Happy Halloween!

Earlier this week we carved pumpkins.  This is the first time we've done it with Abby.  She wouldn't touch the inside of the pumpkins.  We wanted her to help clean out the goop and seeds in the pumpkin, but she wouldn't even go near them.  She was so cute, she kept saying over and over "I love pumpkins" and "Thank you, Daddy".  She was bouncing off the walls with all the excitement of just carving pumpkins.  Then we took them outside and lit them up with candles, she loved that too.

Abby is a fairy, but she says she's Tinkerbell.  Lexi is a little bee. 



Cute little bug!




 We did our trick-or-treating on Saturday night.  One the perks of living in Utah, everyone celebrates on Saturday rather than Sunday.  The night started out a little rough.  It was pouring rain for most of the afternoon and early evening.  Around 6pm we got the girls in their costumes and headed out the door with our umbrella and we figured we would get soaked.  But miracoulusly the rain had stopped.  Abby practically ran from house to house she was so excited.  We have talking to her all week about how you have to say "trick-or-treat" at the door to get the candy.  I honestly didn't think she would, though.  She can be so shy and timid.  And when we would talk to her about it, she would say "how about if I just be quiet at the door".  But she ran up to each door, and said "trick-or-treat" each time, then "thank you, thank you".  Lexi rode around in the stroller, but she totally picked up on the excitement and let out a few squeels of joy.  It was still pretty cold outside, so we just went around the block, hitting maybe 20 houses or so.  When we got home, we had hot chocolate and popcorn balls while we watched the Shrek Halloween special.  It was such a fun night for everyone!

One of the greatest joys of having kids, is watching them experience all this fun and excitement.  I think that is one of the reasons that I suffer through vacations by myself, and cold nights walking around the neighborhood.  I woudn't want to miss seeing the girls smiles and giddyness, it is so priceless.  And I know there is tons more in store as we have officially started the holiday season.

San Diego

Last weekend, Abby, Lexi and I went to California with Cam's sister, Are and her family.  Sadly, Cam had to work during this trip too, so he stayed here in Utah and worked on bringing home some bacon.  We left Friday and drove from about 5am till about 5pm to get to California in time to have dinner with Cam's grandma.  Unfortunately, it turned out that we missed her, she left a little early for a senior retreat of some sort.  So, the next day we went on to San Diego where Cam's sister Cynthia lives with her husband Alex and little girl Emma.  That night, the men watched all the kids, and us girls had ourselves a night out on the town.  Actually, not really.  We went to dinner.  But it was nice and peaceful. 

Sunday, we went to Sea World.  It was a blast.  Abby enjoyed the kid section that was totally Sesame Street themed and of course Shamu.

Monday, we took a trip to the beach.  It was drizzly and overcast the entire time we were there, so, we didn't get in the water, but managed to collect some pretty rocks and sea shells.

We had so much fun, but in the last couple of trips I've taken, I discovered, it is SO much easier when Cam can travel with us.  Lexi just doesn't do well when we are away from home for a long time, she gets really clingy to me and cries whenever I'm not holding her.  That makes showering and many other daily tasks very difficult.  But we survived, with a lot of help from Are and Will, of course.

At the hotel.  It was right along the harbor.  Abby loved the balcony.

A penguin at Sea World.  Apparently, he terrified Piper.

A little toddler area in Sea World.  Lexi got in on the action for this one.

One of the kids rides.  It's a teacup-like ride.

A mermaid.  Abby was so lucky so meet her, mermaids have been one of her obsessions as of late.

Touching the sea stars.

At the beach

Everybody except for me and Lexi.

Here's Lexi, in her main mode of transportation while in California.

Lexi, 9 months

Technically, she is 9 1/2 months.  I have just been so busy lately, it's taken me awhile to get this update posted.  I can't believe she is already 9 months old, you know what that means?  Less than 3 months of formula!

She is:

• getting so big, literally. We weighed her at home a week ago, 22 lbs. Oh, my goodness. No wonder my arm gets so tired carrying her after only a few minutes. But her little fat rolls and chubby cheeks are so cute, so we don't plan to put her on Jenny Craig just yet :)

• getting up on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth.  So, soon enough, she'll be cruising all over the place.
• able to feed herself with finger foods.

• loving bath time.  It is absolutely her favorite time of the day.  As soon as we start to run the bath water, she is screaming and kicking with excitement.
• teething, again.  She will have 6 teeth once these two break through.  Sadly, she is horrible while teething.  She doesn't eat well (so, it's quite a mystery as to how she got to her 22 lbs), sleep well, and isn't too happy while awake.  I also noticed today that part of her gums are black and blue, which I guess can be a sign of teething.  Poor little girl :(  So, that's six down, only about fourteen more to go.
• super charming.  She smiles at everyone.  Finally, she is getting out of her shell and is getting more comfortable around people other than Cameron or I.
• completely attatched to her pink silky blanket.  I have tried to get her to sleep with other blankets, and it just results in no sleep and lots of tears.
• finally sleeping through the night without a feeding.  She has been stubborn, and has never really slept through the night.  I decided it was time to pull the plug and force her to give up the middle of the night bottle.  It's taken a lot of sleepless nights, letting her fuss and cry till she finally fell back asleep.  Many nights it took at least 2 hours till she was asleep again, I've been a walking zombie the last week or so, but it's finally paid off!

