In her eyes...

We celebrated Cassia's first Christmas this year, and gained fresh excitement!

Not only did we start some new traditions, but we kept up some from our respective families...

We enacted the 'country of origin' rule (which I made up a few years ago). It states that a present may be opened when it is Christmas in the country the present originated in... or the gift giver lives... or any other stretch which I decide... which means that on Christmas Eve in the US it is already Christmas in Australia, so there is an early present!

We set up our webcam, and had Mum and Dad (Gran and Poppa) set theirs up, and they got to see Cassia open her very first Christmas present - a Fisher Price Zebra.

We also gave Cassia a new pair of PJ's to wear to bed on Christmas Eve, which I think might be a tradition to continue.

In the morning we started the day by reading from the Bible - remembering what we were celebrating.

We then shared the excitement of giving and receiving gifts... I received the most awesome gift - a digital SLR camera, from Jason, my parents, and his parents! No more time delay in which I miss the money shot!

After that we went to Jason's parents house, shared in worship, reading from Luke, and communion... and then more presents! We are spoiled!

Cassia got a great piano from them, and she is now all set up next to Daddy's keyboard so she can jam with him. She already has awesome rhythm... although I don't really think I want a drummer in the house!

We went to see a movie in the afternoon (a Wright family tradition), Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler - happy to say it was really funny, and good and clean!

We hope your Christmas was as special as ours, and that you enjoyed the photos... now I have my new camera there is no stopping me!!!

Cassia's Christmas Photo

Here is a long awaited photo of Cassia at our Ministry Team Dinner last week.

Christmas preparations

It is the busy season in our lives, and although I am no longer working (in a "real" job) I have found myself busier this year than ever before!

This past week I helped organize our church women's christmas dinner. This was a dinner for 120+ people which we held at a local golf course. We seem to have a way at our church of making these events super detailed, and super special, which is awesome - but so time consuming!

The theme was the sweetness of the Lord, and we had candy (lollies!) everywhere.

The next big event was our ministry team dinner which was held at our church, but of course had all those lovely details we love! It was a holly, ivy, traditional christmas theme. Catered by Maggiano's. One of the great things about this dinner is the professional photographer who comes out and takes photos of our church families. Hopefully I will have some of those to post soon.

And then yesterday we had the annual Estrada family Christmas party! Here is Cassia preparing a meal for us to eat - we are teaching her young.

Then today I got together with some friends to bake cookies! It really is the busy season - but things like these, family gatherings, cookie baking and quality time are the things I know we will remember in the future, and the traditions Cassia will love!

I hope all your Christmas preparations are as fun as ours!

This just never gets old...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Dancing baby

Wow, two posts in two days... can you tell Jason is away and we are lonely?

Mail call...

MAIL FOR ME!!! HOW DO I GET IN THERE?

WHAAAT? I CAN'T OPEN IT YET?

POPPA SAYS IF YOU SHAKE THEM SOMETIMES YOU CAN TELL WHAT'S INSIDE!

Thanks for the mail Gran and Poppa, I can't wait to open it... they don't call me curious Cassia for nothing!

Cassia's first...

Here are some photos of Cassia on Halloween. We do not celebrate Halloween in the traditional sense, but we went to a local church, who had a fair set up with games, and even fun things for the babies!

In case you cannot tell, she is a Koala... I made the pink legwarmers so people wouldn't think she was a boy!

Things have been really busy here, as we gear up for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and all the activities that our church put on around this time. I am sure there will be photos soon!

Three quarters of a year!

Cassia is 9 months old today!

She had her well check yesterday and is now 16lbs and 27inches.

The flood gates have opened for 'real' food too, so she had some chicken yesterday... no more vegetarian baby!

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Pumpkin Patch

New place

Here is a video of our new place, we wanted to show you what it looks like, and entice you to come and visit us!

Just to keep you going...

As some of you know, we just moved into a bigger apartment... so blogging has not been high on my list of priorities!

So, just to keep you going, until I can take some decent pictures of our apartment and amuse you with some witty annicdotes here is a picture of my beautiful 8 month old koala!

Video's galore!!!

Three videos for your viewing pleasure -- trust me they are all worth the minute it will take to watch them!

Win a purse...

I am trying to win a purse at http://www.aordinarylife.com/ and am posting about this competition so you can try too!

