Rain

This week we learned the true meaning of a good rainstorm - it rained for 6 straight days. Honestly, there was not even a moment where a blue sky or the sun was visible. During our days on end of rain things didn't look too bad from our cozy little place, we just stayed in (thankfully our Christmas shopping was done!). On the news there were stories of people being evacuated from their homes, mud slides and freeways turning into rivers but I didn't give it much thought. Then, Wednesday night we ventured out. I realized how bad it was and just how much rain over 7 inches really is and the damage it can do, especially when you factor in the mud that is a product of so much rain. These pictures are of the intersection at the corner of our apartment complex. The road was closed for 2 days after they pumped all the water out while they cleaned up the 10" of mud left behind.

This one shows an old movie theater where literally over half of the building was submerged.

Our errand to a store 5 minutes away turned into an hour and a half ordeal compliments of road closures, rain and mud. Never again will I underestimate the power of rain!!

You Know It's Christmas....

We've been in complete Christmas mode all month long. Tienna is super excited and can't wait for Santa to come visit this week. :) Her excitement has definitely rubbed off on all of us and it's now a daily occurrence to hear the following questions:

• "Mom, can we put up more decorations?"
• "Don't worry mom, I've already turned all the lights on!"
• "I just saw and elf!!!!"
• "Do you have any extra [wrapping] paper?"
• "Let's go look at lights!"
• "Is it Christmas yet?"

Here's a couple picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses before church last Sunday. Kiara is just starting to figure out smiling for the camera :)

All Because of You

I love my two girls. I love that they have each other. I hope as they get older they continue to love being sisters. I've been reflecting quite a bit on all aspects of my life lately (I think it just comes with the time of year...) and have come to the realization that there is nothing more valuable to me than my little family, especially my 2 little angels. However, there are some things I have realized that will never be the same because of them:

Sleep. I can no longer sleep when I want - it has to be coordinated between my 3 year old telling me it's time to wake up, my 8 month old thinking it's time to wake up and trying to manage the chaos that is our little apartment. Oh how I miss the days of sleeping in or taking a Sunday afternoon nap! :)

Guck. I am no longer disgusted by boogies, drool, spit-up, throw up, pee and on most occasions poop, all of which fall under the guck category in our house. However, this immunity is still primarily reserved for my children. Funny how this changed instantly when Tienna was born.

My body. Whether I'm feeding Kiara, acting as a gym for Tienna to play on, dancing with her in a way I'm very glad no one else can see me, noticing random bumps and bruises from playing with Tienna, wondering how long I've had that lovely boogy on my shoulder, etc. my body most days does not feel like my own. Gone are the days of feeling like I'm put together and in control.

One word, Christmas. Yes, I have always loved the holidays but this year especially they seem more magical. It's been in the 80's this week so it doesn't feel like Christmas. This will be our first Christmas we haven't gone home, and California just doesn't feel like home yet. Josh is not going to be home all day on Christmas compliments of another 30 hour shift. However, despite all of this I'm the most excited for the holiday that I have been for years. I like to think it's because Tienna finally gets it and is beyond excited for Christmas or maybe it's Heavenly Father's way of helping me endure this year. Either way I'll take it and I can't wait for next week. 

Being organized. I always envisioned myself to be an organized person. There is nothing I love better than having my week scheduled out, meals planned, a clean house, organized closets and time to spare. These days I feel it's the least I can do to have clean children and keep the floors clean enough that I'm not wondering what Kiara has found to put in her mouth. I keep telling myself that everything has a time and a season in life, apparently right now I'm in the midst of my season of chaos. Hopefully it will have an end at some point.

Adult conversations. I miss the days of having serious, analytical, productive conversations on a regular basis. Instead my days are filled with answering random questions, teaching Tienna how to use words correctly and if I'm lucky a little bit of peace and quiet all to myself after bedtime.

It's amazing to me how completely life can change in that instant a child is born. There are things I miss but the reality is that I would not even consider trading my girls for anything!

Catching up

It's been quite a while since I posted anything because we've been pretty busy. So, for those of you who are interested, here's a bit of what we've been up to...

