siblings

Phone photos

 A cold, icy morning - even the trees had ice/snow on them

London and Eliana from school

 Stella's favorite thing - the humidifier, full blast on her face. So funny

CH-ch-ch-changes

It's been a bit since I wrote on the blog, and it's been for good reason. There's been a few things going on...like preparing for a move to California. Andy was offered a job back working for Skanska, out of their new office in the LA area. It's a great opporutnity for him, and we've been talking about going out there for a while - so the timing was perfect! I will be keeping the kids home with me during the day, and will hopefully do some part time work on the side until the right full time position opens and I get it. So there's been a lot of planning, confirming, finding housing, telling work and friends, and getting everything ready to go! We'll be living in Claremont, and Andy will only have about a 35 minute commute to Riverside where he'll be managing a hospital build. We're excited to be heading west, and look forward to some of the California living perks!
More pictures and details to come on that!
In other news, Stella has started taking her first steps! She's been ready for a while, but just hasn't gotten brave enough to take off yet. She will stand and dance, and take a couple step before she sits down and speed crawls to her next destination, but no running yet. Which is fine with me! She is developing the best expressions now, and communicates so well. Still not saying words real clearly, but she kind of mumbles a few things now - of course she'll say hi and daddy, doggy, yes (yea), and she has started singing! There is nothing like listening to this little girl sing. She is a total dancer, and when she sings AND dances it's so awesome. She is quick to laugh and smile, LOVES bath time with big brother, and will snuggle up with any stuffed animal she can get her hands on. She's wearing 12 or 18 month stuff now, size 3 diapers, size 3 or 4 shoes (depending on the brand), and is working her way toward no more bottle - though she still drinks about 30 ounces a day of milk, plus her meals.

Hudson has become a little artist, and will color (almost entirely in the lines) for extended periods of time these days! he can also write his letters, and has been spelling his name pretty well now. He loves being outside, playing with cars, and can't seem to get enough of the snow (which i know he will miss!). He is very energetic, and doesn't always listen, but from what i hear that's kind of what you get with a three year old boy. So I guess we'll keep him. :) He is also so sensitive and sweet, and will always ask me how i'm doing or how dinner was with a friend if i go out, etc. So thoughtful, my little guy.

ski trip with the Jones'

Last weekend our friends the Jones' came out for a visit, and we all went up to Breck for a night and chance to take the boys skiing. Quentin has been 5-6 times, and has it down pretty well, so we weren't sure how Hudson would do. He started out ok...

Stella and I went out to watch him get started and see his first run...little did we know it would be his ONLY run...

Andy and Chris with Hudson and Quentin

All in all it was a fun visit - and Hudson was overly happy to be with his friend, who he has absolutely missed!

I took this picture of Stella, and need to find the one of Hudson I took in the same pose. Her face is a little blurred, but i'm betting they looked pretty similar! What a change to where he is now...our big boy who loves to imitate cookie monster, just like his shirt. He can also tell you most kinds of tractors we see - i think he told me this one is a back hoe?

LOVE

Our little princess, we can't believe she's already a year old. What a beautiful soul this little person has - she is so full of joy, so sweetly natured, and already a tough little cookie. She is a trooper, and continues to grow and develop beautilfully. She is teetering around on her sticks, furniture walking and almost ready to take her first few steps. She'll stand on her own for a few seconds now, but hasn't quite taken on the first steps on her own. Her crawl has become kind of a scooch/crawl these days too, but she can get herself from point A to B at light speed!
She's wearing size 3 diaper, size 12 month clothes, 6-9 month shoes (tiny little feet!), and has four teeth. She got the top two teeth in about a week before her birthday, so those teeth are taking their time coming in! It doesn't keep her from eating though - she loves her finger foods, and will eat anything she can gum and not choke on! She still drinks about 25-30 ounces of milk a day, and most of that is whole milk now, not formula. We are still giving her medicine once a day, and are hoping to be weening her off of that completely in the next month or so. She sleeps from about 7pm to 6am, and has just begun skipping her morning nap, so we'll see if she keeps that up! I think she just doesn't want to miss out on the action around her!
Her favorite things - Hudson (of course he's the ultimate), Lego (her firs real words were "hi doggie"), and mom and dad. She is favoring me a bit more, and wants me to hold her a lot more than before - again I think part of that is because she wants to be up in the mix of it all, the floor is too low down! She is very vocal, talks a lot, and has just started singing!! What a beautiful sound. She is also our little dancer, and will start moving and shaking the second i start singing or clapping. I think I could watch her dance all day long. It's the best.
She and Hudson are like oil and vinegar some days, and peanut butter and jelly others. Stella is getting more into his toys lately, and Hudson is having a hard time sharing things...even things that aren't his. He also wants to be close to her, and can be so sweet with her. They absolutely love each other in a way only siblings can, and it's so awesome to see them interact and grow up together. What an amazing thing.

ONE YEAR OLD!

Our little baby is ONE year old! Little baby Stella, is becoming more of a toddler and less of a baby every day. She is so much fun, so sweet, loving, happy, curious, and wonderful!

Stats for our baby girl:
Weight: 18 lbs 10 oz (15%)
Height: 29 3/4 inches (75%)

We went to the Wild animal sanctuary a couple weeks ago, and it was awesome! The man who started it was rescuing wild animals like tigers, lions, wolves, etc. from people who thought they could raise them as pets. His sanctuary has grown and grown, and now there are almost 500 animals there! It was cool to walk above their acres of land and just see them in their rescued, permanent home.

Stella has gotten more curious, and more adventurous with her exploring lately. I looked away for one minute and turned around to find her little hands in the cookie jar! we've started to tell her when she shouldn't be doing something, and all you have to say is "no, Stella" and she'll stop what she's doing, look at you, and giggle. Little stinker. She's lucky she's so cute...

For her birthday, Stella had a personalized fruit pizza, of which she ate a couple blueberries and that's it! Since it was a work day, and we will see family for Abbie's wedding next weekend, we didn't have a big party for her. BUT, there were presents and singing and sweets, on top of all the love she got from us (which is typically a lot, but we gave some extra kisses that day!). She wore her cute new tutu from Auntie Susie, and was just as adorable as usual!

Hudson loves his funny faces! And it's typical now to see Stella trying to grab whatever he Hudson is holding...usually followed by a push and cry, unless i can intervene first. :\ We're all learning to be a family of four still!