Epiphanies

I had a major epiphany about Ruby the other day. She doesn't really have her own little friends, and I realize that she's only 4, so it doesn't really matter. She goes to preschool 3 times a week and there are only about 8 kids in her class. A photographer came to take their school pictures a while ago and we were able to look at them online, along with all of the other kids in her class. As we were clicking through the pictures, she could only tell me one girl's name, but no one else in her class. Then, a few days later, we went out to lunch with my friend Kristen and her little boy Nixon. When it was time to go, Ruby latched onto Kristen's leg and begged her not to leave. She kept saying goodbye to her over and over again. When we were driving back home, it all started clicking. Ruby is friends with adults, not kids. A couple months ago, our babysitter Rebekkah was leaving and Ruby was freaking out, crying and begging her not to leave. She probably thinks we beat her or something! She cried for an hour once because she thought my friend Kate didn't hear her say goodbye after we left her house. No mention of her kids- just Kate. She practically mauls the other Mom at the bus stop every morning, hugging her and showing her her latest trick of walking backwards. She gets very attached to her aunts whenever we're around them. I imagine that she likes the attention she gets from grown ups. And the hugs. She's very snuggly and wants to hug all throughout the day. Maybe she's figured out that kids her age won't let her sit on their lap and wrap her arms around their necks? I absolutely love Ruby and love figuring out little things about her personality. She is definitely one of a kind!

She's also been asking to take pictures with my phone or my camera a ton lately, so Santa had an epiphany about what to get her for Christmas!

Ella has been having her own epiphanies lately as well. Yesterday, she came off the bus so excited because she had figured out how to snap her fingers! It's a soft snap, but she's definitely getting it. She practiced all night and couldn't wait to get to school to show her friends. This morning, her thumb looked like it had a blister on it!

She is also really doing well at school. We had parent/teacher conferences a couple weeks ago and her teacher had so many wonderful things to say about Ella. She said she was polite and happy. She was excelling in each academic area and really grasping the concepts. I was smiling from ear to ear. Ella tries so hard and is really maturing (as much as a 5 year old can). She has much more control of her emotions and can really stop and figure things out. Not to say that every moment is perfect, but her disposition has really mellowed out in the past year. She loves school and reports that every day is a great day when we pick her up from the bus stop.

It is so fun, as a parent, to see her learning new things every day. A couple nights ago, she picked up a book I had checked out from the library (one of the easy reader-type books) and read the whole thing out loud. I was amazed! I love kindergarten for her! We read "The Indian in the Cupboard" last month, a chapter a night before bed and she really liked it. Last night we started "Little House on the Prairie", which I have never read before. Ruby tunes in once in a while, but mostly likes to roll around and play with Annie.

Oh Two-dles!

I can't believe my baby is 2! Annie had her birthday on the 13th, but we celebrated a day early. We had some of her friends over for a (very loosely themed) Minnie Mouse party. She had so much fun and kept wanting to look at her cake and say, "It's my birthday party!"

A little about Annie at 2:

- she is the ultimate snuggler! She will always stop for hugs. The past few months, whenever I hold her, she wraps her arms around my neck and puts her head on my shoulder. It's the best feeling ever.

- she is a chatty cathy. She talks a ton and constantly amuses us with the phrases she picks up. I love this stage because anything she says is cute and funny. (How come it's not so cute and funny when the 4 and 5 year olds say the same thing?) A few favorites are: Didjou see that?!, That's okay, I'm sorry mama, For meeeeee?!, Don't like it (insert item here), I wanna hold you!

-this girl is trouble! In fact, Richard has taught her to say "Trouble" when you ask her what she is. I can't keep up with her mischief! Just today she spread diaper cream all over her face, hands, and feet. After I cleaned that up, I gave her a little cup of yogurt for a snack. When my back was turned, she spread the yogurt all over her face. She was running around with a bottle of black paint five minutes later. Luckily I intercepted that one! Every day it's something new...dumping out the box of Cheerios, digging out every tube of chapstick I own, pulling all of Richard's clothes off the hangers, painting the table with applesauce, unrolling the roll of toilet paper, and on, and on. It sounds like I never pay attention to her, but she's just so darn fast. She's making a new mess while I'm cleaning up the last one!

-speaking of trouble, a couple months ago, she learned how to climb out of her crib! Ella and Ruby never did this, so it's all uncharted territory for us. I guess there was always a new baby on the way for the other two, so they moved into toddler beds around 2. Who knows? It was ridiculous the first couple of weeks. She would get out and we'd put her right back in. She'd run and hide under Ella's bed. Then we she got caught she'd immediately hug me and say, "I'm sorry Mama." It was hard to keep a straight face. Luckily, the novelty has kind of worn off and she stays in there at night now. Nap time is a little trickier. If she's not totally ready for her nap, she'll keep coming out since she knows the other kids are up. I have to admit, it's kind of nice that she gets herself out of bed in the morning!

