We have had a busy first month of the year with closing on our home in Texas, closing on our new home in San Diego and getting back into the routine after the holidays. It is hard to believe that a month ago we were in Atlanta celebrating Christmas because it truly feels like almost a lifetime ago.
We kicked off the new year with a hike at Torrey Pines on a perfect day at the beginning of January. Katie, Abby and Zack joined us which added to the great way to kick off the new year.
Ella was really tired and whined the first part of the hike and then convinced Rich to carry her the second half...she ended up falling asleep on him which hasn't happened in a LONG time!
Sweet Julia snuggling with Daddy later that afternoon.
And, then she was up and ready to play.
On January 3rd we headed to the park to let Ella practice riding her new big girl bike!! It is still a little big for her but she is super excited about it.
Julia is ready to ride it, too!
She would swing all day if I let her! It is a nice break though because if she isn't in here, she is trying to climb up the slide or jump off of some opening! She's a busy one!
We signed Ella up for a ballet/tap class once a week through a local dance company here. She loves it and was so excited!!!
Supporting his little sister!
Joseph and Julia hanging out during her class. She attends class on Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. so I have all three kids but so far Joseph and Julia have been great and go back and forth between watching her through the glass and playing.
She was so focused the entire time!! Her teacher asked me after if she had ever taken dance before and was shocked when I told her that this was her first time because she was really impressed with how well she listened and followed along. She actually surprised me, too...I guess I have never seen her in this type of environment so it was really neat to see her motivated and focused to learn something new. There are a lot of pictures here but I love them all because I feel like they capture all of the innocence and sweetness of our little tiny dancer!
And, after dance class she was a huge mess playing in a big sand pit!! We want to instill in our girls to be strong and be able to adapt to many different types of situations. I love that she has a graceful side but also loves to get dirty!!
On January 9th, we went to a winter festival in Poway. The kids had a blast and it was a fun way to spend the afternoon-we even ran into some friends from preschool which gave me a feeling of community-starting to feel like home here.
Looking at the "snow" falling!
We were able to roast smores which was definitely the highlight of the night!
Well, maybe the snow fight was the highlight-love their smiles in these pictures!! Nothing better than pegging Daddy with a snowball!!
Rich had to travel for a week in January so we spent long days at the park, enjoying the weather and making sure that the kids were all tuckered out!
Excited for week two of dance class! She loves this hair piece that was given to her from Abby so all morning she talked about wearing it to dance, and then of course ten minutes before it was time to go she changed her mind and wanted her hair in a braid with a plain pink bow.
At the park with Supergirl on January 14th.
We headed to my parent's that night for dinner with the Ozecks-always a good time! Poppa was getting ready to go to San Francisco for the month to prepare for the Superbowl so it was nice to spend some time with him before he headed north.
I just love this pea coat on her!! January 16th
Excited about something at the park!
We were at the park again on January 17th, this time we took Daddy, and enjoyed the afternoon there.
Joseph is so amazing with Julia! When I ask him specifically to help her I love hearing his tone of voice change and he'll often say, "Julia, I'm your big brother and I'm going to help you do this..."
And, Ella is just as great with her. Julia is one lucky little girl to have such sweet siblings.
Inspecting the drain...
Hanging out at the playground while Joseph has baseball practice. I'm pretty sure the drains in the condo are filled with sand!
Looking pretty legit out there!
Joseph and Ella have been into sleeping on the floor for the past few weeks. Tonight they wanted to sleep in the hallway on the floor-I told them as long as they were quiet that was fine and sure enough they fell right to sleep. We moved them back to their beds once we went to sleep!
Crazy kid in a Costco box.
Monkey see, monkey do!
Dance class pictures never get old! Week 3-January 20th.
After dance today we decided to have a picnic in the park next to Joseph's school before we dropped him off. The timing worked out great so we will continue to do this every Wednesday as long as the weather is nice-the kids loved it!!
Joseph ate his lunch in the tree.
Silly kids while I was getting ready on January 21st!
We headed to the Safari Park this morning for a few hours with my mom-it was a gorgeous day out!
After Joseph's preschool is done at 3:30 the playground stays open until 5ish so we stay and play almost every day. We have become friends with a few other families that also stay and play which has been really nice. They all climbed in here and requested a picture together-sweet kids!
On January 24th we met up with Jimmy Davis (our friend from Hawaii) and his family to hike Cabrillo Monument. They have family in San Diego so come about twice a year to visit so we have enjoyed getting together with them twice so far since we've been here and look forward to seeing them next time.
We hiked the trail there and although the views were beautiful the ending at a chain link fence was very anti-climactic.
Daddies and their daughters. Rich lucked out here since I had Julia in the carrier so he only had to carry one!
Their favorite way to swing!
January 25th
On January 25th I experienced my first choking incident!! I was loading the stroller back into the car in the parking lot of the condo and Ella and Joseph were snacking on grapes as they waited. Suddenly I noticed that Ella was having trouble breathing and was unable to talk...I threw my bag down and started smacking her back. It took about 8-10 good smacks but finally this popped out of her mouth and into the street (which of course I had to take a picture of!!) Thankfully she was ok-a little shaken up but she really was very calm and I was thankful that my CPR/first aid training kicked into gear and that all turned out ok. Definitely a scary incident but I am just so grateful that it popped out-I started to panic at one point telling Joseph to find my phone but tried my best to remain calm and continue with the back blows. I called Rich after and told him that we had choking incident and he was shocked to hear that it was with Ella and not Julia!! I stopped cutting up Ella's grapes probably about a year ago but have restarted since this incident!
Back at our favorite park on January 26th. And, yes, Ella is in her pajamas!!
On January 27th, Ella had her fourth dance class and much to my surprise, she started crying during class and couldn't be consoled so we left early. The only thing that she would tell me that was wrong was that she was tired...I did see her fall on her bottom so was thinking that maybe that upset her and there were two other girls who were upset as well as a new assistant in the class today who didn't have the friendliest demeanor but I really don't know what it was that upset her. It totally caught me (and the teacher!) off guard but she really didn't want to go back in so we left early and spent more time having our picnic. Needless to say, no dance pictures this week, just one of Joseph and Julia from after. We'll see how next week goes!
Ella and Julia were so sweet snuggling with one another during naps today! Ella fell asleep on our bed and Julia woke up about an hour into her nap but I was able to get her back to sleep in our bed, too and I came in to check on them at one point and this is what I found. Sweet sisters!!
This is by far my favorite picture from the month!! I was folding clothes on January 28th in the morning and I just had to take a picture of what was happening in front of me. Love these kiddos!!
Passed out on a walk later that day!
On January 30th we headed back to Cabrillo Monument to meet up with the Ozecks and to try to check out the tide pools. Unfortunately, we were there on a pretty rough day so the tide pools weren't accessible but the kids had a blast hiking and climbing on the cliffs (which made mine and Laura's anxiety levels go through the roof!!) We kept them far enough away from the edge but it was still a little scary! Julia put up a pretty good fight when I put her in the carrier but she would have definitely ended up over the edge so kept her nice and safe!
We brought the Ozecks back with us to the condo for a little bit while we waited for Nani to come and pick them up since they were spending the night with her. The four of them get along so well together and just have so much fun!
We had a great first month of 2016 and can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for us!
