Cousin Ryan comes to visit!

Yay, cousin Ryan is here! Unfortunately, the first two days Ryan was here, Mattie was not allowed out of the house due to her nasty cold germs. They finally got to play on Saturday evening after Mattie had been on her meds for over 24 hours and because daddy got really ill and couldn't stay home with Mattie on his own...Mattie enjoyed showing Ryan how to ride a horse with just one hand!

We took the girls on a brisk walk to check out one of the coolest houses in grandma and grandpa's tract. The lights are set to music and it was very entertaining for the adults and the kids to see. The girls decided to just chill on the cold sidewalk for a bit, they were both coughing and had runny noses....

We couldn't let Ryan go back to Arizona without checking out Mattie's favorite hang-out... the aquarium!

One of the crazy lorikeets even landed on uncle Jason... but Ryan didn't like it too much after it nipped at her hand ;(

Mattie loves the "park" at the aquarium as always... who wouldn't love climbing on a boat and giant sea creatures?!

Merry Christmas to all!

Mattie's clear runny nose (for the past 3 weeks!) took a turn for the worse on Christmas Eve!
Poor girl was not her usual playful self...But we managed to make it out of the house to go to church with grandma and grandpa, and Mattie sat through the whole service without complaining!

Christmas morning she felt even worse... Dora presents seemed to help for a little bit...

Mattie says Merry "Sickmas" to all, hopefully next year will be a merrier (healthier) Christmas!

A Very Baker Christmas

The Baker side of the family celebrated Christmas on Sunday (minus Amy, Jason, and Ryan)
Mattie loved playing in the fountain out back, and especially getting the baby bottle wet and splashing grandpa with the cold water...

After her dress got soaked, we came in for a change of clothes... she made a break for it and ran upstairs before I could get her dressed again! Apparently, riding in the buff is even more fun than getting wet in the fountain...

Later in the evening, Audrey showed her little sister Kate, and Mattie, how to use her new toy. For Mattie's friends who don't know these cousins, Kate is the same age as Mattie (about 20 months here) and Audrey is 4 years old.

Then Mattie and Audrey had a smiling contest and checked out Santa and Baby Jesus.

And in keeping with tradition....

Mattie decided to follow all of her friend's leads... she saw on their blogs that they did not like Santa, so she decided he must be a scary, scary man.... and to think she did so well last year...

But the train is always super fun! She is always all smiles when she gets to ride the choo choo!

The decorated street of all decorated streets!

All I can really say is Merry crazy lights so exciting Christmas! Jana tipped us off (thanks!) to this neighborhood in Tustin, and oh my gosh, it is sooooo amazing! Everywhere you look there are crazy lights, music, real life Santa and nice neighbors offering hot coffee... I'm surprised the rest of the city has any power with all the lit bulbs in this neighborhood! I think I was as excited as Mattie was to see it all, and we didn't even see it all! We'll definitely be going back in a few days!

The LB Aquarium again!

The three musketeers (Mattie, Alyssa, and Sylvie) climb into the boat for some adventure...

"Mom, watch out for the pigeon on your foot"... seriously, the pigeons were attacking us all day!

Mattie and Sylvie pause to have a snack... actually there was very little pausing and a whole lot of snacking... these girls seem to be bottomless pits, they just keep eating and eating....

Look, a sea turtle....

Yes, Mattie, you are still the big winner :)

Get as dizzy as possible!

Mattie decided that plain old dancing was no longer fun... she thinks spinning in circles until you fall over is way more exciting! Can you keep up with her???

Family Photos December '08

Trapped inside all day Monday

Sure enough, we woke up to pouring rain Monday... Mattie was already giving me clues by 10AM that she wanted to go outside... she went into the closet and got out a duffle bag and umbrella... "ready to go mom?"

I had to be more creative than usual today (since we couldn't go to the park or out and about)

So we (I) built a fort... Mattie was excited to play inside... she read books, climbed in and out and under the chairs....

And she forgot all about wanting to go outside!

Sunday... before the storm....

We braved the cold on Sunday and made a trip to the Spectrum to ride the carosel... Mattie now squeals with delight when she sees those lit up horses!

The sky when we left.... is that not the most beautiful sunset you have ever seen????
And it just kept getting more colorful! All those clouds were a sign of things to come...

Annual "Fam" Holiday Get Together

The whole gang got together to celebrate the holiday (minus the Alldays w/ 2 sick kids, we missed ya!)

A ladies shot...
A theme of the evening... Mattie stealing Tatum's stroller...

Goofing around on the couch... Tatum kept saying "more pictures" so I kept taking them till I got one of them both semi-smiling!

More stroller stealing... this time its two strollers! Poor Tatum just scowls in the background as her toys get taken away.... she could be my babysitter, she kept telling Mattie what to do, and would say "no, no Mattie" when Mattie would do something naughty! So cute to see their little personalities!

Aaron's First Birthday Party!

Mattie's friend Aaron celebrated his first birthday party on Sunday!

The sandbox was a big hit... Here Aria is showing Mattie how to properly pour out the sand....
The two slides were also a big hit... Mattie, Aria, and Gavin all want their turn to slide down!

Yes, "muscle Mattie" really carried this play table outside from the living room.. apparently she wanted it all to herself, in the sandbox....

The birthday boy digging in to his cupcake! Fun friends and yummy food, it doesn't get much better than this!

Annual trip to Fashion Island

We couldn't let the Christmas season come and go without making a trip to Fashion Island to see the big tree....

First stop, the carosel... Mattie can't get enough of the horses!
Not a great pic, but check out the background... the sky was eery, but you can see Catalina Island way out in the distance....

The big tree! Mattie liked hitting the big ornaments better than anything else!

A stop by the coi pond... Mattie wanted to go for a swim with the big fish! So many fun things to see when you are 19 months old!

Mattie plays with her "baby friends"

Baby Isaac came over to play twice this past week! He is getting so big and will soon be bigger than Mattie! Mattie is 19 months old here and Isaac is 4 months old.
Baby Sierra (Miller) also came over to play, she is 8 months old and full of smiles!

Laguna Beach Montage with the Kessels

When Jakey comes to town, Mattie gets in as many play dates as possible. Saturday we went to the Montage to enjoy the beautiful sunny day... Mattie enjoyed chasing Jakey all around the lawn before we headed down to the beach...

A quick stop for a family photo....
Playing around in the sand.... Jakey finds a Captain America figure, and Mattie is happy to hold sand....

Mattie sees a dog off in the distance and a neat cave by the shoreline... she is seriously contemplating which one to go see first...

The dog won... but she wasn't sure about petting him because his hair was all wet!

What a fantastic day! Oh the joys of living in southern California!