Puppy Update...

Poor Yvette has a had a rough go at it as a first time mother. She whelped 8 puppies on October 8, but unfortunately 4 of them died :( They think she actually whelped a few days early-- the puppies were really little and just not strong enough to survive. The 4 that are left are almost 3 weeks old and doing great-- so is Yvette! Their eyes just opened and they are starting to run around & play with each other a bit. They have all been named-- CCI assigns a letter to each litter and Yvette's litter was an "R" litter. So the names are Raisen, Rory, Revenue & Rhone. They really are adorable-- it is a good thing that we don't have the option to keep any of them!

Yvette & her pups (L to R: Rory, Revenue, Raisen & Rhone)

Little Raisen

Revenue

Rory

Rhone

Rory & Revenue playing

Fleet Week 2009

Savannah and Dad went to the City for Fleet Week 2009 to see the Blue Angels. We were all supposed to go, but unfortunately Dylan was up all night the night before with an ear infection. So... Mommy & Dylan stayed home and went to the doctor & slept, while Savannah & Daddy got to spend a special day together.

Fall is Here...

This weekend the weather really cooled down.... Fall is finally here! We took a trip to the pumpkin patch -- one of my very favorite Fall activities! We always get some great pictures & the kids have a blast running around. This year was no different...

Going for a wheelbarrow ride

Daddy & Dylan in the corn

I have no idea what is up with the face, but for some reason she thought it was really cool, because I have at least 3 pictures of with the exact look?!

Playing on the tractor

Playing hide-n-seek in the corn

PUPPIES!!

Yvette had her puppies this afternoon! 4 girls, 4 boys-- 4 black & 4 yellow. Everyone is doing well & Yvette is taking to being a mommy very well.

Yvette & her big belly last week

Snuggling with her pups

so cute!

Gotcha!

Dylan has been trying to get a hold of CJ for months.... he finally caught him!

Dylan was THRILLED!

CJ-- not so much. Poor kitty!

A Girl's Best Friend

Football...

Savannah insisted on playing flag football this year... yep, the only girl! The coaches set up 4 stations... kicking, pulling flags, throwing & catching. At the end of their practice they have a mini-game against the other team. Although Savannah is having fun, she is not quite as into it as she was with baseball. But she is pretty excited about the unique fashion statement she gets to make with the super cool flag belt!

Life with a dog...

Well Yvette came home on Monday from Canine Companions. She was bred (successfully we think!) and is expecting her 1st litter of puppies on October 9. Things are going great-- the kids love her-- Dylan sometimes a little bit too much! I think Dylan is actually beginning to believe he is a dog too. Case in point below...

and he thinks he is OH SO FUNNY!

She is such a sweet dog & we are so excited that she has become part of our family. We truly can't thank Jacquelyn enough for letting us be a part of her life. How could you not love this pup??

My Birthday Weekend!

This last weekend I turned the big 3-2 & we celebrated with a weekend away with good friends! We ventured to the biggest little city-- AKA Reno-- and had a fabulous time with Julia, Chris, Colleen & Steve!

Mitch & Colleen

Kandice & Steve

I discovered a new favorite drink-- a very dirty martini with extra olives. YUMMY!

Chris, Julia, Kandice & Mitch

Julia & Kandice

Girls' Weekend

Savannah and I went on our 1st "Girls' Weekend" trip this last weekend. We flew down to Southern California and spent 3 days with friends and family. We had a blast and I can't wait to take a special trip with her again. There were too many pictures to share in one post, so below is a series of posts sharing on all our adventures...

Hangin' with the Coyes

Savannah and I stayed with Auntie KK, Uncle Kevin & Coco this trip. Savannah adores Coco & cried at the airport when we went home because she "already missed Coco so really much!" It was really fun to be able to spend so much time with my brother and his family the last few days.

Savannah squeezing Coco-- probably a little too tight!

Silly Uncle Kevin & his sweet baby girl

I love Auntie KK!!

Playing at the Adventureplex

Coco LOVED the slide!

Beach Day!

