Christmas Picture of Brielyn

I know it's a bit late but I definitely can't let these go un-posted. I will blog more about Christmas and post more pictures when I get them from my in-laws camera. Remember, we still don't have a working camera! And Christmas we relied on his parents to take some pictures for us. So, hold tight, there'll be more hopefully soon....

Sushi With The Bambricks

Here's some pictures of our Sushi Night with The Bambrick Family. The post and more specifics are down a few days below if you want to read more about it. Fun Stuff and just to let you know, the pictures don't do the presentation they had any justice. It was amazing. Thanks for a fun night guys...

On The Edge Of Your Seats...??? Probably not...

I know you all were anxiously awaiting the news! How did the DMV appointment go for the second time and did you get another copy of your marriage license. So, never to disappoint you I have the details.
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My wonderful mom came over Friday, January 18th at around 12:30. I left promptly to Santa Ana to the Clerk Recorders Office to get a second copy of our marriage license. Nope, I never found the first one! The drive was fine, it was nice to be alone. As I walked up to the doors I saw a homeless person on a bench with all of their belongings neatly rolled with ties; all laying strategically beside them ( I thought..This is how I would be if I were ever homeless, all organized, neat and tidy). The person was sleeping sitting up so I continued to approach the office doors. Deep down inside I was excited and ready to say " I Will" There were bums all over but this one happened to be in my direct path and struck my heart the minute I saw them. So, I get a copy of the license, walk out and I'm on my cell phone with my husband when I approach the homeless on my right. Perfect, I saw that she was awake and looking around, so I end the conversation with my husband standing right in front of her. I put my phone down and stare into this beautiful woman's face. Her skin was white as snow and although aged, her wrinkles were perfectly folded in all the right places. I said "Hello, Do you want some money for lunch?" She opens her mouth to answer and I'm astonished at her teeth. Although they were jagged, they were white as snow. She answers " No." Well okay, end of story, she just looks at me with huge black sunglasses that don't show a trace of her eyes. I was in awe, disappointed and caught way off guard. Here I am ready to say I will, I actually have cash in hand (which is rare, hello Debit cards are the way) and she says NO. So, in pure astonishment the first thing that comes out of my mouth is " Are you sure?" She says "Yes." Then I proceed to say " Are you just hanging out?" What an idiot, I can't believe I said that. She's probably like, well, not by choice. For some odd reason I was longing for her to say Yes or talk to me I wanted to connect with her. She didn't want to have any conversation so I walked away and told her to have a good day and she responded " You too". This made me feel a little better.

Can you believe I got turned down my a bum. And, to make things worse, this isn't the first time this has happened. My father in law had called, laughed at me and said "Are you sure she was a bum?" We got a good laugh and my husband ironically said the same when I told him the story. I'm pretty sure she was a bum. But, I have to trust that God is taking care of her. And for some reason, she didn't want my help.

So, all went well and I was back in my car by 1:08 PM. My DMV license appt. wasn't til 3PM in Fullerton. My husbands territory is mostly in Fullerton, so I called him up and was able to enjoy a great piece of pizza with him and his friend John. This was a blessing. We very rarely eat lunch together and it was nice to meet up with them. There's something about being with Chris out of the normal realm that made it special. He looked pretty HOT in his suit and tie ( Sorry, had to add that in) TOP CLASS PIZZA was really tasty and recommend it, if you are ever in the Fullerton area.

I made it on time to my appointment at the DMV. I was prepared with all the documents needed this time.......... So now my name is .............................

LYNNAE HOFF

Wanna Watch It Movie...Please Mommy

This may sound a bit weird coming out of a grown woman's mouth, but not a 22 month old. Alexa is amazing us more and more each day with her new phrases. We are surprised just about every day when she comes out with something new. This post is more for the family/friends that don't get to see Alexa that often. Although, she does act shy and doesn't say all these things at church or others houses. I thought I'd share a few of her fun sentences.

Don't want it.

I like it.

That crazy mommy. (I don't know whay she'd say that???)

Her funny. That's funny. That funny mommy?

Wanna watch it movie. (usually curious george, educational movies, barbie as the island princess or dora)

I miss you.

love you.

That Bries? This Brie's. (She identifies others objects as well as her own.)

Mommy, her talking. Brie talking mommy.

Please I have it?

Want more..._ _ _ please (whatever the case may be)

I wanna hold you. (Yeah, have fun trying to pick me up Alexa) ;)

Wanna play daddy?

