September has come and gone all too quickly. We are settling in nicely to somewhat of a routine with Joseph being in school M/W/F now and have totally taken over my parent's house so we are feeling right at home. Thanks again Mom and Dad!! Joseph really likes school and has become good buddies with the three other boys in the class. The playground at the school is open for an hour after school so most days we stay and play which has been nice for me to meet some of the moms and for the kids to get to know one another better. It is just so hard to believe that the first month of fall is over already, but it sure doesn't feel like it, especially considering we are spending a lot of our "fall" days at the beach still.
We headed to Mission Beach with Nani, Poppa and the Ozecks on one of the first weekends in September to meet up with my Uncle JP and Aunt Carol who were visiting from Arizona. It was so great to see them and the kids had a blast. I just love that when you get together with family it seems like no time has passed and you pick up right away. We are so blessed to have such wonderufl extended family on both sides.
Beach football with the boys
Joseph is really taking the California lifestyle to heart as he just loves the ocean. He is becoming very confident in the ocean and it is so fun to watch him on the boogey board. The last few times at the beach he has also been loving just going out with his scuba diving mask and diving under the waves. He is getting too big too fast!
We've been library hopping during the week checking out the various story times and events they offer. There are three libraries within 15 minutes to my parent's house so we've been checking them all out and enjoying the different programs they offer.
Joseph being the "monkey" for a rhyme.
There's a nice, shaded park right by my mom's school which we have visited a few times.
Different day, same swing.
Getting creative at Nani and Poppa's playing "airplane." I was pretty impressed with the design and set up!
They would take turns being the pilot.
Spunky little Ella gave me a glimpse into the teenage years this month. She was sitting on the couch listening to Aunt Laura read a story and I bumped her by accident and she looked at me with the glare that she does so well (eyes in a squint and lips pursed) and said, "Bad mom!" I calmly picked her up and took her to the bedroom and told her that saying that hurt my feelings and that wasn't a kind thing to say. Well, she lost it while I was talking to her so I told her that she'd have to stay in the bedroom until she was happy and ready to come out. I closed the door and walked away. As I reached the kitchen I heard the door open and then she yells at the top of her lungs, "BAD MOM" and then slams the door. I actually started laughing because I was in shock that she really just did that. She is almost three and I have seen the term "threenager" tossed around so hoping this isn't what is in store for us but was definitely my first taste of it. She did come out a few minutes later with a smile on her face and gave me a big hug and apologized "Sor Sor Mama". She hasn't called me "bad mom" since then but I am sure there will be plenty of more opportunities in this future. Ella, you definitely keep us on our toes and we love you with all of your sass and spunk.
Here she is testing out my new Ava Anderson deodorant, which I love, by the way.
One morning it rained (for about 15 minutes) and the kids asked to play outside and had a blast.
Bike rides at Nani and Poppa's. These two continue to be really good friends and really get along well other than the occasional issue every now and then. Now, Julia may be the instigator as she gets older. She has started hitting this month-she normally does so with a smile on her face just trying to get a reaction out of you but she definitely knows what she is doing. She has hit me twice when she was upset about getting in the ergo...going to have to watch out for this one! Speaking of Julia, we finally upgraded her to the convertible carseat so Ella and Joseph are now sitting together in the third row and they love it back there-especially Ella-she acts as if she is such a big kid now climbing into the back and buckling herself. This month they both finally figured out how to buckle themselves which is great and they are both so proud of themselves (funny how it took Joseph almost 5 years to figure it out and Ella only 3 :)
Lots and lots of time in the pool this past month.
Ella continues to amaze us with her swimming abilities and is getting more confident every time. She can do a front flip in the water now thanks to Joseph showing her how to get it done. A few times I have sat outside of the pool gate with Julia letting them swim and feel totally comfortable doing so, granted I am only about 10 feet away so if something were to happen I'd be right there but it has been pretty neat to watch them both be so comfortable and confident.
"Naked babies swim" as Ella calls it.
Our sweet little 1 year old looking so big.
