Caifornia...

div style="width:480px;text-align:right;">I can't believe how fast this month has gone by! During half of November we went to California and had a great trip visiting with as many family and friends as we could possibly squeeze in to every second of the day. There's so much to say about this trip but I am going to let the pictures do the talking....

catch up time!

Oh wow, I'm so embarrassed that it's been so long since I've updated our blog!!!! So much has happened in the last few months. although now that I think about it and reflect over the last few months I have to say we are so incredibly blessed that we have been busy! It's kind of insane to think just 2 short years ago when we moved here we had no friends and nothing much to do in our spare time but explore this new city all on our own....now two years later our schedules are booked with playdates, lifegroups, birthday parties and the list goes on and on.
I'm going to try and play catch up now and start with our Halloween pictures from this year. We hosted our second annual Halloween neighborhood party at our house and the kids had a blast. We had a potluck in our garage while the kids played outside and then we all went together in a big group trick or treating door to door. Layla could not have been prettier as a princess, "Cinderella" actually, and Blake was a chicken. He was a chicken by default because I scored the costume at a consignment sale for about $3, and I figured it was the last year where I could choose his costume without him resisting. We had a great Halloween.

Layla's 3rd Birthday Party!

For Layla's third birthday party we decided to do a farm theme. We found this awesome family who own a little farm about 15 minutes from our house in Charlotte. We were the only party there and had the whole farm to ourselves. Every child got to have a horse ride and even took turns brushing the horse before they rode him. There was pigs, goats, turkeys, bunnies and so much more. All of the kids had a blast! We were so blessed that the weather was a perfect Carolina Fall day.

Lu's Birthday Dinner

We are in disbelief that our sweet Layla James is already 3! How times flies. Layla has grown into the most fun loving girl. Layla is always up for fun! She is quite the daredevil, but still freaks out when she spots a spider or a bug crawling around. She adores her baby brother Blake and loves helping him out and teaching him new things. She has gotten to the age now where she really favors certain friends and definitely has her group of "besties" that she adores. She has been know to be filled with drama and exaggerate things at times, but that's why we loves her so much! Layla is so affectionate and often says to us "I love you sooooo much!" I love that she is now at the age where we can have a full conversation together. She is quite the ballerina and still gets so excited when it's time to go to ballet. She loves dancing around the house to her "dance music" and showing off her moves. Lately she is all about anything that has to do with princesses. She loves watching the Cinderella movie and even decided she was going to be Cinderella for Halloween. She says, "mommy, I'm a beautiful princess" She has thrived the last few months in her first year in preschool and we are so glad we made the last minute decision to put her in. Layla loves to learn. She knows how to say the whole alphabet and can tell you what any number or letter is if you point to it. She knows all of her colors and most of her shapes. She is also learning Spanish in preschool this year. She loves getting attention and will sing a song to you any chance she gets just for the applause! I could go on and on about how much I adore this girl. We are so blessed that God made us her mommy and daddy. Our family would not be the same without our precious Layla Lu.

Here are some pictures from the night of her actual birthday, October 21. We did a little celebration at home with just the four of us. Layla requested a pink cake that I happily made and then on her own she added the princesses to the decoration. We ordered pizza and she opened presents at home from us and our California family. It was a great night.