Easter

One of the great perks of living in an association are the activities that are within walking distance for Brianna. The Easter egg hunt today was a hit with our family of three, so I thought it was worth putting on the blog.

They put out 3000 eggs and separated it by age, besides playing with Olivia, this was Brianna's favorite part of the morning.

Walking through the rocks in a very loud voice!Posing with Olivia in their cute dresses.

Awww Olivia with her Daddy, Mommy was at home with baby Ava. So excited for her first Easter!

Awwww Brianna and her Daddy, I am of course taking pictures :)

This was not Brianna's favorite part, maybe next year!

curly hair!

So right now Brianna has curly hair I hope it stays. If it doesn't I will be calling on lots of my straight hair or blown out straight haired friends to help me :)

Oh pacifier, how we love you, please don't go!

So Brianna had her 18 month check up on Friday and her Dr. who we love said to prepare myself because at her dentist appointment which is next week they will probably tell me to ditch the pacifier. What???? No way!! We and I do mean we love the pacifier. It has so many good uses, the pictures below demonstrate my case....Car rides always a nice comfort for Brianna to have and it helps to get her in the car when she doesn't want to leave somewhere.
Calming Brianna into the night time routine of reading books while I am exhausted from the day.
Taking naps in other places like Grandma's house at Thanksgiving.
Comfort for big Owies or Boo Boos like this one on her noggin.
And of course the biggest one of all sleep! Brianna begs to go in her crib so she can try her many pacifiers out, since she only gets her pacifier for sleep times, she loves to go to bed so she can get her pacifier fix.

So I think I will start saving now for the inevitable braces and ignore the dentist, as well as pretend that I don't see her teeth already showing signs that the pacifier is making them shift in the wrong direction. Her smile will always be beautiful to me! Besides now that I have my sleep back I dread the day when we do get rid of the pacifier like maybe when she is 5 :)

My Gym

So with the upcoming layoff looming ahead of me I started to think about how much fun Brianna has at daycare with her little friends. Not wanting to keep my social butterfly from making new friends since she won't have daycare anymore, we looked into Mygym. We tried a free class and it seems perfect. She is definitely more social and wild than the toddlers that were there during the freeplay time, but I think she still had a really fun time. So basically I think we found a good activity for us twice a week.Brianna doing a toddler sit up, she has some serious abs!
Watch out for my little gymnast! Feet in the air and everything, she thought that was so funny.
Of course Brianna's Favorite part the multiple swings that they hung from the ceiling!

On another note, why do I have my hands on my hips in two of these pictures? I think I need to work on a different stance, I look like I am judging something, anyway weird observation....

Coco the hamster!

So we decided to get a pet for Brianna something that could teach her how to be careful with animals. A hamster seemed like the perfect choice because they only have a 1-3 year life span, can be watched by anyone willing to take his little cage into their home when we go out of town, and only costs $9.99-therefore, perfect pet for the Elgans. For some reason however, I forgot the whole hamsters are nocturnal part which has led to Coco being downstairs in the laundry room for the night for his marathon running he does between 10 and 2. Overall though he has been a great pet for Brianna who loves Coco so much she has to see him every morning when she wakes up, somedays I think she is more excited about him than me :)

Calling him, she says Coco yea Coco yea as she opens and closes her hand, so cute!
Trying to give him a kiss :)

Great Christmas!

Brianna loves to smile for pictures for her Uncle Danny! Especially since she got to be in her fancy dress on top of the end table :)

The first Christmas was special because it was our first Christmas with our baby girl, but the second Christmas was fun! She loved opening her gifts and the ball pit from Santa, pictures are on the way, it is still a daily ritual to jump/bounce her way into all the balls. Santa is known as ho ho ho in our house, and I think she was sad to see him placed along with the many decorations into the tub for storage. All the fun of Christmas is just magnified by a thousand when you have kids. I can't wait until our third Christmas; cookies for Santa, driving around to see lights, and shopping for gifts for family that she picks out. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

What's new..

Well Brianna turned 13 months this week and so much has happened in just one month. She is trying to run which has caused a lot of falling. It's amazing how much a toddler can fall and just keep going. She is doing 10 signs now which has been really fun watching her do without our prompting. Hopefully talking will come next, she is trying to say ball and moon. Milk is still a challenge, she just does not like to drink it, maybe 8 ounces a day is the most. Sleep has finally gotten somewhat consistent. 3 molars are coming through, plus her 4th front bottom tooth-definitely not fun! She has never really had an issue with teething so this is something new for Greg and I. Basically the pacifier is magical! OK more posts to come probably of Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch at Live Oak Canyon

So you are probably wondering why Brianna's naked butt is on the blog so let me tell you. I was changing her diaper in the back of the car before our fun adventure at the pumpkin patch when she started playing peek a boo with Greg. After this picture she promptly squatted and peed on the yoga matt, awesome right? Yea funny, but awesome, not so much :)
Looking for goats to come and have a snack.....
Whoa lots of goats!!!!
The white goat was crazy, Brianna did not know what to make of the goats. They are really hungry, Greg and I think they only eat the food out of the cups.

So happy in her super cute one of a kind shirt!! www.dirtmamaz.com

Corn Maze started out walking, but.....
It was a really long maze so back into the stroller.
Out to find a pumpkin!
Such a great day at the pumpkin patch!

Day with the fish!

Our fun day at the Aquarium of the Pacific

Brianna checking out the fish.
Hailey loved to do the stamp book at the aquarium. Hailey's funny quote of the day, "That fish looks like a pencil, but it doesn't have an eraser!" So cute!
Such a goofy girl! She was throwing that spoon all over the aquarium, germs, germs, and more germs (so gross I know)!
Hunter and Brianna 9 months apart. They loved the birds, Hunter tried to touch the tail, while Brianna decided to-of course reach for the sharp pointy beak!

Yes, her hand is inside of the Shark's mouth. This was at the end of our day, ready for nap time! Such a great day!

Brianna's first ride

Ok so it wasn't Knotts Berry Farm or anything, but this is Brianna's first ride! We went to the Ontario Mills Mall and this was definitely the highlight of Brianna's day. Remember when these rides were a quarter? This one was a dollar, wow! Worth every penny, of course!