Joseph and Ella were playing quietly in my parent's bedroom one day so I went to check on them and they told me that they were playing "folding clothes." I love this game and need to play it more often!! (Although I'm pretty sure it resulted in me putting away all of their clothes again.)
Downward dog by Julia.
Sydney passed down these Hello Kitty pajamas to Ella and Ella LOVES them. She wore them for at least a week every night and they continue to be her "go-to" pajama choice. Syd and Ella wanted a picture since all of the girls had on fancy shoes.
Nani fixed Ella's hair one night before bed.
A little bit of fingerprinting one morning...which is WAY more work than I wanted it to be with Julia in the mix.
Another beautiful beach day with the Ozecks.
Sister love after the pool one afternoon.
Joseph and Ella helped Nani plant pumpkins, sunflowers and a few other fruits and vegetables in her garden beds.
Do all kids love the boxes from Costco as much as mine do? Seriously, after every trip to Costco (which is pretty much weekly these days) we keep the boxes for a few days and they range from being cars to wagons to garages to airplanes to pretty much anything else in between.
Ha. This girl. Hot mess all the time.
Saturday morning hanging with Poppa.
On September 26th, Rich and his father ran a 100 mile (yes, 100 mile!) race in Georgia together. Rich was in Atlanta a few weeks prior to this date and they had dinner and his dad told him that he had signed up for it and Rich called me after saying that he couldn't let his dad do it by himself so asked if he minded if he did it with him. I am pretty confident that the determination, dedication and a bit of craziness gene is strong on the Ducote side. Rich set up a text thread to keep us, along with his mom and siblings, updated during their race and here are some of the pictures from it. They made it to mile 94 before Moon (Rich's dad) tore his calf muscle and couldn't put any weight on it. Rich has lost 8 of his toenails, had AWFUL blisters and could barely walk for 4 days but said that he wouldn't have changed any of it for the world and that it was an amazing experience to have shared with his dad.
We hadn't heard from them for a long time so Rich's brothers did some research and found this posted on a FB page for the race so at least we knew that they were still alive. The race took them about 30 hours!!
The support crew back in Georgia!
And, in California!!
Trips to Target are always fun! Although Ella looks very cute in this picture with they Halloween headband and leotard on (she is not in gymnastics right now just loves to wear it), the best part of this picture is Joseph in the background with my nursing cover on which he was using as his superhero cape.
Such a special treat to make s'mores with Nani one night.
Katie and the kids came over one morning to hang out and swim. I can't tell you how much I am loving being close to them again. It has been so nice to see them about twice a month or so and I just love how the kids play so nicely together and just pick up from wherever they left off a few weeks before...just like the moms!
Mr. George is a good friend of my dad's and he turned 94 on Sunday, September 27th so we were excited to celebrate this special day with him.
Julia continues her awful sleeping habits during the month of September. Some nights it has taken me three or more tries to get her asleep and then she is up at least 2, sometimes 3 times throughout the night, most nights resulting with her in bed with me. She is getting 4 of her top teeth in at once so I'm sure that contributes to the sleepless nights but I am still not a fan! Thank goodness those big brown eyes make me forget the long nights (not really but they help at least.) Hoping that October and moving into our temptorarny condo brings better sleep for all of us.
We met up with my friend from Hawaii, Kristie Remaly, and her two kids at the zoo during the last week in September when they were on break from school. Her son, Zachary, is a few years older than Joseph but they played really well together and her daughter, Kailani, was great with Ella. We had a really fun day!
Checking out an armadillo.
She loved the petting zoo!!
Rich was back in Texas for the majority of the month and we were still at my parent's home, but the three kids continue to transition really well to San Diego, except, of course, for the sleeping issues with Julia and Ella taking forever to fall asleep almost nightly, but they truly seem to be enjoying the start of our new life here. I have my moments where I really miss my group of girlfriends, their families and the familiarity of life in The Woodlands but San Diego just feels right and I am really looking forward to seeing what the future holds here...now if only our Texas house will sell!! Ugh. October brings more changes with moving into the temporary condo so we are looking forward to that but more importantly we are looking forward to having Rich here for good!
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