*halloween slash nevada day

It was a fun Halloween this year - a little hurried as we had returned from California the night before.  Vera had made a little flower headband from a gifted kiwi crate and I convinced her to use it with last year's Tinkerbell dress to be a "garden fairy."  She and her friend, Greta, have been playing flower/garden fairies [with paper dolls made with the kiwi crate too!], so it was perfect. Before school we took an old pair of wire wings, reshaped them and stretched over some new nylon.  She snipped little fake flowers off the branches while I hot-glued them on. She is in such an art project phase right now and it was so fun for her to really help!

Edie was a little fairy at school drop off.  She refused to put it all back on prior to trick or treating so I quickly went through the dress up box and she went as a little chinese man/Confucius character :)

We went to Greta's for pizza before going out.  They were SO excited and so adorable. I just loved watching Edie get the hang of it.  She was so mini :)

Around the Governor's Mansion has always been very Halloween-y. It is way MORE so now than when I was little - like blocks and blocks of super-decked out houses, roads blocked, policemen patrolling on horses...  We went by my old house, but it was all dark.  I actually felt a little badly that we didn't go out earlier and that we went by some pretty creepy places.   I snuggled with her for a while at bedtime just in case she had been affected. 

* and happy Nevada Day!!! 

I was so bummed to miss the parade the year I am finally living in Carson :(

*in-training

¡undies!

I have been anxiously waiting for Edie to show signs of readiness to be potty trained - we are plain broke and I don't want to buy more diapers for trips and I am done washing and buying detergent.  She just didn't seem to get "letting go" until the day before we left for California - a very inopportune time to potty-train.  So the night we got home I put her in undies to just save a diaper before bedtime. She ended up going #2 on the potty for which she received two m&ms and a whole lot of high-fives and jumping up and down excitement.  I hadn't planned anything, but just decided to go for it and put her in underwear the whole next day.  She had no accidents - even out trick or treating!  One poopoo accident when I was on the phone and not paying attention.  So far it has been really easy!!  She's even ok going on the big toilet, at the store, holding it in the car...  A couple times I think to myself what on earth are you thinking: things were so easy and now I just handed myself a level of stress.  I am going to be very easy-going about it though and not freak out if she decides she doesn't want to do it and I am preparing myself for major regression at some point.

Anyway, that's the story :)  I know most people aren't interested in these things, but I like to document it and remember how it went.  It really is so cute to see her mini bottom in undies too :) and the way she makes a big sigh before she goes - that's how I tried to get her to learn to 'release' haha.  Also the huge smile when she goes - just so cute.  ok, that's all!

*CA

Vera: "We're not going to San Diego, we're going to California!!!"

We drove down to Southern California this last week to attend the wedding of a good friend/almost family member.  It was also an opportunity to spend some time with Ben's Granny who is now living with the Caters.  Además [that's the word that came to mind :)], we never pass up any chance to spend time with Ben's family - we just love them all.  I am such a lucky girl to have married into this family!!

Anyway, here's some pictures. I do apologize to all our friends - it was a family-full weekend and I wish there would have been time for friends too!!  Next time.

First of all, the drive was spectacular. We left at 7am just when the sun was coming up and the snowstorm was lifting.  The first four hours down along the Sierras were just breathtaking.

Here is Vera and Edie super excited to finally arrive:

The wedding was at the Hotel del Coronado. I keep trying to type words to describe that place... if you've been there, you know what I mean!

After dinner we snuck up to the room [had a babysitter for the girls] to get Vera so she could dance and have cake. She was on. I wish I had a video of her dancing and just loving it all.  Jessie and Ben's nephews were there and they just love Vera, and she them. It was so adorable.

When I lived in San Diego we would come weekly to the Del to eat ice cream and walk around.  I literally got a little choked up when we got in line [that may have also been the vodka tonic I just had...].

[earlier in the room getting fancy and enjoying cocktails]

***

I feel like I had more pictures of everyone from back in Tustin, maybe on Ben's phone.  

