Today I am Two!

It is hard to imagine that it was just two years ago we welcome Danielle Elizabeth Francis into our family. Last night as I checked on her before I went to bed it hit me that she is not a baby anymore. I know shocking...

For most this is obvious since she talks like she's twelve looks likes shes four and has the attitude of a teenager......but to me she was still a baby. But looking at her in her big girl bed, sleeping with a pillow, and looking all grown up I finally admitted to myself that she was no longer the 6lb. 13 oz. baby I held in my arms two years ago.

I dug through a few old pictures of her past two years to go down memory lane a little bit.

My little Dani when she was 1 month old. This was her first photo shot with Sara.

Here she is at 4 months old when we were visiting my friend Heather in Virginia. You can't tell from this picture but she had just gotten out of the hospital from her bout with pneumonia, she's a trooper.Happy girl Dani at 8 months old for some Valentine pictures for Daddy.

Enjoying her birthday cake last year....love the hair.
18 Months old sitting on a pumpkin

Watching her brother ski in Tahoe-21 months old

And here is a happy picture of our Two Year Old today.....she has the attitude down pat.

Happy Birthday Dani girl.....we love you.

How is Dani and her bed?

I think the picture explains it all.... Dani is still getting out of her bed at night and falling asleep by the door. Bryan got this great shot of her last night when he went to check on her.

Dani and her bed

This past week has been big for Dani. Our little monkey decided to start climbing out of her crib so we knew it was time. This girl needed a bed. She will eventually get the bed in the guest room, but Mor Mor needs it to sleep in this weekend while watching the kids,so we just took the front rail off the crib for now. Night time and nap time this week have been an adventure. Dani is extremely adventurous and with her new found freedom has no desire to stay in bed. This has been a fight that Bryan and I have been determined to win.

Just like Chris we put the baby lock on the inside of the door so she will not be able to come out at night and wander. This also helps when trying to get her asleep at night. For a few nights when Bryan and I would go to check on her we would find her asleep behind the door. Last night was different. Bryan had gone in around nine to check on her and she was actually asleep in the bed. About an hour later this was not the case. Poor thing had fallen out of bed.....but did not wake up. Being good parents we had to take a picture before putting her back in bed. I mean really the fall was barely a foot. I survived a fall from the top of a bunk bed when I was little and it did not even wake me. Dani is turning out more and more like me every day. SCARY!

Meet Fasco

We would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. Meet Fasco Van Diesson Platz.....try teaching that to the kids.Fasco Van Diesson Platz was born in Holland 4 and a half years ago and comes from an elite line of dogs. Fasco is a Dutch speaking German Shepard that has a PH I Title with Honors in KNPV (Koninklijke Nederlandse Politiehond Vereniging). So if you don't speak Dutch, it is basically the Royal Dutch Police Dog Association. Fasco spent a few more years then normal in Holland to complete his certifications to obtain an almost perfect score of 436 out of 440. Fasco's dad was the PH I National Champion in '05 and the PH II Title National Champion in '06. Basically Fasco's dad is one of the best dogs in Holland and Bryan is extremely happy to have Fasco for a dog. Fasco has only been in the US for a month now after coming over on April 1st from Holland. He will go through some more training to refine his training to be a police dog with Bryan this summer at Adlerhorst Internal Police K-9 Academy in Riverside.

Fasco has been a welcomed addition to our crazy family. Chris loves to go out every morning and help Bryan feed him and check on him. Dani thinks he is hilarious and loves to chase him around the yard.....to bad she thinks his name is "Costco" and keeps calling him that. He does not seem to mind. Now Sierra on the other hand does not know quite what to think about this new "stud" in the family. There have been a few times Bryan has had to intervene to keep play time with the dogs PG if you know what I mean. Fasco has a little crush on Sierra.

I am sure you will hear more about Fasco and Bryan's adventures through out this summer as they continue to work together and spend time together.

