Cienna - 4 Years... Kaylee - 1 Year, 7 Months

Mommy's amazing 3 week vacation started off the month including a trip to the mountains with Joe that happened to be the best snow day of the year so far!  Later that week we set off to Northern California for Christmas time with family and friends.  It started by getting a chance to spend time with GG, Auntie Sheryl, and Uncle Jerry.  Then later that day, finally getting friends along with families together at Courtney's, which was so astonishing to see all the kids playing together!  Christmas morning was spent at the Marty's, with food flowing all day and much fun and relaxing with everybody happy and healthy!  The next day we got to spend another Christmas with all the McFarlands and Natals!  We were able to help out preparing Nana's and Poppa's for their return and also find time to meet up with the Payne's.  After a smooth road trip home their was still more vacation time to be had.  First came New Year's spent in Big Bear with Uncle Joe and Dana, thanks again to Dana!  We brought Cienna's new Quad (Thanks Grandpa and Grammy!) to pass some of the time along with trips to the park and plenty of game play!  Later that week the girls got spoiled once again with more Christmas cheer at the Snow's.  Continuing to make the most of our time together we had plenty of trips to the park, went to the Pretend City, made Persimmon Bread (using Persimmons from Poppa and Nana's and aprons made specially by Grammy), Story time at the Library, play dates with friends, and moving forward with household projects, and Mommy got to attend Jamaica's Baby shower.  Eventually Mommy and Daddy had to go back to work and school started up again but even so the month ended with extreme joy when Cole Erick McFarland was born very healthy on January 17th!

The whole month was full of Christmas cheer (and continues to be) with Cienna perfecting the lyrics to all the Christmas Carols!  She is really starting to ride her new bike with confidence and is insisting that she is turning 4 against our better judgement.  We are overcome by her sense of style and clothing choices (which tend to be very coordinated most of the time).  We have to take a second breath quite often when we look and realize that she is no longer our baby!  She has really gotten the hang of knowing the date and counting the days down till her Birthday.  Amazing how math is everywhere!

Kaylee on the other hand is our baby and yet is breaking into being a toddler way to fast.  She is full on jumping, and running like she means it!  She is talking in multiple word sentences and listens pretty darn good as well.  She has started potty training herself and has gone poo poo in the potty about 50% of the time while she is home (saving some diapers with her MULTIPLE POOPS a day!)  She finally has 12 teeth and has had her 2nd appt. at the dentist to check on her chipped tooth.  She is great at throwing (sometimes not a good trait) and loves figuring out how things work.  Enjoy her multitude of facial expressions which shows her expressive personality!

Thanks to Nana and Poppa the girls now share their very own bounce house which we have already broken in quite a few times and will definitely be bringing out for Cienna's Birthday Party on Sat.  The relationship between the girls is amazing to watch as they grow.  Watching Cienna's emotions go from watching out for and helping her sister, and yet at the next minute just wanting to uses her as a play toy, then at all times needing to do/have everything that she does/have, is endearing.  At the same time we see Kaylee striving to be able to do things and have the same freedom that Cienna does, is just watching the admiration grow!  It's also awesome to see a similar sibling relationship grow with Porter who has been great through the holidays as he was moved from place to place and ending the month getting fixed and of course not skipping a beat with or without a cone on his head... he's a Labrador puppy!

We got new phones and finally (last week) a new camera so enjoy many photos from many sources by clicking the link below.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/w5CVjX95MPy9TJN28

Cienna - 3 Years, 11 Months... Kaylee - 1 1/2 Years!

A relaxing trip to Big Bear thanks to Dana started last month with this years first snow adventure!  Then a long and worth it road trip to visit family for Thanksgiving followed.  The night we returned from traveling Kaylee lost half of her front tooth on a night walk during a routine trip over her own feet.  We got the chance to visit the Ordonez's and see the great progress they've made on their farm.  Porter had a little too much fun with the chicken's but I think they liked the exercise.  We managed to get all the festive decorating done with plenty of time to enjoy them and the chance to enjoy each other, including walks in the rain and trips to the park.  We were joyed to hear the wonderful news of Aiden Christopher Whalen arriving on December 3rd with all the Whalen's healthy and enjoying there new adventures.  We even made a trip with the Geithmans so they could get a picture with Santa... no way Cienna was even going to get close to him but we all enjoyed the carousel and the Rain Forest Cafe afterwards.  Daddy got to visit Uncle B for his big holiday party at his home.  We ended the month with a Pirate Birthday for Carter and more family time getting ready for more holiday fun!

