Halloween Festivities

 Can I just say the holidays like Halloween are so much better with kids?! We've been looking forward to Halloween all month long. Here are a few things we've been doing to get in the spirit...

 DISNEYLAND 

(I know, shocker, but it is pretty incredible with all the Halloween decor... I can't wait to see what they do for Christmas!)

Even Mickey Mouse gets all festive :-)

Ghost balloons for preschool. We just happened to have the letter 'g' the week before Halloween so I couldn't resist.

A trip to the pumpkin patch

 Preschool friends...

Pardon the background but this was the one shot Kiara was actually smiling in.

Ward parties. We were lucky enough to have two parties. (one for the old ward, one for our current ward) One was a trunk-or-treat and the other was more of a carnival so it was the perfect balance of treats and games. Tienna was so excited to be able to dress up as Snow White twice. She was insistent with her costume that she get to wear makeup and that I spray her hair black, just like Snow White's. Add to that the fact that we do it all two nights and it was even better. I have to say that Kiara was a pretty adorable little duck too. :-)

Tienna was beyond thrilled that she could get her face painted. She held perfectly still and loved all the compliments. 

Halloween night we ventured out for a little trick-or-treating with our friends the McCune's and the girls did great. Now I'm hoping we can make the candy last a good long time :-)

Nursery time!

I can hardly believe it but Kiara is now 18 months old... crazy! Time flies by way too fast! This stage is by far my favorite of all; I love how inquisitive little ones are and how their little personalities come out : ) So, here's a little bit about our 18 month old.

She's coming in at 24 pounds and 32 inches tall (50th and 75th percentiles respectively)

She has 12 teeth and will eat anything. Current favorites are peas, broccoli, bananas, oatmeal, Cheetos, avocado and applesauce.

She LOVES to sleep! If you tell her it's time for night-night she will get a huge grin on her face, run up the stairs and try to climb into her crib. This makes for one happy mommy!

She is infatuated with water. Tub, puddles, pool, etc. They're all a good time.

She constantly babbles and can say 40 or so words that are actually legible. Some of these include: mama, dada, nena (Tienna), sisa (sister), nana, peas, ni-ni (night-night), bye, hi, luv you, car, out side, moon, sun, hot, baby, di-di (blankie and binky combined).

She is a VERY affectionate girl. She will give 'loves and hugs' by wrapping her arms around you and just hanging on while saying 'oohhhh'. She also blows kisses and is finally getting the hang of giving closed-mouth kisses.

She is very daring. She climbs and explores way more than Tienna ever did. She's constantly climbing anything and everything. At the park she manages to get pretty much anywhere she wants to and loves going down slides by herself.

She mimics everything Tienna does. In the morning she has to be standing on the stool in front of the mirror to brush her teeth and get her hair done, just like her sister. She also has to color when Tienna is coloring, read when Tienna is reading, eat when Tienna is eating ... you get the idea : )

She has almost mastered folding her arms and getting the right timing on saying amen for prayers. After she always claps and says 'yea!'.

She is obsessed with shoes or 'shoies' as she calls them. The dress-up princess ones are her favorite.

She loves books. Whether pulling them all of the bookshelf, piling them on the table or reading in the car, she will always calm down and quiet down for a book.

She is an electronics girl. From i-touch games to computers and phones she is just like her daddy and loves all things electronics!

I cannot believe our little Kiki is really 18 months old, time flies!!

Weekend of Fun

Last week my parents came down for a visit. My dad conveniently needed to come down for work and my mom decided to tag along. We had so much fun with our visitors. Tienna and Kiara loved having grandma and grandpa around : ) Friday we ran some errands and got things done around the house (thanks again dad!) and on Saturday we spent all day at California Adventure. It is so much easier to do theme parks with more than one or two adults! We tried new rides, enjoyed lunch with the princesses and had great seats for the World of Color show that night. Both girls were tuckered out from the long day but it was well worth it. Sunday was our ward's primary program. It was so nice having my parents here, especially since Josh had to work. Tienna recited her part perfectly (she got to say, "I love to read the scriptures because they help me know what Christ wants me to do.") and sang wonderfully on all of the songs. You know how there's always one child that you just can't help but watch, I think that was Tienna this year : ) And now for the pictures:

Grandpa makes the most creative cakes with the kiddos. Tienna requested a butterfly one this time.

Disneyland all decked out for Halloween.