A visit to Southern California wouldn't be complete with a day at the beach. Especially since Auntie KK & Uncle Kevin live a few blocks away!

Pushing Coco while Mommy & Auntie KK carry everything else!

No fear of the water!

Kody & Savannah

Beach Baby!

Buried!!!

Learning to Boogie Board

Kody was so sweet & not only shared his boogie board with Savannah, but he also taught her how to use it. She loved it!!

Attempt #1 ended in a bit of a wipe-out...

But she got right back on that board again...

Meeting Baby Tj!

One of the reasons for our girls' weekend was to meet Amber & Jake's newest addition-- baby TJ! He is so precious & we enjoyed every minute holding him. AND if you were wondering, it totally made we want a 3rd baby even more-- much to Mitch's dismay!

Savannah was so proud that she got to hold TJ & help feed him a bottle!

She was even more excited that she got to go swimming in Auntie Amber's pool!

A Tribute to MJ...

Every night I look forward to going to tuck in Savannah one last time for lots of reasons.... she looks so peaceful & sweet, one last kiss good night, one last snuggle--but mostly because I NEVER know what I will find. The other night was no exception....

Since the untimely passing of the King of Pop, we have been playing lots of MJ around our house. Savannah loves it-- especially the dancing. Can you really blame her?? He was an AMAZING performer (if you were curious, her favorite song is "Smooth Criminal"). So the other night, I sneak in her room to check on her and find this...

At first I couldn't figure it out, then it hit me! She was totally sporting the one glove (which I have no idea where she got) as an homage to Michael Jackson--gotta love it!!

Meet the Newest Member of our Family....

Today we welcomed a new member to our family... Yvette, a beautiful black lab! Auntie Jacquelyn raised Yvette for Canine Companions and we always said that if she didn't pass her tests that we would love to have her. Well, Yvette passed her tests! With flying colors in fact--- and she was chosen to become a breeder. This means that she will have about 4 litters of puppies over the next 3 years and she gets to live with us. She will be with us all the time, except when she is in heat and from about 2 weeks before the puppies are born until they are weened-- during which time she will be with Canine Companions. Once she is done breeding we will officially adopt her. She is such a sweet dog & we are thrilled to have her as part of our family AND so honored that Jacquelyn asked us to be a part of her life! As you can see below, the kids are ecstatic!!!

Savannah and Yvette

Dylan welcoming Yvette home!

Time for T-Ball!

This morning Savannah had her first t-ball practice! It was set up so well & she had a blast. They had 4 stations-- throwing, running the bases, catching and hitting. After spending time at each station they had a mini-game against one of the other groups.

Practicing throwing

Running the bases

Playing catch

Learning to hit

Let's Play Ball... well sort of!

Dylan wanted to play too! We turned around and

found him playing at the tees while nobody was using them :)

My Sweet Boy

NeverLand

On the way home from vacation we had planned to stop at Mitch's parents' house in Nipomo to drop Savannah off for a fun-filled week with Pommy & Papa. Since we were driving right by it anyway, we decided to make a quick stop at NeverLand.... really not very exciting, but at least we can say we saw it and the 100+ other people that were camped there that just needed to "BEAT-IT".

Summer Vacation

We recently took the kids down to Southern California and spent 10 fun-filled days! We spent the first few days in Hermosa Beach with Karin & Coco. Kevin was working in Mexico unfortunately, but we had a great time with Karin and Savannah LOVED playing big sister to Coco. Dylan on the other hand wanted to beat Coco up--- we are hoping that is just a passing phase :) We also got to see the rest of my family which is always nice. Savannah and Dylan spent the 4th of July with my parents, while Mitch and I went to a wedding in San Diego. Then on Sunday we picked the kids up and headed out to the Lawrence Welk Resort for the week. We went to the Wild Animal Park & Lego Land, then spent the rest of the time by the pool. We had lots of visitors (Gigi, Papa, Kody, Karin, Coco, Amber and the Forrest Family) throughout the week and we enjoyed our time with everyone. We all had a great time and can't wait for the next vacation!!!