All Grown up

 Last week we straightened Tienna's hair just for fun. We were surprised at how long her hair really is and personally I think it makes he look SO much older. Tienna loved it and kept asking everyone if they liked her hair. By the end of the day I was missing her curls though, it's amazing how much a person's look changes with a new hair style!

Also, Kiara is starting to get so big! It's been almost a month now since she started into one of my favorite phases. She's laughing, smiling, talking a little and so much fun!! Her little personality is really starting to come out :) I love seeing the similiarities between her and Tienna though they are vastly different, they're such cute sisters! Tienna is still the best at getting laughs and smiles, but Kiara has turned into quite the mommy's girl too which is fun (most days!). Oh how we love this little girl!

Guess who's 30?!!

The day after we got home from our trip to Utah Josh turned 30 - happy birthday!! It was fun having him around for the day (he didn't start back to work until the 1st). We got to relax and Tienna loved that it was his birthday. As Tienna and I were making the cake she insisted on having 30 candles which ended up being a tight squeeze for our little cake. Either way, it was a fun day made even that much better by having Josh around for the ENTIRE day. Happy birthday sweetie from all your girls!!

 (I just love Tienna's expression in this one - too cute!)

Thanksgiving

We were lucky enough to go up to Utah for Thanksgiving. Josh took his Step 3 boards the day before we left so it was a nice break for us all. The girls were wonderful on the drive and our first morning in Utah this is what we woke up to:

Welcome back to Utah! Over the next week it snowed on and off most days and we had plenty of opportunities to shovel snow and enjoy its beauty. Tienna loved it and even got pretty good at making snow balls.

Other than lots of snow and cold our trip to Salt Lake was full of family. We spent time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Thanksgiving day we had a wonderful meal at the Vandersteen's with the entire family who was in town (we missed you Ces and Jared!), it was so fun to have everyone together all at the same time.

 That night we headed over to the Pollei's for our traditional gingerbread houses. Uncle McKay made a special hat for Tienna out of some tinfoil... let's just say it was pretty special :)

 The finished product

Finally, we also celebrated Josh's birthday with the families while in town. Tienna was excited to help blow out the candles :) 

Familiar Faces

 Some of our good friends from Arizona, the Bramwells, were in town the middle of November. They were here to celebrate a family birthday and were nice enough to invite us out to their beach house for Sunday dinner. It was so good to see them!! Tienna and Madison had a blast and picked right up where they left off when we moved. Here's some pictures from the evening:

Still can't believe this is only an hour from where we live :)

Buddies

And what do 3 year olds do when they get together for the first time in a while? Make faces; silly faces and lots of them!

Madison had a little bracelet for Tienna, she loves it!

And of course, more goofy faces!

The Little Things

One of my favorite things since being here in Cali is the babysitting co-op that is in our neighborhood. Honestly, it is a much appreciated lifesaver. I get a little break from the kiddos and Tienna gets to go play, it's a win-win situation all around! And, let's be honest, someone else's toys are always better : ) Here's how it works: two mornings a month we get to earn tickets by having friends come over to our house and in return I get to use those tickets by dropping off the kids at other people's houses several times. So far Tienna loves it and Kiara is just old enough to participate now so I'm very excited for the chance to have BOTH kids go at the same time! 

Last week we had friends over again. It's amazing how self-entertaining three three year olds can be! They were full of imagination and loved having Kiara play with them too. 

Halloween Festivities

 We had a great Halloween this year. Saturday our ward had a trunk-or-treat so we had fun decorating the car and dressing up. This year Tienna either wanted to be Astrid (from How To Train Your Dragon) or a purple ballerina. With everything going on I opted for the ballerina :) Next year I'm going to try to be a little more proactive with the costumes so I have time to make something other than a tutu!

 This is Tienna after an hour of trick-or-treating. She was a little hyper from all the sugar but loved every second of it!

And a few extra pictures just for fun. We love these girls so much!

A couple weeks ago I took Kiara in for her 6 month well-check. Here's how she measures up:

26 1/4 inches long (70th%)

15lbs. 6oz. (35th%)

43 cm head circumference (60th%)

She got another round of immunizations and both girls got their flu shots - here's to hoping we all avoid getting sick this winter!

