Orange You Glad?

One of the many benefits of living where we do now is being near enough to my Grandpa Lamb's house to raid his orange trees and bring home as many as we want. We visited him today and brought home 3 buckets of oranges, and we didn't even make a dent in the number of oranges he's got on his two trees. Somehow he manages to pick them all eventually, too, which is amazing considering how tall his ladder has to be to reach the ones at the top. Anyway, I was so excited to get home to start squeezing the goodness out of them, because his oranges are really perfect juicing oranges. Yeah, they're fine to eat, but they're best when juiced, and I was lucky enough to procure an orange juicer earlier this year. A shout out to Tiffany Godfrey in the MBASA who just happened to bring hers for a white elephant gift at Christmas because she never used it herself, and I just happened to end up with it. We will for sure be putting it to good use! These oranges are not just tasty but they're really good looking, too.

Thank heaven for electric juicers. I would have one sore hand right now if I'd been having to do all of these manually!

Sophie was enthralled watching the process from start to finish on the counter next to me and probably drank half of what I squeezed all on her own.

This many oranges gave us almost 2 pitchers full of juice, and we made short work of it once Joseph got home from work. Hooray for California oranges!

Beach Bums

I'm sure from the title you worried a little that you might see some indecent pictures of some backsides, but I promise you this is not the case. :) You will, however, see some pictures of some very dirty people who I'm related to. Can you see through the dirt to who they are? I'm not sure Joseph was loving being so filthy, but Sophie sure was!

I didn't get to join in the fun until the very end because I was at my doctor's appointment. My OB/GYN is all the way down in Newport Beach so Joseph and Sophie went to the beach to play in the sand and water while I was listening to #2's healthy heartbeat and such. Personally, I would have much rather been with them, but it is good to know that our baby's still doing fine. And we only have 5 weeks to go until she's here!

We took half the beach home with us!

Sophie didn't mind being so dirty even one bit, but by the end she was a little cold.

I was shocked when Joseph told me how she let him bury her in the sand all the way up to her neck, and just layed there with her eyes closed as if she does this all the time! He even let her bury his legs and feet in return.

Walking on sand is such a new experience for one who's never done it before.

This is my favorite shot that Joseph got. It looks like we had the entire beach to ourselves!

Sophie loved playing in the ocean and I think we can safely say that she's a big fan of the beach and will happily return the next time we can get there.

Soakin up the Sun

We had a string of super hot days here, several over 100, and spent them in the pool as much as possible. We've loved having Joseph around for the last few weeks and will miss him so much when he actually has to go to work on Tuesday! Sophie especially loves jumping into the water to her daddy's outstretched arms.
Sophie says, "My favorite thing to do is to be in the pool with daddy, then run to the hot tub and put my feet in with mama, then run back and jump into the pool. I do it 50 times straight and it never gets old!"

One day we even got to swim with Peter, Abby, and Austin! Austin is such a fish and loooooves the water, maybe even more than Sophie does!

The Street Where We Live

Our second day here I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the street where we live is a crossroads of two of my favorite literary family names: Bennet and Cullen. Now if Blythe or Shirley or Cuthbert could be thrown in there somehow, too, I'd be even more happy. So here are some pictures taken of Cullen and Bennet streets near our house.

My Favorite Things Around The House

I was tagged a while back by my cousin Annie who did a fun one all about your favorite things around the house. I didn't do it then because I wanted to wait to answer it until I was in a house I really enjoyed, so now that we're moved, here's my answers along with some pictures so I can share with you who've asked for pictures what our place looks like and how lucky we are to be here.

My favorite thing in the kitchen is...Finally having enough counter space for my appliances (especially my beloved Kitchen Aid) and tons of cupboard space for everything else. (I also have to add that I enjoy living in a place where when I clean, it actually looks clean and motivates me to really keep it clean instead of cleaning and wondering if it did any good at all. Such is my kitchen now.)

My favorite thing in the bathroom is...The big tub for my big prego body. :)

My favorite thing in the bedroom is...The huge doors that let in tons of light and open onto a beautiful little balcony overlooking our paradisiacal palm-treed area.

My favorite thing in the bedroom closet is...That it's a walk-in closet that can fit all of Joseph's and my clothes so we don't spill over into Sophie's closet again. (sorry, didn't get a good picture of this.)

