Believe it or not...Milo Harvey Florence.

Milo Harvey Florence came into the world on December 14th which was a big surprise for us all. He weighed 4 lbs 7oz and was 17 1/4  inches long. He is 8 weeks early but is being taken care by a wonderful staff at the NICU. One of our nurses told us "he is a fighter"  and is doing so well. We appreciate your prayers as the next month or so will be a trying time for our family. We feel peace that all will be well.

I will try to keep things updated as best I can and I am sure a birth story will be coming soon.

Caryl's Baptism

This baptism has been a long time coming and it was a big event for our family. My sweet friend Caryl and I met a little over a year ago. Our friendship sparked unexpectedly because of a not so pleasant incident. I backed into her car and left a gigantic dent. That's how we met and in just a years time we are like family. The Lord works in mysterious ways. It was year ago when I first invited her to the Ward Christmas party. Since then she's had several sets of missionaries come teach her weekly. I have gotten so attached to so many of those Elders and now I have a whole line of suitors I am waiting to introduce to my little sister. The baptism was so neat. Her whole family came and were so supportive. Hank sang O Holy Night with one of our current missionaries and it was so inspiring. I nervously muddled my way through a talk on the Holy Ghost and managed not to cry too much. I got to see an old Elder who came back to baptism Caryl, her request. It was a really neat atmosphere and I just marveled at the love and support from missionaries and from the Ward. This journey with Caryl has really enriched my life and I always be grateful the Lord gave me this opportunity to be a part of it, even if it meant I had to bang up a friend's car.

 Here we are with our missionary who left our area in June. I am currently trying to bend the rules so I can have him and his companion over for dinner once a month even though he's not in our area. I just missed him too much. Caryl would be thrilled! They have such a fun dynamic.

Our current missionaries are on either side and are just incredible, they work so hard. I have to keep these boys in my mind so I have a goal on what I want for Sam. Caryl was all smiles all night which meant everything. There are few times you get to have experiences such as these so it's important to treasure them.

Fun Potty Training Days

We are attempting to potty train but don't hold your breathe, I don't think we're getting very far. We've stayed home the past few days so I don't have to worry about accidents when we're out and about. It's been quite pleasant actually. Here is Sam getting really to build a worm farm. He was so excited!

Our worm farm was a learning process. I wanted to put the dirt in clear containers so we could see the worms dig but I had only small sizes. After making four farms I realized Sam really just likes playing with the words so we dumped everything into a big bin. We've been digging for worms everyday since and loving it.

Worms!

The tree in our front lawn just felt like shedding all its leaves in like a day. I never experienced fall leaves growing up so its just as exciting for me.

Oh my gosh my son is so cute, I think I might have to kiss the computer screen. He loved having all the leaves covering him, he told me "its kinda like a blanket".

November Adventures

Hank and I spent Thanksgiving away from each other this year so we needed a family day before I left town. What could be better than the Sacramento Children's Museum! I would say it was fun for the whole family but Sam was hard at work the whole time.

They had a cool glass window you could paint on. This is such a Hank thing to do.

We spent hours at the Museum and probably half of that time watching this ball blowing contraption. I swear Hank was more into all the activities than Sam was.

7 months along. Well I am more like 71/2 now. Things are well actually. My only complaint is I think my baby is resting on my sciatic nerve and it gets really painful. I have hard time walking and pretty much everyone makes fun of me. I don't mind, I look really funny. Honestly after 6 months of being sick to my stomach I don't mind much anymore.

Sam and I spent Thanksgiving with my family and Hank stayed home. He actually got to see a bunch of family that came into town. We both had fun but it was just sad we couldn't be together. When Sam and I arrived in SoCal we found this awesome indoor play gymnasium. Sam was thrilled because Aunt Beff came. He way preferred her to me, probably because I limping around like a 90 year old woman and Beff is a lot more fun.

Have I mentioned Sam's obsession with concrete mixer trucks? During a visit to the mall I saw this truck and Sam was beside himself. My Son is sorta a nerd. He loves concrete mixer trucks, mail boxes and smoke detectors. I have no answers.

