Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic

NOOOOOOOOOOO! I went online today to gather some more vintage inspiration for Marisa's room and I found out that Shabby Chic has gone out of business!!! I am soooo sad!
Although I never bought anything from Rachel's store because it is crazy expensive, I fell in love and had so much fun staring at her items especially inside her store at Fashion Island. LOVE THE VINTAGE STYLE! At least her Target brand Simply Shabby Chic is still around and I can still try to mimic her look by finding my own vintage treasures at garage sales, etc. But I will miss looking through the store windows like a begging puppy and daydreaming about one day affording her items...

Playing with Playdoh

One of Marisa's friends got her Playdoh for her birthday. This is the first time she has ever played with Playdoh. She had fun making "pizza" and lots of little balls with it!

Whenever she is concentrating her tongue comes out! I love it! haha


She is such a spaz!

24 weeks

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Happy Birthday Marisa! You have been nothing short of a miracle and blessing to us since the day we found out we were expecting you! You are our world, our everything. Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we look forward to many more years of laughter and pure joy! We love you big girl! MUAH!

2 years ago today...

6 lbs. 9 oz. 19 1/2 inches 2:16 pm

2 years later...

My best lil' kitchen helper!

A few facts about Marisa at age 2:

-Marisa knows all the letters of the alphabet (she gets very few mixed up). And everytime we go out somewhere and she sees a sign she has to stop and name every letter she sees on it.

-She also knows her numbers to 20, knows all her colors, and knows all her shapes.

-Marisa LOVES to read. She can even "read" many of her books back to me. I love hearing her read word for word exactly what is written in the book because she has heard me say it so many times.

-Marisa's favorite thing to ask right now is, "What (fill in the blank) say?" And the fill in the blank is just about anything. A few of our favorites are bananas, bricks, sun, and any letter of the alphabet. And I always have to have an answer for her. She won't stop asking until I say something. Me saying, "I don't know" or "It doesn't say anything" isn't good enough.

-Everytime Daddy comes home from work her energy level rises to the extreme. She automatically becomes a non-stop chatterbox and an energizer bunny all gone hay-wired. No exaggeration.

-Marisa still LOVES her Georgie. She has had him since her Nana gave it to her at 6 months old. He goes everywhere with her and goes to naptime and bedtime with her everytime. Georgie is basically part of the family. I've caught her many, many times, kissing Georgie, caressing him on his head when she holds him, putting him down for naps, cleaning him with a paper towel when he gets a little dirty, etc.

-A couple of times when I have put Marisa in a time-out she just looks at me for a few seconds with no expression on her face and then just laughs! How can you 1.stay mad and 2.not laugh yourself?

-Marisa loves to dance. Any kind of music makes her cute little body wiggle. One of her favorite things to watch with me is Dancing with the Stars. She'll ask, "Mommy, watch Dancing with Star?" And during the dances she wants to hold both my hands and imitate what the dancers are doing. Afterwards she will clap her hands and say, "Yay!"

-Marisa loves boys. Especially older boys. Sigh...

Here are a few translations:
-Biaper = Diaper
-Peacup = Peacock
-Cup-ache = Cupcake
-Chicken = Kitchen
-Tute = Cute
-Go on jumping = Go on trampoline
-Hold you = Hold me
-Swing and Slide = Park/Playground
-Munch = Lunch
-Duice = Juice
-Racoocoon = Raccoon
-Boodee = Boogie

23 weeks

I had another doctor's appointment today. Natalie is healthy and still growing! I can't wait to see her little face!

"Marisa's Makery"

Marisa woke up this morning with another surprise waiting for her in the living room!

Her own kitchen!

Marisa's reaction when she first saw her kitchen was, "WOW!" And when she saw our kitchen table all set up for her birthday party she exclaimed again, "WOW!" I'm so grateful for her enthusiasm. =o)

Playing with the water!

Getting serious with her oven mitt!

Checking on her food in the oven!

Marisa is officialy turning 2 this Friday, but we decided to celebrate it a little earlier so she can have her birthday party. This morning a few of her good friends came over. I decided to play off of her kitchen and theme her bithday party "Marisa's Makery".


Everything was cupcaked-themed with her colors being hot pink and orange. We served homemade yellow cake cupcakes that her friends could decorate themselves, (hence, "Marisa's Makery"), with the choice of a variety of sprinkles and homemade chocolate frosting. The cupcake liners had cupcakes on them and her party favor bags were even shaped as cupcakes that held candy in them! So fun!

Happy Birthday!

Cupcake decorating!

Pink cups and plates, orange napkins, and juice boxes!

Cupcake party favors filled with candy!

And the decorating begins!

Marisa was only interested in the sprinkles!

Marisa, Austin, Charlie, Cruz, and Simon! And yes,all boys. The story of her life already...

Yummy!

Opening presents!

New toys!

Marisa partied hard for her 2nd birthday. She was so excited the whole day with all the fun activities and new toys that she didn't even take a nap until 6:30 at night while watching a movie! haha Happy Birthday Marisa! I'm glad your day was filled with so much laughter and fun!

Completely wiped out!

Happy Easter!

Easter started out perfectly with watching General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last weekend. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, "None Were with Him", struck me the hardest. His words left me with such reverence for our Savior and in deep reflection with the true meaning of Easter. I'm so grateful for Elder Holland's tender words and the reminder of the ultimate great sacrifice and love my Savior has for me and all of His children.

Marisa woke up this beautiful Easter Sunday morning with an Easter basket filled with pots and pans and oven mitts. (It was a foreshadowing of her birthday gift...)

So excited to find an Easter present in the morning!

Daddy and Marisa!

YAY!

Happy lil' chef!

For Easter we celebrated with dinner and an Easter egg hunt with family and close friends. Marisa loved Grandma's Easter egg hunt. She was in heaven when we let her just sit afterwards and eat all the candy. When I asked her how many Easter eggs she had she counted to about as high as she could go and then yells out, "59!" haha (She had 12.)

Marisa in her Easter dress!

Marisa counting all her eggs!

Marisa eating all her eggs!

Marisa's "fake-cheesy" smile!

We also sang "Happy Birthday" to Marisa since family wouldn't be around for her party or for her actual birthday. I made rice krispie treats in the shape of a cupcake. Marisa just ate the jellybeans off the treat. =o)

Acting a little shy as we sang to her!

Happy Birthday!

Cupcake rice krispie treats!

We ate a lot of candy and sweets today and we are so grateful to celebrate Easter with lots of love and family! Happy Easter!