My favorite thing in the living room is...This wall of our family pictures and this display of some of my favorite things.

My favorite thing in the pantry is...That there's a food cupboard that can fit all the food so I don't have to have it in this anymore and it can serve as a cute display case instead.

My favorite thing in the dining room is...Finally having a hutch (thanks for leaving it for us to use, Maybeth!) wherein I can display the china and other fun things we got for our wedding that have been sitting in boxes in my parent's basement up to this point.

My favorite thing in the baby's room is...The crib we just got for $50 on craigslist (with the mattress included! I love craigslist!) and the wall decorations, most of which my not-so-crafty self made for Sophie.

My favorite thing in the yard is...That we have a terrific HOA that takes care of everything outside so we can just enjoy it! And if I want to try growing some things, I can do it on a smaller scale in the pots on the patio.

Here are some other pictures of other things in the house thrown in for good measure. We love being here and it feels so good to be all moved in and loving life.

This is the family room as seen from below...

...and above.

We have so many bookshelves that for once we don't have enough books to fill them all! These are built into the house and constitute our library.

The guest bedroom, for now.

Joseph asked that he be able to have the basement area for his "man cave." He decorated it and spends a lot of his time down there. But I have a scrapbooking corner that I get to use, too.

Now I would love to hear responses from Jeni C., Emily W. (so I can see your new place), Carrie S., Jandee J., Melissa P., Holly L., and Alison C. (or anyone who would like to play along).

Sophie Snapshots

Here are some recent pictures of Sophie.

Sophie has so much love in her little heart and welcomes any and all dolls and stuffed animals into the family with a tight squeeze and a soft pat on the back. We have stuffed animals coming out our ears around here, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

I do whatever I can to keep Sophie happy while I get ready in the morning. On this particular morning that meant letting her have the hair dryer and brush more than I had it, all while sitting on the dryer in a laundry basket. Strange, I know, but whatever works.

Sophie loves to be outside. She'll do anything to go outside, and I can't say that I blame her. We're lucky to have a porch and 2 balconies at our new place and so I just let her play out there and get her fill of the sun without worrying about her running into the street.

She loved climbing up onto this railing and it's a good thing she's a very cautious girl or I'd be nervous she'd try to squeeze herself through the slats, but she didn't even attempt it.

I'm such a lucky mama to have such a beautiful, sweet little girl like you, Sophie! I love you!!

Trip to Flagstaff

Joseph's brother Willis and his family live in Flagstaff, AZ, so while we have a little time right now before Joseph starts work we decided to pay them a visit (since they always give us a hard time for never having visited them in any of the places they've lived). It was such a fun weekend and we miss them already.

We went bowling for Sadie's birthday and I won the first game with a 135! (I often win the first and lose the second because my hand and wrist get too tired by the 2nd.) I won a leg/foot massage for a week from Joseph! Can't wait for him to pay up on that one! Willis and Jeni have 4 adorable children: Sadie, Aaron, Susannah, and Clarissa.

Jenilyn made this beautiful and yummy doll cake for Sadie's birthday upon her request. She has inspired me to try making an ice cream cake sometime!

We went on two hikes while we were there, one to visit a crater of a volcano and the other to visit some old Indian ruins that are currently being excavated. Fun fun!

Sophie couldn't get enough of the park and especially the swings, but also loved it when her daddy tried to catch her, Susannah, and Sadie on the bridge.

We went to a parade for Cinco de Mayo in which we got way too much candy, but Sophie was in heaven.

For My Mom on Mother's Day

On this Mother's Day I am far away from my Mama for the first time in a long time. So I wanted to let her know that even with the distance, she is foremost in my thoughts today as we celebrate our wonderful mothers. I love you for so many reasons, Mom.

I love that you like to have fun with your kids and spend time being together, no matter what we're doing...

and I love that you love to laugh and have fun! I always get a good ab workout when I'm around you and we laugh and laugh together.

I love how much you love my baby and what a wonderful grandma you are to her. She is so lucky to have such a loving "Damma Yam" and she loves you so much, too!

Thank you for showing me how to be a good mom by your incredible example. I hope one day I can say I was even half the mother you are. I love you, Mom!