The Fall!

November 11, 2015

Hooray for fall! The reprieve from the heat has been amazing, and now that the rain has come our property has begun to green up. I can't over-emphasize how lucky I have felt as of late. The weather and air quality has truly been awesome for us. 

 Sierra, Eve, and I have been able to get out in the common area of our neighborhood and explore with friends. Sierra is so much fun to be around outside, she loves to hike and run. I'm so happy to see her enjoying nature that it's hard to stifle. If she wants to wade in the big puddles, we take off her boots and socks and away she goes!

 On my runs around the neighborhood we stop and greet 3 of our favorite horses. One is exceptionally nice and recognizes us when we come by (it could be the carrots too). Sierra and him have become so familiar that he always lets her pet him on the nose now.

 My friend Julia (Auntie JuJu) came to visit and we brought her to my friend Emily's surprise party this past weekend. Emily had a tumor removed from her thigh 1 year ago (and truthfully you would have never known)! Her family and friends came up to a friend's house in Shaver Lake to celebrate. There were a bunch of kids there so Sierra had a great time too.

 We had to shop for clothes for Gus' new job this week so we drove to town, and on the way both girls fell asleep at the same time... a RARE occasion.

 Baby Eve is getting stronger and pushing up better on her tummy.

 She doesn't really sit-up on her own unless perfectly placed (as in this picture).

 I was able to complete a new oil painting this month, which I haven't been able to do in a long time.

 Halloween was a blast, we had Emily and her family over for dinner before going around the neighborhood. Sierra only lasted about an hour due to lack of sleep, but she really did seem to enjoy it and talked about it for days afterwards.

 We are constantly reminded of how lucky we are to have family so close, the girls get to interact with their Grammy, Grandpa, and Great Grandma frequently.

 Sierra loved her costume, she was a Hula Girl and she even did the hula (we were able to wear the costume multiple times).

 My mountain bike is back in business now, which means I can stop borrowing Gus's bike and we can ride together. He did a ton of work to rebuild my bike while the carbon repair was being done.

 We took a trip down to the LA area and were able to spend a few days with Joe, Elsa and their new baby Eli! We had fun going to the beach, a pumpkin "patch," and just catching up.

 We also visited Auntie Crystal and Uncle Onkar in Pasedena, and went to the "Kids Space museum" while we were there.

 We stopped in to Joshua Tree for a night of camping in Grandpa Jerry's truck (THANK YOU)!!

 While visiting our friends Lizzy, Andrew and baby Vivian in Palm Springs we went out to explore the area. We all got out for a hike, played in the pool, and actually had some alone grown up time together thanks to Liz's parents!

 Sierra modeled for Grandma during banned books week. She read her a great story about Tango the penguin with two daddy penguins. It is a true story and I am completely surprised that this children's book would ever be banned!

 We visited our friends Jenna, Derek, Wricker, and Colten up at the Shaver Lake playground for a hike and a picnic this month too. Wricker is the same age as Sierra and just as verbal, physically active, and spirited as well.

 Sierra went to the Fresno Fair with Grammy this month and had a spectacular time! She loved seeing all of the animals :) Gus and I switched off mountain biking and carrying "Baby Eve."

It was another spectacular month, where Gus has found and started a new full-time job and I picked up some more part-time work as well! We were able to see a lot of friends and feel revitalized by the change in weather!

The Great Outdoors

October 11, 2015

Eve is approaching her 4 month mark and Sierra is 27 months (not that I keep track that way). Sierra's vocabulary is outstanding and she is really growing into such a big girl with thoughts and ideas about how the world around her should work. Many times her thoughts and ideas involve how Mommy should do things... "Mommy, hair down, hair down... DON'T PUT IT UP!" "Only Mommy holds Baby Evie." "Mommy wants to change my diaper!" (I didn't even know some of the things that Sierra thinks I want). The girls and I go to the library once a week for story time and pick out 7 new books each time. It makes bedtime a little more interesting that way. Eve is becoming ever more aware and present. She constantly finds amusement in her big sister, and in turn her big sister couldn't appreciate the laughter more. It makes her laugh in return. Not that Sierra isn't still testing Baby Eve's comfort zone. She still pinches and pushes or hugs too hard, but she is getting better. Sierra has good days and then she has terrible twos days. She will eat the meal we offer her in an instant or refuse everything all together. She has also been battling naps, or sometimes sleeping through them completely into night time. At that point we end up waking at 2am for an hour of story time and snacks. Gus mostly because I am mostly tending to Eve, who still wakes 3-4 times per night, now that we have moved her to her crib. She is also rolling over so frequently now, that I become paranoid that she may be suffocating so I go and check on her and roll her back over. The pacifier has actually been helping to ease her back to sleep when that happens. Her eyes are becoming a blue green and her hair is growing thicker. I trimmed off the bottom of Sierra's little "rat tail" today. Her hair had never been cut before. Mind you I only cut the smallest piece that was longer than all of the rest, but it was a moment... The first hair cut (I put it in her baby book).

We have visited Shaver Lake about once a week this past month, which has been incredible! Especially mid-week when barely anyone else is there. Eve take many naps in the shade at Shaver Lake.

 I absolutely love having my two beautiful and different girls. They make me so happy (and so exhausted); I don't know what I's do without them.

 Aunty came to visit and was able to spend some quality time with her nieces! I was telling Sierra about the visit ahead of time and she was so excited leading up to it. It's incredible to see the love that she has developed for her.

 We went for a quick hike up to Rancheria Falls, by Huntington Lake and stopped in Shaver to see the bears (carved wooden bears), and pick up pizza on our way back.

 I spend a lot of time with my friend Emily and her two kids. We exercise together and our kids get along very well too. We went looking for pretty rocks in this dry creek bed one day.

 Gus has been so supportive of giving me time to exercise. I went mountain biking down to the river here and took a swim before biking back out.

 I dressed the girls up in their matching shirts from Grammy one day when the temps dropped into the upper 70's. What a relief it was from the smoky heat.

 Grammy and Grandpa Jer Bear came back from their Hawaii trip and gave Sierra a grass skirt and flower crown (her Halloween costume) and several books that we read all the time to both of the girls.

 We drove up to Cow Creek, which is off of Dinky Creek this month to explore. We had to keep a close eye on Sierra because the algae made the rocks very slippery and she absolutely loves the water.

 We love Shaver Lake. Sierra explores, climbs, swims, builds, runs and pretends endlessly. It's like having a vacation in our backyard. Most times we have visited no one else is on the beach either. Pure bliss.

 We often stop to check out the bear and grab pizza before heading home.

 We have a lot of pictures of Eve like this. Representing HSU in this picture :)

 When we house sat for Grammy and Grandpa we spent some extra time playing with the toys.

 I have felt so lucky to have found a friend that likes to exercise in the area. I have to borrow her double stroller and she uses my single, since her oldest is in Kindergarten now.

 This was a picture from the beginning of the month, one of the last times Baby Eve slept in our bed for the whole night. She is getting so active now it is difficult to get any real sleep with her in the bed, but now I have to wake up much more to feed her in the middle of the night.

We have spent many nights sharing dinner with Great Grandma and have also enjoyed having a few family dinners with Grandma and Jerry too. We get to stop down periodically throughout the week, whether it's to bring down food or just say hello. I think everyone enjoys that aspect. Gus finished up the deck (replacing all of the rotten deck boards and joists as well as putting roofing over about half of it). Sierra walked over to Grammy's "by herself" today for the first time (Gus walked her halfway and said go to Grammy's and saw Aunty before he let her walk by herself). Just a taste of what is to come for our girls' lives!