Doing some blog CPR!

So it's only been about 10 months since my last post and I don't even have an excuse. No new baby, no full time job, no reason at all not to be blogging my heart away. So my pre New Years resolution for 2012 will be to get back in the blogging world :)



The most eventful part of summer was the boys 4th birthday. That's right the big 4! I'm so proud of the young men they are becoming! I did have a slight anxiety attack when I went into Target this past spring and realized that I couldn't buy anything in the baby section. No sippy cups, no clothes (too babyish for the most part), and way past the diaper stage! Where does the time go??? They are really into being independent as well. They get dressed by themselves, pour their own milk, and even get their own snacks if I'm busy.


We have been living in Las Vegas since January and are feeling like this is home. I was excited for the move and then spent the first 6 months here missing all our friends :( My boys had made some great friends in the SLO area and we missed everyone terribly. I think I went home about once a month for the first 6 months. I'm sure it didn't help that we are renting an apartment too. The apartment has been fine but it's just reminder that you don't have a permanent place. We have moved quite a bit since the boys were born and I'm looking forward to putting down some roots now. We are currently house hunting and hope to be all moved in by Christmas. Just in time for Josh to climb on the roof and hang Christmas lights :)



The boys started preschool at the YMCA this fall. They go M, W, and Fri from 9-12. They have made some good friends at school and even went to a birthday party for one of their classmates last weekend. They have 2 other boys that they are best buds with and we get together once a week now. (4) four year boys running crazy together makes me happy I only have (2) four year old boys :)



This past June we headed to Legoland, the San Diego Zoo, and the San Diego Wild Animal park to celebrate the boys 4th birthday. SO MUCH FUN is all I can say! The boys were able to do almost all the rides at Legoland and liked the fast roller coasters the best. The zoo and wild animal park were amazing as well. This was our first major amusement park trip and the boys did great. No meltdowns, just lots of smiles and laughing.

Happy New Year!!

So I just checked and my last post was April. WOW!! I will try and catch you up. We moved back from Rochester in December (how I sooo miss it still) and stayed with my mother in law through April. In May we moved back to Atascadero and have been here ever since. The boys started preschool in June at a UMCC in San Luis Obispo (best preschool EVER for those looking for a preschool).They loved going to school and made friends with all of their class and kids in other classes as well. I had originally enrolled them for 9-12 Tues and Thurs thinking that would be plenty but I was wrong. They begged me to let them stay longer most days so I started to let them stay part of the afternoon one day a week. What I loved most about their school were the teachers. They embraced my strong, opinionated Ralph and just loved Blake to pieces! I'm really sad to have to look for a new school for them (we are moving soon, stay tuned):( I went back to work in August part time 3 evenings a week and loved it! It was really like I never left and so good to catch up with all my old friends.



In October Josh and I took a trip to St. George, Utah. We had driven through there on our way to Rochester and always wanted to go back. We had begun saving to buy a new house but even with housing prices being low, it would take several years to save up enough to buy a another house here in CA. We looked at housing in Saint George and found it to be substantially cheaper. On the way back from Saint George we took a detour through North Las Vegas and were pleasantly surprised by the area. Since we still own the candy stores, Josh thought being within a days drive back to California would be important if we relocated. We were fortunate enough that Josh's employer was able to expand their company into Las Vegas as well. I had imagined that we would relocate somewhere around fall 2011 but never this soon! I just had gone back to work and the boys were loving preschool so the timing was not ideal. We started house hunting in Las Vegas and put an offer on a house at the end of October. The house ended up falling through so we are now moving into an apartment this weekend to begin our new house hunt. The last couple months have been a whirlwind!! I had to quit my job at the beginning of November (thought escrow on the new house would close around then) so I have been back home with the boys. We are looking forward to getting out there and getting settled!! I feel like the last month we have just been waiting in limbo so finally getting out there will be good. So happy packing to us again!! The boys have been helping me pack the last couple of days. I have found many suprises in the boxes when I go to tape them up!




So the pictures on this post are from my attempted Christmas card photo shoot. It was a disaster! It was impossible to get both boys to look at the camera and have a nice, pleasant smile! I must admit they are quite funny to me now :)

Is it really October, YIKES!!

