just wanted to show you what I got to eat. The treats were insane!

Sugar cookie bridal dresses

Yummy cupcakes with fancy names like orange rosemary and mexican cocoa... I felt like I was on cupcake wars and yes, I sampled a little of each. How could I not?

Lavender macaroons and

hazelnut biscotti cheesecakes and there was so so much more but I had to put my camera away because I felt sort of weird snapping pictures of all of the food at my sister in law's brother's fiancee's bridal shower... but these are the sacrifices that have to be made when you blog. You know?

Even better than the sugar high I got after eating all of the delectable treats was how I simply LOVED hanging out with my favorite people.

Relaxing in the shade and laughing with my mini man.

And laughing even harder at Clare's interpretation of a super hero. AKA wearing her aunt's nursing cover and her Oma's sunglasses, oh, and nakey except for a little skirt. I could eat her up! Only 17 months old and soooo much personality.

Donovan loved it too, obviously!

And my Oma got to cuddle with the babies too.

Donovan only sort of minded being the solo guy at the party.

And then he got to go home and have man time with his Grampy.

Daddy's on an airplane back home as I type. He's been in Portland for the weekend. Looking forward to having him home and not looking forward to Donovan's first day at daycare tomorrow. Pray for me friends. More on this mommy milestone in another post.

*** And one last thing. Last weekend I posted about how I like to cook special meals on Sundays. I just got off the phone with my mother in law and she asked what I served up on my china plate tonight... toast with peanut butter and a tall glass of milk. Not on china, on a paper towel. This may be the sad beginnings of what a working mom/wife looks like. Ha!