November I

Jonah the fruit lover even eats Scott's discarded apple skins. He gets excited and thanks Scott for sharing.

John and I went to my childhood friend's wedding in Aptos.

It was a beautiful outdoor wedding and reception at a B&B that reminded us of the Dragonfly Inn from Gilmore Girls.

The wardrobe in one of the rooms was made with a door and I loved it. John said to take a picture and he'd replicate it. In his free time.

Nothing happier than a Jonah reading a book, especially one about fruit.

We took Britta and Charlotte to Happy Hollow one morning.

All three of them loved the rides.

Charlotte held tight to her buddy Scott when they sat by each other.

It looks like wrestling, but they were actually hugging and fell over from the intensity.

Scott offered and Jonah hopped on for a piggy back ride.

I found a Starbucks drink that closely resembles Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate. It's a coffee-free mocha frappachino with peppermint syrup. I got a huge one to share with John when it was half price day and surprised him with it at work.

While we were waiting for Scott to come out from preschool, Jonah helped himself to the play kitchen outside.

Jonah randomly decided to start fighting bedtime and it was keeping Scott up late. I put him in our bed so he could go to sleep earlier since he doesn't nap and he crashed instantly.

I swapped babysitting one week for a haircut and donated to Beautiful Lengths. I wanted to wait for it to be longer so it wouldn't be as short after the 10", but my ponytail was giving me headaches and I wasn't ever styling it any more.

So off it came! I forgot how much I love short hair. It's the best.

I bought Scott a train sweater vest on my mom swap page and he couldn't wait to wear it to church. With a blue tie to match Daddy, of course. He loves matching someone and everyone he can.

Scott started drawing states and having me guess which one he drew. This California he did was pretty accurate!

Scott borrowed my chapstick in the car and let Jonah use it after. Which he did. On his feet. Turns out a whole stick of chapstick makes for really soft feet.

John helping the boys watch the trash truck.

It takes two of them to take care of the doll sometimes. Babies can be a lot of work!

Scott says when our baby comes, he's going to help feed her and put her clothes on and give her toys, but not change poops because just mommies and daddies do that. (He still insists he's having a sister).

Baby Boy

We found out on November 4th that we're expecting another boy! Scott was not having it and told the technician he already has a brother, so it's a sister. After the ultrasound, she told us she'd never had one, much less two kids behave so well during an appointment. That made me feel better about us raising a third boy.

We're still trying to find the right name and aren't sure what we're going to do with 50% more energy around here, but we're excited and grateful everything looked great.

John and I went to Janie and Jack on a date night to pick a coming home outfit for him.

I haven't gained much weight yet because I've been sick. I started feeling better around 14 1/2 weeks, but still throw up a couple times a week.

This is at 23 weeks, when I started getting bigger. I had horrible hip and sometimes lower back pain and the chiropractor was helping. Then once I could get out of bed in the morning again I went back to spin class and my joints have been 98% better ever since.

Now I just have regular pregnancy things like heartburn, fatigue and waiting forever until March 30.

Santa Barbara

A company in the Santa Barbara area brought John down for an interview. Since there weren't direct flights, they paid the gas instead and I went with him.

Karen offered to watch the kids for us, but Jonah was up most of the night with a 103.5* fever. We put off leaving and thankfully it broke that afternoon and he woke up from his nap happy, so we left them.

We went out to eat and dinner was okay, but the dessert was amazing. And huge.

They put us up in a swanky hotel. I enjoyed some warmth by the fire while John checked us in, then we had some popcorn in the lobby.

We ate at the hotel for breakfast the next morning, which was also delicious.

Then I dropped John off for a busy, stressful day interviewing and I enjoyed the hotel. 

The courtyard had a pool, mini golf and fire pits. I wish we'd taken them up on their 2nd night offer and been able to spend more time there.

I watched a movie while working on some things on my computer (I took a picture because she showed her love for the guy by bringing him Shake Shack, which reminded me of John) and went Christmas shopping (where I saw a SBPD car and thought of Psych).

I picked up lunch for myself and was getting our babysitter a thank you present when John called ready to be picked up. My day of freedom went by way too quickly.

We drove into Solvang and tried a few of the recommended treats we'd read about--ice cream soda, fudge, a pretzel. 

We weren't gone long, but it was a nice break. I encouraged John to get interviews/company sponsored trips for us more often.

