New Year, New Cheer

1.13.16

Hello 2016!

"Little" Eve is pushing 7 months and Sierra is 30 months now, so officially 2.5 years old.

With Sierra's 2.5 years on earth, that oh so special age, comes increased empathy and awareness as well as defiance and stubbornness. She is pushing her intellect and my patience all at once. She now climbs out of the crib, turns on the light, opens the door, and sits down next to me and says: "I'm not taking a nap Mommy." Okay, any thought of naps for Mommy just went out the door. BELIEVE me I still need them, but even more so SHE still needs them. She won't have any of it though. Ahhh, what can ya do? The food battle is still a very real struggle for us as well. If we can get two meals in her we're pretty happy. My vision of a clean vegetarian diet for my toddler has long been forgotten, but we try as hard as we can. Many times we end up making the no fail back-up meal for her in addition to whatever we first try to feed her  (Mac and Cheese the Amy's brand version, as if that makes it any better for her).

Eve is engaged with her surroundings at all times, she is motivated to pull up on objects and is beginning to crawl on all fours. She still prefers army crawling best. She has said "Mum Mum" (her first word and one she definitely associates with me or my boobs) "Bah Bah" and she is forming g sounds and starting to form d sounds too. She is eating puffs, sweet potatoes, green beans, avocado, and a few other items with her fingers. She continues to eat rice and oat cereal mixed with breast milk and we are starting purees as well. She just started to cut her top two teeth at the same time and is constantly waking up at night. I should have written down the times I actually have slept through the night... I can count it on one hand. It is just much worse now that she is teething again.

As for Gus and I, we're doing well too. Gus is working down in Fresno (a horrible 1 hour one-way commute) and I am still teaching classes 2-3 times per week at the Rancheria for the tribe there. We get our opportunity to lift together at nights during the week, and generally get to have our adult time before we head off to sleep. Gus has been working on finishing the carport into a finished and safe "shed." It will house tools, etc but it will also be the home of our climbing wall! The girls are going to have a blast!! I have been trying to stay consistent with pushing the girls in the double stroller around the neighborhood twice, and I can say it's a lot easier to run without them but they make for one hell of a workout!

We really enjoy having Grammy, Grandpa and Great Grandma around. We all see each other frequently! We just happened to run into Grammy at the coffee shop across from the library the other day.

 Sierra misses her daddy when he goes to work, and it has been showing more recently in her behavior and verbalization.

 Baby Eve got her turn on the baby swing for the first time and Sierra and I thought it was hilarious.

 Eve and Daddy get some bonding time in the Ergo too.

 Sierra finally got to wear her goofy shirt that Pop-pop got her from Texas.

 I brought the girls with me to the "Big Sandy Health Fair" this past weekend. I talked about the benefits of fitness and exercise, and they met a friend who was 1 year old.

 Sierra got some rain boots, and she said "Now I can jump in the rain puddles like Oso does."

 Playdough has become a big part of our lives.

 I painted Sierra's nails upon request!

My best friend, Crystal's, parents stopped in to visit on their trip back to Pasadena from Yosemite.

 They gave the girls really sweet gifts too.

 We stop by and see Grandpa and Grammy quite often, whether because of their Tuesday babysitting or just because we like them.

 Sierra's best friend from Davis, Ariana and her parents, came to visit us. We loved reuniting with Eric and Sophia, and Sierra got a kick out of being with her buddy again too! Nancy, a family friend of ours, dropped off some snow for the girls to play in!

Gus, Sierra, Eve and I get out to explore the common area on the weekends. The girls and I try to get out during the week too.

 Gus' friend Trevor came over for New Year's Eve dinner; he was visiting from CO!

 We spend time with our friends Jenna, Derek, Ryker, and Colton quite often. We visited the zoo again and even fed the giraffes lettuce!

 We go to the library and the park quite often too! The kids practice on their strider bikes together too.

 Going on walks around the two mile loop in our neighborhood is pretty entertaining too.

 House activities include pretending the laundry basket is a boat/train. You just have to watch out for Baby Eve alone, she can hit some whitewater pretty easily! (She had a scrape to prove it)....

 The tent in Sierra's room always provides for pretend entertainment too.

 Sierra enjoyed holding court over croquet.

 She looooooves Christmas and all that is associated with it. Crystal got her and Eve another ornament this year!

 Little People and all of the zoo animals really like raisins and yogurt raisins apparently!

 Eve takes the cutest naps ever. Butt up in the air.

 Sierra enjoyed her popcorn tin on Christmas day!

 The little people gifts from Grammy and Grandpa was enjoyed by both girls, and still is on a daily basis.

 The dogs were allowed to sleep on the couch on Christmas Eve.

 Eve likes all of her clothes gifts!

 We spaced out opening some of the gifts throughout the days before Christmas so that Sierra wouldn't be overwhelmed and she would remember who gave her what. It proved effective, but now she also believes that Christmas lasts as long as the advent calendar - 25 days!

 Our neighbor let us stop in and see her farm and her animals! The kids (and the adults) all loved it.

 We helped Grammy and Grandpa decorate their tree.

 Sometimes I just have to let her out of the stroller to say hi to her favorite horses. Emily, Esther, the girls and I still make a habit of running together.

 We all decorated cookies together. Sierra had such a great time having Aunty, Grammy, two Grandpas and a slew of friends around during the holiday.

 We picked up our little baby tree at Shaver Lake from the Lion's Club. They got trees from Southern CA Edison, who was thinning trees. We felt good about our donation!

 Sierra went sledding with Ryker up in Pine Ridge, and had a blast. I went down with her and Eve a few times too.

 Eve really likes her puffs.

 We went with Emily and Esther to the Christmas concert that was performed by the high school and middle school of the area. It was fun for Sierra but she didn't like the loud drums.