I just love this one of the girls and Granny.  She has really declined in just the last couple weeks and it is difficult to communicate with her. I felt like they had a little connection here cleaning up the almonds that Edie spilled :)  I could tell Vera was a little unsure at first how to talk to Granny, but here I was so proud of her - speaking loudly and with such kindness in her voice.

so much fun :)

*la fiesta

We had a little party here on Edie's birthday with a few neighborhood families.  It was really simple, but all the kids seemed to have fun!  Edie was so different than I remember Vera being.  Vera has always been very... exuberant and lively and so excited about her birthday.  Edie seemed to get more inward and embarrassed every time you said happy birthday to her!  She didn't seem into the party at all until my mom showed up with the cupcakes - she then sat at the table and looked at them until it was time to sing and eat :)  Afterwards, I think the chocolate got to her and she opened up a bit and played.  I imagine much of it has to do with the fact that most kids she hangs out with now are older than her.

Anyway... here are some pictures from her little party:

 my mom made the cupcakes - they were, of course, delicious!!!

 chocolate-frosting buzz

2!

I made these felt penne, tomatoes, spinach and cheese for Edie and am a little proud of myself :) Only $2.80 and it was so easy!  Vera made her several adorable cards and a paper iphone ♥

playing in the girls' room

a delicious and fun birthday lunch with Tia at Finca - it is fun to share a birthday [almost] with my little girl! Edie is opening her first very own laptop [my 'peeta!]

*me two!

What a fun age this is still... I think I've been writing that since she was 10 months old.  I guess I just love the discovering the world-learning-to-play-and-talk-and-understand stage!!

This 2 year old: 

... is in a bit of a shy phase with other people. It makes me sad they don't get to hear her true jabbering, energetic, silly little self!  They ask her a question and she just stares or says the answer super quiet to me.

... had one more well-visit with Dr. Katie.  It was pretty funny - she wouldn't budge and answer a single question. Dr. Katie did elicit one awesome giggle "looking" for her hands and then tickling under her arm :)  She weighed 23 lbs (12%) and was 32.75" (22%). 

... loves "la playa" book - a bilingual story about going to the beach.  We read it every day and I try to switch to the Spanish often :)  She also loves Dogger [please get this at a library if you haven't read it!],  Are you my Mother, Panda Bear Panda Bear [I hear her reciting this one to herself], If you Give a Pig a Pancake, Little Mommy....

... loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Super Why and whatever Vera watches, though thankfully she doesn't have a long attention span yet.  She'll ask: Gickey Mouse o(n)? Check? Doc 'Suffins o(n)? Check??

... is a pro at the iphone and has been for months. so crazy.  I try to keep it out of reach but she finds a way!  They both love the Toca Boca games..

... does not have [[yet]] the huge hysterical tantrums Vera used to have.  She does sometimes SCREAM at the top of her lungs and will pull hair, hit, bite scratch if she doesn't get her way.  She does seem a little horrified afterwards and gives a sincere sorry and kisses.

... sings her ABCs about 50% correctly and counts about the same - a lot of it is just mimicking her sister : )
 
... wants me to sing Cristo Me Ama and You are my Sunshine at nap/bedtimes.

... is a stubborn little eater.  If she loves it, she eats a lot. If she doesn't want it, she pushes it away and says you eat it!  She loves macaroni and cheese or any pasta dish, pancakes, eggs and ketchup, anything dipped in ranch, apples, choc iclee (chocolate ice cream), shablablas (strawberries), lummy logurt (yummy yogurt), booties (pirates booty)...


... still hides Puppy in the craziest places. Just now I finally found him in a cupboard- in a pot with the lid on. She will put him in the dryer, in drawers, zipped up in a couch pillow.  Whew it is exhausting.


**here's a link to when Vera turned 2

*FELIZ

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our sweet, cuddly, spunky, feisty, stubborn, silly, adorable little stinker of a 2 year old :)  Eden Violet Siu-Lan Cater, we love you SO MUCH and are so happy you are in our family!!!!