No, don't want to. ( you can imagine.. usually it's said with an attitude)

My name Alexa.... Your name, Mommy.... Your name, Daddy....... Her name Brie (she's really starting to identify people as well as their objects)

Look it nails, mommy ( You have to see the sparkles)

Paint nails, mimi. (She verbalizes to me that Mimi painted her nails and she wants everyone to see)

Uh dance mommy/daddy? (She loves to dance but loves company)

I poop. I tooted. I potty. Uh change a diaper. (usually she wants to change sisters) Her poop. ( probably T.M.I sorry)

That pretty mommy. (She's so sweet, whether it be my outfit, a necklace, shoes... if she sees something she likes, she'll tell you)

I princess (uh oh, already)

I could go on and on but I hope you enjoyed!!!! 2 is rapidly approaching and I know there's much more fun stuff to come.

What's New????

So sorry there hasn't been any real photos. I try to find pictures to make the posts more appealing but it's just not the same, I realize that. Our camera is still broken and we haven't replaced it yet. But I wanted to recap a few things that have been going on....

The birthday planning is going great! The cups, plates, napkins, prizes, pinata and a few other things have been purchased. Thank goodness Alexa still likes Princesses! Let's hope that doesn't change for a while.

We will have a special appearance by Snow White at the party (can't tell you who it is) and maybe her Prince. (cross your fingers we may have to do a bit of bribing to get that to happen)

Chris' parents lost their dog Mischa (I'm still teary eyed writing this) after about 15 years of her life. She was a great dog to say the least. We called her Momma Mischa, due to the fact that she loved to lick Alexa and anyone. She was loving. You could pull her tail, sit on her, poke her( Alexa tried it all) ... ANYTHING and she would sit there and smile. She loved the attention and wouldn't hurt a fly. We'll miss her when we go to Chris' parents. R.I.P Mischa, we'll miss you, we love you and you are in our hearts. We'll never forget you. Thank you for being so good to Alexa.

Chris' parents got a chocolate lab, from one of Chris' clients who is a lab breeder. SHE'S GORGEOUS. light chocolate coat, with green eyes. Gosh, where's the camera when you need it. Her name is Tayler (after guitars). Grandpa Hal got to name her since it's kinda like his dog. Dewey is Sue's (Grandmas) dog that is attached to her. Tayler was purchased in Ontario so Grandpa brought her by our house.... we got to see her first.... I grabbed her and snuggled her for about 10 minutes. I'm attached already. I call to check on her every day. She kinda looks like the picture on the post, but cuter.

Our family met up with the Young's in Costa Mesa and had a blast. We went to a noteworthy park with a pond, some hills, beautiful trees, rocks. We played some Badminton. I even took my heels off to get into the game! The girls (Chloe and Alexa) enjoyed being outside and hanging with eachother. It was fun to get out and be with another couple who are crazy with 2 kids under 2. Nile is almost 8 months and Chloe is about 20 months. We hope to do that again soon.

We had dinner at The Bambricks house. Crap, where's the camera? The presentation was ASTONISHING. We had Sushi... make your own. The most flavorful dinner I've had in a while. They are hard core when they say they are having a sushi night, there was no messing around. The station was set so you could make your own rolls. Rice, fried shrimp, avocado, egg, sliced carrots, wasabi and lots of others. We had Udon noodles in a special sauce, mochi, sprouts, Edamame warmed with rock salt MMMMM.mmm...mmm.. potstickers... I could go on. It was fun, thanks to Rick for burning my nose hairs and the lining of my poor nursing daughters stomach LOL. Luckily I was nursing when it was Chris' turn to make a roll and had a hayday with the Wasabi. I heard it was way worse than Rick's. Thanks for a fun time Bambricks!!!!

There's talk around our house about getting Disneyland passes. The kids are free right now and we know a few families with passes already. If you have passes, shoot us an email or call. We are probably purchasing in a few weeks. We'd love to hang out with all you CRAZY DISNEY people. My husbands heart is softening by the minute (about Disneyland) We're excited.

Who's Reading Your Blog?

Apparently I was not aware of the people reading my blog. I'm not blind to the fact that a Blog can be read by anybody under the sun, but you just figure " Who would end up at my blog?" Probably only people that are on blogs that link to yours and then they go from there. So, just a small pool of people you don't know, but they are all friends, family etc. (close knit people)

WRONG..... I received an email from a girl a week after I posted my free phone. She doesn't live in this state, she doesn't go to my church, she's not a family member, or even a friend of anyone I know. It was kind of interesting. Come to find out, she's a very sweet girl. Thought you might enjoy this. Read on to find out what she had to say.