Carrots

This is what happens when you let your 7 month old take the spoon during a carrot and squash dinner...

And this is a photo of Cassia wearing her jean skirt so she could match Misty.

A tourist in my own city...

I have spent a very fun week being a host to my good friend from Australia, Misty.

We had a great time... some highlights included Disneyland, shopping (South Coast Plaza, Rodeo Drive etc.) eating lots of free chocolate samples wherever we went, and a visit to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills (something I have wanted to do for a while but haven't been able to justify the hour drive to do!).

Here are a few photos of our fun adventures...

Cassia is enjoying her first monorail ride at Disneyland... the necklace and bracelet I am wearing are Teething Bling - jewelery that looks good but is actually made of teething material... yes Cassia is getting her first tooth.

This is Misty and I before going on the rapids ride at Disneyland - we were a little wetter 5 minutes later.

And this is us sneaking a photo with Mickey even though he was supposed to be going on a break (hence the conspiratorial smiles) - we are rebels!

Robeez...

These are my favorite baby shoes ever, they actually stay on!

If you are a blogger and would like to win some click here.

My little Olympic Gold Medalist...

Here is a photo of Cassia wearing her own version of an Olympic wrestling outfit... actually it was an outfit that I once wore and my Mum saved!

And if she doesn't make it in wrestling there is always something that involves flexibility like gymnastics or trampolining...

Video proof - Cassia says 'Dada'

Camping, Surfing and first word...

Just a quick update from the Wright house!

Jason and I spent last week down at San Onofre state beach camping with the youth group. Camp went really well and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Cassia and I were down there for part of the week and managed to accomplish some firsts... I went surfing for the first time. One of the other Pastor's, Bryan, took me out on a 10ft board and I managed to get up! It was really fun and I can now totally understand why surfing is so addicting!
Cassia also had a first, she ate sand. Yummo. My little human food (and non food) disposal thought it was pretty good. Oh dear. Apart from that we have added green beans and carrots to the menu and there are big plans for peaches this week (and pears if I can find some nice organic ones).

Also, a more important first than surfing or sand happened today while I was out... Cassia said "Dada". I was sceptical, thought Jason was making it up, but sure enough, every hour she blurts out "dadadadadadada". Clever baby!

Ah, the adventures of Mommyhood!

6 months today!

My beautiful little girl is 6 months old today! I cannot believe how fast the last 6 months has gone.

Cassia thought she would share a few highlights of the last 6 months.

• A visit from my Gran and Poppa.
• A holiday to Australia for Uncle Chris and Aunt Martine's wedding as well as a visit to nice warm Queensland.
• A trip to Yellowstone National Park where I got to see a Grizzly Bear.
• Learning lots of new things like eating, sitting up and commando crawling.

Here is another video - this time of her mad sitting skills. Still a little wobbly, but getting there. (Martine - check out the t-shirt!)

The ABC's of me...

I was tagged by Nicole to do this!

THE ABC's OF ME!!!

A. Attached or single? Attached!

B. Best friend? Jason. Best non-hubby friend - Kristen.

C. Cake or Pie? Do I have to choose? I take both.

D. Day of choice? Hmmm, used to be Friday when I was working. Now I guess it would be Saturday.

E. Essential items? Computer, digital camera, well stocked diaper bag and a good book.

F. Favorite color(s)?Blue

G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears - only haribo brand though.

H. Hometown? Melbourne, Australia

I. Favorite indulgence? Ice cream or Cheesecake

J. January or July? January in Australia, July in America - follow the summer!

K. Kids? Cassia - 6 months this week!

L. Life isn't complete without? Jesus Christ!

M. Marriage date? January 17, 2003

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1 older brother

O. Oranges or apples? Oranges

P. Phobias? None really

Q. Quotes- "Your Mom goes to college"

R. Reasons to smile? Too many to name. But one would be my little baby girls smiles, laughs and latest tricks!

S. Season of choice? Summer!

T. Tag 5 people: Not going to! If you want to do it , feel free!

U. Unknown fact about me? I know how to breathe fire. I did it when I was about 14.

V. Vacation of choice? Somewhere beautiful, historic, culturally rich and with a beach - not too picky am I?

W. Worst habit? Procrastinating.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? I have had both. But lots of ultrasounds in the last year.