*cheese!*

[this is from a couple weeks ago, but is one of my favorite pictures!!  

btw Melissa (aka Uncle Matty-lisa) designed her little Lucky Brand sweater!]

*big sister

This morning was quite a treat and I wanted to record it.  Vera has [[thankfully!]] been going to bed a lot earlier, and so waking up around the same time as Edie. This morning she got Edie out of her bed by herself, got her some milk in her blue tup [Edie's special blue sippy], got herself some cheerios and basically just took care of her little sister for about an hour while Ben and I slept in!!  I could hear her reading Pinkalicious and other books, talking so sweetly and just being an awesome, amazing, responsible big sister.  I only heard one scream out of Edie - I think Vera wasn't letting her have glee booties [veggie booty] for breakfast.  It was so cute!  Vera was so proud  :) 

They get to watch two shows this morning for being so good:

*

We have a vacant lot out behind our house and the girls went out to explore it for the first time yesterday.  It made me beyond happy to see them traipsing out with their baskets, ready to explore and collect "berries" or whatever else they could find under the cottonwoods.  I told Vera how I used to play in a lot with my best friend, pretending we were the Ingalls family - bears and panthers out to get us :)  I am so happy my kids get this kind of small town childhood, at least for now!

*hawaiian day

Hawaiian Day at school - Vera was in the top 5% for school spirit.  When we get to school, we always walk through an area where older kids are in line for their lunch. Vera always looks a little self-conscious and proud walking through - especially if she has her bike or today, her grass skirt. It's cute.  

a few classmates. yes this girl second from the right is the tallest in her class!!

they both love to walk along this bench... still so crazy to me that Vera goes to Fritsch!  

I didn't go there by the way, I went to St. Theresa's - we drove by the other day, such nostalgia! It's not yellow and brown anymore, for those of you who didn't know.  and there's a fence blocking you from entering the playground!  I remember going back with my friend, Marie, years later - incapable of believing how small everything was and how filled with memories!  Anyway, that was a tangent...

*la rutina

[sorry this may be boring.... just documenting lo cotidiano :)]

I feel fairly settled here now that we have a decent daily routine.  At first I was upset that Vera was put in afternoon kindergarten [when they had told me she was in am]- I had dreams of going for long walks with the jogger in the mornings, but it has worked out pretty well.

We have slow easy mornings - Edie gets up usually around 6:30-7:00 and she follows me around as I put the dishes away, get my mate and have a little devotion. She is so cute and chatty in the mornings: clea(n) up? ok!! you's mate? oh yeah! dat hot? oh yeah!!  I usually wake up Vera around 8:00.   A couple weeks ago I was getting so annoyed with her first sentence always being Can I watch something?  So I made the simple rule that she isn't allowed to ask that right away and I'll let her know when she can.  It worked!  So much happier all around.  I do let her watch usually one, sometimes two shows.  Her current favorite is Octonauts, which is actually pretty cute!!  We love the "dance break" :)

The rest of the morning is spent playing with Eloise, playing in their kitchen, coloring, reading [Edie especially likes Vera to read her Pinkalicious], running after each other, etc. We don't do many errands [not much to do and no money to spend anyway :)], and they are often content enough to not even need an outing to a park [ok I just re-read this - they are content most of the time. still our fair share of bickering/screaming/pulling hair/time-outs/spankings, etc. :)].  We walk Vera to school at noon and then come back directly for Edie to take her nap.  I immediately make mate again and try to have some quality alone time. She wakes up and plays a bit and then it's time to get Vera.

