Whewww...

It's been a whirlwind lately.

Here are a bunch of pictures to fill you in on our lives lately.

Aubrey's party started off the busy season (finally I post some pictures):

Then it was time for "The Best In The West" Kern County Fair!

We had to go early because Justin was out of town for the ENTIRE WEEK last week :( Man, I don't know how single parents do it! Anyways, we went with Justin's parents and Aubrey had a blast. The corn on the cob and animals were her favorite...especially the elephant and pony ride!

Last week we went again with Papa CC, Jed, Christy, Brogan and Reagan. We rode the elephant again, but Christy has that picture.

It hasn't been all business. Aubrey has also been enjoying her toys at home. She's into dress up and loves when she and her baby "Emily" wear their matching outfits.
My days have been BUSY we these three cuties.

Big shoes to fill!

And although I love them dearly, sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in the needs of children! I'm sure there are some of you out there who can relate. :)

Today was a good day! All the kids were in decent moods, I got to have coffee with friends (so refreshing), I was able to clean up and cook while the big kids napped, and my dad came to town. (He's only here for a few days) He brought the whole fam. and drove my grandpa and his sister (Aunt Norma) down from Washington and Oregon to visit. They all came over for dinner and it was so great to get to spend time with them. It's been just over a year since my grandma passed away, so I think my grandpa gets lonely. I think he is enjoying his visit to California! (pictures of the visit to come)

For Daddy

Justin's in shock that I haven't updated this thing because I have a ton of pictures I need to post on here, but no time to do it...you know with all the resizing, organizing, etc. So here's a cute one Grandma Kim sent me of Aubrey in her big girl bed at Grandma's house.

She's FINALLY learning how to cheese it for the camera!

More to come of her party, the fair and anything else I've got on the camera :)

Great Minds....

Have you heard the news?

Such great news! Of course it would be great news either way, but I think all parents secretly want one of each. And I not-so-secretly wanted them to have a girl. Probably because I love having a girl so much and I KNOW that Megan will too.

With this news though, I feel the need to share a little story. You see, a couple of weeks ago as Megan was driving down for a visit, I was posting this blog. Why that timing? I'm not sure. The whole name conversation had happened a week or so before this blog. This just happened to be a quiet morning where I was able to sit and actually post. So alas, I revealed our perfect girl's name. And later that day I kind of regretted it.

Megan, Misha and I met at the Marketplace, and as we were walking to get some lunch the name conversation came up. Of course, Megan had not been able to read the blog I had JUST written. Anyways, she's telling us the top contenders for her boy names and then she says that one girl name they really loved was CLAIRE! LOL! Great minds really do think alike!

Here's where the regret came in. I felt so guilty that I had JUST posted that blog. I wasn't even pregnant...I couldn't choose a name! (***enter my ongoing anxiety***) I felt guily, eventhough Megan was so reassuring about how it really didn't matter if we named our kids the same thing and how it would be kind of fun. I really don't think it would matter in the grand scheme of life, but I'm sure my lovely blog burst her "name reveal anticipation" bubble (if that makes any sense). To make matters worse, she was telling me why she loved Claire as a name. It was a name with connections to Scotland, to a dear friend of hers. It seemed just perfect for Baby Mills (who I was sure was a girl). I felt bad...still do.

The rest of my children may all be boys, who knows. What I do know is that Megan is HAVING A GIRL! YAY! And I don't want my babbling to put a damper on the naming of her precious little girly gift from God. Be it Claire or Clancy (wasn't that a contender for Sara's babe at one point?) Baby Mills will be a precious little one and I'm sure she'll end up with the perfect name!

"Oh what a beautiful morning..."

Oh what a beautiful day! MID 80's...FINALLY!

I only had Aubrey today, so I really wanted to try to enjoy every minute of the day. I originally intended on going to the Bridge to help with the final clean up, but CC had to work, so I had no one to watch Aubrey. Instead, Aubrey and I took off on the bike at 7:30 this morning. We passed all the school kids, and the crossing guard even helped us across the street :) I bought a butternut squash the other day and decided to make soup and pork chops for dinner. So the grocery store was our first destination.

We parked the bike (my new compact bike-not the old limo :) ) and started things off on the right note with a carousel ride. Then Aubrey was a big helper as she pushed the cart through the store. We got all of the ingredients we needed and we were off to our second destination.

We headed across the street to the Great Harvest Bread Co. to get some fresh bread. Unfortunately, they only had warm morning baked goods, but not the bread I wanted. I'll have to head back there later. (I do however think this would make for a great morning meeting spot with some friends...maybe we could meet on our bikes :) ) We loaded back up and headed to the park for some play time. The air was cool and crisp and it was the perfect way to start our day! Right now I can smell the yummy goodness of butternut squash soup cooking, and I think that will be the perfect way to end our day.

Meanderings of the mind...

