Palm Springs

We knew we wanted to take a family vacation toward the end of my maternity leave but purposly waited until last minute so we'd book the week according to the weather! We thought we'd be in Yosemite enjoying the snow during January but instead ended up in Palm Springs taking advantage of the perfect 75 degree days. I found the MOST perfect resort with villas so we had a full kitchen, huge bedroom,living room, 2 fireplaces, 2 patios, washer/dryer and all the comforts of home(and more, the daily maid service was KEY)! BT made breakfast for the family each morning, we spent our days by the pool, and each evening we'd get the kids in the triple stroller and take a run along the golf course before dinner! There was also a playground at the resort so we'd take the kids there before dinner:) This was by far our most favorite local vacation(The Caribbean clearly being our fav non-local ha!). Whoever says vacationing or eating out with kids is no fun clearly hasn't done so with ours! We have a BLAST. Our villa had huge jet tub in the bedroom so we had a giant family bath each morning. The kids loved the waterslide at the pool and the kiddie pool was huge and was only a few feet deep(and we had it all to ourselves...major bonus). We love exposing the kids to new things. They amaze us how well they adapt to each new environment. We brought Preston's prized posession with us, his "birthday bike" which is a balance bike his Nana gave him for his b-day. Our villa was big enough that he rode it from room to room and he'd ride it back and forth to the pool and dinner when we ate out at the resort!! Lastly, there's an amazing kids museum walkable from the resort so we went there on our way out of town. The pics speak for themselves. The museum was a HUGE hit:) Palm Springs...we'll be back very very soon(already planning our next trip!)

The pool was a few steps from our villa and they had lots of fun things for the kids!



The kids loved their lemonades by the pool. Mommy and Daddy drank "lemonade" too:)




Family bath time! There was a huge waterfall that came out of the bath that the kids loved and it created a massive amount of bubbles. The tub was in the bedroom so we'd hop in before starting our day...why not?!




Bentley had a blast too!! He slept like a good boy in his rockin' sleeper in our room. This is Bentley bear hanging by the pool:)

Bentley bear finding something very funny...

Bentley bear being SUPER cute:)

Bentley and his handsome daddy:)

Mommy and Phia all dressed up for our Mexican dinner out!

Bentley looks a little worried but we loved our morning cuddles with all 3:)

Preston in the kitchen on his "birthday bike" and his 2nd favorite thing in the world...his monkey!

There were duckies all over the property. Phia loved watching them on our patio...


Awww brotherly love

Wait...not so much ha! This pretty much sums up their relationship. Bentley bear, your brother loves you oodles. He's just a little louder and a little more rough than you can possible appreciate right now:)

Daddy spoils us like crazy. Chocolate chip pancakes everyday of vacation??!! Amazing!

I love this picture...action shot of Presto's transportation indside our villa.

Sophia and Bentley are best buds. B's face lights up when he hears her voice and she loves to sit and entertain him with her singing/dancing/and by just being Phia. She has the ability to make him giggle outloud at a moments notice. We just love wathing the 2 of them interact...

And lastly, we discovered this Children's Museum for the kids which made are already perfect vacation even more perfect! It looks brand new and it was empty the day we went so the kids had it pretty much to themselves. Presto painted a VW bug and the biggest hits were the kids grocery store and kids pizza parlor where they pretented to be adults:)




Preston was in awe at the "grocery store" and Phia loved carrying around her dress up purse with her fake money. BT and I both played cashier and of course, we got to put everything back on the shelves!



Yup...dress up clothes for mommy too! Phia picked out my outfits:)

Note my unmatching shoes courtesy of Miss Phia:)

Pizza Parlor time!







And just some misc moments. We cannot wait to make more memories in Palm Springs xoxo

This guy turned a corner after New Years. He sleeps like a champ and was such a good boy on this trip:)


Having 2 this close together doesn't come without it's challenges but it's worth it when we hear them make each other giggle. They're learning patience and understanding from each other...slowly, but we see it happening before our eyes. It's so fun to listen to them talk to each other...it never gets old!

Our friends let us borrow their triple for the week and it came in handy for our evening runs. We loved it so much we bought our own:)

Kelly Steven's Baby Shower

I co-hosted a baby shower for my bff at the end of January. It turned out to be a beautiful day of celebration. Amy(my co-host) and I went all out! We had the guests decorate onesies for baby Kennedy which was a huge hit, played games, drank wine and celebrated baby Alvarado. We rented a private room and I made diaper cakes for each table(LOTS of work but worth every minute...another big hit with the ladies). I really enjoyed making each one and Kell already tore them apart and has stashed away all the diapies(which is what i'd hoped for!!) Kell is as close as it gets to a sister to me and has always made me feel so special, so I wanted to make sure this day was perfect. We are so excited to meet her baby girl VERY VERY soon!!

