Our home in the 9-0-2-1-0!!!

Our decision to move was a great one, since this house doesn't have stairs and is bigger and wejust like everything about it MUCH better!!!

The front!

What you see when you enter - the long hallway!

The family room to the left of the front door!

Another view!

More formal living room to the right of the front door! How awesome is

it they have a piano! Wahoo!

Another view!

The view of dining room and kitchen from the family room!

Another view of the formal dining area - and yes - that is a LOT of liquor and alcohol on the cabinet on the right and they said we were welcome to have whatever we wanted - so generous eh!!! We informed them we don't drink and they won't have to worry about us taking any!!!

A view into bathroom from kids room and into master bedroom!

View of the breakfast nook and the Kitchen! LOVE Griffin's wood highchair! So vintage (ok and so girly but still really cool!)

Nook in the kitchen to the back door!

View of the guest bathroom across from the kitchen!

Cash and Griffin's room!

A view of their beds! Yes it was a girls room - but they still love it!

The tub the kids LOVE to get in each night!

The shower and my little sweeper!

The master bedroom!

Another view!

The only thing we didn't love about the house was the fact they don't have blinds for this bedroom, and the window faces the guest house where Steve (the owner) and Mario, the upstairs tenant in the guest house lives. So we put up this wonderful makeshift blind - oh yeah, gotta love the sheet!

Guest room and our computer area!

Where lucky visitors get to stay when they come stay with us!

There are plenty of pillows, and books if they are interested!

Guest bathroom!

View of the backyard from the guestroom!

Right outside the back door part of the side yard!

Keisha, my kids new best friend to play with!

View of guest house to the right of the back door!

View into the back yard!

I LOVE the colorful house, the bright cheery feeling, the open floor plan, and the fact we NEVER have to climb stairs or carry groceries that far once we are home!

Yeah, life is good in Beverly Hills!

Valentines Day 2012!!!

Valentines Day here in Beverly Hills was a little different this year then in previous years!

Usually I think of going out on a hot date with my husband, chocolate covered strawberries, and then getting takeout and eating by candlelight while we read our new list of 100 reasons we love each other and the kids are off to sleep......but somehow that was far from what our day actually was like!

Instead, I ended up hunched over in an aisle of Target dry-heaving, trying to make sure I actually didn't vomit on the floor from the horrible nausea of my pregnancy! I know, I have seemed to complain about this a lot lately, especially to those who talk to me on the phone......and yes, I am STILL feeling crappy every day, with headaches and nausea, and yes I would like it to go away...but I am realizing probably this is going to last the entire pregnancy! So we still decided to go ahead with other plans we had made, regardless of my many bouts of sickness throughout the day! (it was an exceptionally bad day sick wise for me :( )

The kids were excited for our cookie decorating and pizza making....and we did manage to do both, even homemade both things which was a great feat for me! I have NEVER made homemade pizza on my own before - probably because I don't own a pizza pan, but it was actually fun and turned out delicious - and the cookies were fun for Cash to decorate! Then we did dip a few strawberries for daddy - and get him a card and some of our favorite treats from when we were in China - Hi-Chews!!! So all in all, it was a good day full of love and time together - for me and the kids that is! They are both really sick with colds too so they were ready for bed the moment daddy arrived home (he was stuck in traffic for over an hour coming home which delayed him a bunch and caused him to miss our dinner and all our festivities!)

So we put the kids to bed, and read the list I had made for Chip of 100 reasons why I love him......and then I promptly fell asleep 5 minutes into my massage from him and that was how our night ended! So much for a romantic dinner and time spent for us- guess that's just how it goes when you got sick kids who keep you up at night, a sick pregnant wife, and a work-aholic right?! Oh well, the most important part is that we have a great little family and we love each other and we did all tell each other that so I think the important part was done! I love my 3 boys!!!

Cash was so excited about all our cookies - he listed off who we could give them to! First he was excited to give one he had especially made for Cathy, our maid! She liked it but I think she might have thought the toppings were a little much! :)

Cash also colored some hearts for Cathy and Daddy to express his love! I asked why he did some black and he said he thought they looked cool!

A blurry pic of our chocolate dipped strawberries and Hi-chews -- both were delicious!

Can you pick out which one Cash made for himself - and which one is for his daddy?

He wanted a picture of him doing a funny face!

Our pizza with a heart made out of pepperonis!!! It tasted divine! (and that's coming from someone who doesn't even like pepperonis!)

Happy Valentines Day!

A Busy, and fun Weekend....until the sickness hit!!!

