We're having a baby!!!

Great news! This week we learned that we are pregnant with our first child! We are both so excited!! We found out Monday morning and shared the news immediately over the phone with Michael's mom. We were so excited that we had to tell someone. Somehow we managed to go to work for the day, but we both found it to be extremely hard to concentrate. Later that evening we told Michael's dad over the phone and he was also excited. We had a little fun telling Alissa's family, since it is her parents first grandchild. It was Whitney's (Alissa's sister) 18th birthday only a few days earlier, so we called and said we wanted to bring Whitney a late birthday present (we hadn't given her a present yet). So we picked up a shirt for a newborn baby that said "Wishes do come true." Ironically, Whitney had been telling us she wanted to be an aunt for her birthday. We were happy that the timing just happened to make her wish come true at just the same time our wishes had come true.

Alissa went to the doctor today and he confirmed that we are to expect a newborn bundle of joy on September 22. She is about 5 weeks along at the moment and everything is going well. We are excited for this new adventure and can't wait to welcome the newest member to our family!

Surprise Visit from Mom

This weekend we got a surprise visit from mom. A friend offered her some work to do down here in Orange County so we had the privilege of having her stay with us. It is always fun to have mom around! Seriously, she's the coolest mom ever! Andrea and Kaden came up for a visit also. We spent the day at Downtown Disney where Kaden got to see Mickey, his favorite character. Kaden is hands down the cutest two year old ever! He's a bundle of energy with the most adorable personality. He was a little scared of the gorilla's at the Rain Forest Cafe though. It was fun to have them for the weekend and it was hard to see them go.
Me and my gorgeous Princess Alissa at Downtown Disney. Kaden loved his Mickey sucker.
This picture was too cute to leave out. When we got him the sucker he said, "Mommy, I suck!" (Referring to the sucker of course!) He says the funniest things sometimes.
Kaden has some of the best dance moves I have ever seen. He loved dancing to the salsa music, and picked up on the rhythm right away. I'm jealous. Maybe someday he can teach me how to dance.
Kaden loves riding on Unkie's shoulders.
Kaden with Grandma LaLa.

Christmas at Disneyland

What would Christmas be without a trip to Disneyland? We had loads of fun seeing all the holiday festivities. If anyone ever gets a chance to go to Disneyland, go during Christmas! A steaming cup of hot chocolate and all the lights, shows, and of course the rides were just what we needed to put us in the Christmas mood. Our annual passes were about to expire so we took an afternoon off to go enjoy the fun together one last time.

Did you know that it snows in Southern California? Well, it does at Disneyland after the fireworks. Their snow is the best because it isn't cold and it doesn't make a dirty mess, except it really is just a bunch of bubbles that we later discovered have a tendency to stick around in our hair for quite a while.


California Adventure decorated their golden gate bridge at the entrance of the park. Alissa loved the wreath and we hope to have one just as big some day!

This was supposed to be our Christmas tree, but Mickey Mouse stole it from us just before we could grab it.

We just had to go to "It's a Small World" (it's probably the only time we ever go to that ride). The entire ride is covered with lights. The picture really doesn't do it any justice. It was simply beautiful.

Decorating Our Home

Alissa had tons of fun decorating our apartment for Christmas. We were excited to put up all those fun decorations that we bought a whole year ago at all the after Christmas sales. This is our slinky Santa that we kept on our door.
Mom picked out this awesome snowman for us last year. In case you cant read his shirt, it says "I'd melt for you!" Mom thought it was perfect for us since we are her favorite love birds.

Alissa's grandpa gave us this sleighing Santa a few months back as an early Christmas gift. He kept us entertained while he rocked out on his sled.

Of course it wouldn't quite be the holidays without one of Alissa's fantastic floral arrangements. She enjoys having center pieces on the table for each of the holiday seasons.

Starting Our Own Christmas Traditions

This year we did Christmas with just the two of us to start our own traditions together. We picked out a beautiful tree in early December. After trying a few lots with little success (one lot had a four foot tree that was practically naked for $60!), we finally found the perfect one at Lowe's. After we purchased the tree we came across two problems. First, we had Michael's Focus and we were a little doubtful if the tree would fit in the car. Second, we didn't have a tree stand and Lowe's ran out of them earlier in the day. So, we crammed the tree in the car, which took a lot of patience, and we started our hunt to find a tree stand. A while later we found a stand and excitedly hurried home to put up our tree (the excitement was delayed a little by the three flights of stairs standing between us and our apartment). The rest of the evening we enjoyed listening to Christmas music and decorating our tree.

My favorite part of the evening was how my Michael was making me laugh by the way he dances.

Of course, we have to include a picture of us kissing by the tree! Santa was kind enough to take the picture for us. Thanks Santa!!