Censorship

I'm thinking about starting a second blog.  I feel very censored on this family blog.  There are about 45 readers per day on this blog and many of them I probably haven't met in real life  (who the heck is in Canada?!!?).  I don't feel like this is the place to talk about religion, politics, abortion, race, etc.  I have tons of opinions on all of these things, but I feel like I would open my self up to judgment from my readers.  Instead if I started a blog where the focus is to think (write?) through my thoughts on these matters, then readers may not be so surprised by my opinion.  I don't know...I have enough on my plate as it is.  I also don't want to neglect one blog over the other.   ::shrugs::  We'll see what I decide.

(Sometimes I also forget this a public forum and there are items that are very private.  Personal censorship is important here.  I mean my dad and in-laws read this blog!!  I used to keep a hand-written diary.  Maybe I should start that up again.)

For the record.  Change.  Yes we can.

Survivor

Mondays are always tough days for us.  It is tough to get up and going after a weekend.  Even the kids go through a transition.   It's more like surviving Monday's.  At least this is a short week with my 9/80 Friday off!

Chris met another stay at home dad yesterday out on his walk.  The other dad was impressed that Chris had two kids and a dog compared to his only son.  He thought he was busy with the one but gave kuddos to Chris.  Funny that Cooper and this other baby are about the same age!  Chris didn't get contact info for the guy though...is it weird for a guy to ask another guy for his phone number in order to hang out??  Maybe they'll meet on another walk.

I joined the Empowered program through work.  I get a health coach, set goals, and track my progress.  I am such a goal oriented person, so this program is perfect.  I've made three goals:  Exercise at least 20 min a day, 6 days a week; Find ways to manage my stress; and Eat at least 4 servings of veggies a day.  I'm actually mostly worried about the food part...I've never paid attention to what I eat.  Now that the kids are on solids I worry a lot about if their meals are balanced and if they are getting enough vitamins.  I want to set a good example with my own diet.  I'm excited about having a 'health coach' to keep me disciplined with my new goals.

We found this amazing new trail mix by Archer Farms sold at Target.  They have a pumpkin spice flavor just in time for fall!  It's my favorite flavor...although the Sweet Cajun is also very tasty.  The pumpkin spice flavor reminds me of Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte...so sad that I can't have that!  Cooper is still sensitive to coffee.  This makes me even more sad because the Gingerbread Latte is my favorite and I can't have any.  Bummer.

I am 15 pages from being done with the God Delusion.  It is very well written, a challenging read, and has a lot of very good points.  It's a highly controversial book so I won't say anything more here.  I bought Seed to Harvest by Octavia Butler but realized it's just a compilation of a series that I've already read.  She is my favorite author and I've read nearly all of her stuff.  She passed away in 2006--so sad.  She wrote science fiction/alternate realities and does an amazing job of making it very believable.  I can't get enough of her stuff and re-read several of the books.  I'm dying to read Survivor, which is out of print and very hard to find.  I finally found it on eBay for less than $100!!  I'm so excited for it to arrive!  I can't believe I spent that much on a book, but I've wanted so bad for several years and couldn't find it anywhere for less than even $300.  So really I'm getting a deal.

Not sure what I'll read next...I have the following books to read:  Frontier Wife, the Red Scarf, The World is Flat, The Way the Crow Flies, probably a few others on my shelves that I haven't read and then a few I still want to buy.  All in good time I suppose.

Go vote today!  It matters more than you think.  Someone died for your right to vote.  Seriously, go vote.

And in case you haven't checked I finally dumped all the pictures to the shutterfly sites.   Enjoy.                        

Rubber Ducky You're the One

Now that Cooper is sitting unassisted, we have graduated from the baby/toddler tub to the big bathtub.  We had to take off the shower doors to make our jobs easier giving both kids a bath at the same time.  They really loved being in the bath together.  Splashing, playing, fighting over toys, trying to drown each other.  All very exciting!

Cooper getting ready to hug? Charlotte.

Cooper plays with her hair as she tries to crawl out.

Charlotte stealing the toy from Cooper.  Nothing new here.

Oh, wait, let me smile.  Mommy has the camera.  She is such a ham for the camera. 

Cooper's notorious 'Let me eat you' face.  He thinks everyone is a boob.

Awww, your hand feels amazing on this new tooth.