-she is a sponge. She really listens to what her sisters say and I love when I hear her counting or saying letters.

-she LOVES her sisters. She and Ruby are becoming good friends, now that she's getting a little older. The other day, they were at the kitchen table coloring with markers and I hear Annie say in a really deep voice, "Let's get messy!" and Ruby was cracking up. They went back and forth saying the same thing over and over, both of them laughing just as hard every time.

-she is a whiz at the iPad. I don't know if that's good, bad, or just a sign of the times, but when she gets to use it, she knows exactly what to do to put Netflix on and watch My Big, Big Friend.

-she loves nursery. All through sacrament meeting she's asking to go to class and play bubbles. She has so much fun in there and every time we go to pick her up, she holds up her coloring page and says, "Look what I made!"

-she's really not interested in toys, except for dress ups. She loves to wear princess dresses and especially shoes. She walks around in those little plastic high heels all day, up and down the stairs.

-she definitely knows how to throw a tantrum. If she doesn't want to do something, she will cry and fight it. If it's something like eating, I usually just let her cry and after 30 seconds, she comes over and eats. I guess she just needs a minute to let it all out. She's also a pro at time out. I don't know if it's because she sees her sisters do it, but she actually stays there with her nose on the wall. It's hilarious!

-she is a sweet heart. She is quick to say sorry to anyone and loves to give hugs and kisses before bed. She's good about sharing and loves her family. She's a big mama's girl, but loves to play with her Daddy and give him loves.

For her party, we had Mickey shaped nuggets and cheese, goldfish, oranges, and juice boxes. I made Mickey/Minnie ears for all the kids. I thought they turned out pretty cute. Here's Nixon modeling the Mickey ears:


And Kensi with the Minnie ears:

Ben won our game of pin the nose on Minnie. I had a few other games planned, but the kids were just having fun playing, so we never got around to them.


Here's her sad, sad cake! The night before the party, I still had to finish all the ears, so we just bought a cake from Wal-mart at 10 pm. I scraped off the Quinceanera flowers (and damaged the white frosting in the process) and added the Minnie head. She thought it was great, so I guess that's what matters!


After a little instruction, she blew out her two candles all on her own!

She was very spoiled by her friends with presents. It is hilarious to watch kids during the present opening. She had lots of help!
We sure do love our little Annie Mae! She is a big blessing to our family. She is so full of personality. For every ounce of trouble that she is, she is ten times as loving and cute!

Marine Corps Birthday Ball

Ever year, the Marine Corps has a birthday ball that we get to (have to) go to. I will admit that it's fun to get dressed up in formal attire, but the tickets are expensive and the food is terrible. Oh well. What can you do?! At least it's fun to have a date night and I do like the people Richard works with. This year they held it at the OClub and it was just for the Officers, so it wasn't a huge crowd like last year.

The day of the ball, I had to take Ella to a dental appointment in Wilmington, which is almost 2 hours away. And since I was already in Wilmington, I had to take advantage of going to Costco. And a real mall. I had to find a specific lipstick that my friend Molly recommended to me so that I could wear it that night. This is all really important stuff right? Well, it made me late. Of course. I'm late for everything. Richard could not be late to the ceremony, so he hitched a ride with a friend that lives nearby. I went home and quickly got ready. I guess it wasn't really that quick. By the time I got dressed, did my hair and makeup, chatted with my friend, Amanda, who was watching the kids, and drove 45 minutes to the base, I had missed the entire program. Not that I minded. It is kind of boring. I did make it in time for dinner. So we ate, had some birthday cake, and mingled with everyone. It was fun and I love seeing Richard around the people he works with. Anyway, how could I not have fun with such a hot date?! I do love the blue uniforms a lot more than the white ones.

Since I was so late, we had to take pictures at the end of the night, so my hair looks kind of dumb.

Halloween and Other October Hi-jinx

October was a great month! The weather started to change and the humidity is finally gone. We've loved having our windows open all day and playing out on the deck. The past couple of years, I feel like by the time actual Halloween day comes around, we're already costumed and candied out because there are 800 different activities to attend. So this year we skipped the pre-Halloween festivities like trick-or-treating at the aquarium and the town party, and just kept it simple. I feel like, that way, the actual Halloween night is so much more fun for the kids. (Who am I kidding? My kids would love dressing up and getting candy 500 times in two weeks. It's me who doesn't like it. I'll keep control when and where I can!)

We went to a local church that had a pumpkin patch and let the kids pick the ones they wanted to carve. Ella and Ruby had a few requirements for their jack-o-lanterns: eyelashes, lips, and a wig. Oh, girls! And Annie was so mad when Richard cut the top open of hers. She kept saying, "Daddy ruined my punkin!" She eventually got over it when we put the little candle inside and she saw the face all lit up.