I love visiting my family more for Sam than myself now a days. He absolutely adores his Aunts,Uncles and Grandparents. These two laid on the couch for probably a half hour and the whole time Sam kept saying "cuddling on the couch with Beff!". He was so proud. Gosh she is pretty even when she first wakes up.

He loves Anna just as much. Notice he's trying to pinch her face...that's a sign of true love he only reserves for a few. I am proud to say I have many little nicks and scratches on my face...... Yeah, we're working on that.

Is there anything more fun than this? My primary reason for coming down was to be with my sister for the birth of her baby. Georgianna Costa came four days after this picture was taken. Anna was incredible and I feel so indebted to her for allowing me to be there. She did it all on her own, no intervention and I just marveled. What an amazing woman my sister is. She also made an incredibly beautiful baby (with a bit of Mike's help of course :)) My camera died a day before the birth so unfortunately I don't have any baby pictures to post, but just trust me her baby is gorgeous...just like her.

We had a family day in Ventura and this was what the museum had on exhibit. I just like this picture. My brother has this weird side of him where he's intrigued with anything Gothic so he was thrilled. Sam just wants to be cool like Uncle Dan. We had such a fun time with the family and I wish I had more pictures of Sam with his Grandparents but I know we'll get lots of those for Christmas.

Washington, Boutique and Wedding!!

Sam and I came back about a week ago from a truly fantastic weekend in Washington where we got to visit a Bug, a Bean and a Boo ( my nieces). Our first adventure was at a Children's Museum. I was totally blown away. It was so interactive! I tried to get a picture of all the cousins together but they were all wandering in different directions. Sam of course stayed close to the train section for the majority of the time.

My little niece Norah, is the happiest, most joyful baby I have ever met. She turns over with joy at every smile she gets. She absolutely melted my heart. Sam was also entranced by her charisma but showed it in less than appropriate ways...like throwing a tub of blocks on her head. He wasn't malicious, he just couldn't control the cuteness! Life will be interesting when Milo enters the picture.

                                           Sam " Tats Av'ary, Tats Av'ary, tats Av'ary", 

                                          Avery "Why does he keep saying that?"  

                                          Me "because he likes you" 

                                          Sam "Tats Avery" 

                                         Avery "Why does he say that again?" 

                                         Me "because he likes you a lot Avery" 

                                         Avery "oh I see....tell me why he says that again?". 

                                         Sam loved following Avery around and doing whatever she was doing and Avery 

                                         Liked "being the oldest cousin here" and of course being liked.

The real adventure was on Saturday when we hiked throughout this nature park in Seattle. We started out expecting a nice nature trail to a lighthouse but it ended up being fairly long with lots of muddy climbs and slides. I loved it! and Sam was dancing in mud so he was thrilled. I was impressed with Sarah and Mike and their ability to guide their three girls on the up and down journey. Sometime I hope to be a super parent like that!

We reached a beach probably halfway through. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Sam ran straight into the water and would have kept going if Mike didn't pull him out. That's when I realized that boys and girls really are different.

After the beach incident, Sam had an appetite for water. The only way we could keep him going was to announce the next puddle that was coming. He would splash and splash until he saw another one. Avery was just beside herself with laughter since in her mind this was probably the most ridiculous thing you could possibly do, especially since it was freezing out.

My sister makes really gorgeous children, do you think? My niece Elliott who is on top just captured me on this trip. She is three and is just a girl of sophistication. She asks so many thought provoking questions and you can tell she is always trying to find a really clever way to get what she wants or at least the best end of the deal. It's actually pretty amazing to watch her at work.

After quite a trek we made it to the lighthouse. My goodness, isn't that pretty? I don't know why I didn't take more pictures of the weekend. I wish I had more of the cousins interacting. The whole experience was just delightful and now I wish I could just visit more often.

The Holiday Boutique! About six months ago I because the VP of Charity for my MOMS Club. As a board we have spent the last four months planning a fundraising boutique to raise money for families in the community who have really desperate needs. The event finally came and we raised twice as much money as we did last year so in a lot of ways it was a huge success! It was also so fun to be a part of. This is a picture of a few members of the club helping out at the boutique.

