Christmas 2014

Christmas morning was very eventful and fun! We woke Mish up to head downstairs for presents! This was the first year she really understood what Christmas was, and knew to expect presents :)

Santa brought her a cool big kid scooter! She immediately hopped on it and tried it out. How is my 2 year old already such a big kid? Waah!

Santa also brought her a stocking full of fun goodies, and Mama and Daddy gave her some fun presents too ;-)

After presents we drove over to my parents' house to exchange gifts with my family, and to have a delicious brunch. 

Mish and her cousin Izzy with Papa

The cousins with Grammy

After brunch and presents with my family, we drove into Napa to celebrate the holiday with my in-laws (we spend xmas eve with my parents, so it's two busy days back-to-back). 

My father in law is notorious for falling asleep during gatherings. Lol!

 

Me and my big old 24 week baby bump :) And yes, that is Michelle's VW van tent in the background. Her aunt got it for her for xmas. Lol! In fact, Mish was spoiled and got TONS of amazing gifts from both of our families. Is it normal to be jealous of a toddler?

Mish and her uncle Anthony had fun playing with the giant Jenga set that Michael and I made for my sister in law :) 

My mother in law made a huge delicious dinner. Manicotti, baked crab, and ham! Whoa baby! 

Kisses from mama <3

My handsome yeti <3

It was a great Christmas! We had fun celebrating and eating with our families :)

Happy Halloween!

We had a very fun Halloween here at the Bergman house! The weekend we found out Noelle is a girl, we went to my in-law's town to get pumpkins and decorate jack-o-lanterns. Michelle had fun running around the pumpkin patch and kissing piggy statues :)

All week long, Michelle was excited and talked about trick-or-treating. We decorated the house and wore our most festive Halloween gear.

The night of Halloween we walked around the block and then passed out candy to the kids in our neighborhood. We thought we'd get more kids, but we only got about 10-15 kids. I bought two bags of candy, but we used about 1/2 of one bag.

Mish was so excited and polite while trick-or-treating! Everyone thought she was the cutest Tinkerbell ever. I have to agree :)

Happy Halloween from us! Here's a flashback from our first Halloween with Michelle. Such a cute pumpkin <3

Michelle's Birthday Elmo Party!

Michelle's party was on the 7th and she had so much fun! She wore the rag skirt I made, along with her elmo shoe bows and a cute ruffle shirt. She wore it for about 30-40 minutes before all the kids changed into their bathing suits and ran through the sprinkers ;-)

^^ What on earth is this face?! Hahaha! Mish has been making this face lately when I ask her to smile for the camera. So funny!

The bows up close :)

We filled up the tugboat with sand and the kids had a blast! Totally worth finding sand all over the house the next day.

When we sang with Happy Birthday song Mish sang along, cheered, and blew out the candle! It was so cute, and so funny. I'm glad she didn't cry or hide!

Some of MY friends came to the party! It was so nice to catch up with them <3

My friend Jessica made the cookies and they were to die for! So good!!!

My ghetto elmo cupcakes ;-) The party theme was Elmo, but all of the colors were pink and white. They weren't the prettiest, but the kids and adults seemed to like them!

A banner I made. Says "Hooray Michelle!"

My little family <3

When everyone left Michelle was pretty bummed. But I was secretly happy because it meant I could eat the last hidden elmo cookie from my secret hiding place! Mmm. Did I mention these cookies were AMAZING!?

Michelle had SO much fun, and we were so thankful for everyone who came out to celebrate with us. <3

Birthday Zoo Trip

For the actual day of Michelle's birthday we took her to the zoo! Mish loves animals (especially monkeys, giraffes, and elephants), so the Oakland Zoo was a no-brainer! We debated the San Francisco Zoo, but they don't have elephants (boo, but understandable since it's smaller and on the edge of the city in Golden Gate Park). Mish had so much fun the whole day!

She kept calling to the giraffes, but alas, they were too walking around and chatting with their other giraffe friends ;-)

When we saw the elephants she kept yelling "No sticks! Strawberries!" lol! She was snacking on some strawberries at the time and must have felt sad that her snack was so much tastier.

She wasn't as into the tigers though; not flashy enough I guess  :-)

Yeehaw froggy!

Hi, Goat!! 

Mish was really into the goats and kept calling them dogs when we first got to the petting zoo. Lol! After a while, she called them all "mommy goat" and "baby goat" depending on which size it was. It was so adorable!

How's it going, goat?

All in all, I know she had a great day! We had a picnic in the grass, road the little train, and left the zoo with two stuffed animals! Then she got her very own ice cream cone! Lucky girl <3
When we got home she couldn't stop talking about how fun the zoo was!

TWO

My baby is two! My sweet, strong-willed, adventurous, smart, crazy little girl is two. Where did the time go? I look into her beautiful face and I feel like no time has passed since I first laid eyes on her. How have two years passed?

I've been avoiding my blog because I knew writing this post would make me feel all sad and nostalgic. My little bean isn't a bean - she's not an infant, a baby, or even all that little. She's a sharp, witty toddler with likes, dislikes, and a voice. She knows what she wants and she's determined to get it. She amazes me. I wish I could be more like her every single day.

Michelle, at two years and 0 months old, is inquisitive, spunky, funny, so sweet, and fierce. She loves to read, has amazing manners (please, thank you, and bless you!), shows compassion for others, absorbs everything and is eager to learn (especially about animals, numbers, and songs), loves to give and receive kisses, tells jokes, sings, and dances for others, and isn't afraid to give a stern "no!" when she's unhappy.
She's a complex, interesting, amazing little girl, and I'm constantly surprised by how awesome she is.
She likes being naked, hanging out in the dog kennel, climbing things, Mickey Mouse, giving people checkups and watching Doc McStuffins, and monkeys (well, after visiting the zoo on her birthday yesterday, all animals!).

Right now she's decided she's done playing with her toys and that she wants to read a book in bed. I know that means I have about 10 minutes before she is demanding me to turn off the lights and go to bed. Haha! She likes her naps and she likes bedtime. Maybe because those are the only times of day that I let her nurse anymore. YES, we're still nursing (with no end in sight because this kid is strong-willed).

We love you SO much, Monkey. And we can't wait to see what you'll do next.

Late Spring Post

For St. Patty's day Michael and I made the BEST Reuben sandiwches! Mine was vegetarian, but it was still ridiculously good! Mmm. 

Mish wore her green rag skirt that I made, along with cute matching green hair accessories. I was feeling festive this year ;-)

For Easter weekend we spent a lot of time with family. On Saturday we went out to my parents' small town for an Easter egg hunt! Mish had fun collecting eggs but was so scared of the Easter bunny! It was so sad to see how afraid she was, but the faces she made were so funny.

After the hunt we went to my parents' house to play with their chicks! My parents have a chicken coop and just got a new little set of chickens. Mish loved looking at them but did NOT like holding them! Haha.

Mish, Grammie and the chick

 The next day, Easter Sunday, we had my in-laws over for Easter fun. It was a really nice day!

Easter Egg Hunt

Wearing a hat like Uncle!

Blowing bubbles with Uncle Ant and Auntie Rachael

Here's a pic of Michael and his siblings. They're all ridiculously good-looking, which is annoying for us normal folk. Lol

And here's a pic of their whole family, plus my little Michelle :)

It really was a happy Easter!