After we carved the pumpkins, we made hot chocolate for everybody. A couple minutes later, I look over at Ruby and she had chocolate splattered all over her face! How does that even happen?! This girl has serious talent!

Since Halloween was on a school day, the girls got to wear their costumes to class. Ella wore her cat outfit, but I didn't get a picture before school. We go to the bus stop at 6:45 am and it's still dark outside at that time. They did get to walk around to the other classrooms and have a costume parade.

Ruby's preschool had a little party so she dressed up as a "nice" witch.


Ruby and Miss Heather: (I asked Ruby if she wanted to take a picture with Miss Heather and this little Woody told me yes and went over into the picture. Whatever!)

Ruby and Miss Stacey:

Annie was so happy she finally got to play on the playground!

Ruby's school ends at noon and Ella had early release at the same time that day, so we all came home for a special Halloween lunch: Mummy Dogs, jello jigglers, and apples with caramel dip.


Once Richard got home, the kids got back into their costumes and we painted their faces. Ruby had it set in her mind that she wanted a green witch face, so this is what we came up with. Annie got to be whatever fit her in the costume bin. It was between a mouse and a hula girl, and since it was 50 degrees outside, the mouse won out. Poor third child!


We went out to our old neighborhood in Jacksonville and trick-or-treated with our friends, the Millers. These girls were all so cute. The older ones raced from house to house. Ruby was running the whole time and would get so excited every time she got candy. The little ones hung with their daddies and took their time. Annie was loving it so much! By the end, their buckets were really full of treats, but Annie would not let Richard help her carry it. That thing was heavy, but there was no way she was letting go of it for a second! We got around to most of the neighborhood by the time it started raining, so we decided to call it quits and go eat some dinner at Cook Out. We got home, bathed the kiddos, and tucked everyone into bed.


Ella and Ruby frequently want to wear lip gloss, and on this day, Ruby was kind enough to share some with Annie. And so it begins! Sisters doing each other's makeup!

On one of the warmer days, I sent Annie out on the deck to paint. She had fun, but didn't get a whole lot of paint on the paper. It's much more fun to paint your legs and feet. Plus, that way you get to do your other favorite activity...take a bath!

One weekend, Jonas and Phebe came for a visit. We took them to El Zarape for dinner, then went to the beach on Saturday. They had to get back to Raleigh that afternoon and I had already called a babysitter for that night, thinking we'd all go out without the kids. Since they had to leave, we decided we'd go out anyway. We ended up going out with one of Richard's friends from work and his wife and had so much fun! It was a great weekend!
Every time Ruby sees this picture she says, "It's good that we have this picture so I don't miss Jonas and Phebe so much."

Also that weekend, my friend Kate had a birthday party for her little boy Ethan. He is a few weeks older than Annie, so they are great friends. Kate is amazing, especially when it comes to throwing parties. She did a Curious George at the Circus theme and went all out. There was a little photo booth area setup with a bunch of different props. I thought these mustaches were hilarious!

Now that October is done, we are ready for a wonderful November. It's one of my favorite months because of the crisp fall air, pumpkin baked goods, and reminders to reflect on all that we are thankful for. We truly are so blessed! Plus, it's less than six weeks till we move!!!!

Going Going Back Back to Cali Cali

Yes, I just quoted Biggie Smalls on my blog.

Richard just got orders to move to San Diego in December!!!!!! We are beyond excited! I can't wait to live in a normal town. I will definitely miss the fantastic friends I've made here and our awesome ward, and living this close to the beach, but I'm excited to be within driving distance of Arizona and be back in California!

About a month ago, Richard met with the detailer (the guys who assigns you to your next duty station) to start looking at where we were thinking about going when his time was done here in NC in about 18 months. We went back and forth over staying on the East Coast, which we have loved, or trying to get out West, closer to our family. After dental school, our top two choices of where to go were both in San Diego, but we got our third choice, which was Camp LeJeune, in Jacksonville. So we finally decided that we'd go back to our original plan of moving out West. We saw that there is a naval base in Port Hueneme, CA which is really close to where I grew up in Simi Valley. We decided that that would be our first pick. Anyway, Richard didn't have to give the detailer his official choices until early next year, so this was all just talk.

About a week later, Richard got an email about a Hot Fill (when a position opens up that needs to be filled quickly) in San Diego. He quickly asked me what I thought and we decided we might as well go for it. So he responded and talked to the guy in charge. It didn't seem likely that he would get it since he hadn't been at LeJeune for two years. The guy said he would keep Richard in mind, but would see if there was any other interest. Long story short, we ended up having to wait to hear the answer until we got back from our Disney trip. Since Richard's email is government, he wasn't able to check it while he wasn't at work. So I was actually glad for him to go back to work on Monday so that he could check his email. Well, he got it!!! His bosses gave him great reviews and were confident that he would be able to do the job.

