A big week! 5 months old, TOOTH!

What a week!

It started with us buying a car last Sunday! Yay!! We have been needing a bigger family car, one that the stroller won't quite fill the whole trunk, and where Sienna's infant seat isn't touching the front seat. The Corolla isn't ideal for road trips with the amount of stuff I pack (overly prepared- you never know you might need it, right?) For the first two roadtrips, with all the gear, we were squished in so tight, it was getting ridiculous, and Russell's 1968 Ranchero isn't exactly baby friendly. So as nice as it has been not having a car payment for the last few months, it was time to car shop!

And just as we do all of the big decisions in our life- we bought the first one we saw! This is at least after weeks of researching and overthinking details, so when we see the right one, we just know it. We are proud owners of a 2005 Chevy Equinox! It is spacious inside, but not a huge SUV... I can still manuever and park it just fine and the gas mileage is great! Its in such perfect condition, low miles, leather, all wheel drive, moonroof, heated seats, and everyone thinks its brand new! So we are so extremely pleased with our purchase!



The next big news of the week was Russell started school on Monday! Mon and Wed he has an English class from 7-8:50 (big bummer to him, and its taught like they are 5th graders...) So its a full Daddy and Sienna day, and full family afternoon and dinner... Tues and Thurs he has Engineering Drawing (CAD) from 2-4:50 then Welding 1 from 5:30-8:30. Sienna goes to Lolly's house for the afternoon until I get off work. I think the schedule will work out great! And Russell loves the welding class, will really learn a lot and looks forward to the class! The CAD class will be very valuable learning also!

Harvest has officially started! It's not too intense yet, but I really enjoyed this weekend because it may easily be my last one until November! We had our first grape trucks come through, a few maturity samples (from vineyards to see if its time to pick) and its getting busier! I have 2 seasonal employees starting tomorrow and 2 the following week, so busy times are ahead of me!! I have been dreading it a bit honestly, but have accepted it, its my job and I enjoy it, so Bring it On!! (I just really will miss my baby girl...)

On to Sienna news! She is 5 months old today!!! And she has her first tooth! Russell felt it barely poking through her bottom gums this afternoon. And she was quite a fussy little thing! I was so excited when I first saw it, was such a proud mommy! I just can't believe she is old enough for teeth! My goodness! She seems to be sleeping well now. The last few days she has been a bit fussier than normal, and is quite a chew monster, and she woke up last night screaming a couple times which is not like her at all... I hope she feels better tomorrow and it comes through easily...

She finally had her 4 month dr appointment on Friday. Dr Macias was impressed with her progress and demeanor. Everyone tells us she is so alert and love interacting with her. Her official weigh-in is 16 pounds, 6 ounces (80%) and 26.5 inches (90%). Our last measurements were higher, so we could be off but I also think her leg was bent when the lady marked it... Either way, she is a tall girl! I can't remember her head size but its 95%! Dr. Macias assured us its all her intelligence! She also had to get her next round of shots :( One oral vaccine, and 2 shots in each leg. She took the oral one MUCH better than last time when she turned purple and screamed and choked... She of course was not a happy camper with the pokes, but it wasn't too bad and she calmed down quickly after looking the nurse right in the eyes and yelling at her! She was sleepy most of the day but all in all was in a ok mood.

Now I am just thinking about my poor baby! Shots and cutting her first tooth in 3 days :( What a tough cookie she is! And tough moments to witness as a mommy!

Ooops.. i haven't uploaded any new pictures of my teething munchkin...

Ok next post... more pictures of our 5 month old and updates on what else she has been up to, and all about the big family reunion!!

Grandma's Kegger!

Yep, you read that right!

Last Saturday was the annual "Grandma's Kegger" for Russell's grandma's birthday.

Sienna wore a party dress:

This year Grandma turned the big 8-0! So it was even more of an extraordinary celebration of such a wonderful woman! There were 92 people there according to Lolly's count! Since this amazing lady (who you would think is 20 years younger by the way) has such an adventurous spirit, it was essential to surprise her with something grand- so what else but Harleys!! What a fabulous idea it was and it was orchestrated perfectly (thanks to Lolly!) She didn't see it coming! A procession of 12 Harleys (friends, coworkers, and friends of friends) cruised down the driveway and circled around. The look of pure surprise on Grandma'a face was priceless!

Russell's cousin Meagan and her husband Matt crafted up the perfect denim vest for her, complete with leather patches- a few were "Boss Lady", "Sanchez Cycles", "51712" (5 kids, 17 grandkids, 12 great grandkids)....

So then Grandma went for a ride! It was so much fun to see this all! No one could stop smiling, such a remarkable experience!

Happy 80th Grandma! We are all so lucky to have you in our lives!!

Sienna had a great time seeing everyone especially the older kids, and swam in the pool with Daddy. It was so nice to visit with lots of family and the BBQ was delicious as always!

Mommy time, beach baby!

Ok, getting caught up on blogging, just a week behind!

Last Friday night and most of Saturday, we had Mommy and Sienna time! It was opening day for hunting season on Saturday, so we dropped Daddy off Friday evening to hang out with the guys and crash at his parent's house for an early morning wakeup. It was the first time as parents that both of us were not there for the night. But wasn't a problem as Sienna keeps to a good routine. I am sure Daddy had fun having beers and being out past 8:00, and hunting with family and friends. I rented chick flicks (He's just not that into you and bride wars) and caught up on Sienna snuggle time. And I took lots of pictures. Sienna also had fun moving all over the living room. After running to the bathroom, I came out to see her not there! And not where she usually rolls to. I looked to the side and she was over checking out Daddy's xbox!









