The Royal Wedding

My little brother's wedding was amazing. Not only did he pick the most lovely girl to marry, he married into a fun, loving and dynamic family. What a bonus. There was not a cloud in the sky the day Brent and Carli said "I Do." Shelby was practiced and ready to perform her Flower Girl duties and when the time came, she nailed her role. The ceremony was great. The dinner was excellent. The recption was superb. All in all, I spectacular day! Here's to Brent and Carli and many years of happiness together!

Shelby, Brent and cousin Wylie

Sporting her new "Flower Girl" shades

Reporting to duty!

The beautiful couple

My sweet mama

Mother-Son Dance

The whole Mosbacher crew, pre-wedding

The fab five. Love my siblings

The whole wedding party

Look at that bride! The new Mosbacher crew!

"Shake it off, shake it off."

City by the Bay

Jack joined Shelby and I on day 4 of our vacation. It was really important to us that we had some family time with just the three of us. We reserved a day and went into San Francisco for the day. We had a BLAST! We tried to get tickets to Alcatraz, but we had to settle for the next best thing - a cruise of the Bay. Apparently Alcatraz was sold out all month. Who knew?

After the boat ride, we toured around Pier 39 and then on to Fisherman's Wharf. There was not a cloud in the sky - such a beautiful day!

Our final stop was Ghirardelli Square. It was quite the hike to get there, so I feel like we at least had to work for the calories. Fear not parents, Shelby did not eat that whole thing....surprisingly, that single scoop was the smallest thing on the menu! Jack and I shared a lovely sundae too - deeeeeeeeelish!

Power Squad

My dear cousin Allison has two little girls. Since there would not be kids at the wedding, I made sure to schedule a day with her family. We had a blast and as you can see from the photos below, the  girls really enjoyed themselves. We went to a place in Oakland called Tilden Park and enjoyed a carousel, a farm, large trees and even a train! After that we had a lovely lunch at an old fashioned creamery near Howard's house. It was such an awesome day! The last time the girls were together, Shelby was too young to really enjoy it, so this time was a true memory. Some of these are frame-worthy! Soon there will be a 4th little pumpkin in this power squad!

Road Trippin' Home 

I took a few days extra off work before Brent's wedding so I could spend some time at home with my parents. It was lovely. Shelby and I set out for a 600 mile road trip together to Placerville. I have never had Shelby in the car nearly that long, so I was not sure how it would go. She was a CHAMP!  We made it in pretty much 'normal time.' We left at 6 a.m. and pulled into my mom's house by 3:30 p.m. I had a short list of things that I wanted to do while I was in town for the three days, as we got most of them done. I don't get home too often, so this was a real treat!

Stories, snuggles and milk with Grandma

Warm apple donut at Apple Hill - my favorite!

Swings at the park!

Memory land with cousin Wylie

Cake! Celebrating Wylie's 9th birthday!

 We also had the opportunity to get together with my good friend Amanda and her two boys, walk on Main Street and go swimming at the city pool. Shelby was able to have her fist go at a water slide and she loved it! A good first leg to a fantastic trip!

Augusta, Maine

Jack has been busy each morning teaching Shelby the state capitals on the way to school. You can see by the video here,  that the hard work is paying off. Since this video was recorded, she has added several more to her bag of tricks and has even suggested that we name her sissy "Baton Rouge."

Big Sister

Yes, it's true. Shelby will be a big sister! I am presently 18.5 weeks along and due in late December with another sweet baby girl.  Jack and I waited until I was about 14 weeks to tell Shelby. We knew she'd be excited and would be eager to tell people (everyone!!!), so we wanted to make sure that we were comfortable with the news getting out into the wild. Well, you can see for yourself how the news went over. It's like you can see her brain at work processing this new information. She'll be the best, most proud big sister. She likes to call the baby in my tummy "sissy." Pretty cute.

4th of July

We had a very very fun and improptu 4th of July celebration. At about 2 p.m. on the 4th of July we decided to have our friends, the Harpers over for a simple BBQ. Oddly, I had plenty of food on hand to entertain and I picked up sparklers and "poppers" the night before just in case. We were set!

After eating hamburgers off the grill, we enjoyed some sparklers outside. From there, some of our neighbors joined us in the backyard and we walked to the nearby park area to catch some of the fireworks shows that our fellow Inspirada residents were putting on. Shelby looooooved the whole evening and was up until 9:30 p.m. For those who know our nightime rituals, that might as well been midnight!

Growin' on Up

Thanks to the amazing "Imagination Station" that Jack built, Shelby has art and doodling tools avilable to her 24/7. Typically she'll grab stamps, color or play with stickers. One evening I told her we should work on her letters. I wrote her name at the top of the paper and then asked her to write her letters below....and she rocked it! I was not expecting it at all. The S is a little questionable and the Bs are just plain cute (line with two circles), but needless to say I was impressed and really wanted to keep this doodle. Maybe they do learn a few things at school.

After that, she said "Look mom, a sun!" Aside from the occasional shape and whatnot, she had never drawn a recognizable....anything! Some may say that looks like a bug, but to me, it is the most beautiful sun I've ever seen :) xoxo

1st Movie -- Inside Out

For Father's Day we went on a family outting to the movies! This was the first time the three of us had ever hit the big screen. We saw Disney Pixar's "Inside Out." The film was cute, but full of dialogue. Given the concepts in the movie, I think Shelby did REALLY well. She powered down about half a tub of popcorn and was super focused for about an hour, or 2/3s of the movie. After that, she squirmed, but all in all, I think she did great! Jack and I agreed  -- we never want Shelby to loose her "Goofy Island."

This is the only picture I grabbed....a little fuzzy, but a fun memory!

My Tumbling Girl

Shelby truly loves her tumbling class at school. Putting her in that class was a brilliant idea. Thank you Daddy. One morning I spotted Shelby pulling together all kinds of stuff, including pillows and her friends. She said she was making a "tumbling class" for her "friends" and proceeded to take her stuffed animals through a tumbling circuit.

One of the great things about Jack's new job is the activity schedule for little kids, including a lovely gymnastic gym. Shelby was very apprehensive at first, but after I walked her in and she got a feel for the class, she had a ball. She can't wait for the next class. And the mind-blowing part for Shelby? Her teacher's name is also Shelby?! What?!

Quotable Quotes

Just about every other sentence that comes out of Shelby's mouth these days is a quotable quote. She is trying so hard to figure out the world around her, connect ideas and participate in conversations. Recently she has thrown out a few things that have made me wear a particularly big smile.

We were driving around town in the 100+ degree heat and she says "Mom, I'm hot. I am going to melt like Frosty."

I took Shelby to school one morning and while I was loading the garage, she took a step outside to the driveway:
Shelby: Mom, smell.
Me: What do you smell Shelby? Flowers?
Shelby: [Takes another deep breathe} No. It smells like a beeeeeeeautiful day!

Five. Five seems to be the magic age and when Shelby will deem herself a grown up. Here are some things that she has recently told us that she will be able to do when she is five:

• "Wear a ring, and a watch and go to work."
• Make a basketball in the hoop
• Drive a big car "really fast" just like Dada

I took her to the Toyota dealership this past weekend when I had to get my oil changes. Her mind was blown that there were cars INSIDE the building. She took the opportunity to tell nearly every person that she encountered "Cars don't go inside, they should be outside. Right?"

I am always telling Shelby to drink more water. It is scorching hot outside and she sometimes has hard bowl movements. The other day we were out and about and I said, "Shelby, drink some water please." She replied, "So my poops don't hurt, right?" I guess so Shelby. You got me :)