We met a little girl who is in first grade next door to Vera's classroom. Her family just moved here also and has Utah, San Diego and Seattle connections as well as a lot of the same interests. Vera and Greta get along really really well which is awesome! We usually walk home with them as they go our same way. Sometimes they play at each other's houses - I'm so glad she has made a good friend - she really misses her friends :(  Vera and Edie have been playing a lot more too which is really wonderful - Vera rarely even asks to watch TV in the afternoon anymore and hasn't played on the computer at all.  We also have another neighbor, Ariana, who comes over a lot. She is ten and kind of likes to be the mother :)  Her little sister (3) comes over too sometimes and they all have fun.  Neighborhood friends are the best! It really reminds me of our friends from our childhood - the Bardwells :)

That's pretty much our routine!  Ben gets home from the office [where he works some for my dad and also pursuing other jobs, working on dissertation revisions etc.] and we either make dinner here or go to my parents or up to the Lake.  We have only gone out to eat twice, for lunch.  Besides the no money thing, there is no Cafe Rio, Barbacoa, Chanon Thai, etc.!

It's kind of lonely, but not necessarily in a bad way.... like I don't really have much conversation with anyone besides my mom, but it's ok with me.  I feel like this time in our lives is maybe for us to just focus on our family. For me to really take good care of my girls, to make this emotionally difficult time a little easier for Ben, to spend quality time with my parents, have a good and simple routine.  I was cleaning the other day and heard the lyrics of some song in the other room: "simple as it should be" - it was a good thing to hear at the time as I was wondering what is the point of moving here.

ANYway.  here's some pictures...

 this is the massive tv my dad bought with the house and ben won't let me remove:

there's a mailbox on our way to school... we've sent out a lot of letters and have not received many in return! yes I am talking to you! and you and you! :)

*septiembre

I've never really experienced Lake Tahoe in the Fall, but I am finding out just how lovely it is!  It is perfectly pleasant, quiet, uncrowded, wonderful.  We have been up at my parents' house almost every weekend and just love it.  We jokingly call this time in our lives The Great Depression [happens Ben is also reading a huge book on the topic, besides the fact that he worked 8 years only to finish during a literal Great Recession], and then equally joke that having a lake retreat at our disposal doesn't really fit in the picture of  despair :)

This may have been the last warm weekend - though I guess in the Fall, you assume every weekend is the last!  Anyway, it was so nice up there - I felt all warm and fuzzy and happy inside: reading my book, having a beer with Ben, watching the girls play, spending time with my parents, finding pretty rocks...

I never tire of this scene - I'm sure I have at least a couple dozen photos of it:

not an exciting video, just capturing the peaceful mood. I do love how I was able to document how Edie answers every question with "I dunno!" and then the answer- in this case, Lake Tahoe:

*cuadro de arte

When my great-grandparents lived here, this was an outdoor porch, but at some point, someone enclosed it. We use it as our "art room" and where I have my laptop and sewing machine. It's a fun little room to have and the girls spend a lot of time here... Usually making a huge mess :).

The nice part about this house being small is just that - it's small and so the girls never feel like they are far away. Vera was always scared in our old house of being by herself in the basement or even upstairs alone.

Anyway, we were set to go to the park this morning but Vera found a new project, so we decided to stay...

*what we've been up to...

.: all from my phone - only recently found the camera charger! :.

The Farmer's Market here was pretty tiny! Even smaller than I'd thought. We only made it to one of them unfortunately but got some delicious peaches, pluots and plums as well as a handmade queso fresco. And a pony ride. Edie still talks about it. Ride horsie! Edie did! 
 

We have a nice shady backyard - here the girls made a little fort and had a picnic:

Riding around the cul-de-sac:

Dana and her girls came over one afternoon: Edie, Vera, Ellie, Edie :)

Grandma Kay over for a visit:

Celebrating Papa Sam's birthday:

lots of beach time. It's so peaceful and quiet now with summer crowds gone!

Hiking at Echo Lake on Labor Day:

First time having my parents over for dinner.  Reminded me of all the times we'd have my grandparents over for dinner when I lived at home - especially the hugs and good-byes at the door... for some reason I always remember that part.

Some friends were at Tahoe for a wedding and spent a couple hours with us at Zephyr Cove - it was so nice for all of us to see some familiar faces.  Vera was so excited to see Robbie :)

*ciudad de carson

I feel a little pressure to make my posts real interesting, now that I "invited" you all!  I need to just pretend you're not there, that this continues to be my little outlet and way to share what's going on in my head and our life...

