We enjoy the sunshine and beach year round.

We have great parks, storytimes and an awesome zoo.

The hardest part has been missing living near family and enjoying the many friendships we shared in San Jose.

New friends is something we’ve been praying for over the past year and I’m so happy and blessed that God has brought some fun friends into ourlives during this new year.

Storytime @ SB library. We made Cats. Ainsley named hers “Belle” Emmie named hers “Daddy”

it was a beautiful afternoon at the Beach!

Special treat for good listeners

we made edible peanutbuttter playdough too!

During the first few weeks after the girls began crawling, it was relatively easy to build a barricade that kept them in and out of places. However, now they are much to strong and smart to be fooled by such things, they either go through it or over it, so we invested in the Ultimate Baby Jail. So far it has been great. It allows them freedom to roam around, make a mess, and I don’t have to worry if they are into something they shouldn’t be or if they’re attempting to climb into the fireplace. Now if only I could keep them from pulling each other’s hair and using the other as a stepping stool.

It’s been a long month recovering from colds, stuffy noses and ear infections, but I’m happy to report everyone is finally on the mend. The past few weeks have been full of some exciting times. Both girls are beginning to crawl. Emberlyn has her army crawl down pat and apparently has many places she needs to be ASAP. That girl is FAST. She is also mischievous and is only interested in the things that are a. Not baby proofed and b. Dangerous. But if you’ve ever spent ten minutes with Emmie, that should not surprise you. She finds just about everything hilarious and will always take a brief pause from her very busy life to pose for a picture.

Ainsley is also exploring the world from all fours. However she is content to inspect one location or object for more than .005 seconds, unlike her counterpart. She is a Mommas girl and does not appreciate it when I vanish into thin air (a.k.a. leave the room.) She enjoys being held and would rather I not have any other objectives in life. She is not as generous with her smiles or laughs, but when they make an appearance, they melt your heart.

Both girls are very chatty. Emberlyn is often heard squealing with excitement at the sight of the cat or dog and sings a little song to herself as she falls asleep. Ainsley loves to be part of the conversation and interjects with “EEaahh?? Eaaaahh!!” It’s quite cute.

Cheerios are a new obsession. I came home from a workout the other morning and was greeted by Mike asking if you could either overdose on cheerios or be sent into some kind of Cheerio comatose.

So all is well here. We look forward to the first Christmas. Although it is guaranteed that the boxes and wrapping paper will be a far bigger hit than whatever is hidden inside.

I look forward to the New Year and cannot even begin to imagine the fun and excitement that lies ahead. Each new day is truly a treasure.

* Update- Very Little Sleep from 9:00pm to 2:30am. She then slept from 2:30 till 6:30am (7:30 am without accounting for the time change.) That’s a new record of 5 hours!! Way to go Emmie!!

I’m going to post an entry everyday of November! (better late than never: )

Today I took the girls to the park to meet up with some of our friends in our twin group. We were the youngest of the four sets ( the others were around 9 months) I could see the girls being inspired to crawl as they watched the other kids roam from blanket to blanket. This is a milestone I’m not quite sure how I feel about yet. With each one they’ve reached so far it’s only enhanced our relationship, the first smile, first laugh, rolling over. But CRAWLING!! YIKES!!! I’m excited for them to be able to explore the world in a new way, to be able to get to things they want to see. However, this will mean that when I put them down and walk away, they will not necessarily be there when I return! It means baby proofing and worrying if there are choking hazards. I suppose it also means one step closer to Toddler-hood, which I can not wait for! Do you have any idea how fun it will be to watch these two little beings grow into little people with thoughts and dreams and questions.. oh no so many questions to come.. the “whys” times two!

Sidenote: Emmie’s first tooth popped up yesterday!