Day at the Zoo

Last weekend we went to the zoo with my sister's & the Kawases. It was a great day of being out with the family. It was also one of the hottest days so far this year. This gave us the chance to bust out some of Kalea's sun dresses that she has. We haven't been able to put them on her up to this point because San Francisco doesn't usually give us weather that cooperates with those kind of outfits. Sunday was definitely an exception though, reaching up to the 90's. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it under a huge tree in front of the zoo's playground. Auntie and Toshi loved holding and playing with Kalea as we ate lunch. Kalea was a star while we there despite the sun shining in her face and forcing us to drench her in sunscreen.
We walked around and saw a bunch of the big cats, bears, and kangaroos. Kalea was as interested looking at all the big kids running around the zoo as she was looking at the animals that were there. She is facinated with kids bigger than her. We brought one of her bucket hats (which Aja loves on her) and we thought we would take her hollywood diva look a step further and took out her sunglasses. She styled away as auntie Noelle clicked picture after picture. She put up with her sunglasses longer than i thought. She's been so grabby with everything lately that i thought there was no chance she would leave the glasses on her face, but after some adjusting, she kept them on for a little while. We ended the day with some Easter gifts from the Kawases for Kalea. She got a a huge bubble wand, a bath toy, & a little outfit for her to grow into. Aja also got an early birthday gift - a new baking cookbook from sur la table. She was very excited, and we're all anxious to taste some of the results the recipes. It was a wonderful weekend day with the family!
Kalea got another chance to go out in her sun dress the day after when Noelle came to watch her for the day. The girls went out to the park next to our house & spent some time in the sun. As usual, Noelle had her camera & also brought her friend Angela who also had a camera, so Kalea put on another fashion show. She has many pictures to add to her portfolio now. The kid knows she's cute already, and she loves to look at herself in the mirror or on the camera after snapping a picture.

Aja turns 27!

Aja had her birthday!!! She had a big year this past year. Last year we were telling our families that we had a baby on the way at her birthday parties. Now we have a little lady that takes up our time and energy. Time does fly! I got Aja a new digital camera for her birthday which was an easy gift to get because we had gone window shopping the weekend before and looked at the cameras that are out now. She really wanted a new camera to catch all the moments that we will have with Kalea.

Growing Up Before our Eyes

Kalea has continued to do more and more with each day that passes. She has successfully mastered that art of rolling from her stomach to her back. There's no keeping her doing her tummy time now. She began this past Tuesday when she must have rolled over 15 times in a row while i was playing with her on her blanket. Aja was in the kitchen when she did it the first time & yelled to her that she just rolled over. Aja was pissed that she missed it so i threw her back on her stomach to see if she would do it again, and almost instantly she was back on her back and looking at me like, "Did you see that? I'm freakin amazing, huh?"
She has also gotten really into watching Veggie Tales and Little Einsteins. I don't know if Aja and i are going to win any "Parents of the Year" awards with letting out 5 1/2 month old watch tv shows, but it helps in the morning when we're getting ready for work. She has already really enjoyed music & listening to different songs when we're in the car or when she's been going down to sleep, and both of these shows have music involved with pretty much every episode. She watches intetnly & talks to the tv at times - very cute. She is so interested in everything that you putin front of her now, that it's fun to see her taking different things in and wondering what's going on in the pretty little head of hers.

Return to Vallejo

Today I had the pleasure of returning to a job site that I worked on with Mike and Matt for a little less than a year when we were all with DDG. The remodel was a lot of work and happened in a 9 story place with some not so great neighbors. We powered through it though & it came out amazing. As with most of our jobs with DDG, i never really got to see the final product once everything was done and the family moved in. However, two or three years later & I get a call from Mike letting me know of an oppertunity to grab a little side job and re-seal all the tile that they have in their place.
I jumped on the oppertunity to make some extra cash. It was a bit weird being there by myself though. I have grown so accustomed to working side by side with Matt on jobs, that sometimes it hits me that he isn't around anymore. The place looks amazing, and it was fun to see it being well taken care of & being able to sit back and admire all the work we put into it. When i was working on it, i never really appreciated what we were doing, but now being away from it a bit, has really helped me to look back on those times with a lot of joy. Wroking with Matt and Mike was a huge blessing for the years that we all were pushing to get things done. Sometimes the work seemed overwhelming and hard, and we complained, but now, as I'm in a different situation, I see how lucky I was to have those times with those guys. I learned so much, not only construction skills, but work ethic and what a good days work really looks like. I got a little spoiled in that we all got along so well, and there was never a dull day with those two around. Also working with someone you grew up next to and share so many memories with, makes it easy to deal with any hard labor that might come along with the kind of work we did.
Anyways, the tile looks amazing now, and i earned a few extra buck to help make things work at home. I have another side job next Saturday, so hopefully God keeps providing me with oppertunities to pick up extra work so that Aja and I can keep afloat.

Get in my Belly!!!

Kalea has moved into the land of eating real food! She has been eating rice cereal for a while now & the other week got her first taste - sweet potato!!! she moved to bananas this week and seems to like them. She has been watching very intently whenever Aja or I have been eating. She follows our forks as we bring them to our mouths to eat, so I think she will be OK with the whole process of eating.
She has also really begun to use her hands to grab and bang on things. Last night we took one of her toys down from the bookshelf that she hasn't been able to play with yet. It is a liitle tikes piano that plays music when you press the keys, turn the roller, or move the top in any way. She absolutely loved it!!! She reached out for it on our dining table and banged away for a good half hour. She continues to grow up more and more with each day - we're such lucky parents to be able to be a part of her life.