October II

Buzz and Batman at the temple.

We took Amanda out to eat for her birthday. She picked the Veggie Grill, which is a vegan restaurant at Santana Row.

We picked up cupcakes at Kara's down the row and sang to the birthday girl (Scott's favorite part).

I've been going to the chiropractor more regularly to keep my lower back in check. The boys sit and draw on the boogie board/play on the ipad, then we walk over to Jamba Juice and share a smoothie. Scott asked what the doctor was going to do and I said she would stretch my back. He heard scratch and asks me all the time to go get my back scratched so he can play and get a treat.

Scott's preschool did a Halloween trick or treat practice and he got this toy. "Mommy, is this a crocodile or a dinosaur?" I think it's a lizard. "Oh. I'm going to pretend it's a dinosaur."

The boys also received glow sticks in their treat buckets, which make them need to dance.

They found them half way through getting dressed and put them on. They thought they were hilarious having necklaces instead of shirts.

I love how such small things can make them so happy.

Mickey & Friends Halloween

Jonah decided early on that he wanted to be Mickey Mouse for Halloween, and since he's been obsessed with Mickey for a while I knew it'd stick. So I started collecting costume items and he started telling everyone we met who he was going to be.

Scott chose Minnie Mouse, but I told him I was going to be Minnie. He picked Donald instead and started practicing his quack.

They were complimented everywhere we went. Of course I think they're adorable, but I think people also liked seeing more classic costumes. You can't buy Donalds or Mickeys (trust me, I looked) for toddlers or kids. 

John and I borrowed a hat and ear headband so we could join the fun, too.

We used a lot of things we already had and I made the rest, so everything ended up costing under $20 for all 4 of us. Now I want to do a Disney race so I can use my Minnie skirt again.

 We went to our ward activity on Friday night and on Saturday went out to trick or treat at our friends' houses in the neighborhood. Jonah caught on quickly and was fun to watch because he was excited about everything. He'd say, "Wow! Fanks! Happy Hawoween!"

Unfortunately Jonah was feeling warm and started fading fast, so my mom and I took him home and passed out candy while John took Donald Duck around our block. They were both happy to see M&Ms in their buckets and they don't know what Reese's pumpkins are yet, so it was a successful holiday for all of us.

York, Pennsylvania

We took the train from Penn Station to Pennsylvania. We picked up bbq for lunch, New York cheesecake for dessert and ate on the way. 

It was nice to sit in big, comfy seats, the boys could move around and it was faster than driving and cheaper than flying. We wish there were affordable, high speed trains in California.

It was a perfect change of pace to go relax with family after a packed few days on our feet. My aunt had lots of fun new things for the boys. Scott's favorite was the Toy Story sticker book.

We went to Gettysburg one beautiful day. The weather on our whole trip was great. I love the East Coast in the fall.

Jonah was afraid of Abraham Lincoln.

We watched the video and cyclorama.

Scott asked who the picture was and I told him Abraham Lincoln. He said, "No, that's not Lincoln!" He hasn't learned yet that there is more than one person named Lincoln. We also met up with my friend Angela for lunch one day and he couldn't get over the idea that it wasn't his teacher, Miss Angela.

Jonah was ready for a nap and both boys were ready to eat, so we walked quickly through the museum.

Back in York, Scott was excited to be with his caterpillar pj buddy.

Jonah was grumping in the picture until I offered an m&m for a smile.

Worked like magic.

It took an m&m just to get the boys to sit with Bill. Maybe we should get him matching pajamas next time, too. Or have him come visit!

My grandpa gave the boys each a model car.

They were not really meant for toddler action, but the boys loved them.

This was the first time Jonah had met my mom's family besides Wendy and Scott hadn't been to visit since he was a baby.

John and I stayed up late most nights talking. Here he's telling Grandpa about the Star Wars movie coming out.

We all went to Turkey Hill one day to learn about how ice cream is made.

Jonah was not shy about milking the cow.

Scott was not shy about sampling the ice cream. Like Grandfather, like Grandson.

We made our own ice cream flavors in the lab.

Next time we need to bring coolers so we can take it home because we'd already had samples and it was a huge cup.

The boys watched movies, played at the park, went for walks, and tried to make friends with the dogs. 

Before we knew it, we were boarding the long flight home.

A sign of an excellent vacation.