Kiara bright-eyed and ready for the day!

Enjoying our sunny, blue-skies day.

As always, there were lots of characters walking around.

Lunch at Ariel's Grotto...

Do you think she was having fun?

Kiara LOVED Princess Minnie :-)

Patiently waiting for Midway Mania

This is what 6:00pm looks like with only 1 hour of naps the whole day... I think Grandma loved the cuddles.

First I have been on a real roller coaster since 9th grade Lagoon day... way too long!

Waiting for World of Color to start. I think Kiara was asleep maybe 10 minutes later.

Thanks for the visit Grandma and Grandpa! We love having visitors come!! (hint, hint...)

This week we had some visitors. One of the highlights was World of Color at California Adventure last night... more pictures to come!

A little smile goes a long way

Today marks the beginning of another rotation for Josh. September brought research which I LOVED!! Basically, Josh got to work from home (for once I don't mind the hospital not having research/study areas!), take off days here and there, come to church and still managed to get some solid work done (a couple things should get published soon-ish which will make applying to fellowships a little less stressful!). We were able to fit in a couple trips to Disneyland, swimming in the afternoons and getting things done around the house. I was spoiled rotten to be able to run to the store sans kiddos and plan on making dinner at a set time every day. Oh well, it was a month of luxuries and I enjoyed it. Needless to say, I'm already lamenting that Josh left before the girls got up and will have a call shift every 4 days for the next 2 months. Such is the life of a resident. I came across this picture this morning and couldn't help but smile when I saw it. Maybe I should print it out for my refrigerator for the next couple of months...

I'm so lucky to have little ones that make me smile!

A few weeks ago we had our little 'kickoff' for the co-op preschool Tienna's doing. We went up to Riley's Farm where the kids were able to pick apples, make apple cider, sing songs, go on a hay ride and even learn how to make kazoos too. It was a fun day where we all enjoyed being out of the heat and learning a few new things. 

Picking up apples off the ground for the cider.

Kiara kept trying to eat the apples.

Here's the group plus one extra friend who has since moved away. 

Learning to play washboards, triangles, etc. 

Tienna's turn to make the wooden man dance.  

This is farmer Dan and his dad. Farmer Dan has lived on this farm since he was 3 year old when his family moved up from the valley and built the long cabins, barns, amphitheater, etc and everything that is still standing today. He was full of fascinating stories about how the farm works, how they grow and harvest all the crops and all the fun things they did when they were done working. Even the little ones Kiara's age were interested enough to listen. 

This is the drinking fountain on the farm. The kids loved it as you can tell!

So far Tienna is LOVING preschool. She can't wait to go in the mornings and loves telling me all about it when she gets home. I can't believe this is her last year before she starts kindergarten, she's getting so old!

Beach Day

 Since moving to California we've only been to the beach twice. Yes, I know, pretty sad considering we're less than an hour away from Newport area. The end of August we decided to have an outing, but only after school had started so things weren't quite as busy. We went on a beautiful Thursday morning and had a blast playing in the waves and sand. Tienna added to her seashell collection and Kiara loved the water despite the fact it was quite cold. We managed to get just enough sun without anyone getting burned despite not taking an umbrella. California beaches might not be like those in Mexico or the Caribbean but they're sure not bad when you want a morning away from your typical routines.

Kiara literally spent hours filling up this little sieve. 

Yep, she was one happy girl : )

A little break for lunch.

Tienna the mermaid.

Hooray for those rare days off for Josh! Once Tienna starts kindergarten next year I know things won't be quite the same...

Family Pictures

In August we had some family pictures taken. This has been one of those things I've had in the back of my mind since last fall but things just haven't worked out. I finally found a local photographer I like, Allie who was fabulous! (photographybyallisonhays.com) We shot them at a local university that is beautiful (and will be the site of future Sunday evening walks) and it wasn't too toasty of a day. Tienna was either beyond cheesy or bored and Kiara took a little while to decide we weren't going to leave her with Allie. All in all they turned out well but I am glad they're done.

Here's a couple of my favorites and I'm excited to finally have Kiara in our family pictures!!

I love Josh's smile in this one. (T is obviously beyond bored.) 

 Here Allie wanted Tienna to just sit and smile; the legs and arms were all Tienna, she's so girly! : )

I LOVE this one of T - she gives me this look countless times each day, talk about authentic! 

This was one of the last shots of the day, I'm so glad Kiara finally decided to smile!