So anyways, we are settling in finally here in CARSON CITY, NEVADA. That's where we moved, for those of you who still weren't sure!  Ben defended his PhD dissertation brilliantly back in August.  We had been waiting to hear about one job in Orem, Utah, and had decided that if he didn't get it, we needed to make a move either here or to California.  It just wasn't financially feasible to stay in Salt Lake with a big mortgage and no good prospects for Ben.  It worked out well to come to Carson, as my parents had recently bought a house for my uncle to live in (he has early dementia/alzheimer's). Just before they were to move him in, they decided it wasn't going to work, and they moved him to a memory-care facility.  So they had this perfect little 2 bedroom house ready for someone to move into. The really neat thing about it is that it was actually the house my great-grandparents lived in in the 50s! How crazy is that? My mom kept saying it was just sooo familiar to her, but apparently the people erroneously said they were the first owners.  Anyway, it turns out it was their house and it's pretty neat and makes it all seem quite meant to be.  Probably the only things that remain from the 50s are the pink fixtures in the bathroom... fun to think of washing my hands in the same sink as my Grandma Ruth, or looking out the same kitchen window as I wash dishes :)

Ben is still working on some dissertation revisions, and will help with some appraisal work for my dad. He's also applied to a few random jobs around here.  After 8 years of working on his MA and PhD, it just happens to be the worst time in history to get a job in academia. Specifically history. So that's nice :)  It's been hard and depressing at times. But really we are confident in a God that is in control, that he is teaching us to trust and rely on Him.  We live in such a crazy, broken and sick world - we are so thankful for our health and our 2 healthy wonderful kids, as well as families on both sides who love and support us. 


More later along with some pictures...

*

Not sure how well a phone video uploads, but we'll see how these go.  It's hard to hear Edie in the second one with Vera talking on the phone in the background, but it's still cute hearing her read the story to her napping Lion and Horse.  We are severely lacking in good videos of Edie as a little one - it's my goal to get some good ones that I can watch over and over and over in the years to come :)   .. once I find our camera charger....

*almost 2!

Lately Edie....

has had a language explosion!  starting in the first weeks of August, she is talking so much and so clearly. She's already lost a lot of her baby words and it makes me so sad. Trying to hold on to the ones she has left: sha-bla-bla (strawberry), Mamo Lala (Grandma Sheila), no shaka (no thank you)... aww tute! (aww cute!), Shaya (sorry), shayesh (stroller), noonoo (noodles)...

sings renditions of Happy Birthday, Jesus Loves Me and her ABCs [I really want to get a video of this - she totally surprised me in the car knowing about half of it!]

loves to get in arguments with Vera about whose is whose - of course it usually is Vera's thing she's claiming: No, MY!!!!

mimics counting: waa, twooo, four, twooo, four, twoo

is still not trustworthy with the bunny.
Edie can you hold Eloise?  Yeah. NO, Edie you canNOT hold her. Okay. Shaya, Eloise. 5 Minutes later....    
She also will lay on top of Eloise or next to her with a tight headlock. You can tell she just loves Eloise to pieces and can't help herself.

does not understand how to go on the potty. She'll sit on it and make faces, but doesn't know how to "let go" :)


is sad to drop Vera off at school and says get Vera? the whole way home. No, Edie we'll get her later. Noooo why??  However, often when it's time to actually get her, Edie is busily playing. I ask if she'd like to go get Vera and she says "No, shaka [thankyou]"

loves to answer any question in silly talk: blablo do! hahahaha  doobie dako ahahaha

calls Eloise "baby pie" - hearing us call her cutie pie :)

likes to do a trick or jump off something and throw her arms up and yell TA-DA!

*

Edie has been showing more and more imaginative play lately and I just love it. I think I haven't seen it as much with her being the little sister, always just into Vera's business. Tonight they did play together putting their baby/puppy to bed, so cute :).

Anyway...earlier today I saw her babying the dinosaurs:
T-Rex: up, mama?
Edie: ooooh-tay!
Triceratops: up too?