12/21/2016:
Since we do live in SoCal, it's hard to say that it's beginning to "look" like Christmas! Although we do have a lovely rain storm going on right now which has made me quite happy. I walked out of the courthouse today and it was sprinkling a little. In the 4-1/2 minutes it takes me to walk to my office, it had started pouring and I was drenched. Because who knew it was supposed to rain today!
We have had a whirlwind of a few weeks. I don't even know where to start, and really I'm too exhausted to think about it too hard. I don't think I've gone to bed before midnight once in the last few weeks. If I'm not working, I'm baking cookies, wrapping presents, etc. I'm not complaining; I do love this time of year. But I do wish I could sleep more. And, I do wish Jayden wasn't so materialistic. I did it a little this year, but in the coming years I am going to focus more on who we can buy presents for - particularly kids in the foster care system who might not otherwise have a Christmas. I am also going to try to make him understand that Christmas (and other holidays) aren't all about gifts. It's just too much and he's come to expect it as if he deserves gifts. But lately he really hasn't done much to earn any kind of gifts. We've had quite a struggle; I'm guessing a lot has to do with lack of sleep and just general excitement and being overwhelmed. But it's still hard. And really makes me want to take all 864 gifts out from under the Christmas tree.
Now, enough of my worrying. Onto what is really important - pictures!
Jayden likes to check the weather in the morning by pulling up his pants so that his legs can feel the weather as well. It's one of those things where you say "whatever works kiddo!" and then you take a picture to memorialize the moment.
Polar Bear PJs!
And more Polar Bear PJs!
Siblings.
Run for a Clause 5k in support of Girls on the Run - Orange County: http://www.girlsontherunoc.org/html/. I just joined the board of this organization, and I'm really enjoying it so far. I think it will be a good way for me to express my passion, and maybe something I can increase my involvement in as my kids get older.
All smiles after nap.
Holiday seriousness.
Parents morning out at the Nordstrom holiday shopping event with Jenn and Chris (Maxwell's parents). I think there might be nothing better than tiny bottles of sparkling wine - with straws!!! That and an adult-only lunch. We didn't have to cut up food for anyone or negotiate with any small humans about how long they could wait for food, etc. So so lovely.
Powerful. Love this girl.
At the Athletes First holiday party - they went all out with the balloons in the pool area. Very cool.
It was an "ugly Christmas sweater" party. Carmen and I found some awesome sweatshirts on Amazon. And yes, we were matching.
On the plane to Vegas! Daddy has a knack for passing out the minute he sits down on a plane so that Mama gets to handle two kids in two miniature airplane seats. Nothing like it.
We fancy. In the limo on the way to the Aria.
Goofing around in the hotel room. Jayden managed to color coordinate with the hotel decor!
The conservatory at the Bellagio.
They had the most amazing polar bears. Clearly I needed a picture. Two tired kiddos, but there was so much going on, they stuck it out with us.
The water show at the Bellagio.
Goofing off in the elevator back to the hotel room. Love my kiddos.
Saturday at the M&M store.
Sagehens with kids in Vegas! Visiting with my friend Autumn and her beautiful baby boy. So so happy I got to catch up with her.
Dude on the left is made of legos. Dude on the right is Jayden.
Coca-Cola Polar Bear! (continuation of the theme) Side note: I was all kinds of excited, hugging and high-fiving the polar bear, and s/he really had no idea what to do with me. It was hilarious. And a little upsetting.
Kiddos with Daddy rooting for the Blue Devils. It was a good day to be a Duke fan.
And then we saw Santa! Because I was there, Dakota actually didn't scream. Totally fine to get the Dakota scowl.
Uncle Alex came over and played cars with Jayden. Such a good sport.
Playing with Dada.
It turns out I actually love Vegas more with kids than without. I am not a "Vegas" person. It's too much. I am much more low-key. So, with kids, I got to hang out and have fun during the day, and then be in the hotel room by 7 or 8 pm at the latest. I was in bed by 10 pm both nights, I think. The only downside is it was harder to get to the outlets because of transportation and car seats. But this trip we didn't have time to venture that far anyway.
Also, Jayden has decided that when he moves out of our house, he will be moving to Vegas. So, start booking your Southwest flights to load up on points if you want to visit him. I guessed lots of other places, including Hawai'i, Santa Ana, New York (with auntie!), etc., and nope. He picked Vegas. He really would have stayed forever if he could have, I think. We found an arcade, after much searching ,at New York New York, so he got the kids version of the casino and was loooving it. And then picked out a whole bunch of small goodies that I will shortly throw away, including something for his sister, which was super sweet. I do have good kids, sometimes.