Charlotte patting Cooper's head.  She does that a lot.  Sometimes she is more gentle than other times.

Let me eat you!  (again)

Charlotte nearly pokes Cooper's eye out as he grabs her by an imaginary shirt and splashes water.  This one is my favorite.

My little inch worm

We woke up to rain today.  It felt like a lazy day.  We got most of the house cleaning done yesterday so that we could relax today.  It is a short weekend since it's not my 9/80 three day weekend.  We worked hard over the last few weeks to change the kids' bedtimes to an hour later so that for daylight savings time today they are back on their normal routines - sleeping 7-7 at night and a nap at 10 and 2.  We are excited to have our evenings back...them going to bed at 8 seems really late!

I think Charlotte is going to walk before we know it.  Cooper is already starting to army crawl, although he admittedly looks more like an inch worm.  My how we miss the days of immobility.

   

Charlotte is now starting to push that toy around and take a couple of steps.  And now she is standing in her crib.  Crazy!

Cooper has his first tooth poking through!  It's his bottom right and he's been gnawing on everything he can put in his mouth.  This also means he is been incredibly cranky and waking up several times at night.  We feel so bad for him!  Teething makes me a little nervous with nursing and all, but if I say 'ouch' loud enough he immediately pulls off.  I've only had to do it a couple times, so hopefully I don't end up with any battle wounds.

Cooper is also eating solids really well.  He still refuses to eat off a spoon and doesn't like anything pureed, but he loves bits of food.  His favorite is bananas!  His little chewing motion is adorable.  Look how cute they are in the high chairs together.  Of course we bought the same high chair because we don't want to hear them fighting over which one they want to sit in when they get older.

Happy Halloween!

This was our first real holiday with kids.  Things sure are different compared to last year!  We had a lot of fun going to the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, taking pictures, and trick or treating.  I think pictures say it best!  (I didn't fix any of the pictures because I really need Photoshop to fix the over-exposure even a little bit.  I tried all of the free programs out there and I just can't achieve what I want...although Photoshop likely won't be able to do much better.)

Cooper eating grandma Jacqueline's Halloween card:

We took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch for pictures.  We didn't actually buy a pumpkin there because they didn't have prices on the pumpkins.  The kids couldn't ride any rides and we were short on time with their nap only being 40 minutes away.  It was fun anyhow.  (I hope to be able to fix these pictures once I have Photoshop installed.)

Loving the hay:

Lickin' Pumpkins

Scarecrow Cooper

Ghost Charlotte:    

Family Picture

We live in a small apartment.  The dining room is used as an office so the kitchen table is on the patio.  We don't actually use it, but it came in handy for pumpkin carving.  I carved my pumpkin and then put the kids on the table to see what they thought.  Charlotte just thought it was okay but really loved being outside.  Cooper loved the guts and kept trying to eat them.

Scout watching us

Charlotte more interested in the trees while Cooper plays with the guts

They always have to do whatever the other one is doing.

We went trick or treating with Caren, Richard and Cecily over in the rich people's neighborhood (Huntington Harbor).  We only went a block and the kids were getting tired, plus Cecily wanted to be done too.  They had a party at her friend's house.  Cooper was a Bronco player (Plummer) and Charlotte was the chearleader.  Chris and I were the fans.  Simple, easy, and comfortable.

  

Last weekend we took pictures of them in their costumes.  Charlotte was a great chearleader and did touchdown over and over.  Cooper was very enthralled with the grass and eating the football.

November is National Adoption Awareness month, particularly those children who are currently in foster care.  We want to especially recognize Charlotte's 'between family', Michele and Tiffany who have adopted children out of foster care (as well as thank them for loving and caring for Charlotte before she came home to us).  We also want to recognize Tiffany's brother and sister-in-law, the Hunt Six Pack, for also doing foster to adopt.  They have all been great support for Chris and I throughout this process.

This is also National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo).  This means that every day bloggers are challenged to blog every day for the entire month of November.  I didn't participate last year, but Che did and I really enjoyed reading about her life on a daily basis.  Since I am more involved in blogging, I will be participating this year!

Only a few days until it's time to vote!!!  I have lots of 'homework' to do this weekend to understand how I need to vote.  Besides the president, there are 25 other things on the CA ballot that I need to vote on.  Some of them I already know what I'm voting for, while other's I need to study what they mean.  I really love politics and enjoy digging into all of this!