What a Ham!

Our little monkey is ONE!

Our sweet baby is turning one today. This past year has been quite an adventure with 3. The year started out pretty easy, actually. Micah slept... A LOT the first few months of his life. And when he wasn't sleeping, he was so content to just play in his swing or exersaucer. Then he started crawling and life became a little more difficult. Micah is so curious and loves electrical cords and opening drawers and cupboards. We have to watch him constantly, and I can hardly do anything else when he's awake.

Besides Micah's finger injury back in August, he's been healthy, happy and so active. My kids are all 0 -3 in the walking-before-their-birthday category, but that's OK. He has the rest of his life to walk! He is using a walker now pretty well, and it's cute to watch him pushing it down the sidewalk while Josh and Malia are on their bikes. He'll be keeping up with them soon enough.

Thanks Papa for the cute picture. We can't have a first birthday without being in their birthday suit!

Lots of Halloween Fun

This year the kids were able to dress up and have Halloween fun on 2 nights. Revolution Church was hosting their Pumpkin Palooza on the 30th, so I let the kids wear different costumes that night. It was twice the dressing up fun.

Josh went as Bumblebee from Transformer. Normally I can't stand these tacky type of costumes, but Josh really wanted this, and we bought it for him after his tonsilectomy as a "get well" gift. Malia loves to dress up in this Snow White dress, and I found Josh's first Halloween costume - Mickey. It was a little small on Micah, but he kept his ears on all night and looked so cute.
Josh at 8 months

------- Micah at 11 months

On Halloween night, our whole family got into the Star Wars theme, and headed over to the Platts' house for a party.

Malia wasn't too happy about being Princess Leia, but she was fine once we got to the party. Josh has had this costume since Christmas, so it wasn't a big deal for him to wear it, but he loved being part of the theme.




Our little Yoda was so good all night, and actually kept his ears on. We had a great time at the party, and the Platts' neighborhood was an awesome street to go Trick-or- Treating. It was really the first time that the kids went, and they had so much fun going with their friends. It was a great weekend.

Malia turns 3

Look at that posed smile -

Malia tackles her friend Emma - what a girl

New rollerskates from Auntie Jenny

Uncle Brian and Aunt Melissa with Micah

Sissy and Josh

Yesterday we celebrated Malia's 3rd birthday. She has been such a joy in our lives, and she is always making us laugh with her funny comments. I love that she is so creative and has a great imagination. She can make anything "talk" to her, and she uses different voices and makes up songs. I think she's a little like her mother, always singing. She loves anything princess, but Snow White is her favorite. Malia can make instant friends with new kids, and she loves being chased. Just like a girl, she will go to her room and cry in her bed whenever she is upset. Drama! Thankfully she recovers quickly. She is a great big sister to her brother Micah, and she can even get him to chase her while they are both crawling. She loves to play with Josh and is keeping up with whatever he is learning. I am thankful everyday for our sweet "Sissy."

Pumpkin Patch

Each year the kids get more excited about the Pumpkin Patch. We drive by Pa's Pumpkin Patch every week on the way to Seal Beach, so the kids will look at the empty lot and ask when it's coming. This year when the tents went up, they could hardly stand waiting for it to open. So Saturday, Alvin took Josh and Malia for their first trip of the season. I stayed home with Micah, so we'll have another family day soon, but here's Alvin's pics. I think he did a good job documenting the fun.

Malia really enjoyed the pony. Josh decided it wasn't his thing this year.

Both kids loved the bounce house.

This was the first year that they went on the bumper boats.

They both decided to climb up the giant slide. This made daddy pretty nervous.

Josh isn't too sure he enjoyed it. He only went once.

But Malia loved her first time down, so...

she went again. But the second time totally freaked her out I guess. The first time she was closer to the side, but the second time she was toward the middle, just going full steam. Poor thing - look at that expression!

She still doesn't look too happy, even when she got to ride the train.

Or maybe it's because big brother got to sit up in the front.

Oh well, she recovered and loved on this baby goat.

Josh enjoyed the baby chicks that you can see right above his head.

They had such a great time. We can't wait to go back with Baby Micah and take some pictures. I love fall!

Growing Up

Side note before the actual post...

I have started so many blog posts the last few months, but I never seem to complete them. By the time I'm ready to work on them again, the news seems too old to post. But I have to remind myself of the reason for the blog initially - it was to document our lives, primarily for our family, as an on-line scrapbook. So I can't get too concerned about the timing of posts, and hopefully I'll keep on plugging with updates. I do enjoy looking back at old posts and reminiscing, so there you go...

On to the actual post -

Josh and Malia had big weeks. Joshua started preschool at Knott Avenue Church, and Malia started Princess Class with her friend Emma. Yes, Malia is really taking a class where she is learning how to be a princess, and it's adorable. Their first week they learned to walk, dance, and even sleep like a princess. It's going to be a really fun class for her.

Even though Josh was in preschool last year through the city, I can hardly look back and compare it to what he's in now. Let me break down some differences for you.

• 30 kids in his class compared to 12


• no playground or time to run around


• an aide that sold her fake designer purses and perfumes at the door


• Josh being scolded for hopping to his table, not finishing an art project, and for bringing "unhealthy" fruit snacks and graham crackers for his snacks.


• And of course my favorite...

I am so excited for him at his new preschool. He has a wonderful, Christian teacher in class of 12. There is a playground for them to run around on, and I know that he will be encouraged and prayed over. It's going to be a great year for both of them.

Rough Week

There's been a lot going on the past week or so, but it didn't really hit me until my conversation on Sunday with a woman at church. It went like this:



"Lori, I am so sorry about ____________"



I didn't hear that last word, so I filled it in for her. "my job?"
(I found out last week that I didn't get the amazing, part-time, mostly stay-at-home job that I really, really wanted)


"no..."



"Oh, Micah's injury?"
(Micah's finger tip was nearly cut off last week when it got caught in a door hinge. A trip to the E.R. and lots of stitches were involved. It's OK now so far...)



"no..."



"Oh. What are you sorry about?"



"Your grandpa."
(My dad's father passed away last week)


"Oh yeah, thanks." I guess it's a pretty bad week when you don't know what awful thing someone is referring to.