Thanksgiving 2017 Trip, Part 1.

It has been an adjustment learning to deal with vacation time instead of school breaks. And in order for Brandon to keep his student loan repayment, he can only take off a few weeks a year. So when we found out that he would only need to take 3 personal days to have an entire week off at Thanksgiving, we took advantage of that! We hadn't seen my grandmas in a while, and haven't seen my siblings for a while either. It is hard when we don't have a home base anymore to all meet up. So we decided to go to Utah!

We drove to Bakersfield (just about 90 minutes south) the first night, just to get a tiny head start. The hotel took forever to get the pack n play to us, so this is what James had to sleep in at first. 

  

 A few months ago I learned about a "live list", which is similar to a bucket list that only has 10 items on it at once. The first thing I wanted to do from the list is visit the Seven Magic Mountains in Las Vegas.

Cora was freezing, she said "it snow dad?" Poor kid, it was only 55 degrees. Not freezing. 

I was in the middle of making James a hat, and I didn't quite finish it. Poor kid.

The rest of the trip went without incident. We got dinner in St. George and ran around the temple grounds for a while to get Cora's energy out. Temple 32 for us!

It was 25 degrees when we got there, and we were FREEZING. Poor James' face was so red, I think he got a tiny bit sunburned at the Seven Magic Mountains. Either that or he is just too sensitive. Only Vaseline helped.

Halloween Activities 2017.

This was the first year that we actually got to enjoy Halloween with a kid. Cora finally got into the idea of Halloween and trick or treating, which was so cute!

Cora didn't quite get the concept of dressing up, so we just went with what she was obsessed with. First it was Tangled so we got a Rapunzel dress, then as soon as I bought it she became OBSESSED with Beauty and the Beast. I mean obsessed. We have had the soundtrack on repeat in our car for over a month and she wants to watch the movie every day (not that I let her... but she does watch it at least weekly). So when I found this dress at Target:

 She was SO excited!

So I found a red collared onesie online to make into a Gaston costume. But it didn't come through, so I had to whip something up really quickly. I found this pattern and I can't stop laughing at it.

 Cutest lumberjack ever! We said he was Paul Bunyan, and found his Babe to go with it.

 Our first Halloween party was the week before with Music makers. That bearded hat doesn't stay on for long, so I snapped a few quick pictures.

 That night we had the ward trunk or treat. I didn't have time to make myself a good costume so I bought a hat and green face paint and went as a witch. But BRANDON wins for best sport.

I begged him to dress up as Zoolander for Halloween. 

He did it because I said he would make Bethany so happy.

I still can't stop laughing at it. It was totally worth all the times he's going to hold it over my head.

 On Halloween we went to the park instead of story time at the library. Our cute children's librarian wasn't going to be there so we didn't go. SO many princesses everywhere!

 These are 3 boys who were all born within a month of each other. Clive is June 21, James is June 30, and Ruben is July 18.

 Not only that, but they all have sisters that are the same age! Well, they'll be in the same grade at least. It's so perfect.

The friends in our ward invited us to go trick or treating with them. Cora loved it and walked for 45 minutes straight before deciding she needed to be pushed in the stroller. Since we went with friends we didn't mind pushing her around! 

Our group:

 

 

James was a festive pumpkin, and he stayed in the Moby wrap all night.

 Cora was only scared of a few houses. But we were able to convince her that they weren't scary... I think. At least she didn't have any nightmares that kept her up!

When she would go to each house she would say "Twit oh tweet" and then after she got the candy she would say "Thank you very much!" in the cutest voice. We got a lot of comments on that.

I think it makes us a real parent that we hate Halloween candy now. Brandon and I are both on low sugar diets now so this was not a good idea. Luckily, I already traded Cora her candy for a Cinderella doll (she doesn't know it's a trade). She picked Cinderella and not Belle? She's crazy.

Overall, a fun first experience!

Elmo Class.

One of my favorite things about Visalia are the city classes that we get to do so many cheap classes through the city. I'll probably talk about it time and time again, but I LOVE it!

I was a little bit nervous about bringing James there, because it is right during his naptime, but he is still so portable that he either napped in the wrap or the stroller. 

Cora got to be part of an Elmo's world class through September/October. We missed the last class because James had a doctor's appointment, but the other classes were fun!

 The week we learned about community helpers, Cora got to be a fireman and help with a fire brigade. It was so wonderfully chaotic.

 

 The week we talked about dance and movement... yeah she didn't sit still the whole time.

The week we talked about fall leaves, Cora got a major kick out of hunting for them.

One week we talked about cowboys, which is a current obsession of Cora's. So now she has a real cowboy hat!

 

 

(She was much happier than she let on.)

She also got to sample apples, make many  (too many) crafts, and got stickers at the end. We love Visalia!

4 months of James Murphy

Oh tiny James. You aren't quite so tiny anymore! (16 pounds 11 ounces and 26.5 inches long as of his checkup)

- I love how much you love your dad. This month James has really taken to watching Brandon when he walks in. If he gets ANY attention from Brandon he just lights up. It is good, since for the first little bit he didn't want to be around Brandon.

(Watching Brandon walk in after work)

- I love how you love your sister. Even if she IS a little bit scary. 

James LOVES watching Cora run around. He flinches when she gets close, but he is trying so hard to touch her when she gets close. She loves him too. Even if she threw the duvet on his face the other day and made him cry.

-I love watching you try to grab! He focuses SO hard on his hands while he grabs at things. 

  - I love how go with the flow you are! You will sleep anywhere, which is so helpful right now in this big transition from one to two kids. Plus you like a baby carrier, which is more than we could say about Cora at this age. With one kid it was easier to just carry her, but we need help with 2.

  -I love how STRONG you are. You don't snuggle anymore (which is sad) because you just want to sit up and look around. You aren't floppy at all (but you haven't been for a long time). We started the Bumbo seat this month and you have no problem sitting in it for a long time. Now, how long you WANT to sit there is another question.

(You hate your tummy time, but when you do it is pretty amazing!)

 -I love watching how proud you are when you do something! The other night James tried to roll, and with a little bit of help (one finger) he rolled over. He was SO excited. 

 Then he rolled by himself and was not so thrilled to be on his stomach. 

 James, you are the sweetest. You light up our lives and we love you!