And then Monday was Dakota's 18 month birthday. And this is the only picture I got! She moved up to the next room at Children's Village, so now she's in Room 9. That means I drop her off in this outside play area now, which she is seriously loving. I knew she was ready, but it has seriously made her seem so much older in my eyes. No longer a baby, definitely a toddler on the way to a fifteen year old.
Earlier this week I went to Room 9 to pick her up. They were finishing snack. When Dakota saw me, she ate a few more bites of apple, then picked up the pieces and walked over to the trash can. With some prompting from her teacher, she put her foot on the pedal and opened the trash can and dropped her apples in. She walked within inches of me - I was thinking I'd get a hug, but she walked right past me and climbed the steps to the sink. She washed her hands, and when she was done, she came back to me and gave me a big ol' hug. This girl. Also, my kids thrive on structure, in case you can't tell already. Kind of incredible.
Wednesday we took Dakota's 18 month photos. I got a bunch of digitals, so I'll share those when I get them. But here's a preview of the outfit. And the attitude.
This girl is a daredevil. She hangs from everything.
My holiday card wreath. It's a little more full now, but I love it always. One of the best (and one of the two) pinterest creations I've ever made.
Dakota at the park. Seriously fearless.
Jayden and his friend Alexander - reunited, and it feels so good! Alexander left Children's Village this year to go to a more "academic" school because his birthday is August 30 and he will be the youngest kid in his kindergarten class next year. His parents were worried about the lack of academics at CV. I think part of it is that Carmen and I are incredibly lucky with Jayden. He just has a knack for academics. He knows the alphabet, he can count to one hundred, he can add and subtract, and he can almost sort of multiply. He can recognize words - not quite reading, but definitely pre-reading. I actually worry because Jayden is so smart, and such a perfectionist. But, academics is not what Carmen and I worry about at this point. I actually hate the thought that anyone worries about academics at this point in kids' lives, but for some it is more of a concern and I would never second-guess their decisions. All I know is Jayden misses Alexander terribly, and they didn't skip a beat when they reconnected. So great.
For Dakota, bed time is shoe time. We always put on a new pair of shoes after pajamas are on to brush teeth. A couple nights ago, Dakota picked these shoes - my shoes from 1981/1982. They actually kind of work with the holiday polar bear PJs. But she is so naturally girly. I can't handle it most of the time.
Holiday cookies! Jayden helped me make candy cane butter cookies, chocolate dipped oreo cookies (including winter oreos, which have a red filling - so cool!), rice krispie "pops," and peppermint bark. Jayden convinced me to buy five packages of oreos, because he's five and all, and I gave in obviously. So Gramma, Grampa and Auntie, get ready for an invasion of chocolate-covered oreos in five days!!!
And I am missing the videos, but it is late (again) and I am exhausted. And I need my brain to work for the next 1-1/2 days to get through work. My legs are also covered in bruises from being too tired and running into things. It sounds lame, but it's sadly so true. So here's hoping everyone else is getting some rest and that we are ALL enjoying the holiday season.
I'm really not sure how that happened. Part of me is grateful, because I am that much closer to my winter break. And part of me is in shock because, honestly, it's almost 2017. And how did that happen?!?
Anyways, as always, we have been busy busy busy. Thanksgiving was good, although I came down with something, either food poisoning or a stomach bug, and, after cooking for 5+ hours, I ate about 5 bites and felt terrible the rest of the evening. And I barely ate again until Sunday. Such a bummer. Nobody else felt quite as bad as I did, but Jayden does have a tendency to develop whatever ailment I had so of course his stomach started hurting shortly after mine did. But everyone else came out much better than I did! Once I was able to eat it, the food was pretty good, I must say. :)
Other than that, it's pretty much been life as usual, just work, daycare and balancing as much as is humanly possible. Which is not much balance at all - but trying to make it through no matter what! And I will say, Dakota has really turned a corner, and is speaking more than ever, and is really turning into this funny, lovable little girl. I think I am enjoying her earlier than I enjoyed Jayden, which is great.
She looooves to dress up, more than Jayden ever did, or more than Jayden does now, for that matter. She pulls out all of my flats and walks around in them. She tried my heels once but very quickly got frustrated and went back to my flats!