Unbelievably approaching 4 years old we see a kid more than a toddler everyday and are overly amazed!  Cienna is not only asking WHY to every question but is really interested in the answer.  She uses practical thinking vs. instinctual.  Her reading is coming along without even "working" on it.  She has the love for books and art.  She has really enjoyed the challenge of writing all the Christmas labels for the gifts we have bought this year since the limited space makes her think of the size of letters to write.  She is still as silly as ever and has a love for dancing, pretend play, and being her!

A definite step in her mom's footsteps Kaylee broke half of her tooth this month.  Luckily it was still 0.1mm from the nerve and hasn't seem to bother her beside the first 30sec of the fat lip.  She has mastered saying Daddy but thinks it is funny when we ask her to say Mommy instead of Mama!  She has of course began to explode with mobility hence the tooth and is jumping on the trampoline and loves to swing on the bar!  She also throws quite well even though it is sometimes the wrong thing in the wrong direction.  Container with lids, books, puzzle and shape play toys have also began to take her interest as well! 

Watching the 2 girls and Porter develop a relationship over the last month has really been the highlight!  Especially with Kaylee beginning to appreciate playing with others, Cienna has taken notice and is working hard at playing along with her as apposed to with her (like she would a doll).  We have all really gotten to enjoy the holiday spirit which Daddy helps keep alive with all the traditions and excitement that they should have!

Enjoy the pics from last month in hopes they improve with our new camera soon to come as a gift to ourselves!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YKm6t8PftE4TGS4H8

Cienna - 3 Years, 10 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 5 Months!

So much to say as the holiday season is here.  A huge first with daddy AND mommy leaving the girls for a night.  They were in the VERY capable hands with the Natal family!  After some fun with the Natals and a visit from Grammy and Grandpa, we helped celebrate an amazing wedding for Vera and Toby with a reunion of our amazing friends.  Auntie Megan even taught the girls a Justin Beiber song : \ .  Cienna and Kaylee both helped design and carve their pumpkins this year and enjoyed a first for Kaylee gutting the pumpkin.  Cienna and Mommy got to go to a gymnastics center for jumpy good time at Bella's birthday party.  A visit from Uncle B and Sandra followed including a BBQ and firepit night!  We also finally started our Peanut Butter Porter after months of draining the oil influenced by a visit from Uncle Joe and Dana bringing Joe back on the track of beer making with a Summer/Pale.  We ended the month with another trip to the zoo and one to the Nature Center with the Geithman's!

Cienna's new dance is the cha cha slide (which had to be purchased from iTunes for a family dance time), she is now reading words that include two letter sound rules.  She had another visit to the dentist which strangely wasn't as easy as the first with some anxiety showing through!  She continues to ask very logical questions that blows us away!  We need to do some serious studying to keep up with her.

Kaylee's vocabulary is exponentially expanding every day....our new favorite word is happy!  She had a Dr. apt., outcome that she is as amazing as we already knew.  Perfectly small 24lbs. 30.5 inches.  She is almost jumping with both feet and loves to try and catch up to her running sister.  Although hands come into play she is working hard with her spoon and fork eating everything we throw at her!

Although still a puppy Porter is quite the family dog, giving much wanted kisses at the right times!

Please take a look by clicking the photo below, we've also included pics from last months pumpkin patch!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GQdeyCaFuX3TQLJf9

Cienna - 3 Years, 9 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 4 Months!

