A pair of shoes and earrings

So our little one is in full swing....climbing, standing up, taking steps and "rocking" on all fours. Since she wants to be doing everything, but sitting, it was time to buy her some shoes. A few months ago I bought her some shoes (see below), because were they on clearance at Nordstroms and I bought a size 4. A pair for the near future.

The pair (size 2) that were recently bought are the following:

These are Eli's "training" shoes. Somehow she always finds away to take them off, but I usually find the missing shoe.

Earrings:

I just had to blog about this. Mark and I have chosen not to pierce Eli's ears. We have decided to wait until she wants them. I personally cannot give her that pain to have her look cute. I know it's just a few seconds or maybe minutes of pain. I understand that she will not remember anything and most likely, it will be painful when she is older. I still can't do it; even if someone else takes her. When the time comes, I will explain what it entails. if she still wants them, I will then take her to get them. It is VERY surprising to me when people are shocked that Eli does not have her ears pierced. Sometimes it is seen as an automatic to have a baby girl's ears pierce. Don't get me wrong, if others want to pierce their daughter's ears more power to you....it's just not a "biggie" to me.

San Diego

Last week, the three of us headed out to San Diego for a mini vacation. We stayed with our friends the Fosters and planned to visit the the Wild Park and the Zoo (annual passes). We were there from Friday to Sunday and the weather was great!

We headed out to the Wild Park on Friday.

Eli got to hang out with some birds and really enjoyed it. I on the other hand did not fare so well. Each time a bird flew by I would scream. Not the best example for Eli.

Who knew the map would have been one of the highlights in Eli's day.

On Saturday, we headed out to the Zoo/Balboa park. The zoo was pretty popular that day, so we did not stay too long, but we got our fill.

Before entering the zoo, we went on a train ride in Balboa Park.

We took in a show of acrobats. As you can see it was a big hit with us.

We had Eli's caricature done.

Took time to take some pictures.

Our friends the Fosters, Todd and Aceneth with their three adorable girls. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and watching UFC on Saturday night ;)

The Fosters treated us to some BBQ after church on Sunday. Phil's BBQ has the best BBQ in San Diego. Actually, it's the best I've ever tasted. Thank you again Todd and Aceneth!

Disneyland Part 1 & 2

Mark got free passes to Disneyland. A VERY generous co-worker had purchased 4-day passes to Disney, but her and her family decided two days were enough, so they handed them over to Mark....YAY! On July 30th, Mark and I went by ourselves. Arrangements were made for Eli to stay with the grandparents that afternoon/night. Mark and I headed out to Disney at about 2PM and were there until they closed. It was a Mommy and Daddy Disney-day (Part 1). It actually was my mom's idea for us to head out in the afternoon and to stay until they closed and she also offered to keep Elianna until we got back...thanks mom! It was really a good day for it. Our longest wait was 45 minutes for Space Mountain, all the other rides were a 5-20 minute wait. Also, we got to see the firework show and Fantastic.

Part 2: On July 31st, the next day, it was Eli's day. I really thought we would be leaving around 2-3PM; I really didn't think she would take much more of it. I was sooo surprised that we stayed until about 7PM, we got there about 11:30AM. She was people watching, she enjoyed the train and carousel ride. I believe we went on 3 rides with her, did a bit of tours and window shopping. She even had her first taste of ice cream! Here are some pictures of the day.

In the parking lot at Disney; in the Mickey level.

The carousel ride. Eli really enjoyed it....I was hanging in there.

The Baby Center is the best! You are able to sit and relax, pump, breast-feed, use a microwave, feed and change your baby. It is a very peaceful and calm setting.

At California Adventure, towards the end of the day. We were both a bit tired.

As a thank you to Mark's co-worker I baked her some blueberry muffins. Thanks again Elba!

Happy Birthday to Mom!

The birthday festivities began on Friday with Mark surprising me by not going to work. It turns out that it was his furlough day (for this fiscal year furlough days will most likely only go until September, thank God!), but he lied to me the night before and told me that his new furlough day would begin next week. He actually pretended to leave work, but he was actually going to the supermarket and to buy items to make me breakfast. He completely surprised me with that; I actually thought we were getting robbed when I heard the door open and footsteps that followed...YIKES! He cut up some strawberries, made eggs, pancakes, bacon and fresh hash browns. It was all very yummy.....Thank you Markers! The biggest surprise was he was planning a picnic at the beach and had a babysitter all lined up.....Momma-Lopez! For Mark to walk onto the sand and sit, that is huge!

Yesterday, my birthday, was a good day. I was planning to go workout at the gym by taking a Zumba aerobic class, but it did not work out, Eli had other plans. So, after her nap, we, the family, took a walk. Since I wanted to burn some calories I told Mark that I would be pushing the stroller, he took care of Marley.

Before we left on our walk, Eli and Daddy posed.

Marley and Daddy in the lead.

Elianna enjoying her sippy.

When we got home we were hungry, so Mark suggested that we go to Carino's for lunch; we got a coupon with the morning paper for them ;).

When we got there Eli was asleep, so Mark and I took advantage and snapped a shot of ourselves.

Someone woke up soon after arriving.

Salmon salad....yummy!

Playing with our food!

Mark's gift to me was to take me out for some crab. I want the type of place where you can get your fingers dirty and lick them when you're done.....and Mark delivered. We went to the Boiling Crab.

Elianna stayed with her Abuelita for the evening.....thank you Mom!

The happy couple ready for their date.

It was in the "heart" of Garden Grove.

The wait was about an hour and a half....pretty popular.

Ready, set...

and go!

6 months old!

Our baby girl is 6 MONTHS! What a fun age. We cannot believe all the amazing changes that have occurred with Elianna. Here are some of the things she is doing now a days.

*She is able to sit on her own for minutes at a time. If she feels that she is losing her balance, she uses her trunk and hands to help her to stay up in a seated position.

*She enjoys suckling and playing with her toes.

*Enjoys her teething toys, especially since those pearly whites seem to be coming in any time now.

*Uses her sippy cup independently when on the Boppy.

*Enjoys a wide variety of veggies and fruits.

*Reaches for everything and anything.

*Talkative!

*She seems to enjoy (what I call) her "sit and play" toys.

*When being put down, she will extend her legs and stand.

*...and as of today, eats strawberries.

Beach Day!

Last Friday, I took Eli to the beach for the first time. In the past, Kimura (my BFF) and I would go to the beach once a week during our summer break; this, of course, was before the babies. I did not go to the beach once last summer due to my pregnancy so I have been ready to smell some ocean air. Kimura was not ready to hit the beach just yet, so Eli and I went solo.

It was a modified beach day. I only planned to be there for a couple of hours. We were not going to lay out or put up the umbrella. What we did was have a nice stroll along the pathway, took some time to get close to the ocean and then went to the park near by for some lunch. Eli LOVED the stroll. Every few seconds someone was passing us by or an airplane flying overhead. As people passed by, Eli would shout out and chuckle, as to try to get their attention.

We were in El Segundo. It was a great day for a stroll not a dip....Brr!

Father's Day

Father's Day started on Friday around here. Since we were honoring three different dads this year, we started the festivities a bit early. On Friday I took Mark out for a meal, only the two of us. On Saturday, we had lunch with my dad and on Sunday we had lunch with Mark's dad....busy weekend! On Father's day, we joined Mark's parents for church and Eli wore a new outfit given to her by her Abuelita. Here's a picture of her and her daddy!