Disney Show

My dad surrpised mom with the whole family going to the Disney Worlds of Fantasy Ice Show at the pond.  The girls looooved it and have been "reading" their program every day since the show. Bella liked the Lion King (thanks to sitting on Uncle Kevin's lap and him explaining to the story), Caleigh liked Tinkerbell and the Luria boys liked the Cars the best.  It was fun to all be together and enjoy the show thru the eyes of children.

Merry Christmas!

We had a fun and hectic Christmas.  On the 23rd, we took Caleigh to ER and found out the poor baby had pneumonia AND dual ear infections.  Poor Baby!  That night-Bella got the stomach flu.  Poor Baby!  Our Bijan family of four did our Christmas on the morning of the 24th .  Bella was so lethargic that she just wanted to lay on the couch rather than play with the gifts.  On Christmas Eve we went to Omi and Grandpa Stan's house with the McGibbons. Always a fun night of good food, and fun.  We "skyped" Yasmine and Brian that night and had dinner virtually together with them.  We miss them dearly.  We drove around and looked at Christmas decorations and even spotted Santa!!  We drove up to OC to Nana and Pops' house for Christmas morning along with the Lurias and Kevin.  The kids all had so much fun.  Bella really got the idea of Santa this year...Caleigh sort of did.  When we came home from our busy few days, the girls and Bijan and I slept so soundly in our rooms and the kids have literally played for days together with all their new loot. I have never seen them play so well together.  Bijan will have a total of 3 weeks off work-so even though the last week has been pretty hectic, we are happy to be home again and relax a bit.  A very Merry Christmas indeed!

Christmas Sing!

Bella's school had their "Christmas Sing" last week.  It was sooooo cute seeing all the 3 and 4 year olds singin their little hearts out.  I can't believe that BOTH of our girls will be in pre school next year!!

The spirit of Christmas...

There is this amazing house in Poway....they open it up for the public for 2 weeks in December.  This couple creates a "Santa Village" for the kids to enjoy. It is incredible.  Talk about the spirit of Christmas...this couple begins decorating their home in October....its unreal how many knicknacks, angels, Christmas Trees, snowmen, lights, and STUFF they have in their home. You get to take a tour of what we call, "Santa's San Diego house", and then outside the house is this whole little Santa's Village with fake snow and all.  Its really magical.  And if thats not enough they have free cider and hot chocolate and cookies-AND each child takes a gift home.  Of course Santa and Mrs. Claus are also there, to greet all the kids.  It just warms my heart that such a couple exists, and so special that they are are filled with spirit of Christmas that they do such a thing.  It is now a Bijan tradition that we visit Santa's SD home each year.

Say Cheeeeese!

Here are some favorites pictures from the Bijan family photo shoot that we had at this December...

Disneyland!

   We carried on our Bijan Family tradition of going to Disneyland during December this year.  This time, we went on Bella's actual birthday (free admission on your bday).  Such a great time, as always!  We went to both Disneyland and California Adventure.  Bijan was happy cuz he got to go on the Nemo Submarine ride.  The girls were happy because...well...WE WERE AT DISNEYLAND!  :)  When I asked Bella what her favorite part of the day was, she said, "The Tiki Room, the parade, and lunch with the princesses".  When I asked Caleigh what her favorite part of the day was, she said, "Snow White, Little Mermaid and Belle".  My personal favorite was the parade.  Just an all around fun day of being together.  Happy Birthday to Miss Bellabee.  How is my "baby" four years old!

1-2-3-FOUR!

Miss Bella Elizabeth is now FOUR.  I really can't believe it.  It feels like just yesterday she was born.  Gosh, I love that girl. As I am typing this I am like tearing up because I just love love love my Bella.  She is such a special little girl.  I would describe her as being friendly, girlie yet- also can be rough, emotional, loving, spunky, and headstrong.  Her favorite foods are hamburgers and pasta.  She loves fruit.  She loves all things glittery, frilly, or feminine.  She loves to dance.  She loves to read books.  She loves to draw.  She is no dare devil.  She loves to hug her friends and hold hands.  Rihanna's "Please Don't Stop the Music" is her all time favorite song.  She loves her soft silky blankets. She is really good about flossing her teeth.  She is really sweet to her sister (well...most of the time).  She refuses to wear jeans.  If it were up to her, she'd take an hour long bath daily. She genuinely likes to help. She loves bagels.  She squeals in delight when her daddy comes home from work.  I could go on and on about all the things that make her special...but I really never knew just how incredible being a mother would be until Bella entered our life.  She (and Caleigh) taught me the true meaning of love....

