Sweet Konks

 She is getting so much personality lately (which is saying a lot because this girl dominates any room she enters) it is so fun to watch!  She definitely likes things done her way but I am figuring out the ways that she needs to be parented and that is helping to ease both of our frustrations (hers and mine).

Her heart is so big and she lives each day to it's fullest.  There is no slow motion with this one.  She gives hugs hard, when she goes some place she is running, when she wants to tell you high she gives you a big ole smack on the bum.

The other day she went to the Commissary with me and she was chatting it up with every person that we came in contact with.  Saying Hi and flashing smiles while she scrunches her nose.  It was a really good trip for both of us that didn't involve any battles of the wills which can happen with her.

On the way home we were listening to a Disney CD and the Mulan song came on "I'll Make A Man Out of You."  Well it is a really robust song and Marcus and I always sing it with flourish to the girls, using hand actions and everything.  Well Bianca started to "sing" the song with me and was singing her arms around like crazy.  I pulled into the driveway and we were busting it out to each other, her mimicking my hand movements and we were laughing and having fun.

Then, mid verse of the song, she just decides that we are done doing that.  Mid hand movement she stops singing and just holds up her hands and tells me "All Done."  It caught me so off guard that I had stopped mid word with my arms in the air and just stared at her.  Then I was busting up about it all day.  That is just so her.  Busting it out at the top of her lungs and then BOOM!  All Done!  It also doubly cracked me up because I was so into doing it with her that when she stopped so abruptly I felt like the loser who stays at the party WAY too long.  Plus she can switch gears SO fast that she was just looking at me like I was a total crazy person for singing along to the song in the first place.  I was dying!   It was such a hilarious moment between the two of us that I still chuckle to myself when I think about it.  

I am so excited for when her speech starts picking up.  Olivia was a late bloomer for talking and it is the same way with Bianca.  She is smart as a whip and knows every thing I say to her, it will be so nice when she can communicate back better.  Plus just all the hilarious things she does without using words, I can only imagine all the new ways she will ham it up when she is talking.

Special Books

 Marcus had a really special afternoon with Olivia last weekend and they had a Daddy daughter date.  They ate ice cream, were offending by some really loud sea lions (Olivia said they were yelling at her), went to the library and got a haircut for Marcus on Post.

At the library Marcus picked out a chapter book to read to Olivia at night.  I really wanted them to get the BFG but it was all out so they got Charlotte's Web instead.  They read one chapter every night and Marcus summarizes where they are at before they start and then summarizes the chapter with her when they finish.  So far they are on chapter 5.  It has been their special thing together.  I had to read one chapter one night because Marcus had a huge test the next day.  It is so sweet to hear them together talking about the book!

Olivia thinks this book is the best treasure she has ever had.  After they are done reading she will flip through and look at the pictures (there are a few illustrations throughout the book).  I take the book off her bed at night and put it on her dresser and without fail every morning she brings it to me and asks me to put it way up high so it will be safe from Bianca's clutches.

It is so fun to get into bigger books like this now that she is older.  I love to read and it is so magical to me and it is so exciting to see the light be ignited in Olivia too!

Her Royal Highness.

 The treasure box of dress up clothes that I got from Costco last year during the Holidays has been one of the best investments I have ever made.  Olivia is a Princess girl.  Totally fancy-fancy through and through.  I love it!  She thinks her life is a Disney musical and she loves to stand on her bed so she can see herself in her dresser mirror and sing songs about whatever she is doing or whatever made up situation she is facing.

 She is so imaginative and turns everything into some kind of Princess or Prince game.  Even the strap that hangs down from the stroller handle bar!  When we are walking she will grab it and pretend it is a princess with long hair (it is a buckle thing so the long hair is the extra strap coming out of the buckle).

Bianca is full of energy and is moving every minute of the day.  I think had she had an older brother she would be rocking the tomboy status, but she adores her older sister so by default she adores the dress up.    Bianca is crazy about the dress up high heels and my day is to the soundtrack of her clackity clacking up and down the halls!

Clean A Thon

This week has been DRAGGING by.  I am so excited for Helen to come and visit!  The weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend but during the week it has been super rainy.  Normally I just get us out of the house a ton and play at the park or whatever but all the parks are drenched so we have just been kicking around the house a lot.

Which is making the time go by EXTRA slow.  So to help keep me busy and make the day go by faster, I have been cleaning my brains out.  I have been having a ton of fun doing it too!  There is something so richly rewarding about sitting down at the end of the day and knowing your house glistening clean!  At this stage the girls play really well together and it frees me up to do a lot of the deep cleaning projects that I like to do.

