Gwen Update

Guess what...we're pregnant with baby girl #2. You probably already knew that if you ever check facebook! We are very excited to expand our family and learn how to be parents to two kids at once. (I'll be honest, I'm a little intimidated but I figure I'll learn how to cope.) It will be really fun for Gwen to have a sister. Gwen loves all babies and often kisses pictures of them in magazines. I think she'll be really happy to have a baby in the house. This is a picture of Gwen trying to climb into her friend's carseat to give her a kiss.

It's been a long time between posts. I guess since I post on facebook I feel like I've blogged too but it's nice to have a format to put a little more detail in.
We have really enjoyed our annual zoo pass here in Santa Barbara. Gwen especially likes going to the bird enclosure where she can see the birds walking along the ground. We will be moving to Loma Linda soon and recently found a house in Grand Terrace. I'll miss my Santa Barbara friends, but I'm still excited to move because of this great house! It has 4 bedrooms and a fenced backyard. Lots of pictures to follow once we move in. Gwen ran all around the house when we were looking at it and kept babbling "da-da-da-da-da". We think she's going to like it.

This is a video of Gwen at a park with ducks in Riverside. She was very excited to see them and says "duh!" which means duck.



This is Gwen pushing the shopping cart in a store in Riverside. She kept squirming to get out of the cart and then squirmed to get down out of my arms onto the ground. Apparently her objective all along was to push the cart.

Emergency Preparedness

I just found a food storage calculator on Emergency Essentials. It will calculate the calorie needs of your family as a unit given the individual age and gender of each member. It has a program that lets you enter how much food you already have and will tell you how many days you could last. Sadly, my family could last 22 days. I need some more food!

http://foodstorageanalyzer.com

New Moon!

I went to see the movie New Moon last night with some friends from my ward. Scott was really sweet to let me go have fun without him. It was ridiculously fun to watch it with a whole theater full of screaming girls. We even had fun waiting in line taking pictures with Edward.

Gwen has been having fun with empty wrapping paper tubes lately. She thinks it is especially interesting to listen to our voices come out the end near her when we talk into them.

Angelina's Baptism

My friend Angelina was baptized on October 17th. I had the great blessing of hosting the missionary discussions and reading through the Book of Mormon with her. We would often meet to discuss what she had read in the mornings while I fed Gwen in her highchair. She is an amazing friend and I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of her conversion process. Gwen was even willing to be held by a friend during her baptism so I was able to give my talk on baptism without a squirmy baby on my hip and give my full attention to Angelina's baptism and testimony. What an amazing day!

Seaside Highland Games Festival

We took Gwen to the Seaside Highland Games Festival October 10th. We dressed her up in a plaid cap and a tartan wrap and she looked very cute. She became a senior citizen magnet! We couldn't walk 30 steps without someone coming up to talk to her and telling her how handsome she was. She was repeatedly mistaken for a boy since her cap and wrap were blue and green. Since I felt that this was my fault I didn't bother to correct them. About half of the people figured it out when they noticed her pink shirt, pink binkey, and pink shoes. Scott wore a kilt that I made for him for Halloween two years ago. I wore a Scottish outfit that I made at the same time. It was a treat to get to wear our costumes since I spent so long making them. We saw Scottish and Irish dancers and heard live bagpipe music.

Gwen month 8

We have had a lot of fun this past month with Gwen. Gwen started eating solid foods on her own. I love it when she barely misses her mouth and gets a cheerio beard. She also likes to drink from a sippy cup and dump water all over herself. We went to Solvang with our friends, April and Steve Garff. It was fun to explore the Danish town with them. Gwen found a red shoe that was just a little too big for her. She had fun dancing with Steve while April and I played some music.

Webcam

My parents got us a webcam for Christmas. It's been wonderful to be able to see them and my sister (who also got one) when I talk to them. Yesterday my Dad figured out how to take pictures during our conversation.