Pub Crawl

So our crew of friends did our 2nd annual pub crawl last night.  Traditionally, ever year...we all do a holiday dinner-its been at someone's house or a restaurant.  But last year we decided to change things up and do a good ole pub crawl thru Pacific Beach. We wanted to carry on that tradition again this year.  It was raining.  But after a few beers in the system, the rain didn't bother us one bit.  Great time to hang out, let loose, and dance.  I paid the price today a bit, but totally fun.  I feel so blessed to have such an awesome group of friends.

Santa Claus

The girls went to see Santa today at the mall. Bijan met us there. Bella had no problem climbing right up onto Santa's lap and listing the 20 or so things she wanted for Christmas! Caleigh, was bit apprehensive...but Santa did a great job luring in her in. He asked her for a high five, then a hand shake, then asked if she'd blow him a kiss, and then asked for a hug...and then she climbed right up onto his lap!

Santa asked if we'd leave him milk and cookies for himself and carrots and raisins for his reindeer!

Trolley time

Today the girls and I went on the trolley. It was their first ride. They are minorly obsessed with trains. Our plans cancelled today and we didn't have much to do, so I thought I'd surprise them with a trolley ride. They were thrillllllled! They wanted to ride backwards, they wanted to switch seats, press the button to open and close the door. Who would've thought the trolley could be so fun! :)

We checked out Bijan and my old place (it was right along the trolley line). They were fasncinated. We peeked at our old backyard from the public sidewalk. They had all kinds of questions.

We ended up going to lunch and playing with the toys at Lakeshore (the first picture of the girls in masks).

If you haven't taken the trolley someplace, you should! Kids 5 and under are free during the week. 12 and under are free on the weekend.

Princess for a Day!

Bella had her 4th birthday party this weekend. When I asked her what kind of a party she wanted, she screamed, "A PRINCESS PARTY!" This is definitely the year of the princess in our house-the Disney princess. We invited Cinderella to come to the party...yes...the REAL Cinderella-and lucky for us, she was free! :)

The kids were encouraged to dress up-so adorable seeing all the little girls in their little princess outfits. We had a batman and my nephews were princes, and a few other make shift get ups. It was adorable. Cinderella crowned Bella, read a story, sang a song, played a few games, did tattoos, and ate cupcakes with the kids. I think all the kids had fun. It was just amazing to watch how captivated the kids were while Cinderella read her story to them. I have never seen a group of 4 year olds pay that close of attention to someone.

The best part of the day was how special Bella felt...having all her little friends at our house-all at the same time-a dream come true! :) Cinderella did an awesome job making Bella feel like a true princess for a day.

Happy Birthday Bella! xoxo

A style of her own

So my girl Bella, has a style of her own. She rolls up her pants...EVERYDAY. She likes to wear her little cotton tight leggings...and even on the coldest day, she rolls them UP. She likes dresses and skirts but no jeans, and no pants.

Hmmm...wonder how long this style will last.

Good thing Target sells leggings for $4.

Its beginning to look at lot like...

Love the holiday season...the lights, the decorations, the mood, the spirit, the festivities...

The girls and I tried to help Bijan with the lights...but I think we more of a hinderance than a help. His perfectionist little mind and all-it all had to hang and look just right-bless him.

We'll get the tree next week-after Bella's birthday party. Don't want to deal with the stress of a bunch of little kids running round a Christmas tree.

A few of our favorite holiday traditions include a visit to Santa's San Diego house, the boat parade, Wild Animal Park's Lights, Storybook Lane, of course Santa and whatever else we can find!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house...well, the sunny San Diego 80 degree version of Christmas! :)

Thanksgiving Week

Bijan had the week off for Thanksgiving. It was so great having him home. My cousin Christopher stayed with us for a few days-we went to the zoo and Balboa Park. Bijan also did some "work"...started the backsplash project in the kitchen. Looks awesome! For Thankgiving, we headed up to Orange County for a few days...my mom and dad hosted Tgiving with about 25 of us!! (did I mention a 50 minute ride took us 2 1/2 hours!!!) Great to see my brother and sister, aunt, uncle, and many cousins. Bijan's mom and step dad came up too. Nice day of eating, visiting, drinking, ping pong, and more eating! The day after Tgiving Bijan and my dad carried on Barnum tradition and hung the lights outside while Bella and I broke down and went to the doctor. I braved Black Friday and went down the street to ToysRUs-buuuut quickly walked out when I saw that the line was literally wrapped around the entire store! After we got back to San Diego we put up all our Christmas decorations-both inside and out (go Bijan). I am sad for B to go back to work tomorrow. We always have so much fun with Daddy home!