Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween. Meet Frankenstein and the Fat Dinosaur (he has a big belly pillow in his costume).

Frankenstein isn't supposed to smile.

Oh, evil eyes.

And we're happy again.

And we are tired

Dinner time with the Archers

So you shouldn't turn your head for even a moment at dinner time. I wasn't paying attention until Harrison started laughing really hard. I myself couldn't swallow because I started laughing. I was then told by Scott that I "shouldn't encourage that behavior." Ok so hard not to when you see your child like this.....

Harrison's 9 month well baby check up

I can't believe my baby is already 9 months old. He weighs 20 lbs 6 oz (41st percentile) and is 29 inches tall (67th percentile). He has six teeth. He is a very fast crawler but he also likes to walk holding onto things to get around. His doctor was very impressed by how strong he is. It took 3 of us to hold him down to look at his ears. He can stand with no support. The kids legs are all muscle. He has a lot of coordination for a 9 month old. Unfortunately he has ANOTHER ear infection. This makes #6 I believe and it isn't even cold outside. It looks like he will be getting tubes after Thanksgiving. He doesn't say any words yet but he does babble. He doesn't like to drink or sleep. If I had to guess what he was going to be when he gets older, I would put my money on a high powered CEO of a major corporation. Reason being is that he is always on the go and seriously DOES NOT SLEEP. He has so much energy. I really thought something was wrong with him. Usually if a kid misses a nap, they soon crash. Nope, not Harrison. He can go off of very little sleep (less than me). I have read every book and have tried everything but he doesn't like to nap or sleep at night. His doctor said some children are energetic (stubborn) and do not need the sleep an average child does. I guess Will spoils us because he is such a good sleeper. I am still waiting for Harrison to sleep through the night. No, he doesn't wake up to eat. He wakes up to play so he is up for hours on end at night. Harrison has slept through the night two times since we lived in California and ironically those two nights are the nights William had nightmares and is up all night. He is a very happy baby and has to be moving all of the time. My hands are full with two mobile kids. He admires his big brother and wants to be doing everything he is.

Family fun at the Park

William's first hair cut

Well it took over 21 months to grow what he has and it was time for his very first hair cut. What a big day! It was just a little trim and we received a frame for his locks and a picture to remember this special event. They both had a good time at the Kids and Co Hair Salon. There was a playroom in the back with a slide, maze and ball pit. But when it came time for the hair cut, William got to choose between a four wheeler, horse, motorcycle and jeep. He chose the motorcycle.

He received a special lollipop (he has never had one before) and got to watch in the mirror. Here is a picture from earlier in the day. You can see his cowlick and his long hair. And the after shot.... Afterwards, we went to the pumpkin patch.

Colorful People

Today we took the girls to Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach. We walked between the two and had lunch at Whalers (used to be a KC Chief's bar before new mgmt). We walked more than ten miles so we are enjoying some cookies right now :)

Do you like people watching? I love people watching. Concerts are the best places for it. We thought Stephanie and Kelly would enjoy some people watching at Venice Beach today. It is known for its colorful people. No matter what day you go, you will always find something or someone entertaining.


You may see the Reggae man with a large guitar playing for a few women...

You might see the girl in the grass exercising with her hula hoop....
You might find the older couple sun bathing....
Or the man riding a unicycle.....

You might see the guy with skin tight shorts....
A man offering you to hold his very large snake...
You might see the guy who paints himself and his dog gold.....
Or my personal favorite, the man in the patriotic speedo trying to pick up girls.

Upgrade to the Big Boy Bed

This morning we had to lower Harrison's crib so we figured it was time to adjust Will's bed too. He had been in his crib with a crib tent on it for a few months since he had been able to climb out. We had been putting it off since we knew that he wouldn't nap again. And we were right. He was very excited about his new bed so he jumped right in and curled up. A few minutes later, we knew he wasn't sleeping when heard him walking around in his cowboy boots and saw his hand under the door :)

Ronald Reagan Museum

Today we went to the Ronald Reagan Museum. It was very interesting and we could have spent all day there but with the boys, that is not possible. It truly is an amazing museum. We weren't allowed to take pictures but I did take one of Air Force One.

Aquarium of the Pacific

Yesterday, I picked Kelly and Stephanie (Scott's sisters) up from the airport. Since we were close to Long Beach, I thought it would be fun to take them and the boys to the Aquarium. It was really fun. They had a lot of different fish there. The sea otters were cute but the colorful salt water fish are always my favorite. Will and Harrison really enjoyed observing all of the different marine life. They had lorokeets outside and we failed to miss the sign before entering their area, "Lorokeets will land on you. Do not brush them off as they will bite you." We pretty much ran through that exhibit as I hit the floor once. They try to take you out. All in all, it was fun. Now we are off to the Reagan Museum.

Back at home

The boys, Belle and I came home this afternoon. The Sesnon fire is close but I think we are going to be just fine. It smells like someone is burning leaves outside but not necessarily in a good way. It is an overpowering smell that hurts when you breathe it in. There are ashes everywhere. My chest is still hurting really bad from yesterday. The good thing is that the fire is now on the other side of the 118 Freeway from us so it is unlikely it will jump the freeway. It is loud at our house as dozens of helicopters continue to fly over with their water drops. The other good thing is that it doesn't smell inside our house like it did yesterday so it is manageable to stay home now.

How crazy. I never thought when we moved to California that we would experience all of these things within a 3 month time span (earthquake and fire). I like California but come on, can you throw us a bone here?! And now that there is this fire, we can expect all of those fun animals and creatures to make their way into the neighborhood (scorpions, rattlesnakes, more spiders, coyotes, etc). At first I liked that we were so close to the mountains (3 houses down) but now....I don't know.

Fire Update

We had a mandatory evacuation soon after my last post. I wasn't able to get much more in the truck besides ourselves. We headed back to our house after 5:30pm and were let back into our neighborhood. After eating dinner and watching the news, we decided to leave. We could see flames from our house and the newscasters were saying that winds were supposed to reach 70mph tonight. I am glad we left for our safety even though William will not go to sleep now. He thinks we are having a slumber party. As we left our neighborhood, there were 7 firetrucks just waiting. If you look at a map, Santa Susana pass is where the fire is (Porter Ranch). The Santa Susana turns into Kuehner which is our exit to our house. It is scary and we just hope we wake up tomorrow to good news.

Getting ready to evacuate--California Wild Fires

These are pictures from our front door and it is getting worse fast. Porter Ranch, as you see on TV, is a couple exits from us. We live off of the 118 Freeway. The range you see in the pictures are the Santa Susana range they are speaking of. There are about 20 helicopters above our house. If you walk outside, it is really hard to breathe. I have loaded the truck up with necessities right now but I am going to try to get as much stuff in it God forbid they can't get it under control. Boy, I love California.