Halloween Fun

We have been having a lot of opportunities to get into the fun of Halloween this year. Emma and some of the kids from pre-school went to a pumpkin patch, and she also went to a "carnival" birthday party. We have the ward trunk or treat, as well as another family Halloween party and that is all before the actual day of trick or treating.:) I just had to post these cute pictures of Emma in her "Little Witch" costume.

Preschool Fun

So I wish I would've taken some pictures to document our fun, but obviously I didn't. This past week was my turn to teach our little preschool co-op. It was just Tuesday and Thursday from 8:15-11:15. The kids bring a lunch with them and so they have lunch at preschool as well. I really tried to be prepared for a variety of situations so that I could be flexible, and I was happy by how well each day went. The first day I could tell that some of the kids were apprehensive by coming to a new place and having a different routine, but we had a good time. Each week we teach a different color, letter, number, and shape as well as a monthly theme. It felt so good being able to put my education to some use. We have a wide range of ages in the kids that attend. Emma is the youngest at 2 1/2 all the way up to a 4 1/2 year old. I was concerned about this, but it was just fine. I think the thing I was most surprised about was Emma. I had been so concerned about how she was doing in preschool since she is the youngest and sometimes has a hard time sitting still for too long, but she was so good. It makes me emotional just thinking about it because I was so proud of her. It may have been because she was at out house, but she wanted to participate in everything, and was really excited to do everything we were doing. I have been so amazed at how much she has been picking up on things and really retaining information. She is sure a cute smartie pants. We sure love her. The other day we were going on a walk and Emma saw some kids down the street. She started calling them her "friends". Any kids are "her friends". Mike commented that she sure had a lot of friends and she replied by saying, "Yes, I do." We sure got a kick out of that. She is sooo friendly. She has also been getting closer to potty training. She has pooped on the potty a few times and the past couple of days has told me that she needed to sit on the toilet and has actually gone pee. Neither Mike or I are too excited about the potty training days and have been holding off until we get back from our Thanksgiving trip to Utah, but she is sure looking ready so it won't be long.

She wanted me to take a picture of her doing this back bend looking upside down. Funny girl.:)



Wow I sure have a lot of laundry to put away.:)


Also, Vivian is now 3 months old. Where has all the time gone. I can't believe that someday she will grow up just like Emma. I look at Emma and still can't believe have big she is. They really do grow up so fast. It is fun seeing their personalities come out and see all they can do, but I also need to remember to appreciate these days I have with them while they are young. We sure are blessed.

Home Decor

Recently I've been feeling a little bit more crafty. There is a wreath project going around my ward and I jumped on board. So here is my halloween creation. I think it turned out a little too busy, but it was fun.


And

here is Emma's hand at decorating. This is the second time I have gone into my bathroom to find it decorated with these little beauties. Too funny.



And of course these little cuties "decorate" my home and life each day. They are the best addition our home could ask for.

Trail of 100 Giants

Yesterday Mike took a half day and we went up to the Sequoia's. I had never seen them and we wanted to take advantage of the time we had left with Mike's mom here. Here are some pictures of our day. Amazing trees and the cutest baby ever, if I do say so myself.:)

Busy Day

So yesterday was Vivian's blessing day and it was a pretty busy day and week leading up to it. Mike was gone on a business trip earlier in the week and I was determined to get a TON accomplished while he was gone. As hard as I worked it didn't seem to make much of a dent. Luckily Mike was a great help after he got home. This is just a good lesson in not letting my house get so bad in the first place.:) Mike's mom came out on Friday and Emma was sure excited to see her grandma. She has gotten good and spoiled already.
It is wonderful to see family, we can't wait until Thanksgiving so we can see everyone. Sunday was a beautiful day, but very busy as well. I am the ward choir director and we were singing in Sacrament meeting so I had an early morning practice followed by a brunch. We had invited some of Mike's co-workers, our neighbors and some other friends, but luckily we had the choir there because no one else was able to make it to the brunch. Mike received a lot of support for the blessing though. Both of his bosses and another co-worker were kind enough to come to the blessing. It was really sweet of them to make the effort. Mike gave Vivian a beautiful blessing, I'm so grateful for his worthiness to bless our family.

The day continued with my primary lesson, chasing Emma, getting a nap, and enjoying some good family time. All in all it was a wonderful day. I really wanted to show you these pictures of my cute family.


This is what we found one night when we went in to see if Emma was asleep. Too cute!
She LOVES Jesus.


I sure love them all, what a blessing they are to me.

Milestones

My kids had some fun milestones this past week. Last week was Emma's first time going to pre-school. I realize she is only 2 1/2, but a couple of sisters in our ward were putting together a little preschool co-op and I thought it would be a great way for Emma to get some socialization as well as learn some good listening skills. She was so excited to go to pre-school, and according to her teachers, has been doing pretty well so far. I will be participating as a teacher next month which will give me an opportunity to actually use my education a little bit. There are only 6 kids and they meet twice a week for just 3 hours. Hopefully it will be a good experience for both Emma and I.

Emma's first day of pre-school


Vivian also turned 2 months old on Sunday. She is such a sweetie. She still seems like a 1 month old, which would make sense since she is probably 1 month behind. She has been smiling at us for a couple weeks now and it is fun to see a little bit of her personality. She loves her Dad and saves most of her great big smiles for him.:) We will be blessing her in a couple of weeks and I'm so grateful for a wonderful husband who will be able to perform that special blessing for her.




As far as everything else goes we are just trying to settle into our new routine with these 2 yahoo's. I'm sure it will take awhile, but everyday gets easier.

The Bakersfield Curse

We were so fortunate to have Mike's sister Melodee out to visit and help out for a couple weeks. She was such a big help especially with Emma. Since the end of my pregnancy, and trying to get Vivian to eat well, Emma has had a serious lack of physical activity. Melodee was nice enough to give our energetic 2 year old some more attention.

Unfortunately we have decided that there is a serious Bakersfield Curse. (Do NOT let this information deter any of you from coming to visit) :) Both times that Melodee has come to visit she has gotten sick, and my Mom developed a terrible cold when she came to visit as well. We're not sure what's in the water out here, but it's sure not fun. Although Melodee wasn't feeling well she was a lot of help and it was nice spending time with her. I don't know how I'm going to handle this coming week, I've gotten very spoiled with all the help I've been receiving. Luckily Vivian is doing 100% better at nursing and is now up to 7 lbs. We are also working on getting her on a better sleeping schedule. We use the "Baby wise" system which worked pretty well with Emma. Vivian sure is a lot easier to put down than Emma. Emma cried all the time so we became somewhat immune to the sound.:) Although we hate to hear her cry, 5 minutes of fussing will hopefully be beneficial to her being able to learn some self-soothing strategies in order to sleep better.

While Melodee was here she, Mike, and Emma were able to go up to the Trail of 100 Giants and Dome Rock.



Someday Mommy will get to see these huge trees as well. Emma had a good time and came back with a few scrapes and her first bee sting. I guess there were a few people who got stung up at the ward camp out.

I also wanted to post some of these funny pictures of Emma. She LOVES to play dress up and the last time we went to the CALM aka Bakersfield zoo, the animals were actually out and about, and this turtle came to give Emma a kiss.

Emma's favorite animals are the bears


An actual RoadRunner


Who knew porcupines could climb trees?



An actual picture of Vivian with her parents. She wasn't too happy.