He will be the only dentist on a brand new ship, the USS Anchorage, that's still being built in New Orleans. So a little while after we move, he'll have to go out there and set up the whole clinic. Then the ship will be commissioned and he'll get to stay in San Diego. He takes care of about 600 sailors and he'll have to go out with the ship when it does. I think this is a really great opportunity for him! It definitely makes work more interesting than just doing exams all day. He'll hopefully get to see cool places and maybe sometimes I can meet up with him at different ports. So, our opportunity came sooner than we expected, and we are ready for it!

We are looking forward to this change and are excited that we'll be closer to family and friends out there. We definitely want visitors, so feel free to stay with us! And I'm excited that it's a military move, so I don't have to pack or move our stuff!

Ruby's 4th Birthday!

I can't believe Ruby is 4! She has been waiting for her birthday for a long time because she knew we were going to Disney. And she knew that Preschool started when she turned 4.

This girl has so much personality wrapped up in her little body! It just keeps getting better and better. Here's a little about 4 year old Ruby:

- she loves to play ponies, princesses, and dress up. She loves imaginative play and I often hear her say, "Let's pretend that..." She and Ella like to play "stories".

- she can write all her letters and is starting to sound out words. She listens in on Ella's homework and tries to do the same things.

- she is definitely an artist. She will sit and color or draw forever. Her pictures are very detailed too. Now that she's in school, she gets to do way more arts and crafts projects there, so she is thrilled! In fact, a couple weeks ago, her Primary teacher told me that Ruby got very upset with her for accidentally bumping her while she was coloring.

- she still says some words wrong, but I think it's so cute that I just can't correct it. Some favorites are:

Don't leave ABOUT me! (about = without)

I am big HAS Ella. (has= as)

I'm nice and comfTy. (comfty= comfy)

- she still has a temper! If she gets upset, it takes major work and time for her to calm down. She can't really be reasoned with.

- one thing that upsets her the most is when Daddy teases her (which makes him do it even more!!!!). If he inserts her name into a song, she goes nuts. She often says, "NO DADDY!!!" to him. I have to remind her not to get worked up by saying, "What does Daddy love to do?" and then she usually laughs and says, "Tease!" Then she won't believe a word he says. It's pretty funny actually.

- She is so brave in some regards, like picking up bugs, getting dirty, and talking to anyone, but also has many fears. She doesn't like heights. If Richard tries to pick her up really high, she gets petrified. She won't go on the Dumbo ride at Disney. Now that I think of it, the first time I took her to Disneyland when she wasn't quite 2, she screamed bloody murder on the Dumbo ride. I guess some things are just ingrained.

- She LOVES Ella! She would follow her around and play with her all day long if Ella would let her. She thinks Annie's great, for a baby, but is a last resort playmate. I think it's because Annie doesn't have the imagination play down yet.

- She's starting to ask some deep questions about church. When we have family home evening, she listens (for the most part) and really thinks about the topic. She loves to be the one saying the prayer. She still ends her bedtime prayers with, "Help us not to play in the drawers and closets." This dates back to one night in our Buffalo house, and she still hasn't let it go!

- She loves to wear dresses and skirts. Maybe someday one of my daughters will let me put them in jeans or shorts. Sigh. Ruby loves to pick out her outfit the night before school and lay it out on the floor to see if it's cute.

- She is very loving. She randomly says, "I love you" to me throughout the day. She's such a sweet heart! She loves to cuddle and be held and hug.

- Every time she puts her shoes on, without fail, they are on the wrong feet. And it doesn't bother her one bit to walk around with them like that.

We had a really fun time at Disney World for her birthday. The only downside was that it was blasted hot and humid still in Florida. It kind of cut our days short, but on the plus side, we drank lots of Slurpees to cool off!

On the night of Ruby's actual birthday, we ate dinner at Boma in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The food was really yummy, but it cost way too much! Especially when you add in the kids. I don't know what we were thinking, but oh well. It was a celebration, right?! We brought a cake that we had made at the Super Target bakery (ah, Super Target. Will I ever live by one of them?!). So after dinner, we sang and had cake. Then Ruby opened her present, a giant Pony setup, which was just what she asked for. That thing provided hours of entertainment for the kids, which allowed me watch lots of HGTV at the condo we were staying at. We don't have cable, so we watched lots of Property Brothers, Pawn Stars, and Storage Wars. Richard also watched Dog the Bounty Hunter, but I couldn't handle it!



We went to Chevy's the night after Ruby's birthday and told them it was her birthday. They sang to her and gave her this giant sombrero! She almost decided to wear it to Animal Kingdom the next day, but changed her mind at the last minute. At least it would have kept the sun out of her eyes!
We had such a fun trip and are excited to go again in a couple weeks with some of our family. We sure do love our little Rubes!