We had a great time at the beach last time we decided to go, minus the fact it took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to drive home the 9 miles we are from it! That was enough to deter me from ever going again in the afternoon post 3 pm.....but while we were there, the kids had a blast playing with our new beach toys and just hanging out for a couple hours. It was a good break for me from worrying about all the different things I have been occupied with lately!

Griffin digging in the sand!

Cash loved the new boat and airplane I got him to play with!

Dumping sand on your knees is so much fun!

On Saturday the weather was supposed to be a little cooler so we decided to forego our beach plans and take the kids to a fun museum. We went to the Rancho La Brea museum, where they have dug up all sorts of fossils and bones of animals. Cash loved it! I have learned that he LOVES museums of all kinds, and would be happy to listen to and read each post underneath the item on display! Griff, on the other hand, wanted to just run from one thing to the next, and is much harder to keep track of! But we had a great time, and the animals were actually very fun to see - our favorites being the LARGE woolly mammoth, and also the smallest bone - a mouse toe bone! Not even sure how they got that out of the dirt it was so small, but cool all the same! In one of the exhibits it wasn't just the bones, but a stuffed saber-tooth tiger that was attacking another large creature - the tiger was on top, and the figures moved and they did look pretty real ---- but Cash wouldn't get within 10 feet of it....he just wanted to watch from a distance, because he didn't want it to "jump over and get him!" It was funny, and while at the same time Griffin was trying to go underneath the ropes and get into the exhibit for a closer look! So there you have my 2 boys personalities in contrast! Cash the cautious one, and Griff the daredevil! They are fun tho, and Cash said at least 50 times during the day: "Dad, I am so happy you don't have to work today so we can play with you!" I loved hanging with my 3 boys!

This is an actual site on the grounds that they are digging up animals from!

My 3 favorite people outside at the bear statue!

After the museum Chip dropped Griff and I off at the house to get Griff down for a nap, and him and Cash went off to Costco and to get a haircut! Cash was so excited it was just him and they could get hot dogs and shop and told me he would be brave in his next haircut!

Here he is right before she went to work. He actually did pretty good this time! He was fine until he looked in the mirror and saw her cutting and then Chip noticed he had big crocodile tears running down his face and so they had to turn him away where he couldn't see it. He then was fine and brave til the end he told me. Chip managed to get this great pic of him! We still need an after-haircut pic but I must say he looks MIGHTY HANDSOME!

After naptime we took the kids off to the park so we could wear them out before the babysitter came over and they would go to bed easy. Griff had a great time carrying around the pail with the toys to play with in the sand. It was a little chilly, but a great time. Cash had a blast throwing the football with his daddy!

Showing off his pail!

My little rascal!

Chip and I finally got a chance to have a date without the kids - we found a fantastic babysitter from the singles ward here and my kids LOVE her! She will be coming now every weekend and I look forward to more dates. It was weird for us to walk into a restaurant and actually be able to just talk and enjoy our meal, instead of worrying about the kids grabbing the salt shaker, or dumping things, or anything else. It was great, and since it was rainy after we didn't want to go down to the pier area so instead we drove over to the Beverly Hills Hilton, which is very close to our house, and saw all the news people and fans and everything going on outside related to Whitney Houston's death. It is weird to me that we are so close to all of these events and stuff. In fact, Chip's company has a box at the Staples center and put on the Golden Globes and Grammys! Crazy! All in all it was a great night! We came home to both kids being asleep and the night going well......that is until we were woken up at midnight to Cash vomiting all over his bed. Poor little guy was burning up and he just kept saying "I am so sorry mom, I am so sorry!" after the incident.....I felt so bad for him that he was so sick. After we washed him off in the bath and tried to get his fever down he went back to bed, and slept the rest of the night. He was fine the next morning but woke up with a terrible runny nose and horrible cough, which kept him up all last night - and Griff has the same thing! I thought we just got over this cold junk!!!! Seriously can it not just stay away from us!!! I was sick all day too still from pregnancy nausea and headaches, which YES I still have DAILY!!!! I am so ready for this pregnancy to be over and to just have a week where I can wake up each day feeling normal and good! Feels like so far away, but I am trying to get thru as best I can!!! So we all stayed home from church and Chip took good care of us!

Today is a new day, and since it is a rainy day and the kids are both sick we have to mostly stay inside, but we did go out for a morning walk in the wagon! The kids enjoyed being in the wagon for about....um 2 minutes. Then they each wanted to pull it and push and it was a VERY LONG walk around the block, which ended with mom pulling the wagon and holding Griffin!! But it was fun and nice to get out anyways!

The start of our walk!

Happy to be outside....and yes the grass is just that green - no editing of these photos!

