Updates!

So I'm sitting here Sunday afternoon while Sawyer naps. Ramon and Dakota left Saturday to go camping up at Edison with some friends from work. I opted out. Thought it would be nice for Daddy and "D" to have some father/daughter bonding. Dakota kept telling everyone, "I get to go camping...just daddy and me".
Thursday Sawyer had her 2 year appointment. She got a shot and didn't even make a sound. While we were there I had the Ped. check a bump on Dakota. After a quick look and exam she told me Dakota has a hernia and will need to have it repaired. I was like, "are you kidding me!?!" I was still stressed and anxious over the fact that we were going the next day to Valley Children's to hear the results of Dakota's vesicoureteral reflux. So Friday came and after a long wait we found out she has outgrown the reflux. We were so relieved!
Then there's the whole house buying/selling situation. Talk about STRESS! We're in the process of selling our home. It's in escrow and we have to be out in 45 days. So I'm waiting to hear back on a little place we're going to rent 'til our house is done being built and ready to move into. My days have been filled with appointments, filling out paperwork, inspectors, appraisers, etc. So I'll be glad when all of this is over. Don't get me wrong, I'll definitely miss our little home...it's just that opportunity presented itself at an unlikely or unexpected time. We knew we were going to take this step at sometime, its just that actually doing it is a little scary. I'm realizing I haven't even gotten emotional about it but I think that's because I've been so occupied with everything else. We have so many memories here.
I have a feeling that the rest of 2009 will go by very quickly for us!

Swim Lessons

The girls had private swim lessons last week through the city.

They were fun to watch! The first day Sawyer cried the whole 30 minutes, so Ramon got in with her the rest of the week. It was awesome to see their progression in just one week!

Sawyer loves the water. She can swim to us under water. She still needs to work on moving her arms and coming up for air. She looks like a little fish.

Dakota's swimming has definitely improved. She's becoming a stronger swimmer. She learned how to dive and to get rings from the pool floor. She's holding her breath a lot longer too.

Here's some cute pics of Sawyer watching Dakota. The last two days she had had it and ended her lessons about 15 minutes early.

Mommy had to get in the pool the last day. I couldn't take watching on the sidelines in the triple digit heat!

July isn't even over yet!

So far our July has been filled with some fun and busy events! Here's a few pics to share what's been going on!

We celebrated Sawyer's 2nd Bday a day early with family before we took off for our Coronado vacation!

We stopped by SeaWorld on our way to see "AB" and "T-Tam". Sawyer enjoyed celebrating her Birthday there with her sister and cousins.

Uncle "AB" and Sawyer share the same Birthday!

Sawyer got her first haircut or trimming of the bangs. Daddy said to make it look like those "Emo" kids wear their hair. I think he's trendier than mommy! She just sat there with this same expression the whole time.

Coronado's 4th of July Parade. It's right outside our hotel. The girls LOVED it!
We also celebrated Tia's 31st Bday!

We LOVE the beach. We were there almost everyday! The girls couldn't get enough!

Our vacation was a BLAST! We'll miss T-Tam and AB and our walks to and from their house but are so happy they're happy in Coronado. . .besides it's a great place to visit!

Here's looking forward to swim lessons and the start of our new home!

Summer Time

Summer is finally here! It's been awhile since I last had an update. So I'll catch you up.

Dakota officially graduated from Preschool. After her ceremony at school we celebrated by taking her to lunch at Red Robin. Paityn joined us at Dakota's request. She will be attending Preschool again this Fall. After much thought Ramon and I decided it would be best for her and us for her to began Kindergarten when she's 5 almost 6 rather than 4 going on 5. She also finished her 1st session at The Little Gym. She had a lot of fun with that.

Next, we camped overnight up at the Sequoias with my parents. Sam and Therese met up with us for the day to go see the Sequoias. I don't know why we don't go up there more often. They're so beautiful and only a little over an hour away.

House For Sale

And last, we're moving...eventually. We'll still be in Visalia. About 3 weeks ago we put our house up for sale after deciding to build a house on the North side of town. This will put us about a mile away from Therese and Sam and within walking distance to our church. We're very excited. We have friends in the neighborhood too! So our house is for sale if you know anyone that might be interested.

What's coming up?....Swim lessons, birthdays, Coronado vacation, AYSO soccer. Have a fun summer!

No Doubt!

Okay so for those of you who know me know I'm a huge No Doubt fan! So after waiting for about 13 years I finally went to see them in concert. You see when I wanted to go see them in High School with some friends my mom wouldn't let me. She now says, "Hmm, I don't know why I didn't let you go". Talk about putting salt in the wound! I've seen Gwen perform twice but this was No Doubt back again and they exceeded my expectations. They were awesome! We had a fabulous time. Ramon got the tickets knowing I wouldn't want to miss it. The Sounds and Paramore opened. Paramore was really good too. So thank you to my thoughtful loving husband for letting me sing along to every song they played in his ear. I had a BLAST!

Peace of Mind

Monday we had Sawyer's appt. at Shriners in L.A. After 3 hours of driving and another 3 hours to see the Dr. we found out we've got a normal little girl! Sawyer's feet are fine and she will grow out of the way she walks. This has been such a relief and has given us much peace of mind. She was so good the whole drive there and back and throughout the wait of our appt. She is so compliant with every Dr. we see. She just lays there and let's them do whatever without any complaint. We feel so truly blessed by God's grace and the beautiful gifts he's given us! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!

What a day for "DK"

Dakota's Wednesday started off with trip to Valley Children's Hospital. She had, what we've been praying to be her last Ultrasound and Cystogram procedure. She has Vesicoureteral Reflux. This is when some of her urine goes back up into the ureters and possibly up to the kidneys which can lead to infection. We've been keeping a watch on this for the last 3 yrs. when she had one UTI at about one and a half years old. She did AWESOME to say the least. She had to have a cathedar and was so brave. The Dr's. in their Imaging Department are great! From what they could tell me they didn't see anything leading us to believe she has outgrown it. We'll know for sure at her follow-up appt. in July.
So that leads us to her next "appointment". We told her after her procedure we would go get her ears pierced. She was more than ecstatic! They pierced them and as Ramon would say "she took it like a champ!" She makes sure to remind me when we need to clean them and how many times.
Lastly, that night she had her AWANAS ceremony. She went up and received her certificate and they had a celebration for her Cubbies class.
We are beyond proud of her. She's growing up so fast we can't believe it!