This was the second email she sent responding to me after I told her I recycled my phone through T Mobile since I hadn't gotten any responses... Take a look

No need to apologize, I didn't even know you couldrecycle old phones, that's such a great idea. That'spretty cool!Enjoy the Princess Party! I can't tell whether mommyor the b-day is more excited! It sounds like so muchfun!!I've been reading your blog site and it seems like youare a very kind person and a wonderful mommy and wife. You are so very blessed with your children. Myhusband and I just got married September 22 (at theSpace Needle here in Seattle) and I still can't get acopy of our marriage certificate (I googled somethingalong those lines and that's how I was lead to yoursite) so I haven't been able to change over my name onanything. I can't wait to finally take his last nameand for my husband (Bryan) and I to have kids, itseems like such hard work but also so rewarding at thesame time. Maybe in a year or two we'll starttrying...By the way, your family is just beautiful. You are sovery blessed. Well, I've taken up enough of your time, I just feltlike taking a minute to say hello and compliment yourfamily. Have a great week! Heather


She's a sweetheart and it was a great way to start off my Tuesday. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face Heather.

ALMOST PARTY TIME...

If you're wondering what we are doing after the holidays.... none other than planning a 2nd Princess Birthday Party. I can't believe it. Alexa will be 2 on February 28th. I'm more excited than anything because she really articulates her feelings well. I know when she is really excited about something. I love to bring a smile to her face and anything Princess will do. That's what she's most passionate about along with stickers, coloring and music (her barbie guitar) I talked to her about turning 2 and let her pick from a few party ideas I looked at and her face lit up. Now on a daily basis she says " Mommy, 2, princess party?" Yep, I told her she's turning 2 and WE ARE HAVING A PRINCESS PARTY. I'm sooooo excited. It's gonna be filled with pink, purple, and girly bling everywhere. Did I mention I'm excited? I'm open for ideas, I have gotten a few off the web already. Type it in for yourself and see just how freakish some moms are. I won't be that bad, sorry Alexa but our house won't turn into a castle and I won't be draping white sheets across the ceiling with blue icicle lights to look like Cinderella's ball, but it will be good. Yeah, that's just a taste of the crazy but awesome things parents have done for their kids birthdays. But, we will for sure have a fun time and are so blessed to have such a healthy 2 year old. She's been a blessing to me since day one and she's got such a beautiful personality with lots of character.

Gotta go surf the net for a costume!

SPOILED

January 6,2008 was our one year anniversary. I'm so very thankful for my wonderful husband. If you don't know, I was set up with him by my sister and Lori Velarde from Revolution Church. We started out as just friends considering I was 3 months pregnant but it definitely didn't stay that way. Chris is AMAZING. He's loving, trustworthy, smart and the most amazing dad just to name a few of his qualities.

Our anniversary fell on a Sunday so we went to church, came home and relaxed, then MIMI came over to babysit for us. We went out to Duke's for dinner in Huntington Beach. If you haven't gone there, it's a great place. The food is always great and the location and scenery can't be beat. (If you like tropical/beach) The restaurant treated us to a free Hula Pie for our anniversary (what service!) I didn't want dessert til it came and I almost ate it all....

Chris didn't stop there, I was treated to a brand new COACH purse.... OH MY GOODNESS... yes, it's beautiful (can purses be beautiful?) Well, this one is. It was a great day and I look forward to many wonderful, exciting years with my husband.

BEYOND, WAY BEYOND, FRUSTRATED!!!

That doesn't even sum up what I'm feeling. I'm so distraught and frustrated I want to cry since I don't know what else to do. In 3 days I will have been married a year. I heard that changing your name was a grueling process. So, right after we got married, I ordered a "NAME CHANGE KIT" online. Come to find out, all it does is allows you to download the updated applications and fill them out. So, I thought I was doing good. But, when I started the process I realized it's got to be in a certain order... First get copy of marriage license, then social security card, then wait 24-72 hours then do DMV then Passport...yada yada yada... and requires official documents such as social security card, etc. Well, I don't have my social card, don't ask, it's been a while since I've seen it so I cannot do all this by mail. Not that I'd want to do it by mail because you have to send in your social and birth certificate and hope they mail it back. So I mailed a request to the Orange County Clerk Recorder to get a copy of our license. This was back a month after we got married. Six months after sending in the check, I wondered where it was? I called their office and sat on the phone to find out they never received my request. So I called the bank and sure enough, they never cashed the check, so it must be lost in the mail .. so we put a stop on the check. So, without this, you cannot do anything yet. After a kid and a few months goes by I finally ask my mom to watch the kids so I can knock this out. So, early December I drive to Santa Ana and get the run around, finally have a copy in hand after waiting in line and paying $13.00 for a marriage certificate. I drive straight from there to the Social Security office in Anaheim and wait in line but have a pleasant experience with the lady there and get my social security card taken care of.