The last month started with a housewarming party at Tola's (Mark's Coworker), then a big weekend trip to San Diego where we were joined by Uncle Joe and Dana for a big day at Sea World!  The following week, the McIntosh's made some time to meet us for dinner during their big Disney trip.  We got to see Jamaica and Val's (soccer buddies) new home for their house warming as well.  We took advantage of the varying weather this month with walks in the rain and trips to the beach and backyard sprinklers for the sun.  It was also time for car seat upgrades as Kaylee was outgrowing the infant seat.  The whole family took part in Halloween prep by putting out our decorations (the sound sensored dropping spider is the current favorite) and we made the trip to the fabric store leading to Mommy finally starting on the costumes!  We ended up with a great trip to the pumpkin patch with the Bakx's and Ferarrio Grandparents.

Cienna has really started to enjoy reading simple words and learning how letters can be put together to make different sounds.  She also has been adding and subtracting with her fingers just for fun!  Drawing is still one of her favorites and has really improved on figuring out puzzles and mazes.  It's pretty remarkable to see her so proud of her accomplishments!

Kaylee is now a master painter (as long as you want it everywhere) and has grasped the concept of crayons (even stays on  the paper) but they don't make enough mess so she looses interest faster.  She will now choose her own books to look through and ponder for her own enjoyment.  We love listening to her practice her sounds and when she learns a new word she pronounces is with authority.. MALK (Milk) Peess (Please)!!  The Personality is shining bright!

Porter has become quite a good listener and has now been able to get out more since he has all his shots.  He is even learning to stay on the porch when told if we are hanging out in the front.

We are so lucky to look back upon such good times and look forward to next months events!

Enjoy the pictures by clicking the photo below!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WQzwTH2b98TzajmGA

Cienna - 3 Years, 8 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 3 Months!

This month was started by preparing for a road trip.  We headed up to SR for a very full long weekend.  At the Marty's we got a full day of fun hangin' with Nana, Poppa, The Marty Family, and even Cousin Erik came from Michigan to play!  We then all headed out to Nana and Poppa's house for fun in the sun where we were joined by the Payne's and Whalen's!  It was great to see everybody again and to meet Charley.  We got to stop by and see the amazing progress at the Melita McFarland house!  That afternoon mommy went to a beautiful bridal shower to begin celebrating Vera and Toby.  While at the shower the girls already continued the party at Grammy's and Grandpa's with a visit from The Natal's (soon to be family of 4) and the "newer" McFarlands (soon to be family of 3).  The girls and Porter were fantastic travelers!

Once we were home for the rest of the month we had many outings including the beach, parks, and trips to the Santa Ana Zoo (which we are now proud members).  While Daddy flew back up north we went to a Kalina's, and then Janice's Birthday Parties.  We ended last month with the first birthday of Haiden Snow including a visit from Uncle Joe!

Cienna decided that Pinatas are a good time and they have helped with her baseball skills as well!  She is really starting to throw and catch pretty well.  She has gotten even more control and confidence over her movements, attempting and succeeding large climbing rocks and her monkey bars with just a light spot!  She still enjoys clothes and fashion and has convinced Daddy to do pony tails in the morning for school (french braids are next).  Grandma Judes continues to help with this fun!  She loves to draw the whole family, including Porter, along with butterflies and flowers of course.

Kaylee's personality has been a main source of entertainment around here.  Her expressions and crazy antics are abundant!  You will find her climbing on, over, in, and under anything she finds suitable.  Simply walking was just the beginning, now she must challenge herself even as far as making herself dizzy by spinning in circles just to see if she can stay on her feet.  Some of the bigger slides at the park are now in her tool belt as well.  She now says "plzz" to go along with her "tank u", and is getting more interested in books that have pictures of the words she knows!

Dance parties are still a regular event at our house.  The girls (Cienna) are really enjoying that there are more activities that they can do together including playing with Porter who is really been a great addition to the family.  The girls now feed Porter together as one of there "chores".

Till next month... Enjoy the Pictures by clicking the Photo below!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SfE9vztUaBzyw1HT9

Cienna - 3 Years, 7 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 2 Months!