The first picture Olivia was playing with the camera and taking pictures of me cleaning and also telling her how magical it will be when Helen gets here!  One more sleep and our visitor will arrive!

OMC Baby.

 So shortly after we moved here, the Ord Recreation Center opened up.  It is right down the road from us and we LOVE it!  I have an access code I have to punch in as well as have my thumb scanned to get the door to unlock to go inside.  I feel so fancy every time I put my thumb on the pad to be scanned!

 This is right in the entrance when you get inside.  You walk through the tree to get to the kids play area.  The kids play area is conveniently located right next to the cardio room so you can watch your kids while you run on the treadmill.  So awesome.

 The girls love the tree and the playroom!  Although today we didn't go there to work out, we went there  for the pool!

 It is so perfect.  It is gated so I don't have to worry about the kids running off by the deep pool.  It is heated so the kids never get too cold and it is a pretty decent size for a kids pool.

 With it being the end of summer I was able to score some water toys on clearance at Target for way cheap.  We rock it when we hit up the pool.

 Then when we are all done playing I just throw the swimsuits into this sucker.  Automatic swimsuit dryer!  Don't have to worry about wet suits soaking up my car.  They are super spin dried in less than a minute!

The play room has a TV, DVD player, sound system and a kerbillion Melissa and Doug toys.  Bianca loves to stand up on the bench and make faces at me through the window when I am on the elliptical or treadmill.

Best thing about this whole magically fabulous place.... it costs me ZERO dollars to use it.  Sigh.
Have I mentioned how much I love living here?!
Oh.
I did?
Oh.
Only a kerbillion times already?
Oh.

Tues/Thurs

After I got back from my visit to WA I experienced a lot of change to my ever changing CA life.  I had two gals that I always went running with at least 3-4 times a week.  My Tammi and Cynthia.  Cynthia ended up moving away before I even got back and Tammi moved away within a week of me getting back.   Those girls were my evening therapy, my little team of support and I knew after dinner was done it was time to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement.  It was only 20-30 minutes but it was just what I needed at the end of a long day.  I worked my body and filled my sisterhood cup with our casual conversations.

I felt so sad that I didn't realize that Cynthia was going to be gone before I got back, that I never got to tell her good bye and give her a squeeze.  I got to say good bye to Tammi and it broke my heart.  Tammi was my partner in crime, every day we were either walking, going to the beach, playing at the park, running, bringing food to each other.  This place is like a pressure cooker for building friendships fast and Tammi and I were airtight after just a few days of hanging out.

I really struggled with getting back into my exercise routine after my girls moved away.  Tammi had met Heidi and texted me right away "I met this girl, she is a runner and I think she could be the new me for you."  It totally cracked me up, it's just so Tammi's style to make sure I would be all set for when she left.

When I met Heidi (above picture) I was so pumped!  She is fun, outgoing, athletic and totally willing to run with me.  We have a schedule and we run, rain or shine, every Tues/Thurs.  It is amazing to me how much I learn from her every time that we head out.  She is wicked fast and I know her endurance is way above mine but she always paces with me.  She says words of encouragement to me right when I need them, even if we are in the middle of talking about something that is going on in one or the others lives.  I always leave our runs feeling better about myself and inspired on how to be better in different aspects of my life.  Sometimes we just chit chat when we run, but when something big happens we hash it all out.

We always sprint it out just at the very end and this is going to sound cheesy, but our sprint out at the end is like a perfect metaphor for friendship.  One of us starts to pick up pace and I know that she could waste me if she wanted to.  I am huffing and puffing my brains out during our runs and she is able to keep pretty even paced conversation.  She always meets my pace and maybe pushing a little bit further but never out pacing me.  It pushes me just enough to reach my full potential but it is something that we both accomplish, together.  Even if it gets hard for me at the end and I slow a little she is right there beside me.

It always touches my heart so much.  It might seem like such a little thing to her, or she might not even realize she is doing it because that is just the type of person that she is.  I think about it a lot.  The kind of friend that I want to be.  Supportive and pacing right there beside them.  Helping them when they need a nudge but never leaving them behind.  Staying with them until the end.

I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends back home.  Such examples of love and kindness.  Sister wives who love and support me and finish the race with me, even when it is hard.  I feel double blessed to be able to meet so many special people here as well.  Just when you think your heart is full to bursting, you find you have room for a little more.