Happy Halloween

Our little ladybug

Showing off her favorite treat from trick-or-treating

Our little pumpkin (not really getting into the spirit of Halloween!)

Nap Time

Nap time has become a treasure trove of Kodak moments. I thought I'd share my favorite two:

Aren't they so cute together?!

Beach Day with Grandma

My mom came out to visit a few days after A2 was born, allegedly to help me recover from labor, but really so that we could play. And play we did!

This being California, we had to initiate A2 to the beach within the first week after birth. Thus A2's first trip to the beach:

As you can see, the beach didn't make much of an impression on him. But A1 had a great time, building sand castles with Grandma, while Daddy built irrigated moats out to the ocean:

We loved having my mom come visit and want to share more experiences like this with others of our family and friends. I invite one and all to come visit.

Accidentally Learning How to Write

Since A1 started attending nursery in our new ward, her favorite things to do are color and sing songs. We sing songs everywhere we go and, of course, we have to do the actions. She knows all the actions to "Popcorn Popping" and "The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock." We're working on the actions to "Book of Mormon Stories." I'm having a hard time remembering the "nursery songs that every kid should know" - can you help me remember some good ones to teach my kids?

In a related story, A1 begs to color everyday. It's the only way I was able to watch General Conference earlier this month (she colored so I could watch). She also likes to pretend that she is writing people's names (particularly family members) and other known words. The other day she was pretending to write letters of the alphabet in a notebook we gave her, when suddenly she proudly shouted, "M!"

A1 proudly shows off her coloring

What letter does this look like to you?

Now I know she does not actually know how to write and that this was some random coincidence in writing. But how amazing is A1 for recognizing her own scribbling to interpret it as M?

It's a Boy!

We had a new addition to our family early (VERY early) Saturday morning, and it's a boy. ACJ (to be known hereafter as A2) was born at 12:31 am and was about half a pound bigger than A (to be known hereafter as A1) and nearly 2 inches longer. Labor went well for me - I only had to push for less than 5 minutes this time! The OB staff was very impressed by how quickly everything went, and the nursing staff was delighted by how quickly I recovered. We were able to come home late last night.

Mom and A2

Dad and A2

A1 and A2

A1 has completely fallen in love with her little brother. She is very gentle around him and loves picking out which clothes he should wear. So far the transition to big sister has been going well for her. R is back on call, but we hope to spend some quality time with him next weekend. I'm recovering well.

We wouldn't have been able to do all this without the help of my sister and her fiance, who came out to stay with A1 while R and I were in the hospital. Thank you so much, Erin and Ryan!

As we make our way to the hospital...

I thought I would share some beautiful pictures of A with her "baby brother."

We have a wonderful friend here in LA that does photography as a hobby. She took some pictures of A with my big belly last week that are just adorable. I thought you might like to see them as well.

And so we are off to the hospital to have this next little one. Check back in a couple of days for an update.