Monday, October 26, 2015

The Weekly Photo



We went to the zoo this week with some good friends! We all have girls as well, which was kind of fun. This was the best group shot we got.


The lions were awesome this time (actually it was probably one of the few times I have seen a lion awake!). They were walking around, licking the windows and came right up to us!

So very cool.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Pumpkin Patch Fun

I love going to pumpkin patches.  My longtime friend, Kate, invited us to go with her and her daughter, Killian, to a patch near their house. It was super busy, which was not my favorite, but we had a fun time!

 Elanor, Alice and Killian.
 I did not really get a good picture of these three, as there is not a single one where they were looking.

These next few pictures are so very cute!





As I already said, Elanor loves doing these cut-out face pictures, but for some reason looked super bored in most of the pictures. Alice is pretty funny though and seems to be enjoying herself.




One thing I love about being back in Oregon, is seeing so many friends that I grew up with. Kate is one such person and I have known her for so long! We were in school together, did plays and ballet together, have traveled to England together, etc. She is one of my favorites. I hope our daughters can be friends too. We should have taken a picture together at the pumpkin patch!

Monday, October 19, 2015

The Weekly Photo


Elanor loves these cut-out face photo-ops, yet she is the one that looks bored in most of the pictures (she kept asking to take more and go to all of them that they had around this pumpkin patch).  This had to be a the Weekly Photo, because-- just look at Alice!

Friday, October 16, 2015

The Weekly Photo + a Little Rant About School

Elanor's 1st day of preschool.

This is the first year Elanor has gone to preschool. There are a variety of reasons I did not put her in earlier (too expensive, I taught her at home, and she had plenty of friends to play with already), but we decided to put her in this year because we just moved here and she needed friends, there was a close preschool with good reviews, it was inexpensive and we knew a couple kids going there. Elanor just started at the beginning of October and is loving it!

I think preschool is great and a couple hours a day, four days a week is perfect. I have been thinking and stressing about school ever since Elanor was born, because I don't know what to do! There are a lot of things I love about public school (variety of students, learn from a variety of teachers, its free, etc). However, there are a lot of things I do not like (too long of hours each day, too much homework/stress, they don't even learn all that much). School has changed so much since I went. The amount of homework and stress placed on kids, even small ones is so intense.  When one of my brothers was in school at Corbett as a freshman, he was in two AP classes, as all freshman had to at his school, and he said people would have anxiety attacks all the time over homework. It is just not necessary for school to be so intense. I do not think kids (high school, yes, but not so much that the average student has a panic attack about it) should have homework at all. If they cannot get it done the seven hours they are at school, then they do not need to do a further two hours when they get home. Kids should be able to play, have family time, etc. In other countries, such as Sweden, they have shorter days and shorter school years and yet out perform much of Europe. I love being in school and I want Elanor (and Alice) to experience that, but not in the schools we have in America. I don't really want to homeschool either. Perhaps for a year or two or whenever Elanor would want to, but I think learning in a diverse environment, such as public school is really wonderful. I basically wish Elanor could go to public school half of the day and then do homeschool as well. I am not sure it really works like that though.

Much of what we choose to do will be based on where we live at the time, the teachers at the school and how much I am able to help out at school (my mom did a ton at our school growing up). What do you do/plan to do? Thoughts, please?

Friday, October 2, 2015

Six Months Old

This cute baby is six months old!

Alice is such a joy to be around! She smiles easily and at anyone. She is getting much better at letting other people hold her, but prefers me. Alice does get really excited when Tyler comes home and as always loves Elanor. She is really good at communicating what she wants for the most part and is quite talkative.
 Alice loves to eat! She has started doing this funny thing where if I am not putting food into her mouth quick enough she starts beating her arm against her body and making a funny noise that sort of sounds like breathing in and out quickly but with sound. It is pretty hilarious! She also chews in just about the cutest way possible.

Personality: From what I can tell at this point, Alice is happy and fairly easy going, but also determined and loud. She generally does so well at running errands and missing naps and does not complain. However, she still wakes up screaming in the middle of naps. She seems to be doing better at night, but it is hard when when she has been sick at least once every month of her life. Poor baby!


 Alice still is quite small I think, but we do not have a doctor here yet so I am unsure of her stats. She is a lovely squeezable baby, with nice little rolls and chubby cheeks. 


I love getting to know her more each day.