Santa Monica

We've been trying to get out and about a bit more to see some of the local sites and we discovered this local gem! People always talk about how great the Santa Monica Pier is, but we'd only ever seen it from a distance...down the coast line, so we decided to give it a go! We had the most beautiful weather/day while we were there. Temperature was in the 70's, blue skies, cool breeze! It was fantastic! Now we know where to bring all of you when you come to visit!

As you can see:

The historic end of Route 66.

Plenty of rides for the kiddies.

And exhaustion for the ride home! Nothin' beats two sleeping kiddies...(unless of course you have THREE sleeping kiddos.)

There was a little girl...

My sweet mother-in-law just reminded me of this little poem and it fits Amelia to a T!!

There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead;
And when she was good,
She was very, very good
But when she was bad she was horrid.

That is Amelia all the way!! Thanks Mom for reminding us about that cute little poem.

Ameliaisms...

So tonight while we were getting Amelia ready for bed all of the sudden she starts singing:

"Tinkerbell, tinkerbell, help me fall asleep."

Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells. We've been listening to a lot of Christmas music lately and she will just sporadically break into what she thinks the songs say. It's always a crack up.

Randomness...

This is going to be a very random post, I'm a bit behind in posting so I've thrown quite a few in together. Here is some of the fun we've been having around our house...

I know these are blurry, they are from Brad's phone, but too cute not to post. These photos are so typical of our little Joely. He smiles all the time, you just have to look at him and his whole body smiles. It's the best!!

I went to a Relief Society Meeting a week or so ago and Brad stayed home to watch the kiddies. When I got home, this is what I found...all of them asleep ON MY PILLOW!!! I guess they really did miss me...awww, I feel loved.

More swing time. This is becoming a favorite pass time for all of us. The kids love to bounce and watch each other and I love it because I can get stuff done while they are trapped!! At the moment Joel doesn't last too long, but he's getting better in there. I know he'll really love it before too long.

Notice that little curl dangling down her forehead?! It's very cute, yes, BUT SO ANNOYING!!! no matter how you do her hair it pops right back down onto the forehead. And it's just one little chunk that's longer than the rest. Crazy hair growth!!

And me and my kiddies ALMOST ready for bed.

Beautiful sunsets...

We met up with my brother Kacey and his family on Saturday and went to watch the sunset at the beach. It was beautiful and a much needed outing.

Did I mention it was freezing? Well, it wasn't freezing, but it was cold!!

Later that evening we rented "Up" and let Amelia stay up and watch it. She was so excited she ran and got Dug and her balloon and was all set!

Disneyland!

Happiest place on earth! Amelia is diggin' it!

On the Carousel, or "horsies" as Amelia know's it.

Smiles all around

Joel has been smiling for quite some time now and is a very smiley baby. We have so much fun with him. And we have finally captured some of his smiles in photos!

Oh and an update on him: At his two month check up a week and a half a go he weighed 16.2 pounds and was 24 inches long! Gotta love that chub around his face and the double chin!

Amelia likes to teach Joel how to smile properly.

Happy Halloween!!

Our ward put on a "Trunk-or-treat" party this year so of course we took the kids along. This was Amelia's first real experience trick-or-treating and she caught on quickly!! Free candy! Who doesn't love that??

She hadn't had a nap that day...can you tell?

But then the free candy won her over!

See!

Come on Daddy!! Let's go get more!!

Earlier that day...

A friend of mine told me about this pumpkin patch (in the parking lot of Albertson's) that has pony rides. Anyone that knows Amelia knows that she LOVES horses. It's a big time, full on, love affair!! She takes her toy horses with her everywhere she goes.

Anyway, so we took her along to the pony rides on Halloween and she loved it! (We'll talk to her about animal cruelty later. These ponies walk around and around and around in this little circle for hours on end. Poor things!! But thanks for the ride! :))

Sunday Afternoon Fun

I just love these two little kiddies!! They are so cute and so fun. I feel so special to be able to be their mom. Yes it's challenging, but oh so worth every smile and laugh these two share together!

Later that day, we thought we'd try out the swings...since we have two and all. Yes, Joel is still a bit too small to put in there but he's strong as an ox so we figured he could handle it and he did and he loved it!!

She might be hard to get to sleep, but...

Once you get her to sleep, there is no waking her up!

Yes, we've got more photos of Amelia sleeping. It's just so funny to us. She will fall asleep in the most unusual places. She's gonna hate us when she's older, what with all these blackmail photos and all. :)

How do you get your kids to sleep?

I just love sleeping kids. There seriously is nothing better than that. However Amelia has been quite the challenge lately to get to nap. She just doesn't want to do it and will only give in to a nap every few days. Well, this was one of those few days. We had just gotten home from taking Brad back to work after lunch and I got Joel settled and down for a nap then I went in and read Amelia stories and got her settled in her room (hoping for the best) and then I went and laid down on the couch to be able to have my own nap. When I woke up, this is what I found on the floor in front of me:

Amelia had snuck into the living room and crawled into her box and fell asleep. Such a funny kid. I didn't even hear her come in.

Joel's nap time. He's a much better sleeper than Amelia has ever been. Let's hope it sticks!

And then later that night, the only way we could get Amelia to sleep was to allow her to sleep in her box again. I guess we're just preparing her for a life of homelessness. Funny!

First day at church and lounging around...

Joel and I made it to church last week for the first time in a month and a half!! It was so nice to be back and Joel looked so handsome. This is a hand-me-down shirt from his cousin Joshie and it looks so stinking cute on him! I love it!!

I reckon this is the kind of tie that my dad needs. Nothin' around the neck. :)

Too cute!

And just loungin' around the house. Amelia LOVES being around Joel. She always wants to hold him and snuggle him. So we do a lot of this.

Amelia insisted that I take of photo of Joel with her baby.

And this is the first ALMOST smile that I've caught on camera. Joel is smiling and "Cooing" so much more these days. It's so fun. My favorite thing was yesterday Amelia was laying on the floor next to Joel singing "Mommy, Daddy married the temple." Over and over and over and Joel was cooing right along with her and smiling at her the whole time. It was too cute!

Aussies arrive!

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of visiting with some good friends of ours from Australia. They came to the states on holiday and had some time to spare so they dropped in to say hello. It was so nice to see them again and catch up/hear the gossip from the ward.

All of us together. Yes, I'm in my pajamas. They surprised us just after I got out of the shower.

Heather admiring little Joel.

Sara did a great job of entertaining Amelia with her iPhone.

Thanks guys! It was so good to see you again!

Look Mommy!

Amelia was so excited about this. I put Joel in her lap and he fell asleep. What a good big sister.

Daddy and his kiddies...

What a great daddy!! Thanks for all you do Brad. We love you so much!

Siblings

This is a common sight around our house in the mornings. Amelia always asks me to lay Joel on the couch next to her, she adores her little brother and always wants to be near him. Granted, when she is around him she screams in his ear or hits him or pokes his eyes, but she sure loves him!! And he seems to be getting quite used to her. He's started smiling and often smiles when she's around. It's so sweet!


She loves to sing to him...

And watch movies together...

And just snuggle!!