The kids were happy to come back and play in the backyard for one reason!!!

Our dog while we live here - Keisha!!! She is great and the kids LOVE her!

Cash especially LOVES to play for hours each day with her and follow her in and outside! It's great because we get to enjoy her, but don't have to take care of her at all.....I might daresay I even like having a dog!

Here's a fun video of my 3 boys outside the museum playing together. I love them so much!!!

Hoping this week will just get better and better, and my kids will get well quick!!!

Farewell Santa Monica House!!!

I like to document pictures and videos of each house we live in, and although we were only there for about 4 weeks, I thought I would give you all a glimpse of our Santa Monica home.....and also the picture of the terrible parking which was a major cause for our move, and why we have two nice matching scratches on each side of our brand new car!!!

The front of our building - and no, we didn't actually get to park our car there ever, just Chip did when he was unloading something!

The front hallway to our place - leading back to Cash's room, with the Kitchen the first opening on the left and the family room the second!

Right off the right just as you get inside is the guestroom, or third bedroom!

Griffin wanted to be in the picture of another view of the guestroom!

Guest bathroom!

One view of the kitchen from the front hall!

Another view from the family room area!

The family room!

Cash wanted to be in all the pictures when I first started taking them - you can see the dining room part of the kitchen too!

The family room area again!

Cash and Griffin's bedroom - it was rearranged a bit from this view to fit Griffin's new crib we got in there! It was a dilemma whether or not to put them in the same room, and although it has been a bit of a challenge in some ways, as their sleeping patterns are not really the same, I wanted them to learn to share a room early on, and I do enjoy the moments when I hear them giggling together every once and awhile before they want to get up!

Another view of the boy's room!

The boys' bathroom

The master bedroom!

Another view of the master!

The master bathroom! The tub part didn't work, and so we had to fill it up using the shower part when the boys wanted a bath - luckily they both like showers too now!

The part I hated the MOST about this place - our space was the one right to the right of the car, with the pipes low over our roof and look how TINY it is! What you don't see is the fact that 10 feet behind this is another wall, so you can't really get a straight approach to pull in, which would have helped a lot, but rather have to make a tight turn, reverse and pull in about 100 times to avoid hitting the poles, and yes we still managed to do it twice, once on each side of the Toyota Sienna! Our swagger wagon has lost a little swag I guess.....so bummer! I won't miss trying to get it right any more!!!

Video didn't work so can't put it on this post....sorry!

The part I miss the most about this place is being able to walk out the door in the morning and do my morning exercise/walks to the beach each day. Also, it was on the corner to a major street full of shops and restaurants and a great little frozen yogurt place we had found. Overall though, I am MUCH MUCH happier without the stairs (didn't get a picture of them) and the insane parking by the poles and street parking, or lack thereof we always had to deal with! Shortest place yet we have lived in one city!

On a side note: Cash spotted this car as we were getting ready to leave the park today! He asked me why it had so much trash in it? Good question Cash - and if you can't tell there is barely even enough room for a driver there is so much garbage in here - GROSS!!!!

22 weeks!!!

Many have asked for a pic of my ever growing belly lately, and altho I am NOT a fan of belly pics and don't care at all for how I look at this point, here is the attempt at one via my little 3 year old helper photographer Cash! The first attempt my head was cut off, fabulous, and the other one is the only other one out of the bunch that wasn't blurry! Oh well - so here they are!

This has been a very VERY rough pregnancy to say the least. The fact that I am still nauseous everyday if I don't eat every 5 minutes is way annoying and frustrating, not to mention makes me grumpy and not want to go do things with the kiddos. Add to it the daily headaches I have been getting that have gotten worse over the weeks and it has been a really rough 17 weeks. I keep thinking maybe this will be the week it goes away, only to be disappointed, so I decided that I will just count on being sick like this through the end and then if it does end earlier for me than I will consider myself lucky!!! I don't think the next few months will pass soon enough!

I went to the Dr. out here yesterday for my checkup and he ended up doing an ultrasound, which once again verified that indeed we are having a little girl!!! I am way excited, and now that it has been told to me twice at two different ultrasounds I actually believe it. So yeah, and we have been discussing names a bunch, and actually have a couple that we both like so that has been fun --- if you heard of any fun cute names please share - something different but not weird!!!