Safety First

When learning how to walk in heels, safety equipment should always be worn. This is especially true if bad walking skills run in the family.

*courtesy of Bryan

Tracy Trash Day

Well folks it is that time of year again. The days of piles on the street, trucks roaming the streets in the wee hours and people finding the treasures that were once trash. I have to admit that our pile was not that great this go around. I think that had something to do with the huge truckload of stuff we took to the dump about 2 weeks ago.

Bryan and I did want ot make it a little fun this year though. We were each able to choose an item to place on the curb. The key was who's item would get taken first by the lurking midnight vultures prior to the garbage truck coming for it all in the morning. Bryan thought he had this in the bag. I had chosen our two old tennis rackets as my item to put out. Bryan was sneaky and chose something he had originally told me we could not get rid of......the ottoman for our couch. After 4 years of a dog and kids little sticky hands, it was beyond cleaning. It was going to be interesting.

This morning when Bryan came home from work he woke me and told me he was shocked that the ottoman was not gone. Still a little sleepy I asked him if the rackets were still there. The look of defeat came over his face. They were gone which meant I had won.

Now what I won.....who knows. But we will figure that out later. No matter what it was another fun Trash Day and we look forward to another one in October.

P.S.......Did you know this was my 100th post. WOW!

A good day

Yesterday was a good day.... the kids slept in, Bryan was home and the sun was out. Bryan was so sweet and let me have the day to myself to do what I want (a rare thing these days). It started out with a trip to the nail salon for a manicure and pedicure and it only got better from there.

I headed over to meet my girlfriends for a day of shopping. This was not just a "hey let's go shop" trip, we had a purpose, a plan and we were going to accomplish it all. I met up with the girls and we headed to Walnut Creek to conquer our lists. The best part was that 7 hours later we had the following: shoes for the wedding, a ring for her finance, dresses for Brenda and I to wear (granted Brenda paid $3.88 for hers at Ann Taylor....STEAL), a tie for Bryan to wear, a dress for Sara to wear to the reception and a really good lunch. We had accomplished all we had set out to do.

It is days like this with your girl friends that make you smile. We got a ton done, had a great time doing it and all walked away a little more refreshed and ready for the next day. thanks for a great day gals!

I like wind.

Let's just say that Dani enjoyed her breezy ride home from church with Daddy today. This was the photo I got sent to me to commemorate the ride. I just want to know who was watching the road when he took this.

Bye Bye Aron....

After 9 months with Aron as Bryan 's partner, he was pulled from service two weeks ago. Aron was a great dog, great partner and a great worker. Bryan brought Aron down to the kennel in Riverside last week where he will live now. He and his lieutenant tested a few dogs while they were down there to try and find a new partner. There were a few dogs they liked but nothing has been chosen yet. Hopefully within the next week they will make another trip down there to get a new dog. Bryan will have to got through training again once he gets the new dog.

This is where is gets fun. The new trainer for the Sheriff's Department is in Riverside, which means this is where the 6 week training course will take place. Bryan will head down to Riverside on June 9th with the new dog and be there until July 18th. It will be a long summer for me and the kids here at home without Bryan.

The house has been very quite this past week without Aron here. I think Sierra is enjoying having the yard to herself and getting all the attention. Aron was a part of this family and a great partner for Bryan and we miss him.

How I started my day

This morning was nice... I was able to get a little more sleep since Chris had to go get is TB shot checked at 9:00. I got up, showered, got ready and then went to get the kids. I knew Dani was up because I heard her playing in her room. Man was I surprised when I walked in.

This is what greeted me.

That's right folks, our little Houdini knows how to get the one piece fleece sleepers off, the diaper off and runs around her crib naked. To top it all off you will notice the 4" layer of items on the bottom of the crib. Dani reached over and pulled the laundry basket closer to the crib. She then pulled out all the dirty close and put them in the crib. I think the best part was that she thought this was the FUNNIEST thing ever and was as happy as a clam when I walked in.

It has been a good day.