Other than that, we've had a busy couple of weeks. I've been keeping super busy with my new-ish church calling, I love being in Primary! It has finally started to feel like fall and we love it!! We've been enjoying almost daily walks and I've learned that Kiara is just as much of an outside baby as Tienna ever was. She is completely content whenever we're outdoors and loves to take in her surroundings.

Josh has one more night shift and then it's another rotation behind us - for those of you keeping track that's 4 months of the dreaded  intern year behind us. Yea!!!!! We have one more relaxed month and then the craziness returns :o He's also been super busy with his new calling - he's the cubmaster in our ward. (Let's just say it was very much a surprise calling!) Here's a picture of him on his way to the first pack meeting last week; now if only he had a son to go along with the calling!

This last week my sister also came for a quick visit. We love visitors!! The girls loved the attention and it was so nice to have someone to chat with while running errands and working on projects at night while Josh was at work. She was a great sport and helped tons with the kids, babysat one night, vacuumed our house, almost finished my ironing pile and shared some fun new music. One morning we went to the beach and she introduced us to some of the tastiest pizza I've ever tried - thanks again Jessie! We miss you already and can't wait to see you when we come up in a couple of weeks! 

More pictures to come in the next couple days hopefully :)

{6 Months}

Kiara is 6 months old today. I can hardly believe it! Every day I am reminded that she is no longer a newborn, something I love and something I miss all at the same time. Here's a couple of fun things about our little sweetie at 6 months:

• Kiara has lots of nicknames. The favorites are bubba cheese (a la Tienna) and pikachu (pee-ka-chu) compliments of daddy. For some reason they've both stuck.
• We also call her our skinny little string bean. She's quite long but very skinny - think skinny arms, no bum, no hips, one little mid-thigh roll (that I'm very proud of). I'm excited to she how she measures up at her well-check appointment next week.
• That being said, she has a HUGE appetite. Seriously, the girl can eat! Rice cereal and veggies are her favorite and she's learning to like fruit a bit more.
• She has discovered her voice big time. She loves to scream, sing, laugh and attempt to talk. She responds to me, Josh, Tienna and certain toys. Basically, if she recognizes something she gets very excited and subsequently makes lots of noise. : )
• The default for being excited is bouncing her legs up and down while wildly waving her arms. I find it quite adorable that she gets excited about so many things.
• Rolling around is now her favorite form of entertainment. She's starting to figure out that by rolling she can move and get things out of her reach. I think she's going to be a very determined little one...
• We've started the phase of everything going in her mouth. Her binky is more of a toy and watches are a favorite as of late. 
• She is a great sleeper. It took her 5 months to get the hang of things, but now she's a champ most of the time. She loves 3 naps a day and always wakes up super happy.
• She still is pretty cuddly - she loves being held and is learning to give kisses. She'll let anyone hold her but is a mama's girl : )
• Kiara is overall very happy. Unless she has an immediate need she's smiling, cooing and happy.

Here's the kiddos with their matching Halloween shirts and flowers. Yep, I've become one of those moms who dresses the girls all match-y match-y - I can't help it!

It's Always Fun...

We love having visitors, especially when it's grandma and grandpa. Last week Josh's parents came down for a few days and we had a blast - Tienna and Kiara loved all the extra attention! While they were here we showed them around Loma Linda, visited the temple, went to a pumpkin patch, ate too much yummy food and had lots of time for relaxing and playing. Tienna's already asking when we're going to have more visitors :)

Tienna was in awe of all the pumpkins, big and small. I have to admit that I don't think I've ever seen so many varieties of pumpkins in my life!

Our precious little one!!

Tienna had a ride on Jose the horse, quite exciting as you can see :)

There were various Halloween characters all over. They were people with incredibly intricate costumes who would hold still and wait for someone to pose with them and then turn and say hi or something like that. Tienna was a little leery of Frankenstein.

The grim reaper wasn't too much better... Tienna didn't like his bony hands.

And just because Kiara seems to be changing daily, here's a shot of her new favorite - talking and laughing while rolling around trying to reach toys or anything to stick in her mouth. Love this girl!