We were so thrilled how everything turned out. The room was beautiful and the look on Kell's face was priceless:)

The onesie making station. We bought paints, jewels, stamps etc. The guests were so creative!

Kell's big diaper cake had a duckie on top and Kell loved it! She's sent a picture of the duck in Kennedy's nursery...patiently waiting for her arrival:) The center of the cake had a bottle of pink champagne which Kell is bringing to the hospital:)!!

The smaller cakes had fresh flowers which was just what we needed to add lots of color to the tables.


Kell and her sister...

Lots of onesies!

Action shot of the guests getting creative...

Love this onesie!

Kell, mommy, and sis

Beautious mommy to be...

Daddy Alvarado showed up to grab a cupcake(who can blame him?!)

Deliciousness!

Perfect baby bump:)

Bentley 12 weeks!

Bentley is sleeping through the night! Hoorah!Its been about a week he since started sleeping through the middle of the night feedings and Mommy and Daddy are elated. Daddy(bless his heart) does most of the middle of the night rocking and soothing so he"s very happy B decided to sleep. We've learned that weaning the middle of the night feedings only happens with a lot of help from Daddy in our family. If mommy tends to baby then baby wants to eat allllll night...simple as that! Bentley still has reflux, we tried to wean from the medication and he spit up a lot!! He's our first baby to spit up a lot...no fun:( He went from not smiling at all at 8 weeks to being our most smiley baby at this age!! He especially loves our morning alone time. B and I hang out on the be and I sing and talk to him and in return he gives me HUGE smiles!!! Mommy's favorite part of the day by far! Here are some pictures we've taken over the past couple weeks...



Sleeping monkey

Our Bentley bear has some really piercing blue eyes. There are lots of blue eyes on both sides of our family so the verdict is still out whether they'll stay or not. We're enjoying them while they're here!!

Preston's 2 year stats and an update on his leggies!

Our Preston John was born with VERY bowed leggies. We were worried although the pediatrician assured us he would grow out of it(no braces needed) we began to see a specialist last year. The specialist also assured us he'd grow out of it. They took xrays to make sure there wasn't anything ominous internally and there wasn't. Basically it was a waiting game. Over the past 6 months we've noticed his legs straighten out tremendously. I was a non-believer that they'd straighten on their own but they did and we are so relieved and happy:) I snapped some pictures of Presto running around the other night and I could barely keep up with him but needless to say...his leggies are almost perfectly straight!!
Also, we had his 2 year checkup and his stats are:
Weight 31.5
Height: 35"
Both 80th percentile so he's perfectly symmetrical:) Doctor was so surprised when she walked in Presto said "Hi Doctor"! Presto then got a vaccine shot and said "Oh thank you" to the nurse. She obviously doesn't get thanked often!! Very typical Presto. He's our friendly, happy monkey!

"Catch me if you can"...this guy can RUN!! Even when he wasn't so stable on his feet...he was a better at running than walking!



Preston loves to wear a diaper and boots. He LOVES boots...LOVES them and his fireman boots are too big for him and fall off him but he loves to wear them anyway. And when Phia's not around he'll wear her pink and black Paul Frank boots! This kid keeps us laughing nonstop!

And our "just 'cuz" photo. Presto has declared the shoe bin the "bath" and him and Phia jump in at night together. Yet another example of kids not really needing toys!!

New Year's Eve!

New Year's Eve this year was a blast with the kids. Our neighbors Jen and Chad hosted in front of heir house with a taco vendor who was AMAZING, apple cider for the kids, poppers, and lots and lots of adult drinks. This was our kind of evening, no driving, good food, and good company. There were lots of neighborhood kids for Sophia and Preston to play with so mommy and daddy could socialize:) We only took a few pictures but we hope to do this again next year!
They each got 2 big bowls of ice cream! It was their New Year's treat:)

Bentley spent New Year's 2012 snuggling up with Daddy

We love these 2 kiddies so much!!! It brings us both such unbelievable joy to watch them grow. There's not a day that goes by that we're not amazed by their charm, whit, and ability to make us and everyone around them laugh out loud. 2011 was such a fun year, Preston became sturdy on his feet and his language, personality, and curiosity blossomed. He will charm your socks off...ladies watch out! Our favorite new thing he says is "ohhh I LIKE it" with enormous enthusiasm! Sophia started pre-school, became a princess and mastered her bike and skates!! The first thing she does when she gets home from school is rip off her uniform off and replace it with a tutu, tiara, princess heels, and a wand. She asks BT "Daddy, will you be my Prince?" at least twice a day. A true princess:) We are beyond beyond blessed and cannot wait to watch Bentley blend in with these 2 monkeys!!