Flowers for me from Carmen. Jayden loved the ones that looked like birds. But he also likes roses.
Jayden at swim class. I haven't taken a lot of pictures of him swimming recently, so figured I'd throw a few in.
Resting on the surfboard as he is going to the shallow end. :)
An amazing SoCal sunset. We've seen some really beautiful colors in the sky recently. Today Jayden told me they watched the sunset. When I asked him what he saw, he said "well, we didn't really see the sunset." I paused - "huh?!?" He explained they saw the orange colors, but not the sun actually setting. Which makes more sense!
The weekend before Thanksgiving Carmen was out of town (STILL) so I clearly did what I could to get out of the house. So we went to the park. And it was awesome, because Dakota can actually enjoy the park, and actually does quite well.
She even went down the slide with Jayden - the big slide - and loved it. I was very impressed.
For the first time ever, Jayden went down the pole. I was so impressed. It's a scary thing to lean out and hold on to nothing but the pole, and he did it no problem, with no help from me. And then he did it 654 more times.
More of Jayden on the pole. He was so proud. Although he did say his hands hurt afterwards.
He also is a master on the monkey bars.
Dakota running is about my favorite thing ever.
And one more. Dakota going down the slide by herself. The next weekend we went back to the park and there was an almost two year old boy playing in the same area as Dakota. He was with his grandparents and they were being extra cautious, spotting him everywhere he went, including down the slide. I, on the other hand, let Dakota climb the stairs and then slide down the slide all by herself, just waiting at the bottom in case of complete disaster. They asked me how old she was, I told them, and soon thereafter I saw them adjust the way they dealt with their grandson! I did explain her competence by saying that she has an older brother and tries to do everything he does (which is true), but it was also pretty funny. Their grandson was totally competent, it was just the fear of potential falling that caused them to hover.
Both kids have been sleeping terribly recently. Although Dakota manages to sleep amazingly well from about 6:30 am to 8 am. Kills me, especially when she's awake from 3 to 4 or some other time when she should be sleeping soundly. She's been so sleepy that she even sleeps through me coming into the room, opening her curtains and taking a picture, which she normally never does.
Thanksgiving dinner. As you can probably tell, football was on TV, so neither kid would look at the camera. Oh well. At least Carmen was enthusiastic.
Carmen bought an LED light to project on to the front of our house, so he, Dakota and Jayden were playing with it in our backyard until it got dark enough to put it up in the front.
And then Jayden decided he'd wear one of my shoes too. They are seriously too cute.
Dakota trying both shoes at once. Harder, but not impossible, apparently.
#dakotaselfie
On Saturday, as has become our tradition, we went to get our Christmas tree. Jayden was not in the mood for pictures at this point, but at least he's sort of in the picture.
Kiddos at the Christmas tree lot with Mickey and Minnie.
Selfie with the baby girl. The most smile I got out of her!
Dakota's face when she's over the pictures. Seriously, after I took this she knocked the phone out of my hand. She does NOT mess around. I cannot wait until she is a teenager.
Our tree! Multicolored lights, no theme whatsoever - that's my kind of tree. Jayden picked this one, and we think he picked the best tree on the lot. Luckily we're not biased.
We have NO idea what she was saying here, or what she was doing with her hands, but how cute and how funny. She did see my phone pointed at her towards the middle of the video, so she said "cheese!" A little glimpse into the character that is our Dakota. Jayden just loves seeing himself in pictures and on video, so he was excited to be able to see "the best one yet."
On Monday I took Jayden to get his hearing/ears checked. There is nothing permanently wrong, just a temporary issue with fluid in his ears. We'll call an Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) doctor next, to see if there's anything we can do to drain the fluid and help him hear better. His hearing is within normal limits, but it could be better, and the audiologist thinks we can get rid of some of the fluid and improve his hearing. Fingers crossed.
Silly faces at lunch.
More silly faces. I was trying to get one of those sweet mother/son photos. But I think these might be better.
At the park, going down the crazy slide that was actually really fast.
Running!
And now it's December, or it will be in a few minutes. And Advent Calendars start and so does gift wrapping since I have much more wrapping to do this year than I normally do. Insane. And of course tonight Carmen tells me recruiting is heating up and he may be traveling quite a bit between now and Christmas. Awesome. So totally awesome. Can someone make me another drink?!?
