Pumpkins Everywhere

With fall comes one of my favorite things.  Pumpkins.  

I love all things pumpkin.  Pumpkin muffins.  Pumpkin pie.  Pumpkin french toast.  If I drank coffee, I would be one of the pumpkin spice late girls they talk about all over the internet.  (though I make my own pumpkin steamer with this go to recipe for pumpkin syrup)

It looks like my little pumpkin inherited my love of pumpkin.  He was all over these pumpkin pancakes.(cutest plates ever right?  Target.)  Every time he sees one, he begs for it.  So of course we had to decorate them this year.

Because Bryan is still too young for carving, we opted for markers and this 30 cent sticker kit from last years after Halloween sale.(again. Target...No.  They don't pay me. They should though)

It is getting fun around here with him more willing to craft and color with me.  Now I just need to finish organizing and unpacking a craft section.

Now off to bake a giant pumpkin.

Bryan's Adjustment to the Move

You know when you are feeling great all day, then you sneeze  and suddenly your nose becomes a faucet?  Yeah, me too.

Other than that, today was great. We went to the park and made some new friends, then came home to some exciting mail from a friend of mine.

When we moved the last time,  I wasn't even pregnant with Bryan, so I am really impressed with how he has been adjusting to his first move.  

The first week my younger brother was with us, which I think helped him.  After that, he was still his happy self, but asked to go home a lot.  He would also ask for our family up north.  Actually, that week after my brother left, Bryan was constantly asking for either him, or my nephew, which was seriously cute.  

Now, he has all this toys unpacked and we have explored a bit, I think he knows that we are home.  Though, he still asks for our family.  The truth is, I feel the same way.

The nice thing is, if he really wants someone, all we have to do is dial the phone or send a quick "Skype me" text.  When my sister lived in Texas, we talked on the phone a LOT, so he used to associate the phone with just her.  Now, when I grab my phone he will switch it up and ask for any one.  He even handed me the phone one morning and asked for Grandma.  A few weeks ago Grandma was the one word he would refuse to say. (he loved the "say anything except grandma" game.)

I got a LOT of pictures of him running...

He is also loving Nursery at church...without me.  (I've been a Nursery teacher since before he was born)

Another new thing is he spends a lot of time playing in his room. Our house isn't huge, but the bedrooms are a lot bigger than our last house which means All of Bryan's toys can stay in his room, and still give him plenty of room to make a mess play.  I like it because, for the most part, he keeps all the toys in his room.

see.

Zuko was happy with all the attention he got at the park today.

  I'm so grateful that this move has gone this easy on my little man.  It was something that we have been a little worried about, but I'm so happy that he seems to like it as much as I do.

By The Way, We Moved

I know it's been a while, but If you recall my last couple of posts, I had mentioned some things about being busy and big changes.  Well after months of packing and cleaning and running around like a crazy person, I can officially say WE MOVED!

I was talking to a friend the other day and it was brought to my attention that we still haven't really mentioned it to anyone, so there it is.  At first we weren't telling people because we wanted to be sure.  Then I think we just got busy.

Last time, the move was a whole 15 minutes away.  This time? 6 hours.  I like to say we moved to Disneyland. Seriously.  My poor husband is probably sick of hearing it.

Moving day #1: nap time.

It really has been a long couple of months.  We started working on it at the end of April, cleaning and putting our house up for sale.  Luis moved down in May to start his new job, while Bryan and I stayed back to watch over the house until it sold.  That took a little longer than planned but we were finally able to get out of there mid August.
Waiting for the house to close was hard on our little family.  My hard working husband had already started work so we only saw him on the weekend.  Even then, Sundays were cut short because he had to drive back.
Since we still didn't have a place to stay here, we ended up putting everything into storage. B and I spent 3 awesome weeks with different members of my family.  It was both good and bad.  Good because I needed to stock up on family time since we won't be seeing them as much.  Bad because it got us used to seeing them even more so now I feel like we miss them more. (Though it is amazing to be able to see my husband every day.)

The box room at our new house

About a month ago, we were lucky enough to find a great place. When I came out to check out our housing options, after looking at everything all I could think of was, "this is it."  I love our new house.  It has it's share of problems, but it just feels like home.  Though that could be because our family is whole again.

We still have a lot of unpacking, I miss my family like crazy, and I am almost always lost out here.

But we are on a new adventure, I'm making new friends, and as always, Disneyland!

Also, when you have an amazing view in your back yard like this:

It's hard not to be excited.

Lost Pictures From Arizona

The past couple months have been crazy.  So much crazy that the couple of times I have come to write a blog post, I remember, that I forgot, that I don't have any data cords available, and my mini SD card adapter is also not around(though I know exactly where they are.)  So you are deprived of all of the cute pictures I've been taking on my phone.  (though you can see them if you go over to my IG: lhhuerta )

So, I bring to you last year's lost pictures of Arizona.

Feeding the koi fish at the Japanese Friendship garden

It was so hot in Arizona.  Which makes you wonder, WHY AM I WEARING PANTS AND BOOTS?!

