Since our last post, school has started for Aaron. He feels like this year is noticeably easier than last. His class load is easier, and he's more comfortable as a teacher. He has a lot of LDS students in his classes, which is kind of fun too. In his 7th period, 3 of the girls are even in our ward, so they see him every Sunday. He's still biking so we can have the car at home. Hopefully the winter won't be too bad so he can continue to bike.
Joseph has also started school. Tuesdays and Thursdays he goes to a preschool group with 4 friends of ours. He's the oldest, by quite a bit, but it's been tons of fun for him. They read books, learn letters (which he already knows), and do crafts and activities. He loves going and it is a good social experience for him. We all take turns hosting. I've done it twice now. There are 5 kids, ages 2-4. They do really well and it's pretty fun!
Julie's pregnancy is going great. She's not gaining much weight yet (as is her pattern) but the baby is growing great and everything is as it should be. The baby has started kicking a bit more and it's fun to feel. She's the only one who's been able to feel it so far, but it shouldn't be too long before the activity picks up and others will be able to feel the baby's movements as well. Joseph knows now that the baby can hear voices, and he's talking to her a few times. It's so sweet! His name for her is Suzy. We haven't decided yet. :)
Emery is doing great. She's as tall as ever. She's still doing some teething, which has been rough. But her canines are almost in, and then hopefully we'll have a break before her 2 year old molars come in. She's able to open doors now, which means our front door is permanently locked. :) She can even hold the stair rail and go down on her own. She rarely does, because we hold her hand, but she can if we let her. She's learning more words. Nothing too big yet, but we're starting to ask her to use words, instead of signs, if she uses them often. Her latest new word is please. It's the cutest thing you ever heard. She absolutely loves babies, which hopefully will last until her sister comes.
We are very excited for the upcoming months. We know they will be super busy, but Julie especially, loves the holiday season with Joseph who is now old enough to anticipate and get excited. Being near Aaron's family is great, because some family is better than being near none. We do miss her California family tremendously, but are looking forward to seeing them all at a family reunion in June!
Here are some pictures of our latest to-dos.
Emery is quite the reader, like her brother. We have a giant tub of books in our living room for her to choose from, so she's not constantly bringing them from the bedroom and then leaving them on the floor.
Those are Em's fingers poking out of there. She played peek-a-boo with me one day. It was hilarious. She's not afraid of the dark!
You can't tell, but Em is wearing some make-up. She loves to mimic me when I get ready in the morning. I finally got some little rubberbands so I can do her hair sometimes. She doesn't mind it one bit. It's fun to have her look a bit more girly.
This is the baby's car seat. We had it our for some reason and she insisted on sitting in it and being buckled. She sat in it for a good 5 minutes before asking to get out.
We recently had my brother Travis and his family come visit for a few days. While they were here, we all went to the Litty Bitty Ranch. The kids had a great time, as usual. Especially riding the horses.
Emery didn't ride, but put a helmet on and pet the horse a little bit.
Joseph did ride, and enjoyed it as usual!
We all got to feed the miniature horses. Even Emery did, which surprised me. But she didn't like when they looked to her hands when she didn't have a carrot. That scared her a bit!
This was my first attempt at piggy tails. They're a bit crooked, but so cute! She looked so girly!
And of course, if I take a picture of her, have to take one of him!
In preparation for Halloween, we carved our pumpkin. Aaron had a bit of fun!
The finished product!
We also made haunted houses, like last year. This one was made by me, Aaron and Emery. She liked to pile candy on the plate.
Joseph had tons of fun making his. And the kids were so good not to eat a single piece of candy until we were done. Even then they only had one piece. :)
The Friday before Halloween, we had a small Halloween Party at our place for Joseph's friends. It was tons of fun. Emery was enjoying scooping out pizza sauce, straight from the jar. :)
These are our batty pizzas. Didn't anyone else makes bats out of their bologna, or was it just me?
This was our homemade ghost pinata. He was tougher to break than we thought.
We finally got it open and the kids dug in!
Our ice cubs had gummy worms hidden in them, that came out when the ice melted. You can sorta of see it in the bottom of the glass.
We had some great candy popcorn. Orange of course!
Here we are at a Halloween dinner at Aaron's parent's house. Jadalin and Mckenna were characters from Twilight, and Cadence is a sassy cat.
Joseph was Super Joseph! With his very own cape. The heart was his choice. So sweet, huh? Oh, and the underwear was Aaron's idea. It was quite the hit too.
Excuse the long post, but that's everything! Hope you are all enjoying your holiday season. Keep safe, keep warm, and know we're thinking about you!
