She's Here!

Creating life is truly one of life's greatest blessings. We seem to be surrounded by a lot of little ones / pregnancies lately. I guess I am at that point in my life where a lot of friends are getting married and having babies. We just met little Luna this past weekend. She is such a beautiful little baby! She's already full of fun expressions. 

Changing diapers like a pro!

Last Saturday, Juan woke up to a text saying they were on their way to the hospital at 1:37am. Juan, Gisele and I were instantly excited and  anxious, waiting for updates. Gisele has been learning a lot about babies (with her little sister on the way). She very cutely informed us / lifted her hands up as she spoke like she was teaching us, "Oh, Holly is at the hospital. She is going to have the baby and it hurts. It hurts the mommy and she crys when she has a baby." So funny! Gisele is learning so much about babies and taking a lot of interest in talking about them. Her excitement about her little sister only hightened her excitement to meet baby Luna. And Juan...oh my goodness he was too cute. Juan and Jose have been best friends since they were little. Needless to say, Juan was very excited and emotional which was so sweet. He couldn't stop talking about how excited he was and we both got teary eyed a few times talking about Jose and Holly being parents now. One of my favorite moments of the day which might have been right around the time Luna was born (Sat, March 18th at 10:27am) was after breakfast / getting ready for the day. Juan, Gisele and I sat down (per Juan's request) and holding hands we prayed for little Luna, Holly and Jose. For a safe delivery, a happy and healthy little Luna. It wasn't until later in the day that we heard...SHE'S HERE!! Beautiful and perfect in every way.

Sunday morning we went to Church and anxiously awaited our invite to meet little Luna. Finally they were home and we got our chance! She really is a beautiful little baby. Already keeping Jose and Holly busy. It was so fun watching them with Luna. Feeding (Gisele was very curious about that) and changing diapers (think Juan thought Jose would struggle through the change but he was a pro). They are both naturals! So happy for the Gonzalez family!

 We love you Luna! Happy 1 Week!

Lazy Saturday with my LOVES

Cruising around Balboa Park. Cuties.

Gisele and I call this the Troll Tree. Too cute and too cool!

She melts my heart! Photo Credit: Juan

SC

I love it when we're cruisin' together...SC here we come!

I just love last minute adventures! With our busy schedules Juan and I managed to fit in a mini-vacation up in San Clemente a couple weeks ago. Juan found an awesome deal, so we packed our bags (way too much stuff for a weekend getaway) and headed north. We didn't know what to expect (room wise) and man were we pleasantly surprised!We stayed the San Clemente Inn in the largest suite (according to the lady at the front desk), it was definitely large by my standards. Bedroom with a queen bed, full kitchen, 1.5 bath, two murphy beds, living room with a pull out couch!! I would highly recommend staying there for a family getaway if you are looking for a nice place to stay, to eat in and keep costs low.

Our view out the back. Living room / Kitchen area.

 It has been forever since we "partied" so we decided to have a few beverages in our room and then  take off for dinner / bar hopping. What a fun night! Some of the fun places we hit include: Pizza Port, Ole's Tavern, Duke's and The Cellar. We definitely recommend all of them. 

Foosball at Ole's Tavern. Dancing at Duke's.

Calling it a night. Such a great night with my love.

Oh how I have missed San Clemente, my year of living in SC was such an awesome year. I really love the the people, the beaches, the shops, the eateries...I could go on and on. It was so nice spending a weekend up there. Another highlight of our trip was walking around, taking in the beautiful weather and eating at the Fisherman's Restaurant on the Pier (one of my favorite places to run...one of these days I will jump off the end!).

We also managed to fit in some antiquing (we got an awesome little shelf), candy storing and a visit to the Rainbow store. I decided it is about time Juan and G join us Rowland's and start wearing Rainbows :)

I think that about sums up our weekend beaching, shopping, eating and exploring. Until next time SC!

Oh how can I forget...on our way home we stopped at our special lookout point. Long (PG) story but back in 2008...this was a special spot for us and will forever be :)

The End.

LUNA

After Rob's party (separate  post) we were off to Jose and Holly's Baby Shower for little Luna. For those of you who don't know, Jose is one of Juan's childhood best friends. Juan has been hoping and praying that Jose and Holly have a little one. Well guess what...his wish came true!! Holly is due in a couple weeks and we are all so excited to meet little Luna!! We realize it will be a while before Luna and Gisele can play but it will be fun visiting her and doing more child friendly things with Jose and Holly :)

How adorable is Luna's room?! Holly has definitely mastered the nesting aspect of motherhood...bird paintings, baby hummingbirds and all! Gisele thoroughly enjoyed exploring and playing in Luna's room. I think Luna's going to love it!

Gisele colored a beautiful card for Holly and Jose, so of course she was excited for them to open it. After asking Holly to open our present countless times she got her wish and helped orchestrate the present opening part of the party...opening and delivering until every last present was open. Gisele was such a good little helper!

