Welcome Autumn!

Autumn!  It's officially here and I love it!  Now if only it felt more like autumn I think we'd all be happy!

Aaron's First Day of Kindergarten

Aaron had his first day of Kindergarten about 2 weeks ago at his new school in Livermore.  I think everyone was excited about that!  We've gone to back to school, met his teacher and even bought a school shirt for Spirit Days!  We bought him a new Jake & The Neverland Pirates backpack and lunchbox which he loves.  I think he must be liking it because I'm definitely not hearing as many complaints about going to school like I did in Sacramento.  

I also bought Aaron a small desk for his room at IKEA so he'll have a space to do homework and artwork.  It's white with a green accent drawer, which is is favorite color.  Now I just have to find a cute chair!

He still loves to read (we're currently reading a new chapter book about a zombie goldfish) and he loves animals of all types and he wants to be a veterinarian when he grows up!

Elizabeth Grace

Elizabeth will be 2 years old next month and just had her check up today.  She's 31 lbs and 2' 10.5" tall.  At Aaron's 2 year check up he weighed 2 lbs more and was 1.5" shorter.  So they're not too far off from each other!  

Elizabeth is currently between a 2-3T in clothes but at this point I am buying nothing smaller than a size 3.  She's still in diapers but has recently started to tear off her wet diapers and throw them in the trash can (all on her own!) so I think potty training is just around the corner.  

She definitely has a vocabulary though it is smaller than Aaron's at this age.  But she's saying more and more everyday!  Her favorite saying is "HEY NO!  THAT'S MYYYYYYY BOOK/TOY/MILK (etc)".  Today at the doctor's office though, was the first time she's ever introduced herself to someone!!  It was so cute!  She walked up to the doctor, pointed to herself and said "BUBBA"!  It was the cutest thing EVAH.  

Elizabeth is a fearless, feisty little girl.  She climbs everything, she tells pretty much everyone off and she will even haul off and close-fist punch her brother when he's bothering her.  At first, I couldn't stop laughing about it but now that it's happened several times I'm having to tell her that it's not right.  If her personality stays this way, I don't think we'll have to worry too much about her being bullied!  LOL!  Hopefully not anyway!  

Both kids are doing well and very happy to be under the same roof as their dad again.  We all are!  And we've had so many visitors at this house - it's been wonderful!  We are enjoying Livermore, still exploring, but definitely have found a few favorite spots.  Personally, I'm looking forward to my first autumn here.  With all the farms and vineyards and family activities in the area, I think this fall will be fantastic!

We hope yours will be too!  

 

Living in Livermore

We are now officially residents of Livermore! I am super excited to get out and explore this town. So far I can tell you that I love our space (even though it's still a mess of boxes), I love that we're surrounded by rolling hills, I love that there is compost curbside pickup, that I can see the windmills from our street,  that our walkways are surrounded by awesome landscaping, that there is a park playground in walking distance, that there is a 24 hour Safeway, that downtown Livermore is so freakin' awesome and that there seem to be tons of family oriented activities all over the East Bay Area! Not to mention that San Francisco and Monterey Bay are that much closer to us now. Like I said, I can't wait to get out and explore! 

We (and by that I mean I, because who are we kidding here?) haven't gotten as much done as I wanted to by this time because I got friggin' pink eye! And then Elizabeth got it of course. At first it was just a scratch that got infected in my eye, but somehow that turned into pink eye and I was washing my hands raw and washing sheets and towels everyday but Elizabeth still got it and then my other eye got it too. And let me tell you, it was awful. Just a few days ago I really started to feel myself again. Thankfully Elizabeth got over it much more quickly. 

Josh finally went to the doctor for his bad back and had his first PT appointment today.  Hopefully this is something PT can help! 

Elizabeth and Aaron are adjusting well to they're new surroundings and I was a bit freaked out about having stairs but they've both been really good about it. I mean, Elizabeth climbs absolutely everything now so she took the stairs head on. It's a good and not so good thing. I am glad she has the confidence to do these types of things (Aaron still doesn't) but just because the confidence is there doesn't mean she's got the coordination. I definitely have to get a gate for the top of the stairs. 

Aaron likes that we have cable again (LOL) and he loves his new bed and the big window in his room. And I know he enjoys the little pathways around our house as much as I do. 

I have a good feeling about Livermore and this move. This is right for us, I just know it! 

As we explore I'll be posting more pictures on Facebook and Instagram so check me out there! 

On The Move

Easter 2014

Well, we finally did it!  We found a place and now we're on the move!  These next 2 weeks are going to be crazy but we're packing and arranging and getting rid of things.  After months and months and months of looking - of Josh spending the week in Fremont and sleeping in his car - of our family not being together except for 1.5 days on the weekend, we are finally going to be together again!  I can't wait for this move to be over!

Our new hometown will be the city of Livermore, CA.  We found a townhome that is only about 30 minutes away from Tesla (Josh's work) so his commute won't be horrible and we get to see him everyday!  Once we get settled in I promise to post some pictures!  

Aaron is super excited and asks me "can we just move today?".  He misses his dad so much.  And even Elizabeth asks for him everyday.  Aaron will not completely finish school with his class since we are moving at the end of the month, but I'm already looking into the two elementary schools in the area for Kindergarten next year!  

Please wish us luck and send us good vibes because moving sucks and I need to stay positive!  

I hope you all had a good Easter/Passover and a great Mother's Day!  More to come after the move!

