Fall Fun!

On Friday we travelled out to Moorepark to the Underwood Family Farm for some pumpkin picking! Well, we didn't actually get to "pick" the pumpkins but we sure had fun choosing which ones we wanted! The kids and I met up with my dear friend Jamie and her little girl Rachel. We had a great time despite the 95 degree day! Aghhhh! Olivia REALLY loved all the pumpkins and probably could have stayed there all day patting the pumpkins, talking to the pumpkins, and holding as many pumpkins as she could at one time. So fun!!!

xoxo

What's going on 'round here..

We had a pretty mellow week ( despite Chad coming down with the flu last night)...we mostly stayed indoors because of the fires being so close ( 5 miles away) and all the ash in the air. Soooo, there was plenty of time for reading stories to Jack and Henry ( Olivia's stuffed animal dogs), building homes for pet dinosaurs, practicing sitting in the Bumbo seat, doing pumpkin collages, and making a yummy cake with candy corns on it!

We are so excited that Halloween is almost here and pretty much daily Olivia asks when we will we get to "trix or treat". I think that this year it will be a little bit more tricky to get her to hand over her candy at the end of the night...yeah, we'll just have to see how that one goes over. Yikes!

Enjoy the pics!

xoxo

45 minutes...

I never thought that having two kids would also make me a great multi-tasker...I guess it just comes with the territory, right? Well, this morning Chad woke-up with a fever and chills and unfortunately today is the day I go to work. ( I am just working Saturdays and Monday mornings now). Here is how I "passed the time" for the 45 minutes I had before going to work:

1. Strip Olivia's bed ( her diaper leaked last night).

2. Put on new sheets.

3. Walk out to garage to put sheets in washing machine.

4. Change Finn's diaper.

5. Make Olivia breakfast.

6. Put on make-up and "extra" deoderent... a shower just wasn't in the cards this morning. ( lovely for my patients , right?)

7. Look in the mirror.. Yup, I guess THAT hairstyle will just have to do.

8. Pull out bottle of pumped milk from fridge , warm some water to warm the bottle.

9. Change clothes.

10. Take another look in the mirror.. ai, yi, yi.

11. Fill the dogs' water bowl.

12. Kiss Chad and tell him , "I'll be home for lunch". That gets a smile out of him.

13. Make it into the car... take a deep breath.

I think maybe all those years of going to school and working 2-3 jobs really did pay off...

xoxoxoxo

Quote of the day

So recently I was at the mall and I bought Olivia a new placemat with a picture of the United States on it. Every state has a picture to go with it..she really enjoys it but I never really knew how much she paid attention to it... until now.

Olivia: (walking into my room this morning) " Mom, we live in Californ-ja".

Me: ( my jaw dropping) " Yes, we do." (I'll throw her for a loop now..) " Where does Grandpa live?"

Olivia: (thinking really hard...) " In the big Cheese".

I almost peed my pants.

My dad lives in Wisconsin and obviously the picture on it is a slice of cheese...

So obviously she pays attention.

xoxoxo

Quote of the day

Olivia: "You like baby praying mantis' mom?"

Me: "Uh...yeah I like baby praying mantis'.

Olivia: " That's good".


I wish I could just bottle what is going on in her mind and sell it on Ebay.. I probably would make a million bucks!

xoxoxo

Finn Month 3

Wow! Where did three months go...I have no idea...Finn is a delight in every way a baby can be. He is calm and observant, very inquisitive yet reserved. I feel sooooooo blessed that his personality is what it is...because at this point I seem to have had one very needy and active baby and now one very mellow and easy baby. His only quirk is the nighttime sleeping ( still getting up 2-3 times a night) but he is EASILY satisfied and falls right back to sleep. I am assuming that he is just in a growing phase since up until last week he was sleeping in 5-6 hour stretches. ( at least I know he can do it! ). He LOVES with a capital L his big sister and when ever she is near he is smiling. Finn loves to talk and coo and is constantly serenading us with tons of cute baby sounds. It is just going too fast....

xoxoxo

Olivia is 2!!

I realized in the last few days that I never posted anything about Olivia turning 2 years old!!! We were in the Midwest when this momentous occasion occurred so I just forgot. Anyway, on September 3rd our little girl turned 2 years old! She was so excited to wear her birthday princess crown and pin I had gotten her. It so happened that on her actual birthday day we were driving down to Illinois ( a 6 hour ride) , so she was thrilled when she found out our rental van had a DVD player in it ( something we DO NOT have at home in our car). She was entertained the whole ride down with Cinderella and Shrek! When we arrived in Illinois , some of Chad's relatives had kindly decorated our rented apartment with balloons and cupcakes... so great!

