Our Techno Kids

Don't mind the poor quality picture or the fact that Amelia is in the high chair instead of Sophia . . . but rather, notice that they're both playing with a phone and seem to know (or look like they know) what they're doing.  Some day I'm sure our girls are going to be teaching us how to use "those new fangled contraptions".

Irony

Today Amelia had a melt down in the store because I wanted her to try on a jacket.

Tonight when I asked her to show the jacket to Daddy, she was so excited about the jacket she wouldn't take it off and wore it to bed.

Overwhelmed & Under Energized

• We want to put wood floors and granite countertops in our new house, but we're overwhelmed with the choices:  real wood vs engineered wood, granite vs quartz, and then there all the color possibilities.  We're hoping to get it all installed before we move in, but at the rate we're going, I'm not so sure that's going to happen.
• Sophia started walking a week and a half ago.  She still prefers crawling to walking, but every day she gets a bit better at it.
• My goal was to pack at least one box every day, starting on Oct. 1.  So far, I'm 2 boxes behind.
• As most children, Amelia loves carbs - bread, pasta, crackers, etc.  But her quirk - she likes eating the bread and bagels frozen.
• Amelia and Sophia have both had sleeping issues in the last few weeks, which leaves me totally sleep deprived, with very little energy to do much of anything.  Hopefully at least one of the girls will get it together soon so that I can start getting things done.
• Amelia has finally been talking more in sentences . . . only her sentence structure isn't right.  Most often, the verb is at the end of the sentence, like she's talking in Spanish.
• I keep thinking this is going to be an easy move since we're only moving 1/2 mile away . . . but that may mean more procrastination and less de-cluttering.

Flower Girl

Ken and I actually went somewhere without the kids last Saturday . . . and while we were gone our babysitter took these cute pictures of Amelia with the dahlias that she had grown in her garden.  Aren't they great?  Oh yeah, and Amelia looks great too ;)

Beach Weekend

We had our last getaway for the summer at Neskowin, OR.  The forecast was for sun all 3 days - what luck!  However, when we got there, it was anything but sunny.  It was cold and damp, but that didn't slow down Amelia.  She refused to wear a jacket - I'm surprised she didn't get sick.

Our friends, Liza and daughters (MJ & Lucy) came with us.  MJ didn't bring a jacket, so she just wrapped up in my jacket, a towel, and her umbrella (that went everywhere she did).

Grandma Diane came with us too.  Sophia loved having someone to hold her whenever she needed to be held.  We had to keep an eye on Sophia - twice we found her at the top of 3 flights of stairs, sitting there waiting for help to get back downstairs.  We obviously weren't the most alert parents that weekend.

The beach house had this cute little wagon, which made the short walk to the beach easy, even for little legs.

The sun came out in full force on Saturday and Sunday and we all enjoyed plenty of beach time.

 In between beach time, we played a little bocce ball.

Then it was back to the beach for more sand time.  Sophia and Amelia love playing in the sand.

Our friends, Janell and Tom came too, with their son Corbin.  It was a lot of fun to have 3 babies who were almost all the same age, and to see how different they each were.

When Sophia had enough digging, she just crawled off away from the noise and laid down in the sand for some quiet time.

The weather was perfect for s'mores on the beach at sunset.  Thanks to Tom for bringing enough roasting sticks for everyone.

House Hunters

Ken has been looking at houses online for almost 2 years.  When we were pre-approved, our house-hunting became more serious.  We looked at a lot of houses online, drove by a bunch of those, and went inside our favorites.

HOUSE #1

Pros:  3-Bedrooms, 1 acre lot; farther away from suburbia, but close enough to be practical for shopping; separate shop where Ken could play drums.  Cons: no indoor area for kids to play when it rains, 1 acre lot (it's both a pro and a con), and a formal living & dining room (who uses those anyway?)

HOUSE #2

Pros: Newer house w/wood floors, 4 bedrooms, 3-car garage, most inexpensive house of the 3, beautiful yard.  Cons: Close to neighbors on all 3 sides, the master bathroom has a door to the outside, located in a town South of our current location (so farther for Ken to drive for work and gigs), and even though the house is 2300 sq. ft, it feels smaller inside.

HOUSE #3

Pros: 2800 sq. ft, 4 bedrooms, large bonus room for the kids to play in (or guests to sleep in), 3-car garage, greenbelt behind house.  Cons: No bathtub on 2nd floor w/ kid's bedrooms, still within earshot of the train (but not close enough to "feel" it like we do at our current location), 20-year old home so we'd like to do upgrades (eventually), and higher utility costs.

And the house we chose?  You'll find out right after these commercial messages.






Nah, just kidding.  You don't have to wait that long.  We chose House #3.  Our offer was accepted yesterday.  And now the fun begins:  home inspection, appraisal, shopping for a new refrigerator (it doesn't come with one), waiting for closing, packing and cleaning our old house, painting (maybe), and perhaps remodeling the bathroom upstairs.  Ken hasn't slept good for 2 nights.  Me?  I'm so sleep deprived, I fall asleep whenever my head hits the pillow.  I don't think the reality of this has sunk in yet, but I'm excited and ready for the new adventure.

Sophia "walking"

Sophia is doing her best at trying to become more mobile.  She started by pushing the laundry basket around, and has progressed to the little car.  Soon she'll be off and running on her own.