We had too much fun picking out fun kicks for little Luna! Pink Chucks and Osiris Skater Shoes.

Little Helper. My Loves. Papa Jose and Mama Holly Opening Presents. 

It was a great party!  We had such a wonderful time and couldn't be more excited for Jose and Holly. Can't wait to meet little Luna! Thanks again for letting us be a part of your beautiful shower! Lots of love!

Some more fun pictures from the day:

Always a plethora of goodies at Holly and Jose's House!

So good to see our friend Howie!

Ready to meet Luna!

Such a lucky lady! I just wanna squeeze them!

Baby Rob's Bday

Baby Rob's Birthday Party and the Gonzalez Baby Shower for Little Luna (separate post to follow) have been on our "we can't wait" list. So when the day came...Gisele was ready!! We spent the morning wrapping presents, decorating the cards and then we were off!! But not before putting on some sunscreen and slipping on her party shoes (which she doesn't like wearing without socks...so cute).

The theme: Bring a blanket and play in the park. Right up our alley! We had such a great time visiting and playing with our friends.  Gisele has grown to be quite fond of David, Erik and Brady so she was definitely excited to see them and of course the little social butterfly that she is, she managed to make some new friends along the way.

Unfair game of keep away. Party Shoes. Erik, David & Sean.

Juan & the B-day Boy. Silly Girl. Mommy Kisses.

 
I still can't believe Rob is already 1! It feels like yesterday that my life revolved around Gigi and Sean's wedding and then when they told me I was going to be a TIA....oh my goodness! I was so excited to meet the little guy but more than anything I was excited for my best friends and the new journey they were about to embark on. It was such an honor to be such a big part of their wedding and equally as special when I helped them through labor and got to see Rob for the first time along with Rob's grandparents. When they announced his name (they were keeping it a secret) I couldn't even control the tears. He is a beautiful little baby with an adorable personality...I can't wait to watch him grow up! Happy Birthday Rob!! XOXO

Gisele was so cute talking to Rob and trying to get his attention!

Boys Weekend

Next stop....Ramona!

Two weekends ago (still not on top of this blogging thing yet) Juan and I packed up our bags and went for a...what would I call it "vacation" in Ramona. We spent the weekend, house sitting, dog sitting and enjoying a beautiful weekend with my brothers. We had such a wonderful time! We went to Cole's band concert, had a movie night, laid by the pool and soaked up the sun, DJs C&C blasted music and of course turned pool time into a dance party. We explored downtown Ramona, went to church and managed to fit in a run / bike ride to work off all the snacking and treats we indulged in over the weekend. 

Pool. Sun. Fun.

Downtown Ramona. Thrift-ing. Antiquing. &Coffee Shop-ing.

 

Who knew downtown Ramona had so many neat little antique shops! Christian went crazy looking at the old Coca-Cola items, Cole and I attacked the salt water taffy, Juan and I found an awesome candlestick and of course Juan was camera happy snapping awesome pictures left and right. We all needed a refresher so we decided to checkout Packards Coffee Shop; Italian sodas for the boys and the ever popular Alaskan Mocha for me (highly recommended by other customers and it was delish). 

But wait, the downtown adventure didn't end there! We were heading back to the car and last minute we decided to check out the local thrift store. Aren't we glad we did!! Their book section was awesome! It was like a library (we all know I love libraries) where you can buy the books for 10-35 cents! I picked up some awesome novels and we got a ton of new (lightly used) books for G! And drum-roll...Juan found this MINT Marantz Model 5220 Cassette Player for $6! At first I just rolled my eyes, sure it was pretty on the outside but come on, will it really work and who even has cassettes anymore? Turns out the thrift store had a ton! We picked up a handful of cassettes and Juan went to work, researching maintenance on the player and voila!!

It works!

I definitely give Juan a hard time when it comes to bikes, electronics, cars and cameras but the truth is, I'm glad he is passionate, responsible and always excited to learn more. When he puts his mind to something he gets it done. 

Speaking of Juan and these hobbies...he has really gotten into photograph lately. I feel silly saying this is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend (since it is of me) but here it is...my fav pic:

Didn't even know he was taking a picture of me...let alone that close!

 Overall it was a fantastic weekend and my brothers agreed. Just last night they were telling Allison and I their favorite parts. Cole's favorite part was walking around Ramona. Christian's favorite part was our little pool party. My favorite part was watching the boys be boys (including Juan in that statement). It's not very often that I get to watch Juan play boy games and tell boy jokes (since I don't really see that side of him with Gisele). It was definitely a special boy weekend!

Post church cinnamon rolls. If you are ever in Ramona, I highly recommend trying one of the apple cinnamon rolls from the Ramona Cafe.