Can't believe October is over!

I have decided that October is my favorite month of the year.  So I am sad that it is over!  We had a fun month.  Let's catch up and start with the end of September.  Our friends, Wayne & Kristen Guymon came to visit.  They brought their kids, Stanley & Elizabeth.  Wayne & Mike went to the USC game that Saturday and the wives had the kids.  We had a blast playing in the pool all day in between naps that is. 

At the beginning of October my friend Denise came to visit from Boston.  For those of you who don't know her, we worked together in Connecticut.  We came back to California together and she did some travel nursing here.  It was nice to catch up.  Plus, it was her first time meeting Kaylen!

 

Here's our happy girl!

We took Kaylen to the aquarium and then her first pumpkin patch.  At the aquarium, she loved looking at all the fishes.  We also fed the birds outside.  We love having a membership so we can go for an hour or so, then leave.  Then we had a good time at the pumpkin patch.  I just wanted to get some cute pics of her amongst the pumpkins.  The outfit that she has on is one that Daddy picked out all by himself!  Shirt, jeans, socks & shoes!  Too cute!

 Kaylen loved climbing on top of the pumpkins!

To make this October extra special, we went to my friend Kathleen's wedding.  It took place in Dana Point, overlooking the ocean.  It was such a beautiful day.  We had a great time.  We also found us a great new babysitter.  Her name is Hayley.  She is the daughter of one of the nurses that I work with.  She is in her first year of college.  Kaylen loves her!  And we love her!  She watched Kaylen for us while we enjoyed the wedding.

We stayed the night in a hotel in Dana Point.  The next day, I had a baby shower to attend & Mike went to the USC game with Marco.  Our friends Marco & Stephanie are expecting a baby boy in November.  Here is the sock monkey diaper cake I made for her.

After the baby shower, Kaylen & I drove to Costa Mesa to attend Hudson's first birthday party.  Yes it was a busy weekend!  Kaylen held up well, considering she didn't get much of a nap. 

Swinging with Kyla!

The next weekend we celebrated Olivia's 3rd birthday and Sydney & Kensey's 1st birthdays.  They had a bounce house which Kaylen had a blast in. 

 She also had a good time in the ball pit....

Here is a close up of the cake.....another one of Janet's beautiful creations!

So for Mike's birthday, we went to see the Book of Mormon in LA.  It's a play from the creators of South Park.  We had a nice date night.  A sushi dinner and the play.  We enjoyed ourselves and laughed a lot.  I didn't take any pics though, sorry!

On Mike's actual birthday Kaylen & I met him for lunch.  We had a nice afternoon with Daddy for his birthday.

On Halloween night, Kaylen dressed up as Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street.  I know, it's not as good as a beaver costume, but Kaylen loves Sesame Street.  We took her trick or treating for the first time and she did pretty good.  She just followed the other kids going from house to house.  We weren't out very long.  I am sure she didn't understand what was going on, but she had a good time. 

Our girl is growing up so fast.  She is saying new words every day.  She likes to repeat what I say.  Sometimes only a mother can understand but other times they are clear.  She is a pro at operating an iPhone or iPad.  She loves to play Angry Birds & watch PBS kids.  She loves Curious George and can say "George"  and "monkey."  She likes to say "it's a mess"  when she spills something.  Guess she got that phrase from me.

Here is a video of Kaylen brushing her teeth....




Kaylen is not ready for potty training at all, but she likes to sit on her potty sometimes.  She will figure it out one day.   

A Lot Has Happened This Summer....

Hello everyone!  I know its been almost 3 months since I last posted.  We have been busy....

I celebrated my birthday after my last post.  We went to Mahe (a restaurant) and had a wonderful sushi dinner.

We took Kaylen to her first baseball game at Angel Stadium.  It didn't go so well....  For one, it was really hot and our seats were in the sun.  She was probably bored so she complained, loudly.  So I took her to some shade and we cooled off.  But it was just not a good day for her.  We left the game early.  Mike got the tickets for free, so no money lost.  But we got one pic! And we used the Angels outfit that Aunt Barb got for her, before she outgrew it!

Some very sad news....my Uncle Steve passed away at the end of June after a battle with stomach cancer.

The good news....my Mom was in town for a week.  We didn't get to see her that much, but we got to see her!  Kaylen also got to see a lot of our CA family at Steve's service.  Cousin Tiffany did a great job of honoring her father.  So very sad...

Here is Nanna playing Peek A Boo with Kaylen...

A pic of the Golden Girls with Jodi too....

Kaylen and Taylor...

Kaylen and Nanna...

Nanna loved her time in our pool with Kaylen

We got Kaylen a new chair....she loves it!

More very sad news.....Mike's Dad passed away on July 27th.  He had been battling a liver disorder for a couple of years, but nobody saw this coming.  He was admitted to the hospital and his organs had just shut down.  The doctors did everything they could.  Mike was able to spend his Dad's last days together.  Kaylen and I flew to San Jose to be with Mike.  Thank goodness the flight was only an hour....traveling with a toddler is exhausting!  My Dad was kind enough to fly from Texas to be with us too.  We spent a week together in San Jose.  We had lots of work to do cleaning out his house.  We also had a very nice service at his Dad's church.  Lots of people came and honored Mike's Dad.  Mike did an amazing job honoring his father too.

Here is a pic of part of the collage we put together...mostly pics of Grandpa and Kaylen

After coming back from San Jose, Poppi got to enjoy some pool time with Kaylen.

Well we decided to take our vacation to Pismo Beach that we had planned with our friends The Wolters (Ryan, Davina and Griffin.)  It was a much needed couple of days away.  We had a great time.  We hit a couple of wineries, the outlet malls and even had a date night!

 The kids enjoyed feeding the peacocks at Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards....

For our date night, Mike and I went to the Madonna Inn.  We enjoyed some steak, lobster, chocolate cake and champagne....oh and some great decor...

Kaylen turned 18 months old on our vacation!  We had her pediatrician appointment when we got back.  She weighed 29 pounds and 35 inches tall!  She also was sick with an ear infection and a virus which caused her some yucky coughing spells.  She is on antibiotics and an albuterol inhaler for this.  She is much better now....poor girl!

Mike took this pic one morning when he got her ready for daycare....it's my current favorite pic... it just makes you smile!

I can only find this one video for now...we have a couple on our video camera but haven't uploaded them yet.  We will soon....but for now, here is Kaylen dancing....