December/January pics

 Christmas in Indiana this year was a lot of fun!! SO nice to have time with the Rosdils, and just be together. Christmas Eve morning I sat at the table with hudson while he ate his cereal and sang jingle bells the whole time. It was awesome. 

 New years day we had a get together, rather than new years eve - worked out great! And Micah is always a hit with the kiddos!

 Took my family to the Science Center for their first time - got to see the Endeavor again and check out the cool stuff. LOTS of school visits that day so it was pretty loud, but still fun!

 Hudson has improved so much in SO many areas, including his coloring! He did this with me as I colored in my "adult coloring book" Ted gave me for Christmas. Fun to do things like this with the kids for sure. 

 It's been SO nice having my dear friend Chiraphone back in the country for a couple months!!!

 My mom and dad, and grandparents used to frequent this restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles 40+ years ago, and while they were here we went back! I guess it looks the same as it did over 40 years ago, but my parents seemed to think the food was not as great. Still fun to check it out and hear stories about the good old days for them and my grandparents!

 For Stella's 3rd birthday we had a visit from Oma, Grandpa and Uncle Jonathan for the week. Then we had a little party for her on her actual birthday with a few friends. She loved being with everyone, but did NOT want all the attention on her! When we started singing happy birthday she ran out of the room! I think we have ourselves more of an introvert!

 Hudson drew this for fun, using his spirograph in the beginning (in the middle of the picture), then adding to it to create a drawing of his visit to the dentist. So creative!

 These two are creative, and love to be outside together! They were out for about 30 minutes creating a masterpiece on the cement!

She's THREE!

Our stella bean turned three last weekend! Hard to believe she's been with us for three years already, but at the same time its getting harder to think about what i did without her.

Her stats:
31 lbs (53%)
37 1/4 inches (54%)

So she's just about average for both, and perfect in our eyes. Her talking has completely taken off, and she is saying just about everything it seems. A few favorites for me right now are - "of course", "actually" and "yesterday" which she says oh so adorably. She loves her brother more than anything, and continues to have a kind hearted, sweet approach to the world around her. She has started to really enjoy her school experiences (the club and preschool), and tells me all about what she did and if she played with a new friend.

About a month ago we moved her into her big girl bed, in the room with Hudson - and she LOVES it. She just wants to be where he is, and has adapted quickly to sleeping in a big bed. I'm in the process of trying to make the room look like a boy AND a girl live there, so we'll see how it turns out! They don't seem to mind in the mean time!

Christmas brought a lot of new toys and things to play with, and Hudson is now mastering his new Razor while Stella gets a little used to her hot pink balance bike. Her scooter, shopping cart, ride on car, and all her purses and bags seem to occupy most of her time. She still loves putting little things in a bag or purse, then transferring it to another purse or bag. It's hilarious to watch, and yet she has such attention to detail i'm excited and curious to see how this characteristic develops into a strength of hers.

Hudson is still doing well in Kindergarten - it's been interesting to navigate the little challenges with him. Communicating with friends, being quiet when the teacher is talking, and taking his time to do his work well are a couple topics we've talked about more than once. But he is doing really well, writing and reading SOO much now, it's amazing. I love volunteering in his class, and have definitely grown fond of his little classmates as well. And it's great that Stella gets to come too!

Overall I think we are in a sweet spot with both kids. Andy and I talked today about how nice it is for me to be able to have this quality time with them during the days, but how I still miss my career. I liked teaching, and if that door opens again I will be thankful. But in the mean time I am doing my best to savor the moments and memories i'm creating with these two amazing kids. They really, truly are phenomenal people.

serious photo catch up!

 Well it's been a while since i've updated the blog, which means life has gotten busier! Aside from Hudson starting kindergarten, I started teaching a 3 credit class at Azusa Pacific University, so things have been more active for sure! Below is Hudson with his school mascots - we saw them at a fundraiser in town for his school! So nice to be part of the community in this new way. 

 We got a visit from Grandma in October, which is always a treat! 

 Hudson played on his first official soccer team this fall, and though he hasn't mastered the art of the game yet, he had a BALL with his friends! And always got a good amount of exercise which is always great! We hope he will want to play again in the future. 

 We got a new car!  Yes!!! Finally got rid of the Santa Fe and got the car I really wanted! I'm loving the new ride, and am thankful for Andy and his ability to find a good car for a good deal~!

 Halloween this year was fun - and filled with parties! I had no idea we would end up with SO much candy, but the kids had fun being part of everything. Stella was Pinkalicious (a character from a book she loves) and Hudson was Darth Vader. 

 A visit from Oma brought more news than we expected - not only did we have a nice time, but we found out we were going to be welcoming a new baby to the family next year! Abbie and Mark announced they are expecting a baby in May, and we are thrilled for them. 

 Birthday party!!

 This picture is Hudson's kindergarten photo. We LOVE it - it captures his joyful and fun personality for sure. 

 For thanksgiving this year we road tripped up to Tahoe/Sacramento to be with my family. It was a lot of driving, but fun to be with everyone and have some snow! Hudson of course was in heaven. 

 Mark, Hudson and I went ice skating up at NorthStar (everyone was there but didn't all skate). Hudson did pretty good for never having done it before!

 This December Hudson lost his first TOOTH!!! He dropped it in the trash at school, but the tooth fairy still came!

 Christmas season is the best!

Curly Top Crew

 There are three little sisters that see each other daily at Kindergarten, and they have formed a little friendship! Stel, Lindsay and Selah are all around the same age, and all have curly hair! So one of the dads who does photography on the side asked if he could do a photo shoot of the girls together. Stel was pretty difficult during this process, but he managed to get some good ones! So nice to have girls she can connect with while Hudson is making friends at school also!

family photos!!

 We FINALLY had family photos taken!! these were the best out of all of them…yea it was a rough shoot.