My thoughts have been kind of all over the place lately. I think of blogs to write, but can't find the time or inspiration. I feel like I've been going non-stop since the end of summer. I'm lacking time to process everything that's been happening. Basically this was my life for the last 3-4 months: 1. pregnancy=lack of motivation/feeling yucky (I found out on the 3rd day of summer break) 2. Feeling more like myself, some motivation (short lived) 3. Miscarriage 4. Confusion/trying to occupy my time and keep my mind off focusing on the negative 5. School/ babysitting = absolute CRAZINESS and no time to function or process life, for that matter. I've been really anxious lately. I can't pinpoint the exact reason, but it's usually because I want control and have difficulty handing that control over to God. I have one 7th grade class this year in addition to my sixth graders and it sucks having to reinvent the wheel for just one class. I really hate the timing and arrangement of this class, so it gives me anxiety about work. Then I have Brogan, Reagan and Aubrey on my days off and 3 kids is HARD! My life is spent feeding, cleaning, changing, warming bottles...repeat cycle. We usually have one really good hour from about 8:30-9:30 am. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change our arrangement for the world, but my days are BUSY. I'm anxious about how I'll handle it all if I do get pregnant again. I'm also anxious about why my stinkin' period hasn't come yet. Ahhh...I hate anxiety, but I can't seem to escape it lately. I definitely need to spend more time in the Word and less time on this computer. ;)


In the midst of all the insanity, I've also had some really great times with my two closest friends. These girls really know me and love me, as I do them. I feel so blessed that Meg has moved within driving distance and Mish was here to visit for a few days. For the 2nd year in a row, all three of us got together to connect, and it was so refreshing.


My weeks have also been blessed by tons of celebration. All our little ones celebrating growing up together. It's exciting to see these precious babies turn into little people. I love being around family and friends and just feeling comfortable and connected.

Finally, there's all the newness. New house, new car (Oh yeah, did I mention that I'm officially a mom now...I got a mini-van on Saturday), new room, new year of Bible study, new church building, new chapter of an amazing adventure, etc. I love newness, but sometimes it gives me anxiety too. (I'm hoping this anxiety is just a symptom of PMSing)


Some pics to go along with the babbling :)

(We took Aubrey and Christian to Russo's for reading time and we ran into Talia's SIL Jessica and her precious kids. She's such an amazing woman. Sorry if my double chin and pig nose distract from this picture of all four of us. LOL ; ) )

Tonight, as we all got together to celebrate Jacob's return to riding the spine!
How's that for an update?!

Two years ago today...

I fell in love in a way I never knew existed. I had heard about this love, but had no clue until I experienced it. She was perfect and she was ours.

One day old, just hours after we brought her home.

Today, she is two. 2. I'm not sure where the time has gone, but I know I've enjoyed it. I'm excited about the little girl that my baby is becoming. She is strong-willed and opinionated, but she's still a mama's girl. She adores her daddy and gets giddy everyday when he comes home. I love how she's stolen the hearts of everyone in our family and she brings us together.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY AUBREY PAIGE!!
Here's a little video of her playing on her 2nd birthday.

TWO. I still can't believe it.

Blogger isn't cooperating, so maybe I'll post the video later.

The Name Game

When I was pregnant this summer, as most pregnant people tend to do, I became obsessed with names. Finding the perfect name is no easy task, especially as a teacher. There are several names that had to be eliminated based solely on a darling student I've had in the past. Names were a daily discussion that drove my husband nuts. Soon though, I miscarried and you would think I stopped obsessing about names, but alas, I'm a woman and I couldn't. So the obesession continued until one day when we were eating out with my mother-in-law. We were talking names and she mentioned that just the other day she had seen the perfect names for a girl, but she couldn't remember them. I told her that Justin had picked a couple of favorites off of a list I gave him, and I really liked them. When she mentioned Elise, I was shocked and I said that Elise was one of the names. Claire Elise to be exact. She surprisingly told me that Claire was the other one she had heard. So Claire Elise it will be and Reid David for a boy (our boy name for Aubrey). I love both of these names and we're excited to finally have come to an agreement. Now if I would only have a period and could get preggo again!! :)

In my mind this post wasn't really going to be about me finding my perfect names, but rather names in general, so the rambling will continue. :) Knowing how much careful thought and consideration most parents put into naming their child, each year as school starts there are always a few names that surprise me. This element of surprise was probably greatest my first year of teaching. My third period class had a student named Mister in it. Yes, Mister, as in Mr. was his name. One day he told me that "his daddy named him Mister so people be respectin' him". At first it was difficult to say his first name without his last name, but by the end of the year it almost seemed normal. Apparently, his parents did put thought and consideration into his name, their thought process is just different than mine!! Last year I had a student named Special in my 8th period class and this year I have a Manmeet. I know Manmeet is a traditional Indian name, but it's still hard to call a little boy that because I can't help but feel like I'm calling him "man meat". These are just the extreme examples. Along with these very original names, also come the kreativ names. These are always fun on the first day of school. This year I struggled with Kiel (Kyle) and Ruairi (Rory). As a girl who had a name that ALWAYS got a comment, I hope my child has a name that isn't too complicated or too popular.

And while we're on the discussion of names....
The other day someone(my sister or Alisha- I think) was talking about the presidential race and how Obama-Biden had a striking resemblence to another name with a much more negative connotation. And while this election really is a historical occassion, that is an eerie similiarity.

Enough babbling.