October 2016

What an action packed, fun month this was!

We started the month with the St. Bonaventure Fall Festival, just up the street from our house.  This was the first year that we went and we will definitely go back!

Garret, Robert and I went to Oktoberfest at St. Ireanus Church.

For Robert's birthday I had surprised him with tickets to the Raiders/Chiefs game in Oakland.  My parents watched the girls and we flew up Saturday morning and spent the day and night with the Fontana family; it's been WAY too long since we caught up with them and so so great to be able to see them, even if for just a short amount of time.

Sunday morning we got up and drove into Oakland for the game and spent the night in San Francisco and flew home Monday morning. The game was amazing, even though it rained before (and we couldn't tailgate) and during part of the game.  At least it wasn't a hard rain and it stopped around halftime; it almost made for a better experience!

The girls had a great time with Nana and Papa while we were gone but I know they were happy to see us....both the girls AND my parents!

Shortly after we got back from Oakland (two days later!) Robert left for a boys trip to Green Bay for the Packers/Bears game.  He said it was an AMAZING time and we should both definitely go back.  This is the first time he has done a guys trip (other than a bachelor party, and it's still been a while since he went to one of those!) and I think he really enjoyed it. It's always nice to get away and let loose with your friends. Before we could really miss him, though, he was back!  Also, when he returned home he switched from Th/Fr/Sa day shift to Mo/Tu/We night shift; it will take us a couple weeks to get into the new routine but we are SO happy to have him back for the whole weekend!

While I wanted to squeeze in the apple orchard this year I settled for the pumpkin patch and the girls had a blast.  They each chose three rides and Mila got her first ever full face paint...and loved it! Until she started crying over something 10min later and all the paint started running down her face...

We ended the month with Trunk or Treat at Mila's preschool...

and Halloween.  Out of the 20 or so costumes that Costco had Mila picked Iron Man a couple months ago all on her own.  I was surprised with her choice because we haven't ever watched/played with superheroes (and I don't even really know who Iron Man is!) but she was adament that what she wanted to be.  At one point a little boy was over here and saw the costume and said "Oh you're going to be Iron Man? Or I guess it would be Iron Girl." And she shot right back, "No! It's Iron Man! And I know he's a boy but I don't care that's what I want to be!"  We are doing something right, turning her into a confident little woman who knows what she wants <3

Mila is as busy as ever and started fall soccer again.  She absolutely loves it, although she spent just as much time twirling her hair and rolling around on the ground as she did chasing the ball but she had a good time.

She visited Tanaka Farms with her preschool and got to pick lots of vegetables (green onions and radishes) and even got to pick a pumpkin to bring home.

Mila loves going to school, not only to see her friends, but also to learn.  I have printed out/bought activity sheets and at least once a day she asks to do "her homework;" it's adorable.  She told me in the car the other day that they were learning about bats and how they were nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and stay up at night.  Then it was like a lightbulb clicked and she said, "just like daddy! Daddy is nocturnal!"

She is still a very sensitive, loving daughter and friend but we are teetering on a new attitude change.  She has more of "a tone" lately and says things like "whatever" and sort of rolls her eyes.  Even still, though, it's only a matter of minutes after these incidents when she will come up to you with a hug and say, "I'm sorry for being mean to you."

Nellie is changing right before our eyes and we are trying to soak it all in!  She is still as independent as ever, gives you the meanest little glare but then runs over with a big hug and giggle.

She is still spending two days a week with Kerry and, now that Siena is walking and interacting more, she loves going over there to play and interact with her. It's cute seeing them play together.

She is on the cusp of a word explosion and has started communicating more.  We recently taught her the sign for help to use when she was starting to get frustrated but that only last a matter of days before she started saying "help" instead of signing it.  She has started parroting anything you say to her and you can actually understand what it sounds like she is saying. She's always had stories to tell and I know we are going to be able to hear (and finally understand!) them in just a couple more months.

Now starts the crazy time of the year where everything flies by!  Bring on the holiday season!

September 2016

This might be the month that I look back and say my little girl grew up; although I suspect I will think this same thing like a million more times over the next 14 years.

Mila started her third year of preschool this year and absolutely loves school.  She is doing so well and learns so much, not only from the teachers but also from the other kids (both good and bad...but mostly good).

She is becoming more adventurous and even tried sushi recently and, ever so polite, kept it in her mouth until someone told her that she could spit it out.

It seems Nellie has changed quite a bit this month as well and is giving out many more hugs.  She has started saying "G" for Uncle G and won't stop blabbering but you can't understand a word that she is saying other than "Where'd daddy go?" and "Where is it?"  She has started nodding "yes" and I think she knows that "yes" gets her more than "no" does because she is doing it all of the time.

She is still doing great at Kerry's house and is starting to play with Siena, now that she is a little older (10mo) and almost walking.

She has surprised me with how in tune with her body she is in that she knows when she has gone poop and when she needs (I think) to go pee pee.  Sometimes we will find her in the bathroom, screaming for us, and she wants to go through the motions of sitting on the potty, wiping and flushing the toilet.  Therefore, I thought it would be a good time to potty train her.  This lasted about 45min because every time, EVERY time, I took her in the bathroom she would scream "No! No! NO!"  So that was very short lived....guess we will try again later.

The girls have started playing better together and are both continuing to play using their imaginations more.  It's so cute to not only see them playing together but to also see them making up stories and playing lots of "house."

We celebrated our 5th anniversary on Labor Day and spent the day together down near the beach.

A couple months ago Mila called Aunt Sissy and invited her to her birthday party, even though at that time, there wasn't even a party yet.  A couple weeks later Sissy called to say that she and William were flying out to California because she couldn't miss her oldest niece's 4th birthday!

Unfortunately right before they got here Mila came down with something and had thrown up a couple times and not gone to school.  She seemed fine Friday night when Sissy and William got here but on Saturday morning she woke up and was just feeling terrible.

We spent the day at home watching movies and before long she was feeling like her normal self again.

While they were here Robert and I got the biggest surprise from my sister one night when she asked Robert and I to be William's Godparents!!! What a great promotion this was!  We are so excited for the future and what this new title brings.  He's the little boy we never had :)

Mila was spoiled rotten on her birthday by not only her parents, but also her grandparents, aunt, uncles and friends.

Sadly, the weekend flew by in a flash and before we knew it Sissy and William had to get on a plane back home to Uncle Bret.  While it's a great feeling that we already have our next trip to see them booked, it IS a little sad it's six months away. As we know, though, time will definitely fly by!

When Mila went to school on Tuesday (and had another celebration) one of her teachers asked her, "Mila, when did you turn four?"  And, with all seriousness, she said, "After I turned three."  That's my girl <3

Just a few days after Mila's birthday we celebrated Robert's birthday as well.  Mila was almost as excited to celebrate his birthday as much as hers because there was treats involved.  The girls and I went to the bakery and Mila picked out his birthday treat and we went home to wait for him to get off work.  We all sang him happy birthday (included Nellie!), had our treats and opened cards and presents.

It was another great month.