Best Buddies

The kids and I met Audra & Marley at The Block of Orange today. Cade & Mar Mar had a blast doing this:

I love how Cade is looking at Mar in this pic. He adores her and loves to watch her every move and giggle at her. :)

We love you girls! Thanks for the fun play date today!

Tutu Cute!

Berkley's 1st Thanksgiving

4 generations:)

My parents (Mimi & Poppy) with the kiddos...

Jacobsen family of 4....

Mimi & Berks

Poppy & Berkley

Berkley's shirt says "Shop Till You Nap" :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

1st Vacay As a Family of Four

We decided to pack up the kids and head for Palm Springs for a quick little vacay. Upon arriving we threw the bags in the room and headed out to the pool....

The boys jumped right in and splashed around a bit....

And us girls lounged a while...

Our friends, the Ure's, just so happened to be in Palm Desert the exact same days so we met up for dinner after the pool. Brad & I were pleasantly surprised how smooth dinner went. We had 5 kids between us and things went well. No major meltdowns. We had a great time.

The next day we met up again at the Ure's hotel - Rancho Las Palmas. They have an awesome pool with a lazy river and a mini water park in the middle. Here are a few shots:

They even have this little sand beach. Cade loved it!

Berks didn't want to get her hair wet, so she stayed on land:)

Here is the mini water park...

Go Cade go!

This is Lily Ure. Isn't she just precious!? Such a pretty little girl:)

Even daddy joined in on the fun!

And that is all she wrote. I had my hands full and didn't have an extra hand to get more pictures. We stayed 2 nights and had a great time. Too bad it took me just as long to pack as the entire trip lasted! Ha!

Thanksgiving Done Early

We got together with Brad's family last night for an early Thanksgiving. We don't get together on the actual day because everyone goes out of town and does their own thing that day. So we celebrated a few days early last night. Brad's brother and wife, Brent & Dana, hosted. We had a blast! But I think the most fun was had by Cade. He had an absolute BLAST running around with his older cousins and causing trouble:)

I am so glad I got this picture....4 generations!

Chop Chop!

Well, I did it! I finally did it! I chopped my hair!
I wanted to chop it when I was preggers with Berks, but my hair stylist told me "no". She said that I would want it long with 2 kiddos so that I can throw it back in a pony. And she was right.... for a little while. I did love NOT doing my hair - throwing it up and being done with it. Problem was, I was a sloppy mess. The kids always looked so cute but their mama needed help - I always looked like I just rolled out of bed - which many days, I did! Ha! And when I did blow dry and straighten my hair, it looked so messy and unstyled.
I needed some style and I wanted to feel sassy. Soooo..... here goes.
Before:

After:

So, what do you think? You like??

I know what you are all thinking, "what does Brad think!?" And truth be told..... he actually loves it! I called him on my way home to 'warn' him that it was a bit shorter than I wanted it. I wanted to brace him for it. I didn't want him to open the door and gasp, which would have led me to tears. Instead, he got a huge smile and said, "I love it! I have a new wife!" He is so cute and keeps saying how much he likes it.

And for me, I feel 10 lbs lighter, so we are good to go:) Kidding. I really like it and feel much more stylish now. Here's to short hair cuts!

Girls' Day Out

I love Thursdays and Fridays. These are the days Cade goes to day care. Now don't take this the wrong way.... I LOVE being home with BOTH kiddos and Cade is my best little friend.... but on Thursdays and Fridays when it's just me and the Berkster, I really enjoy spending one-on-one time with my girl:) I often feel like she doesn't get enough attention (ie cuddle time) because I am usually running around tending to Cade (ie chasing him around). So on these 2 days, I get to give all my attention to this little princess:

Isn't she a cutie?

I just can't get enough of her.... can ya tell?

Yesterday us girls set out for a shopping trip. We met up with my friend Becky and her little boy Roenick for some shopping and lunch. It reminds me of when Cade was this age. Ahhhh, isn't it so easy when they are newborns?? (But then again, not nearly as much fun as Cade's age now!) I look forward to the days when I can call Berkley up and ask her if she is available for a girls day out - a little lunch, maybe a movie, and a pedicure.

I just love having a boy and a girl. It is so neat to see their differences. And to watch my bond with each one of them grow.

Here is our lunch date with Becky & Roenick:

Becky & Roenick...

Me & Berkley...

Berks & Roenick (or Roe Roe as I call him:)

And just because I couldn't figure out which picture I liked best, I will leave you with a few more shots of my bestest girlfriend:)

I really do cherish my time with Berks. Babies only stay little for such a short time and it seems even shorter when you don't have much time to sit on the couch to hold her and stare into her adorable newborn eyes. When I am home with both kids and Cade goes down for his nap, I try to put aside laundry, dishes, etc and just sit on the couch and hold my precious baby and breathe in her newborn smell. Before I know it I will no longer have a baby... my score card will look like this:

Babies - 0

Toddlers - 2

Until then, I will do my best to make time stand still and cuddle both of my babies as much as they will let me:)

Cade & Nash

Cade's cousin (ok, 2nd cousin, but still) came over with his mom (my cousin, Steph) to play for a bit. We took the kiddos on a walk and to the park. We had too much fun to stop for many pictures, but I did manage to capture just one. The boys had so much fun together. They both had huge grins on when they saw each other! And both are pretty aggressive (they ARE boys, ya know) so it was funny to see who would bully the other. Aren't they cute??

Hard to believe that Cade is 7 months older in this pic, huh? They are almost the same size.

Thanks for coming over Steph & Nash! We had a great time today!

Back on the Trail Again

So... looks like I am back at it! Back to running that is. I ran throughout my entire pregnancy with Cade but I just did not have the energy to run while preggers with Berkley. Since I have had her I have been itching to hit the pavement again. So yesterday was my day - the day before my 6 week check-up appt. I crossed my fingers that it would be ok... I just couldn't wait another day.
I loaded my precious cargo (which takes longer than you'd think) and we ran toward the Newport pier...


Here you can see Lil' Miss Berks....
And the front view to show Mr. Cade Man...

And Yours Truly:)

I was pretty proud of myself. We went 4 miles! I know it sounds like nothing, but after taking so much time off AND pushing BOTH kiddos (which was a tad heavy), I considered it a success. I didn't stop at all - that is my stubborn side coming out:) I won't take all the credit though... this scenery wasn't too bad to look at:

I was a bit sore today so we took the day off. Hopefully we will find ourselves back out there tomorrow!

Just a Few Random Shots

I guess Berks was having a dream that she was in school. She definitely has the answer!:)

I was trying to get a shot of her cute outfit. She just wasn't having it. Little girls get to play dress up with their Barbies and mommys get to play with their babies:)

Twins??

Daddy & his babies... Cade loves his new book! Thanks Mickey:)

And this picture makes me smile. Daddy with his little twin... I mean girl:)