Great times together started at the zoo with the Geithman's.  Then headed to San Diego to help Uncle Joe with a very successful electrical lighting upgrade before we headed back home to Isla's Garden Birthday Bash!  We got to spend even more time together when we met at Livingson Park.  While watering the neighbors lawn as they were away on vacation the girls enjoyed getting soaked in their sprinklers each day before bath time!  The next weekend Mommy had a fantastic night away to San Francisco with her girlfriends and was also very happy to get back home to the family!  Thanks again to neighbor Mark we were joined by Brandon and Sandra and got to head to our second Angels game!  We tried to get fancy with a batch of IPA which we'll see how it turns out next month.  Then after all is said and done we lucked out with a new addition to our family.  Porter is a 75% Black Lab, 25% Australian Sheppard mix, and is very calm (for a puppy) and smart.  Although it happened so fast that we aren't sure exactly how we ended up with a puppy, he is a great compliment to the family so far!  He is great with the girls and visa versa!

Cienna was excited to go back to Pre-School for summer session (August) after taking the month of July off.  She taught herself how to swing side to side and is working hard on mastering hopscotch.  She also had 4 more weeks of swim lessons in and has greatly improved, definitely in comfort and starting to grasp the concept for sure.  Her drawings are getting much more detailed and she loves to play games,do puzzles, and she would say she loves princesses, fairies, flowers, and stars... oh yeah and unicorns too.

Kaylee is running now and loves to climb and maneuver herself with any obstacle she finds!  She loves to communicate (especially when she gets what she wants) using both her signs and her words including "Thank You" which is adorable.  She loves to blow bubbles, I think because she loves to say bubble!  She has also finally discovered the fun of the sand box! She did have a rough patch this month which started with Roseola, in the middle of which she got an MMR shot, then an allergic reaction consisting of a rash on her face, neck, and arms from a new sunscreen, in the middle of which she got a bee sting on the tip of her finger!  The diagnostic part of the pattern was the worst, except for a few days with the Roseola she was happy Kaylee!

Click on the picture below for some snapshots!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/n63zsJXLzzEFR7We9

Cienna - 3 Years, 6 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 1 Month!

We welcomed a visit with Kai to start the month and then headed for an amazing long weekend camping with great friends to Lake Casitas!  The girls couldn't have been better campers, sleeping in the same tent for naps and regular bed times, playing like mad which included a water park day (integrated into the campground), and just enjoying the entire experience!  We also headed to Carpenteria one of the days with a trip to Island Brewery and some beach time.  We had an always awesome 4th weekend with the neighbors starting on the 3rd with a party hosted by the Douglas's and visits by Joe and Dana!  On the fourth we went back for some pool time and Smores!  The next weekend Joe and Dana got to come back for Uncle Joe's paddling race which included his first solo!

The peaches were seriously in abundance for a few weeks and we did what we could with margaritas and peach cobbler.  Mark has enjoyed his electric griddle for pancakes while camping and some weekend mornings!  Plenty of veggies have been eaten from the garden including raw squash carried around by Kaylee for a good hour or so.  We've finished laying stone pavers (gravel still to come) in the side yard and got all the moulding and casing finally completed on the house as well!

Cienna really enjoyed her first smores (deluxe with peanut butter and everything!)  Both her height and hair has grown an inch or more in the last month!  She continues to sound out her words and can write every upper case and many lower case letters in the alphabet!  Her concentration is incredible which shows as she enjoys threading her own beads to make bracelets for friends.  Now counts beyond 100!

It's amazing to recall how remarkably fast the learning process goes!  Kaylee has mastered walking and now gets to explore her new horizon.  She loves to listen and really try to understand what we are saying.... although she is too smart sometimes testing for a reaction that she knows isn't quite a good one!  Lucky for us she doesn't push too far.  She is truly trying to sound out words and is very interested in communication.  She is using some of her signs (ones we remember to use) and says understandable words at least to us.  Mommy (mamamama), Daddy (dada) , Cienna (snenna), book (boooph), dog (bog), and what does a dog say.. (wooo),  shoes (soooz), poop (pooof, poof poof... and will point to her bottom) to name a few.  Meal times are a bit easier as she eats all foods doable with fingers by herself and has began to experiment quite well with her spoon.  She has taken to the water both at the beach and pool for the first time this month!

I bet you'll enjoy the photos!  Click on the picture below:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TNsvV1T4ugKxZwqJA