Let me tell you about Arizona.  It doesn't get what fall weather is supposed to be like.  When we left California, it wasn't freezing, but it was definitely getting cold.  So I dressed/packed accordingly.  It was such a short trip (we were there for a day an a half)  So I didn't feel more than my boots and slippers were necessary.  (though we were over prepared with Bryan who had multiple pairs of pants shorts and pajamas)

When we got to our hotel and opened the car door, I immediately regretted my wardrobe decisions. Moral of the story:  Remember to dress properly when visiting a furnace.

The real reason for our super quick weekend trip:

Bryan's Abuelo!  Abuelo lives down south...like really down south.  So when we heard he was going to be working in Arizona for the week, we packed up the car and left when Daddy got home from work.  It was so fun meeting my Father-in-Law.  Bryan, of course, took to him Immediately.  He loved playing with him and showing off all his cool dance moves.  (I think...this was a year ago)
We got to visit his work and he let us check out an airplane.  Bryan could have sat in the pilots seat all day.

What I don't have any pictures is our visit with Taush.O and her sweet little family.  Mostly because it was dark out when we met up with them at a party they invited us to.  But let me tell you, there were some adorable little hugs and baby kisses shared between Bryan and her little cutie.

Even though the trip was short (we got there middle of the day Friday, left Saturday night)  I am so grateful that we were able to go.  Having family so far away can be tough, which makes it a no brainer when the opportunity arrives to see them.

Shaving Cream Fun

Here is another messy activity to do with your little ones.  Not going to lie, I had a lot of fun with it too.

I always remember in the 4th grade, every now and then, our teacher would let us take practice tests by spraying shaving cream on our desks and having us write the words in it.  That was the coolest thing for us, so of course I HAD to try it with Bryan.

Even after I added some color, Bryan still wasn't too sure about it.  Add a car into the mix, and my anti mess boy warmed up to it pretty quickly.

Of course, shortly after this picture was taken, he decided to run around and climb up on chairs and fling it EVERYWHERE.  So here are my tips for this one.

• If you are going to add color, use some sort of bath paint/super washable paint.  We use Crayola bath paint from the dollar spot in target.
• We add cars, but really, any toy that is easily washed, is great. Leave it up to the kid.
• Play in the bathtub. It contained the mess, making clean up a breeze.  More time to play.

This is one of those easy things that we do when we are bored had haven't planned anything fun for the day.  You don't need all the extra stuff, just a can of shaving cream,  or even a tub of whipped cream if you are worried about your little one eating it.

What are your favorite, simple, out of the box activities with your kids?

Why I'm Here, Instead of Sleeping

mommy/son date

 Who would have thought that moving the crib out of our room would restart our sleeping problems?  Oh well, so here I am sitting on the floor of Bryan's room, typing away until he goes back to sleep.

yes that is a huge hunk of pork

 But after that, I am totally going to...not sleep.

I have a time sensitive to do list about a mile long.  We are dealing with some big changes in the next couple months.  Changes that require us to deep clean and de-clutter...by Friday.  Oh and I also have 3 dozen cookies and a cake to have done by Friday night.  Then there is the fact that I'm babysitting early in the morning.  It is Wednesday night. 

What have I done?!

 I am trying to be the little Lisa who could.  Managing my tasks wisely, like cleaning while cake is in the oven, decorating cookies while babysitting, and blogging while this stinky bum wont sleep.

And then begging my sisters to come help at the last minute.

I don't...I don't even know

For now, I will just sit and listen to all my old music(just found my iPod nano.) and try not to fall asleep while the floor looks more and more comfortable. 

Bye bye now

Bryan's 2nd birthday

Just a quick check in to show some cute pictures of my 2 year old.

This year went a lot better than last year, as far as birthday's go.  We did a shared birthday party with his Uncle for the family on the 12th.

I try hard not to brag, but I am extremely proud of my Horton Hears a Who cake. Complete with a cake pop Clover.  Of course I forgot to take a picture of just the cake, even after my Mom reminded me.  Sometimes there is just no hope for me.

Because Bryan's cousin has some allergies, the only part of the cake he could eat were the cake pops and the fondant.  So I let him have some of those little dots.  Then him and Bryan went to town pulling all the dots off.

Gift time brought some ninja turtle stuff, and stuff to beat up Mommy with.  Thank you Auntie.

The next day, we had even more birthday fun.

One of his Aunts came over early to help me with a balloon avalanche.

I sat in the room with Bryan, while my sister taped streamers trapping balloons to the door.  He loved when they all fell down on us.  Then he sat and threw balloons around my room for 10 minutes.

After that, we had some friends over for a cookie party.

Decorating cookies was a big hit.  Especially for us moms.  Did I mention I make awesome buttercream?

Some quick decorating tips:

• for Black icing,  throw in some coco powder before adding your food coloring.  No more icky flavor.
• rubber bands are a great way to keep icing from flowing out the top.  Perfect for decorating with kids.
• Batch of sugar cookies too big? Freeze those puppies.

Mmmmm

We seriously had an awesome time.  

It is hard to believe that this sweet boy is 2 already.  Sometimes, I just wish I could freeze time, but with each new day, brings new things to learn and experience.  I am so grateful to have this time to watch both of us grow.