6 years ago at this exact time I was in labor at Santa Teresa Kaiser with our first beautiful daughter.  I believe I was starting to pass out from the epidural at exactly this time (1:50 am on 05/05/04) not knowing that in 6 hours I would start to give birth to an amazing child. Like any parent, the roller coaster they call “children”, begins the moment you hear your first cry and no matter what those parenting books tell you to expect; you really have no idea what ride you just got yourself into.

In the past six years I have shed my tears of frustration and joy on the crazy ride I call Airis Alexandra, and no matter how tired that ride gets it has also been a fun one.  Now that we have our little one who turned 3 months on Monday; I can’t help but look at Airis in awe and I constantly say to myself, “I can’t believe Airis was that little.”

On Monday, we had a day off.  We decided we weren’t going to work, no editing, no answering phone calls or emails, just FAMILY TIME!! We drove our family of four up to SF on that gorgeous day and spent a few hours at Crown & Crumpet Tea Salon, located in Ghiradelli Square.  First of all I wanted to say to Amy & Chris, the owners; you guys did an amazing job!!  Crown & Crumpet Tea Salon is not only heaven for any photographer to take photos of every little detail there; but its a world of treasures and wonder for any little girl or big boy (like Jonathan) to feel like they’ve fallen through a hole and stepped into wonderland.  The staff is phenomenal, the tea: splendid, the experience: truly magical.

Tea time with our girls made us realize how important it is to just take a break from all the madness and busyness of adult life.  And that the world won’t fall apart around you if you just slow down for just a minute.  So here’s to our beautiful Airis, Happy Birthday.  I love you and thank you for being super for the last 6 years and thank you for being our constant reminder that its okay to be in wonderland.

This is seriously the ULTIMATE “candy bar”.

Details, details, details… Amy & Christopher; you guys did an awesome job of filling this place with DETAILS!!! It wouldn’t surprise me if 20 years from now Airis had a Tea Time themed wedding.I would’ve eaten  this cake, if there wasn’t a sign that said  ”DISPLAY ONLY”.

Both princesses were there, this one was just napping through her tea time.

I hope all your wishes come true!

Olivia Claire Encarnacion was born on February 3, 2010 at 7:48PM.  She weighs 6 lbs and 5 ounces and is 19 inches in length.

The labor wasn’t intense, it wasn’t too hard, but the delivery part was a bit tougher than expected.  Olivia is a little bit bigger than her 5 year old sister at birth.  Airis (Iris) was 5 lbs and 14 ounces and slipped out like a fish, where as Olivia decided that she wanted to be a bit more difficult and required a little bit of vacuum suctioning to get her out.  I was joking when I had mentioned busting out the Dyson vacuum during my labor.

Here are some photos that captured our memorable day.  To relive our day with us check out our slideshow.

Yes SJ Sharkie came to visit me during my labor!! It was definitely memorable!

I love that I have SJ Sharkie as my cheerleader.  Nearly three years ago he made signs to help Jonathan propose to me at the Shark Tank during a game.  Now he’s got a “push” sign for me to help me through my labor and delivery. 

They had to use a vacuum suction to get Miss Olivia out since her heart rate was stressed during the two hours of pushing.

First stop: Willow Glen, Powell Sweet Shoppe.  A place full of nostalgia from the past and present.  I love this place, its makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.

A drive through the backroads of San Jose. (Joanne driving of course)

The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.  Goofy little Airis!!

Sunday’s adventures:  Petryoglyph in Willow Glen.

Last stop:  The Cheesecake Factory at Valley Fair Mall….NOM NOM NOM…FOOD!!!

For your viewing pleasure we did make a slideshow of our weekend.  Its our last weekend to enjoy our Terrific Trio before Olivia Encarnacion graces the world with her presence.  Definitely an awesome weekend and we are so looking forward to our many adventures as a family of four!!