Finally a vacation...

We have been wanting to vacation out of the state for sometime now and when Daryl's brother and family invited us along on a trip with them to San Diego, we had to jump on it. We spent 6 days and 5 nights at a house practically on the beach. We haven't had so much fun in a really long time. We went to Sea World on Monday and Wed (summer two for one pass), snorkeling on Thurs, shopping in La Jolla and eating out everywhere (mostly up and down the boardwalk). We even took turns having a date night which was really nice. Tatum did pretty well with the water the first day we got there and after day one she wouldn't touch the water. She was terrified that the sharks would come and get her. I had to tell a little white lie that the sharks lived only at Sea World and that the ocean was only for water and people. Corbin is usually my little daredevil and freaked out about the ocean as much as Tatum. They both loved the sand and (Tatum) collecting seashells, but that's about it. I've also come to find out that Tatum is not as good a traveler as Corbin. Corbin is the type of child that needs constant entertainment, so this was definitely the trip for him. Tatum has always been the type of child to find comfort in routine and this just through her for a loop. It was really nice traveling with family..especially family who had little cousins who could play with our kids. We are going to LA in March again with them and we really can't wait for that trip!!!

(If you click on the myspace link under sites to visit on the right of this page, you can view the small slideshow I made on my page).

First day of school

Tatum officially started Trinity Lutheran today and LOVES it!! She is in room 1 with Mrs. Healey. There are approximately 6 girls and 6 boys (what I could count) and she already seems to be making friends. There were a few sad faces when it was time for the moms and dads to leave, but I am happy to say that Tatum was not one of them. She was already playing with play dough before I was out the door. There is one teacher's aid who also seems to be really nice. It was really strange leaving her there, but she is definitely ready for school. I love that she will be getting a little bit of religion along with her lessons, since this is very important to us.

Everyone's gotta have a vice..

Corbin's is his blue, homemade blanket from my friend Ashley and his binky (a.k.a., dink dink or mimi). She gave it to me at the hospital when he was born and I fell in love instantly. It's silky on one side and a soft, velvety material

on the other side (it has little moons and stars all over it too). A friend of mine used it in his first photo shoot when he was 4 wks. She had asked me to grab his favorite blanket that we could use in the shoot and I grabbed this thinking that one day it probably would be. He will search and whine all over the house for his blankie if it is missing. He will give me about a min. or two of snuggle time when he first finds his blanket and dink dink which I just absolutely love!

Off with his helmet hair

To cut or not to cut..that was definitely the question these days. Daryl and I had talked about letting his hair grow out this time (he's had it cut once already) and were pretty set on it for a little while...I just couldn't take it anymore and took him in for his cut. I found a really cool place close to our house that has a seperate play room for children and they only charge $7 for a kids cut! He did really well. In fact, I think he was enjoying it a little too much that he threw a fit when she was done and I was paying, he ran back to the chair and tried to climb back in. He threw an absolute fit when we left. I took a few pictures to share with you his little transformation. One of the pictures shows how relaxed he was having his hair cut (just like his daddy). :)))

Prefontaine Family Reunion

This past weekend we spent a fun filled weekend in Snowflake, Az. My cousin and her family lives up there and invited everyone from my moms side to stay with them. That being said, there were 10 kids and 13 adults! We had an absolute blast. The weather was amazing and I even had the kids in jackets on Sat. evening since it was getting so cold. We walked to a parade, played at their county fair, went on a few walks, played with the family outside (no one fought once which was really cool), and Tatum slept in Cora's bunk-bed like a big girl (well one night). We were supposed to see fireworks on Friday night, but they were cancelled due to a baseball game and then moved to Sat right after a rodeo and a concert. It rained really bad that night, so we decided we didn't want to venture out into the weather like that for any of the events. Fireworks did go off at about 11:30 which was really late to walk over and see, but we could see them from Cameo's front porch. It woke up Corbin and Daryl ran upstairs to get Tatum so she could still see them (she barely remembers it). Corbin was pretty amazed at the show and he went right back to bed after it ended. The town of Snowflake made you feel like you were in Pleasantville, since everyone was so nice and family oriented. There is really no crime there. My cousin doesn't even lock her door and you can leave the stroller on the front porch and not worry about someone stealing it. Daryl and I are really ready for a small town (that rains) after being here.

Babble Boy!

*UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM*

Corbin celebrates his 18 month of being here on earth tomorrow (not including the months in my belly). He has really developed into such an amazing little guy (literally speaking since he's still right at 21 lbs!). He has gone from not speaking (well he knows about 5 words) to sentences. My mom told me he was saying several different things when she watched him for that weekend. I thought, well she's just being nice and maybe is trying to make me feel better. Well Daryl and I made pot stickers the other night and he walked over to us and said, "Uh wanna taste". We were floored. Since then he has said tons of other things. For instance, "Uh whan bfast (I want breakfast)" "I whan sissy (I want sissy)", "thank a (thank you)", and several other things. He's really starting to mimic things that people say and do. He still only has 2 teeth, but eats just about everything from steak to grapes. I used to freak out about stuff like that, but at this point, he's been gumming that stuff for so long now, that he's gotten quite good at the art of not choking. He's also becoming quite the little dancer. Anytime music comes on he dances. Not just your typical dancing, but full on ballet, crumping, rocking out, etc..etc.. (it depends on the music). He was watching Bella Ballerina with Tatum the other day and has mastered the art of dancing on his tippy toes and twirling around. Tatum liked to dance when she was a baby (and still does). But I have to say that I think her brother is better. Music is his therapy and if he is in a bad mood, I blast the music and off he dances. He also is really good at throwing things. He's in love with anything that's round and he loves talking on the phone. He climbs on anything that he sees which is scary since I've found him on Tatum's dresser and almost on our kitchen table. He tried climbing on our gas range once (while it was going), but Daryl caught him in time. He definitely has no fear (which is completely opposite from sister). He will definitely be keeping us on our toes for years to come!

**UPDATE**

So we just had his 18 month well check today and I need to get him on Pediasure ASAP because he is still 20 lbs (not 21 like I was thinking). He's in the 2% for weight (dropping from the 5%). He really hasn't grown that much either dropping from the 59% to the 27% for height), so now I have to go through a series of thyroid tests and bring him back to check his weight. Also, when we were at the ped's, he was laying down on the table and I noticed something white in his mouth. The dude's got molars!! One on each side (on his upper side). So now he's got his two bottom teeth and his two upper molars. My ped said not to worry about it, but I still find it a bit strange lol. I just really need to focus on pushing the calories (although he eats about as much as his daddy).

It's been 10 years already!!

Man does time ever fly. Daryl and I just celebrated our 10 year high school reunion from Washington High. It was even more fun than we thought it was going to be. It was really good to see everyone (although thanks to Myspace, there weren't too many surprises). It was also really nice that since we both went to the same high school and had the same friends, we could mingle with everyone and not have to drag each other around both nights. The first night was celebrated at Devil's Martini North (hence the name) and the second night was at the Sheraton Crescent (where we had our Senior prom). Although Daryl wasn't my date to the prom, it was really nice that I could bring him there as my date this time around. My mom was a huge help that weekend and watched the kids for us and kept up on the house while we were busy doing

reunion stuff all weekend (not to mention recuperating in between

nights ;oP). It actually brought us closer knowing that we could have ended up with someone else and were soooo glad that we ended up with each other. Can't wait for the 20th!!

Out of the mouth of Tatum...

I really need to start keeping track of some of the cute things that come out of that girls mouth.

We were at dance class yesterday and the girls were at the ballet bar.

Teacher Kristy-"Now swoop your arm to the side as if you are tossing flowers to a crowd" (the mirror was on the other side).

Tatum-"I'll just throw them to the mirror"

Everyone exploded in laughter.
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Last week Daryl was telling Tatum that when she gets a little taller she can go play golf with him at the course. So today I was rearranging the furniture in our family room and she stood on our subwoofer and said, "Look mommy, I'm tall enough to go and play golf with daddy now". Ah, if only that's how it really worked :p.
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We were visiting a friends house and I was trying to get the gate to work so Corbin wouldn't try and go down the stairs and Tatum saw me struggling and went over to my friend and said, "Um, Xandi needs help with the gate". Gotta love it!!






In the picture above, she is holding one of my favorite dolls as a child. My dad had given it to me for my 9th birthday and I remember going to Toys "R" Us and picking it out. She plays with her non-stop and even named her "Enya Punia" (notice the hair-do..Tatum did it herself and wanted me to take a picture of her hairstyle and her baby).

Head Banging

I'm sure I've told a few of you, but ever since I can remember, Corbin likes to bang his head to sleep. He usually gets into position and sits down in his crib and bangs. Eventually he will be laying down banging the front of us head on his mattress until he slows down and eventually passes out (this usually only last about 4-5 mins). In the morning or after a nap I will find him with his legs sticking out of the crib bars banging his forehead on them. I've done some reading up on it and they say that it can be perfectly normal just as some children find comfort in sucking their thumb or rocking back and fourth. He has never been the type of child that liked to be rocked to sleep or cuddled for more than a min. He just pushes you away and tries to escape. Right now he has a little bruise on his forehead which he probably got from the head banging...poor little dude :(. I'm so tempted to pad the crib with pillows, but he's so strong, he'd probably pull them out of his crib.

Directions home

Tatum has now started a new game of giving me directions home. She started doing this about a month ago and at first she would do it when we were right around the block from our house. Now we'll be on Camelback and Dysart and she'll say, "right at the light" and then she'll say, "ok now left" (and so on). I'm really glad we play this little game. It's just nice knowing if she ever (God forbid) wandered off, she could find her way home. We've been working on our phone number, but she is still having some difficulty with that.