I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD... I came home high as a kite. Now, next was to wait 24 hours minimum to go to DMV and change my drivers license then from there it's pretty much easy. Just faxing over the copy of marriage to all cards, insurances, banks etc. So, I call the DMV in Fullerton and take the first appointment on January 3rd at 2PM. I took the DMV form that I already had from my name change packet and my marriage license and put it in a safe place. I even mapped out and wrote directions and the address to the DMV. I remember saying out loud and my husband can tell you... " I will put these documents together so that when I go to the DMV I will have the copy of marriage in this folder"

It's January 3rd and the appointment is approaching, I put on my jeans add some heels make sure the hair and makeup are good (Just in case they re take the picture) and go to grab the folder. IT'S NOT THERE, NOPE NOT THERE EITHER, MAYBE ITS.... NOPE NOT THERE EITHER... MAYBE IT'S.............................NOPE....... OKAY, WHO'S MESSING WITH ME? I seriously never found the folder with the marriage certificate (the gold sheet that took almost a year to get) and the dmv info. Longer story short, I decide after me and my husband look everywhere I might as well try and get it done with my new social card. I get to the office, fill out the form, luckily no wait and the guy says " Do you have the documents?" Nice, thanks for rubbing it in! No, it's not his fault, but I want it to be. I'M JUST SO DANG ORGANIZED WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED?. Like I said, I was so disappointed, distraught and had anxiety up the wahoo I wasn't even mad. I said to the man " Seriously, I can't find it, but I have my social updated with me." Nope, you need the official marriage document. I pick up my stuff don't put up a fight and walk away. I didn't even have the energy to be mad. So, I drove home in desperation walked in the door and continued to look.

I still haven't found it. The truth is, I will have to go down to Santa Ana, get another copy, then make another appointment for DMV. It will be our one year anniversary and I still am not done with changing my name. I'm so upset, It's either hiding and got misplaced or me being the clean freak accidentally threw it away. I don't know what to say, but I do wonder why this happened. Is God telling me to slow down? Is God telling me to not be so clean, organized? I'm not sure, but I'm curious to see what happens. Oh, and if you know where it is, don't tell me. Now I'd rather not know. LOL

Long post, but very well needed to get this off my chest. I wish you better luck with your name change if you ever need to do this!

DECEMBER 29TH

December 29th posed a special day for us. Alexa turned 22 months on Dec. 28th and she's been interested in the potty now for a good month. We have her potty in our restroom and we discuss the potty with her and she always watches us closely. She's really interested. About 2 weeks ago she went on the potty for the first time. I'm not going to lie, she is pretty much ready to potty train but I'M NOT. It's hard to tend to that need ALL DAY when I have another child that is fully reliant on me. So I haven't pushed or forced it. We definitely reward her but I haven't done the stay inside all day with nothing on and sit in front of the TV with the potty yet. I am sure I'll have to do that at some point. The lazy part of me wishes she'll just do it herself. Which, she's done. She has taken her diaper off, went on the potty and acted like nothing. ANYWAYS... just to give you an fyi.... Grandpa Hal said if Alexa went poop on the potty she'd get Grandmas car. Grandma has a brand new (only a year old) beautiful, champagne, convertible Jaguar XK8 with shiny rims. So I said.. " DEAL." Well, Alexa pooped on the potty and I haven't heard from him since. LOL

So, later that afternoon I was able to go to the mall (all by myself) and spend a gift card I got for Christmas. I'm standing in a long line for about 25 minutes when my phone rings. It's Chris and he proceeds to tell me that Brielyn rolled over all by herself, un-tucked her arm and everything. I can't believe she did it when I wasn't there. We are inseparable.. I am rarely without her.... and the minute I take out 2 hours and do something for myself she goes and rolls over for Daddy. WHATEVER. No, I was excited and it was even better to hear the excitement on my husbands voice. HE WAS PROUD. It was an ordinary day that turned into a memorable one as our children quickly advance and grow up.

And Papa if you're reading... you owe Alexa.... :)