The Dr. started off by telling me that the actual weight gain caused by the baby and my body since it is pregnant only = 22 lbs. and so they recommend 25-30 lb. weight gain during a pregnancy. I am in HUGE trouble here. I already way 15 more lbs. than when I went into labor with Griffin, and have gained 30 lbs. already ---- guess the eating every 5 minutes to stop the nausea is catching up with me quickly and since I don't actually ever vomit is going to be a problem! Please nausea disappear. I tried one day to just not eat and beat the nausea just by letting it pass and I got so sick, not even the pill would work and ended up having to give in to my craving of licorice and peanut butter M&M's. Surprisingly after just a few I felt much better! Oh well I guess - gonna probably just end up being a contestant on one of the future Biggest Loser Seasons after I am done with this. The things we women go through to have little ones. I know it is all worth it, but I am very uncomfortable, not happy at all with my body, my skin has already got the pregnancy mask on my face and some dry and red spots that won't go away and I have never had before, and so pretty much I am SO excited for the time when I can feel back to normal and be comfortable in my own skin!!!!

Current cravings: Oranges, specifically orange juice and clementines, watermelon, pineapples and blueberries, cinnamon butter (a new thing we just found out here and is so good) on toast, and mozzarella cheese! I don't want to eat these together so that is good. :)

Anyways, I am grateful that everything looked healthy and good at the ultrasound and that the baby appears to be developing right on schedule. Can't wait to meet this little angel in just a few months!

Doing Good Always Makes Me Feel Better!

Today I had the opportunity to make dinner for some friends of ours out here. She recently lost her baby at 25 weeks pregnant, and my heart went out to her and their family. We don't know them well, but they lived in Cville too before here and some of their best friends are also our best friends and so I felt like I was doing something for all their Cville friends who wish they could be there. They have 4 darling kids, 3 boys and a girl, and this baby was a boy too. As I am only 3 weeks behind her in my own pregnancy, it was a time of lots of reflection, and my heart aches for her as the thought of something like this happening makes me so sad and would be so devastating. I am sure we will get to know them better and they will be our good friends too soon. Hopefully it will be more happy times we will interact then this! Anyhow, fixing dinner for someone else always guarantees we will eat well too, so that is a good thing. I fixed a homemade lasagna, rice krispie treats with Valentine M&M's, a tomato, cucumber, mozz and basil salad, a fruit mixture, and bread!!! I took a picture of how yummy and colorful it is - we are excited to eat it here, and I hope they enjoy theirs. Doing service was a good thing for me today, and made me feel so good inside (I know, sappy, but so true). It always makes me reflect on my life and blessings, and helps me realize how much I am actually blessed with. So it might have been a service to them, but actually I feel I got the benefit of it as well as it really helped me, especially on a day I was having a lot of nausea and not really enjoying my pregnancy. Today I am grateful I could feel the baby move and that, altho the nausea is no fun, things are still going well in my own pregnancy. I hope their family can find peace in this rough time!

A pic of the yummy food!

This weekend we had a busy schedule, with Chip working on Saturday morning, then playing in a B-ball game with our new ward and we all went and cheered him on! I met a bunch of new ladies in the new ward we will be going and they were all so great! Then it was Costco, the beach, dinner at our new landlord's house where they fixed us some Israeli food (Cash loved it) and told us about their Jewish beliefs and asked us about Mormons, and then it was off to the Santa Monica Pier for a ferris wheel ride! It was a great weekend!

All of us - pixilated due to shots from the Iphone

At the top of the ferris wheel!

My boys!

Cash looks miserable, but he had a great time!

Here is his smile!!!

Our new ward was SUCH a blessing. I instantly felt welcomed, Griffin went to the nursery and did great all by himself without us having to go, Cash loved sunbeams, and tons of people came up and introduced themselves and welcomed us to the ward. There are a ton of activities for us to go to during the week, such as playgroups, music day, pre-school, and more with people here, and I am just so grateful it was so much better than our first experience a couple weeks ago in another ward. I am sure in the end we would have liked the other one too, but this one just seems to be such a perfect fit for us. I know we will really like it there. So we are moving, yes again, from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills, where my zipcode will be 90211 (really wish it were 90210!) and we are way excited. It is a house, so we will not have to climb stairs to get into our place, it is twice as big, it is a great place with a yard for the kids. The lady is leaving to Israel for 4 months and so her husband is moving into the guest house behind the house and we are taking over the house. They have a dog, which he will take care of but my kids can play with - so perfect since we won't ever have pets of our own, but they can enjoy.....and the best part - they have a maid that comes twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, to clean house and she also babysits. They have had her for 20 years and she is great. I am way excited about this. Reminds me of our Ayi in China!!! So it will be great, and we move next weekend. Also, we will be getting out of our crazy parking place that has these really annoying poles that now both Chip and I have hit and made matching scratches on each side of our new car!!!! So yes, things are looking up here. I actually might go as far to say I really like it! Have a great Monday!