florida in november

the day after halloween we woke the kids up at 4:30 and hopped on a plane to marco island florida for one of vere's conferences.

 

but it was worth it for the beautiful white sunny beach!

our balcony lead stright down to the beach

 

hanging out in our backyard ;)

 

 

stella was having the best time. it was super windy this day and she was loving it!

 

collecting shells

 

then cole decided to take a swim

 

happy halloween!

we had a super fun halloween! i actually got the kids into their costumes a few times! here are some pics...

our playgroup's halloween party

 

stella not getting in the pic

 

can i just say that i NEVER gave cole a lollipop at stella's age. this girl is gonna get away with murder...

cole's halloween parade at school

cole's class

cole with his buddy aj - they were having a very funny conversation which consisted of a lot of yelling and funny faces



trick or treating time!

my pumpkins :)



vere's pumpkin!

october fun!

we've been having a lot of fun at the pumpkin patches and halloween stuff this month. this is the first year that we've really been able to enjoy the fun that october has to offer. cole has always been pretty cautious when it comes to going on rides but he's really coming out of his shell now. and stella has no fear - she'll do anything.

i took stella to the del mar pumpkin station to meet up with her little friend ava. she is seriously fearless! she loved this swing. there was no one there that morning so the guy running the ride let her stay on until i told him to stop. she was on there forever!

 

then we went to another pumpkin patch in san marcos...

big slide!

this is the first ride that cole has ever gone on by himself! 3 and a half...finally! stella beat him by about a week ;)

there were only rides for big kids at this pumpkin patch so while cole rode the rides, stella cruised the pumpkins eating snacks.

gourds!



i guess she can't read yet...

we went to brick or treat at legoland and made it to the fireworks at 9pm!...barely...

frozen yogurt break!

today we went back to the del mar pumpkin station. we met up with cole's friend from school, aj...

cole and aj going down the big slide!

cole is usually scared of animals but today he wasn't!

 

best swing in the world! they get to go fast and i don't have to push :)

cole and aj on the train

 

i still can't believe he went on this one cuz it went so fast!

 

they were so cute and having so much fun on this ride together :)

 

 

a preview of their halloween costumes cuz i might not ever get them on these kids again...

 

stella the dragon

cole the knight

cole and stella... 10 months later :)

so cole and stella are a little older now ;) cole is almost 3 1/2 and stella is 18 months. a lot has been going on in the last 10 months or so...
 
cole is potty trained now (since june) and started preschool at the end of august and loves it. i thought he might have a hard time adjusting to a new room, new teachers, and new kids - but it turns out that he adapts pretty easily when he's having fun. he did 3 weeks of soccer camp during the summer through his school and just started their fall camp a couple weeks ago. 


cole painting on first day of school

hanging out in his new big classroom with new friends. for the first couple of weeks he kept telling me his classroom was too big since it's probably 3-4 times bigger than his toddler classroom.

we've been doing lots of fun stuff while he's not at school....the life of a 3 year old...




cole at legoland

cole with tutu being an "egg" at the hardrock cafe in hollywood. tutu took us to see cole's first movie in a theater - planes! 



backyard fun with stella

museum of making music - playing an electric guitar - those things are heavy! 

...a ukulele

... and the drums!

stella is turning out to be one tough cookie with the contant beating she gets from cole. she's been walking since 10 months and has been on the go ever since. she's also my little climber. at 15 months she started pulling the bathroom drawers out and using them as stairs. and last night she was jumping from the ottomon to the rocking chair over and over again before bedtime!! she is definitely the little dare devil. she's also the good eater and will eat almost anything in front of her... including paper, sand, dirt, plants, crayons, lint...anything and everything! she's finally started talking the last month or two and has several words in her vocabulary: mama, dada, bubbles!, thank you, more, paw patrol (latest nick jr show). she does talk a lot, we just don't understand what she's saying :)

some recent pics of stella...

on the train at the carlsbad outlets



backyard balloon fun

cooking!

having a serious phone conversation

after a yummy mud snack

Cole - 2 years and 9 months

cole is definitely turning into a little rascal. he is constantly beating up on stella. whether it's hitting her on the head, sitting on her, throwing toys at her, or swiping her feet out from underneath her, he never misses an opportunity. but then when asked if he loves stella, he'll smile and say "yes." he does the same with us of course. he can be so sweet and say "mommy i love you, can i get a hug?' then smack me upside my head as he walks away. he's still stripping down to his diaper whenever he feels like it and is consistently loud all of the time. he has certainly been a challenge :)

lately cole has taken to negotiating. one night i got his bath ready and was asking him to come upstairs to take his bath...

cole: MOM! (not mommy) - FOUR MINUTES!
me: four minutes?... two.
cole: ok!

and it's pretty much happened every night since and anytime he wants a little extra playtime. seriously, negotiating with a two year old? i was not expecting that.

here's what cole has been up to...

playing on the ipads with lucy and hugh

zoomars petting zoo - having a picnic with his animal friends. cole has been really into having picnics ever since stella got a picnic set for christmas from auntie kc and fam - one of cole's favorite gifts!

pump it up! cole going down the big slide! it's not that clear but he went up and down all by himself!

 

more pump it up fun!

 safari park - playing the african drums!



more safari park fun!

 

angeley's bday party at kidding around (with emma and zylia)

he still likes lining up cars...

rainy day fun...

...which started off like this.

cole and stella could honestly not be more different. it's so crazy how from the very beginning they each had their own personalities. here are some of their differences...

1. stella has been an amazing sleeper from day one, cole has been a terrible sleeper from day one. in fact he has been waking up in the middle of the night and sleeping the rest of the night in our bed since thanksgiving!
2. i didn't even know when cole was teething, he would just have a new tooth one day. stella on the other hand had a very hard time with her one little tooth.
3. cole has always been a picky eater - no meat, no cheese, no veggies - the kid lives off of snacks! up until recently, stella ate anything i gave her. i think she's probably had more meat than cole has in his entire life!
4. stella is a drooler - i'm sure you've noticed but she is always wearing a bib for this very reason. cole hardly drooled but he spit up a lot.
5. cole is very dramatic and loud. stella sort of just sits back and observes. so far at least, although she is starting to learn a thing or two from her big brother. 
6. i could probably go on and on but one thing they do have in common - they both love to dance!!...