Just sitting at my computer and daydreaming about fall in New York. I looooved it!! The leaves changing, crisp nights, and getting ready for Halloween. I'm going to start blogging again after a loooong blogging vacation. I have so much to update everyone on!! But before the blogging begins, I need everyone to send me their email address. I have noticed I'm getting a lot of odd comments on my postings so I have decided to make my blog private. If you can send me your email address that would be awesome. My email is skgpo3@gmail.com. Hope everyone had a good summer and I can't wait to share what we have been up to!

Santa Barbara Zoo

So I must say that having twins has never made me afraid to leave the house. I admit it takes some planning and getting up early on my part, but something about being outside makes me feel energized. So last month, the boys and I took a day trip to the SB Zoo. I really like the SB Zoo. They have a little train that circles the park perimeter, lots of animals, and it's beautifully located next to the beach. We spent the morning checking out animals and then had a picnic lunch. Ralph was very traumatized when a seagull dove down and swiped 1/2 of his PB & J sandwich. He was soooo sad that a bird took his lunch. So sad, that a nice zoo employee offered to replace his lunch for him. I explained that we had brought our lunch and I wouldn't feel right taking a meal from them. After lunch was the train ride and the playground. The zoo has a "fake" grass hill in the playground and the boys had a blast sliding down it on cardboard. I think that was the highlight of the trip! We then fed the goats and sheep and then headed home. What a fun day! Blake

RJ

Goat feeding time! Blake was scared of the goats. He threw all his food through the fence on the ground. Check out that grimace as the goat approaches!!

Changes, Changes, Changes.....

OK, I've returned from my blogging vacation. PS-I have no excuses as to why I haven't made any posts. Just a lot of fun stuff going on! The biggest change is that the boys quit napping in December. We found if they napped they would be up way to late (10 or 11pm) and bedtime was starting to be a battle. They now sleep from about 8:30am-8:30pm. I do miss they midday break but it is much more manageable now that they go to bed early and relatively painlessly. We started potty training the first couple weeks in January.......and it was a success!!!! I still think I'm the one who is mostly potty trained. I watch for the potty dance and don't stray to far from restrooms when we are out. Blake has been dry at night for awhile and Ralph is getting there. We still have occasional accidents but to be done with diapers is quite nice. We have been living in Oceano with my mother in law for about 3 months now. She is very nice and more than accommodating but we should be finding our own place soon. Yippee!! My boys have managed to break several things in her house and misplace about a hundred more. On the plus side we live super close to the beach and a park and go there often. I was bummed to leave New York but being able to play outside year round is sure nice. I have lots of pictures and blogging to catch up on so hope I can stick with it!!

So I was bribing the boys with M&M's during the first few days of potty training. RJ found the mother load and helped himself when I left the room. Hmmm, wonder how many he shoved in his mouth before I busted him???

Christmas Recap

Leaving cookies for Santa

OK, back to blogging! Christmas was amazing. The boys got the whole Santa Claus thing and would say to each other "You better (share, be kind, etc) or Santa is going to put you on the naughty list and you won't get any presents". Eventually the one misbehaving would say "I don't like presents". The boys got lots of new toys which is really good since we sold almost everything prior to moving back. The train table, Handy Manny Tool Workshop and police/fire rescue station now occupy a good portion of the living room. They loved waking up to a house full of goodies. Ralph woke up the day after Christmas and said "I'm ready to open more presents". Oops, guess we forgot to explain it's only once a year! We are deep in the trenches of potty training. They wear regular underpants now but still occasionally have accidents. Their reward for potty training was they get to go to school so we now attend a parent participation program one day a week. They get to do art projects, circle time and play with other kids so they think "school"is really fun. I can't believe they are growing up so fast. I'm slightly sad they are out of the baby phase but more excited about all the stuff they get to do as big kids now. Here are some Xmas pictures to enjoy.

Playing with the new toys and Christmas morning family photo

We made it!!

We arrived back to California on Saturday. We are happy to spend the holidays close to our friends and family. The boys were great on the long trip. We found a hotel with an indoor heated pool almost every night and they loved it. They are becoming quite the little tadpoles. I will have some new pictures next post but to tired to post them tonight. Happy Holiday to everyone!!