Sunday I woke up early to take care of 2 weeks of laundry from being out of town the weekend before, cleaning and grocery shopping. Then we had a family afternoon and headed down to the coast. It was going to be 99 in Paso, so we figured the beach would be a nice option for the afternoon. I packed a picnic lunch and we drove the scenic route... Heading through Cayucos and Morro Bay it was overcast and windy, so we kept going to Avila Beach. It was also overcast there, but not that cold. We set up a blanket and relaxed on the beach for a bit. Sienna enjoyed rolling around, standing in the sand, and walking around in the baby bjorn.









Then we went to check out the Avila Valley Barn. Russell made fun of me and how excited I got with the animals. I forgot the camera in the car, but Sienna was very interested in the animals. She was also very interested in watching the older kids running around! We saw goats, emus, mini donkeys (my fav and future pet), pigs, cows, ponies, sheep, peacocks, ducks and chickens. I can't wait to go back when Sienna is older. You can buy veggies to feed the animals. There is also a ton of produce to buy, but we have our own source for that!

Weekend Trip!

Ok well this was 2 weeks ago now! I took Friday off work for a family roadtrip. I figured it would be the last chance to go out of town before harvest comes along and takes away all my weekends! We left Friday morning and headed south. The drive down was pretty uneventful (always a good thing with a baby on board). We made it to Chico Hills with just a couple stops. We were thrilled to see Aunt Moni, Uncle Marcel and cousins Dean and Ani! They just had moved back from Puerto Rico, and we are so so glad to have them back in Cali!! We had a yummy sushi lunch (everything was $2.50 at this neat restaurant- the sizes of rolls just varied). The Raudas were housesitting for a friend, but have found a really nice apartment in the area where Dean will go to the same school as his best friend Katelyn. First grade next year! Wow!! Sienna had fun watching her cousins play and loved watching the fish in their aquarium.



Then we headed out to Aunt Sara and Uncle Mark's in Huntington Beach. It was great to kick back and catch up Friday night.



Saturday was going to be a day at the beach! We got everything together and headed down (just a mile from their house).





Unfortunately it was too late of a start and it was already PACKED. No luck finding a free parking spot, or maybe if we drove around for a couple hours. So we headed towards the huge $10 parking lot, but it was backed up for an insane distance because the lot was full and closed off! Bummer! So we headed back to Sara's and went to the pool instead. Aunt Carrie came up from San Diego and Auntie Marcey came down from Redondo. We had a fun afternoon of chatting, playing with the munchkin and eating. Sienna had fun with everyone, showed off her rolling and scooting abilities. She also started "walking" with Daddy holding onto her hands. Like taking huge steps forward on her own! Later we played Wii and drank margaritas!



Sunday we went back to Chino Hills to meet the Raudas for lunch at Russell's fav Buffalo Wild Wings. We polished off some wings! Marcel and Russell played the trivia game and Sienna admired her cousins... She was especially interested in everything Ani was doing, it will be exciting to see them grow up together!



Then we headed home and Sienna slept like 2 hours straight. Then we entertained each other with silly noises, singing and toys. She started getting fussy so we stopped for a diaper change at a Jack in the Box. Russell got out to stretch and very luckily noticed a nail sticking straight out of the front tire! It wasn't flat yet. So baby and I hung out while Daddy changed the tire. Must have been a lovely site since we had all of our luggage out on the side in order to get to the spare tire. And it was only like 100 out... So we very carefully drove the hour and a half home and got in safely. We figure Sienna was letting us know there was something wrong, because it could have been a real real disaster!

To finish the story, Monday morning I went to try and get the tire fixed but the nail was in the sidewall (right at the border) so we had to buy a new one!

Other than that we had a fabulous trip and look forward to the next once I get through the endless weeks of harvest!!!

BUSY mama!

So I am over a week behind and have lots to write about! But its 9:00 pm Sunday an I just finished cleaning like a mad woman and still have to put away like 8 loads of laundry... so I will try again tomorrow!!

We had a wonderful trip down south last weekend, lots of time with family, a busy work week and lots of mommy and baby time this weekend. We had a fun family day today down in Avila Beach...

Sienna is doing wonderful. I just love my girl so much, and she seriously gets cuter every day (if that's possible!) Her personality is developing more and more and she is pretty darn hilarious and such a sweetheart. And we can't turn our back, she is manuevering all over the place, she will roll across the whole living room or somewhat army crawl (all lower body pushing herself forward).

Stay tuned...

Sophia Grace!

A bit late in posting this...


Sienna's new friend and future volleyball partner was born on July 24th! Sophia Grace Kepins is a healthy and beautiful baby girl, and we are so happy for Jake and Theresa!!

We went to visit her when she was 4 days old. It was so shocking to see the size difference of the two girls! Sophia was born at 7 lbs 6 oz, so Sienna was never quite that small, but still was an indication of how much Sienna has grown and changed in a few short months! In no time the girls will be running around with each other! Sophia has a FULL head of hair, and is just precious!!