As a 2 year old Olivia can do lots of things, here are some of the (many) fun things she can do!!

1. Olivia can jump with 2 feet off the ground!

2. Olivia can sit in a regular chair for meals!

3. Olivia can speak 6-7 word sentences!

4. Olivia can follow instruction and help mommy take care of Finn!

5. Olivia can sleep in a big girl bed!

xoxoxoxo

Olivia learns to dive...

Well, not really.. but she did use the diving board for the first time while we were in Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago. She has no fear... so great! xoxoxoxo

Little House in Encino

We have been searching Craigs List for months looking for the perfect playhouse for Olivia ( and eventually Finn too) and yesterday we finally tracked one down ... Chad went and picked it up last night and this morning while Olivia was watching Sesame Street he put it together in the backyard. She absolutely loves it! We have all been invited in and out many times. She was mostly thrilled when Cassie decided to join her by jumping in through one of the open windows. So much fun!!

xoxoxo

Finn Month 2

Whew! We just got back from 15 days in the Midwest and little Finn celebrated his 2 month birthday while we were away. He is getting so big but more importantly he is such an easy going, good natured, watch-the-world go by kind of baby. He smiles at everyone, lights up when his big sister enters a room , and cuddles in our arms when he is sleepy and tired. *sigh*. Here are some new milestones that Finn has accomplished!!!

1. He can stick his whole fist in his mouth.

2. He can make us laugh even when we have had the roughest of days...

3. He can say "a-goo" and "oooo".

4. He can hold his head up on his own.

5. He can make your heart melt with his handsome smile!

xoxoxoxo

My babies...

*sigh*

Video from the Aquarium!

Here is a little video of Olivia feeding her beloved LoriKeet birds at the aquarium yesterday.. She was pretty patient for a 2 year old...with a little gentle coaching from "mom" of course... haahahaha!

xoxo

An afternoon with the Fish!

Yesterday afternoon Chad and I decided to take the kids to the Long Beach Aquarium. It was such a nice afternoon. Olivia had been there once before but was really too little to enjoy last year... this time we met up with our good friend Kevin and his older daughter Gracie who is just 2 months older than Olivia. We all had a great time....after the aquarium we stayed in Long Beach a little longer to enjoy some dinner and a walk along the water where Olivia LOVED looking at the boats in the harbor. It was a fabulous afternoon.



She really enjoyed feeding the LoriKeet birds some nectar!

Gracie and Olivia really looked hard for the Sea Lions... it was hilarious to watch them try to figure out where they were!





The girls really liked to press their little hands up against the glass and just stare at the fish!

It was a great day!

Our Big Girl

So yesterday was the day that we weren't quite prepared for..... it was the day that Olivia moved into her new big girl bed. It was lovingly passed down to her from her cousin Hadley and fits perfectly into the nursery. It is so strange that now there is a twin bed in there directly across from the crib where Finn will start to sleep in a few months.

Anyway, we put the bed in there and expected for there to be tears and frustrations over leaving her crib. Not one tear was shed and to our suprise she bounded into her new bed and laughed , then proceeded to take a 2 1/2 hour nap. Crazy. I love the way she just rolls with the punches...when we told her that Finn would soon be sleeping in her old crib she got very excited and screeched a loud "Hurray!". She never ceases to amaze...

Here is a great pic that pretty much captures her emotion over getting a new big girl bed complete with a polka-dot comforter.

xoxoxo

Finn Month 1

Ok, so Finn is actually almost 7 weeks at this point but we have been out of town and sooooo busy. Here are some highlights from his first month at home.

Finn can:

1.Lay on his back and look real cute.

2. Cry when he is hungry.

3. Sleep a lot.

4. Look real cute... ( oh, I already mentioned that one. )

5. Spit up and still look cute doing it... :-)

I'm afraid the Month 1 achievements are pretty dull. Stay tuned for Month 2 when more exciting things will be coming your way!

xoxoxoxoo

Another Baby Barber!!

Today ( at officially 1:07 pm ) I become an Auntie for the 3rd time!!! Keenan and Jen ( Chad's brother and his wife) gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! His name is Micah Thomas Barber... he weighed 7 lbs 10 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches tall. Mom and baby are doing great and big sister Hadley and big brother KC are so excited to have a new brother. He is only 3 weeks younger than his cousin Finn so it should make for some interesting holidays and family BBQ's.... !!

xoxoxo