Y. Your favorite food? Pasta

Z. Zodiac sign? I do not have one!

You know you have Mumnesia when...

So, I think I finally reached the last milestone in knowing that I have Mumnesia...


...I wore two different shoes out of the house.


The worst part was that I did not notice until I was in a changing room trying on a pair of jeans, and had to take my shoes off... one black havaiana sandal, and one beige cobian sandal... two very different shoes.


I was shocked, embarrassed and couldn't stop laughing at myself. I was wondering how many people had noticed and politely pretended nothing was wrong.


The fact that I fit into a smaller size of jeans made me feel slightly better about the mishap.

Apart from my total insanity, we have been having lots of fun this summer, here are a few more pictures of Cassia.

See, she is Australian, she is part Koala.


Playing with her dolly - Miss Buttons.

Mmm... rice cereal is delish!

Here is the latest adventure in Cassia's life...

I decided Cassia was ready for solids the other day when she tried to take a bite of my 'Skinny Cow' popsicle... literally tried to chomp the top off. Good thing I have Mr Miyagi reflexes.

So here are the photos of her first meal.

Hmmm... what is this coming towards me?

I think I likey...
Oooh, now Daddy is giving me some. I like a man who feeds me.
Chomp Chomp Chomp...

He he, I got the spoon! No stopping me now!

Wow, this is so much fun! I am going to do this again!

Almost Crawling - video

Here is a video of Cassia attempting to crawl - 5 months is too early!!!! I need to buy a playpen now!

Video

Here is a video of Cassia today playing with her Daddy.

Long overdue update!

Firstly, apologies for the long overdue pictures and update! I accidentally left my camera cable in Australia so now it is back there is no stopping me!

Here are some photos of our trip to Australia:
Happy families, Gran and Poppa and Cassia before afternoon tea.

Cassia and her Aunt (read the t-shirt she is wearing) at Chris and Martine's beautiful wedding.

And here are some pictures from our trip to Montana/Wyoming a few weeks ago. We went for our friend Jennifer's wedding at Yellowstone. It was such a fun wedding where right after the wedding we did a bus tour of the park! What a fun day!

Jennifer looking beautiful in the dress her Mom made, and Cassia looking beautiful in the ribbon that was tied around our goody bag! Cassia loved Jennifer - there was a bond there!

Jason and Cassia in front of 'Old Faithful'.

Cassia and me at another thermal feature, Cassia wearing her hobbit cloak! It was windy and her blanky was on the bus! Bad Mommy.

Cassia rolling around on yet another hotel bed... she is quite the traveller!

Vacation Video

Here is a video of Cassia from our vacation in Australia.
She had her 4 month check up today and is 13lbs 3oz and 24.5 inches long.

First swim and time in Australia

We are safely in Australia and Cassia did really well on the fight over. She slept most of the flight and was only a little fussy on the way down when the pressure hurt her ears. She really is amazing and we were so blessed by the answer to our (and others) prayers.

We spent a week in Canberra settling in and visiting people and then flew again (a much more reasonable 3 hr flight) to Port Douglas for a holiday.

Cassia did wonderfully on the flight, and on the bus trip, she has been charming people wherever she goes.

We all really enjoyed the hot weather (it was perfect) and Cassia went for her first swim!

We also spent a day on the Great Barrier Reef snorkeling with Nemo and his friends. It was absolutely amazing and Cassia loved her first boat ride (and the semi-submersible boat too!) and was very happy to see her first shark, turtle and lots and lots of fish!

Now we are back in Canberra for a few days before the main event (Uncle Chris' wedding) up in Sydney next Friday.

Packing Cassia

We decided to save some money and pack Cassia:

Just kidding, but as you can see we are getting ready for our big trip so I might not be blogging as much over the next few weeks.

We are very excited! Please pray that Cassia does well on the plane, it is a long (14.5hr) flight! Also pray that Cassia would learn to take the bottle again as she has decided that she doesn't like it! So we are having a battle of wills at the moment.

Rock and Roll!

Video - Fun times with Cassia

If Cassia came with a manual...

If Cassia came with a manual these would be some of the instructions...

Sometimes I need a cuddle

Sometimes I need alone time
If I am fussy you need to hold me like this so I can see around, I am curious

I love to have baths, shampooing is fun!