• loving to stand.  She would rather be up on her two feet than anything else.  She still needs to be supported all the time and has practically no balance, but it's what she loves.

Then, On to Colorado

So, after we spent several days in St. George, I drove home to Colorado with my parents.  We spent most of our time just relaxing and running errands.  Abby spent the majority of her time in the backyard at my parents house.  They have a nice play set that she spent hours playing on.  They also have a few apple trees, and the apples were ripe, so Abby ate tons of apples while playing out back.  I spent one night at my sisters place in Denver.  Abby and Kenna loved getting to play together.  Unfortunately, I didn't really take any pictures.  My camera got tucked away, and so, I kind of forgot to take it out to capture our time with some photos.

Family Trip to St. George

Last week my parents came over and picked me and the girls up to head down to St. George.  We were going to meet my brother Scott and his family who coming from San Diego, and all visit my Grandma who lives there.

Lexi joined in the fun

The first day there, Friday, we made a trip to the local inflatable jumping place (it's becoming a regular activity for Abby.  Unfortunately, Abby was the only kid there, so she was a little unsure and timid.  Later that night we went to Snow Canyon to play on the sand dunes.  We used to go there all the time when I was a kid and play and run.  Both Abby and Lexi really enjoyed playing in the sand.

The next day we went to Zion Canyon.  It was still nearly 100 degrees that day, so it was quite warm.  But we did manage the little hike to Weeping Rock.  Then, to cool off a little, we went to the river and played a little.  After that, we took a drive to go through the tunnel.  The kids loved it when my dad would honk the horn in the tunnel.  They would laugh and scream. 

 

Abby threw a fit almost the entire walk to weeping rock, so she isn't looking too happy here.



Weeping rock.  If you haven't been there, it's a  large rock that literally has water dripping out of it.

Lexi, "hiking" on the trail.

Scott, Sam, and Abby playing in the river



Sunday, was kind of a chill day. We did make another trip out to Snow Canyon that evening.





Dance Class

Abby started dance class a couple of weeks ago.  She absolutely loves it!  She is in a combo class, ballet/jazz/tumbling.  So cute!

My Little Tender Mercy

Let me start by painting you a picture of my day. 

The last week or so, Lexi's sleep has been sporadic.  She got a little cold last week, and also has a tooth just millimeters from braking through.  The last couple of nights I have been up with her quite a bit, and she decided to start her day at 5:30am.  A little early for me, but whatever.  So, I'm tired.  And when I get tired, I'm even more forgetful and scatterbrained than usual. 

I needed to get to the store to get some groceries.  So, we were off to Smith's.  Abby brought a book in the car that she can draw in with a dry erase marker.  When we arrived at the store, she had managed to color all over her arms, legs, and little on her face.  And I was out of wet wipes.  So, she would have to walk around with that stuff all over for awhile.  Oh, yeah, and I'm pretty sure I forgot to comb her hair this morning.

I'm desperately trying to stay on a budget lately, so grocery shopping requires more prep work and more time in the store.  I have to make sure I get the best price on every item, and add up every item placed in the cart to make sure I don't go over my budget.  I realized about 10 minutes after we entered the store that this was not going to be easy. 

When I finally got to the check out, I was very frazzled.  I was nervous about having more groceries than I had cash for, so that was what I was totally focused on.  Meanwhile, Abby was throwing several items on the belt, and the cashier was trying to have a conversation with me.  But I was still only thinking about money.  When the total came up, I was $1 over my budget.  So, I asked the cashier to take a few candy bars out.  The lady behind me heard and said "oh, I have a dollar." To which my response was "oh no, it's only candy, don't worry about it"  But of course she insisted.  I was so frazzled and embarrassed.  I thanked her, and nearly ran out of the store.

I know that lady didn't have a clue as to the horrible day I had been having (or maybe it was totally evident on my face), but her offer of a dollar was just the tender mercy that I needed.  I didn't NEED those candy bars (but I really, really wanted them), and on the way out to the car I realized that in my tired, frazzled state, I had forgotten about a couple of coupons I had intended to use, and how I probably could have scrounged up enough change, or that I had wanted to take off the items Abby had been sneaking onto the belt.  If I had thought to do any one of those things, I would have had just enough money.  But I didn't.  I think I needed to see that people can still be kind.  Yesterday I saw this horrible news story about a 4 year old girl who wandered away from her Mom at a Deseret Industries, and later was found in the Men's bathroom with a sex-offender.  When you hear stories like that, it's easy to lose faith in human decency.  So, I'm glad that this lady helped me.  Of course, by the time I got home, I was feeling so bad because I was worried that I didn't thank her enough, and I think I was a little rude to the cashier when she was trying to talk to me.  I was so distracted when she was trying to talk to me that I didn't really give her my attention and I can't even remember if I responded to some of her questions.  Instead of focusing on how embarassed I was, or whether I was rude, I decided to pay it forward.  It's like that comercial for some insurance company, where a person does something nice for someone, and another persons saw and decided to do something nice for some one else, and so on.  I want to remember to take every oppurtunity to help someone out.  All the time I find myself thinking "someone should do fix that" or "someone should help that person out" and I rarely realize that "that someone" could be.