 

Spring Forward

I make some good looking babies.

There are those moments in every parents life when you look at your kids and think - Holy crap!  When did you get so big?!  That, my dearies, is happening right now with both my kids.  

Aaron is such a big boy.  So Big.  I mean, when did he grow up?  How is he 5 years old already?!  He's so smart and he surprises me with new things all the time.  Lately it's been reading!  I mean, I've been reading books to him since he was less than a year old.  Every night before bedtime he gets his pick of 2 stories.  And lately, he's been reading random things - signs, labels, fragments of a story - and even though I want to scream OMGYOUJUSTREADTHATALLBYYOURSELF! I refrain and just say calmly "Yeah, that's right!" because I don't want to freak him out.  

Aaron is a funny kid because he won't tell me things if I ask him.  It's actually something I don't like and I'm trying to break him of it.  Because if I ask him what he had for lunch or what he did at school he'll say something like "I don't know/remember" or "It's a secret!".  That's not what I want to hear.  I mean, as a parent and with safety in mind, I want him to tell me everything.  So when he gives me answers like that I want to shake him and tell him "WE HAVE NO SECRETS IN THIS HOUSE!" but I can't.  That's not how you deal with Aaron.  I'm learning this.  I'm learning how to deal with him.  He's not the same as he was when he was 2 or 3.  Things are different.

I recently found out that Aaron was being made fun of at school by other students.  I don't like to use the word bullying because it's not physical, but bullying can be words too.  And he was called ugly and fat.  (Which quite OBVIOUSLY is NOT true).  His clothes and toys were made fun of.  To the point where he wouldn't take off his sweatshirt one day when I took him to his class and when I asked why he told me it was because he didn't want the other kids to make fun of his shirt.  Which started a 2 minute argument between us of how it shouldn't matter what other people think - if he likes the shirt, that's all that matters.  I left the classroom later that morning and was crying by the time I got home.  

After pouring my heart out on Facebook and getting some good advice, I was able to calm down.  But I still made Josh go to school and pick Aaron up because I was still upset.  The next afternoon I spoke to the teachers about the issues and the day after they came to my house for a previously scheduled parent-teacher conference.  We spoke more about the issue and agreed that instead of calling individual students out that they should use it as an opportunity to teach the whole class about bullying.  And they agreed to keep a closer eye on these students.  So far, I haven't heard anymore complaints from Aaron, but when we get dressed I have to ask him about which shirts he wants to wear to school.  

Honestly, my first reaction to the situation was to be aggressive and speak to the students myself.  But I am not Aaron.  And that is not Aaron's personality.  And he has to learn to stand up for himself.  And he needs to learn self-confidence.  I am 36 (in 2 weeks) and I have self-confidence and experience.  I KNOW it doesn't matter what others think.  But this is something Aaron has to learn.  He is a sensitive kid and sometimes I wonder if my aggressive nature is too much for him.  I have to learn to deal with things so that he can deal with them too.  

Elizabeth on the other hand ----- Whoooo Weeeee.  She's a feisty little girl.  I always wanted a boy and then girl so that my baby girl would have a big brother to take care of her but I think it's gonna be the other way around.  Elizabeth is just so adorable.  And her personality is coming out more and more.  She loves her brother (and he loves her) and she brushes his hair and gives him kisses.  She is a mover - she loves to walk and explore.  She has no problem doing things her brother wasn't doing yet at this age.  Aaron still has some fine motor skills he could work on but Elizabeth is climbing and crawling over and opening things.  She took my keys and tried to put them in the door to unlock it.  She climbs on top of Aaron's stool to get to the sink.  If she's hungry, she'll go to the cabinet and get her food.  If she's thirsty, a cup.  I mean, she's so smart!

And big!  Did I mention big?  Josh was just holding her this morning and said "OMG she's so big now"!  I am the one always holding her so I don't get to see how long she is in comparison to an adult.  She's got all her teeth but her eye teeth are only halfway out.  She'll eat anything you put in front of her and I think there have only been 2 things that she hasn't liked.  She even ate sushi!  Just recently I stopped giving her night time bottle and it was completely by accident.  I forgot one night because we had eaten dinner so late and she was full.  Tia Eva came over to visit and with all the stuff going on, I just forgot!  She didn't complain, she didn't ask and she slept through the night!  So I was like, well, that's that then!  No more bottles for baby girl.  

Unfortunately around the same time I was washing two of her binkies and I found holes in them.  I knew that she chewed on them sometimes, especially when she is teething, but this was the first time I had seen the holes so of course I tossed them and then inspected the rest.  I thought one was salvageable but it got a tear a few days later and so I tossed that one too.  Now she's down to one binky.  I'm wondering if I should buy her new ones or just have her be done with them when she chews a hole in this last one.  Josh thinks she should be done but I'm not 100% sure.  What do you think?  I mean, she is 16 months now!  

As for us moving - we are still looking.  It's hard since I'm here and not there to look and Josh sleeps during the day.  I think it's going to take me pulling up my big girl panties and just going over there for a week and just renting.... anything.   I don't want to do it that way necessarily, but with Josh sleeping in his car.... the kids don't see him during the week.  It's too hard on us.  We all want to be together.  We're looking at Fremont, Livermore, Dublin or Pleasanton.  Wish us luck, pray for us, send us good ju-ju.  Whatever you can!

Looking forward to a happy spring with new beginnings!  Love to you all!