I was in charge of the vendors which was a bit overwhelming because we had over 40 participate. Fortunately the board has been very collaborative so I had a lot of help. I have learned a lot from this experience and have made a lot of close friends. It's been really rewarding.

Busy week! Saturday my two dear friends Brandy and Anthony got married. I thought the groom was in this picture when it was taken so I am sorta sad he's not.They have been investigating the church for two years and finally decided to get baptized. They needed to get married first so the ward threw together a gorgeous wedding in a months time! I was in charge of coordinating it the day of and was really nervous about it. There were only a few stressful moments like I having to DJ last minute (it ended up being easy) and calling animal control to get a rattle snake out of the building, other than that it went well. The baptize was where the really special moments were at.

I think the wedding atmosphere got to him!

Trick or Treating Marathon and our New House

We bought a house! This is a long time overdue since we moved at the beginning of September. I've had a few requests from family members to post pics and I thought this would be a fun thing to document so here we are. I didn't take a picture of the front for some reason so here is a picture I found online. It looks the same.

Living Room right when you walk in.

Living Room

We have a dining/living area where we house Sam's toys.

The rest of the dining area.

Kitchen. I will admit that I am proud of my kitchen. It was so horribly ugly when we moved in and with a little bit of paint, a stencil and some knobs it really transformed. It's not perfect but I am still proud!

The Man Cave! The downstairs bedroom is devoted to Hank's nerdy movie obsession. We have big plans for this room. I was allowed my stationary bicycle until then which I am very grateful for.

Our cozy bedroom

Sam and soon to be Milo's room.

I love this room. Sam spends so much time in here reading, sometimes with me and often times by himself. I really want my children to enjoy their rooms and I feel like we are off to a great start.

On to Halloween!! We had a serious marathon with Trick or Treating. Our first stop was at a retirement community where my MOMS Club goes every year. Yes, everyone was enchanted by Sam's charm...especially when he wore his Elmo hood and smiled.

It's so weird how times flies by.I remember going to this last year. We had just moved to the area and I didn't know very many people from the club. Now I feel like Sam and I  really belong there. We have made so many friends and feel such a sense of community.This club has been a blessing in our lives.

After our first Trick or Treating excursion we had a little picnic at the park and colored pumpkins. I wanted something fast, clean and not dangerous. Sam really likes telling us whose pumpkin is who "Mommy's pumpkin, Daddy's pumpkin, Sammy's pumpkin and Milo's Pumpkin!"

Our next stop was Sam's favorite outdoor mall. They have fountains, train rides and tricking or treating! Sam has been very interested in finding scarecrows recently. I had to get a picture of one of his findings.

Cookie Monster and Elmo...perfect picture opportunity! ummm...."opportunity" being the operative word here. Sam has managed to muster enough awkwardness in that facial expression that I will be forced to show this photo to future girlfriends.

And finally the good old fashion door to door candy collecting. I love our community. People really go all out for holidays as you can tell.

Did I mention Hank was around for all of this?! With him working so much it's such a treasure to have him for a few hours here and there, so having him around for a holiday was an absolute delight...mainly because he's a delight to have around.

Sam isn't a big talker when it comes to Trick or Treating. He is mostly interested in ringing the door bell and trying to push his way into people's houses so he can go upstairs. What he hopes to find that is better than a bowl full of candy I just don't know.

Sam is investigating a mailbox. Currently he is on a quest to find every mailbox in the Rocklin area and is very disturbed if I don't acknowledge him when he has found one. He's tried to escape from stores filled with toys just so he can show me another mailbox he has found. When we get to the mailbox he usually just stares at it and tells me its a mailbox over and over. Then he'll investigate the outgoing box. Even the enticement of free all you can eat candy did not detour him from his mailbox mission. He has the same obsession with smoke detectors, or as he says "'nother fire smoke ma'dector". By the way isn't my husband dashing?