HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hope you all have a wonderful day. We all have so much to be thankful for!

P.S. This was A LOT more work than I planned in my mind! Why I thought a one-year-old would have the patience to do it is CRAZY to me now! Teagen SCREAMED until Maya and I teamed up. I would paint Teagen's finger and Maya would slip her a piece of a Nutri-grain bar! Yes, that's right, I bribed my child with food!

Happy Halloween

Okay, so I really have some catching up to do! I thought I HAVE to get this in before Thanksgiving!!

We had a GREAT Halloween. Very action packed, though.

Thursday night we carved our pumpkins. This year we only had three because Chad was helping Teagen carve hers! Maya decided she wanted her pumpkin carving to be Cinderella. So with a little help from Mom I think we may have succeeded. With my pumpkin, I decided to capture Teagen's smile and teeth in my jack-o-lantern. Teagen's, well, it was just too small to try to carve anything crazy, so Chad made a good ol fashioned "H".

Friday the kids at Maya's school all dress up and they have a Costume Parade. It was absolutely precious! Here is Maya walking with her class and also a picture with her good friend, Megan.

After Maya got out of school we went up to Orange County to meet my sister and her kids. We dressed the kids up, took some pictures and headed off the the shopping center by the house so the kids could do some Trick-or-Treating. It was so fun for Maya to be with her cousin! Especially since Teagen isn't so excited about the whole thing just yet!

After the bags were full (and even a few in Teagen's for Daddy & Mommy) we were off the see my sister Roxi cheer at her first Homecoming game as a Varsity Cheerleader. And what made it even more interesting is that her school (Dana Hills High School) was playing my Alma mater (Aliso Niguel High School). It took a lot to sit on Dana's side, but I did it. Good thing I had the support of my sister, Sheena and her boyfriend, Brian who both went to Aliso. Fortunately Dana won their homecoming game, unfortunately they CRUSHED Aliso. Sheena, Brian and I did cheer, however, for the ONE touchdown Aliso scored. (Sorry Rox!) It was really fun to watch Roxi in action. Teagen had fun eating the whole time. And Maya LOVE watching all the cheerleaders, the halftime show and especially meeting the dolphin!

Party Like A Rock Star

Teagen was fortunate enough to celebrate with her family and friends in Escondido and again in Laguna Niguel. She was a little cranky for the celebration at our house. She completely used the "It's my party, I can cry if I want to" to the MAX. But who could blame her, she broke three teeth later that week! She had an absolute BLAST at the park in LN. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate! You can see the slideshow if you scroll to the bottom!!

Teagen's Birthday Present

For Teagen's first birthday we bought her first piece of jewelry . . . and a little pain to go with it!

Before & After

Yep, we finally got Teagen's ears pierced! She is such a champ. She cried for about a millisecond and then was totally fine! She looks so cute with her birthstone earrings!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby Girl

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEAGEN MAE! I can't believe a year has already gone by and our little baby is now one! It has been so fun watching her grow into her little fiesty personality. She is a little ham! And she absolutely adores her big sister. Watching them play together is one of the best parts of my day.

But I can't help and think about this exact moment a year ago. I was nursing my barly 18 hour old baby not knowing that in about an hour the doctor would come in and tell me that he'd like to release us from the hospital (yes with a baby that is not even a day old) so that we wouldn't get stuck at the hospital due to road closures from the Wild Fires. And not a mere 2 hours after that we'd find out that our neighborhood was being evacuated. Boy am I glad that were home . . . in a house that is still standing . . . and safe.

Teagen's birthday started with our traditional breakfast in bed. She was just starting to wake up when we (Chad and I) came in singing "Happy Birthday." Her special breakfast in bed was chocolate milk. (if she was eating real people food it would have been easier, but I refuse to feed her baby food over her crib!) She thought she had died and gone to heaven, having a drink in her bed! She laid right down and sucked down that milk!

Unfortunately I had to work on her birthday, so we hung around the house and played while I answered the business phones. She was hammin' it up for the camera! After work we did do something fun. But that will be a surprise for the next blog!!

So Happy First Birthday, our Sweet Baby Girl!

Our Pumpkin Pies!

One tradition we have as a family is going to Bates Nut Farm. It is a pumpkin patch close to here. They have hay rides pulled by a tractor, pony rides, petting zoo, games, the list goes on and on. And they have GREAT food. We always get their corn on the cob! YUM YUM.

Then we go searching for the best pumpkin in their dozens of piles of pumpkins. The tradition continues with a picture of the girls in the middle of the pile. (My favorite!!)

This year was Teagen's first time at a pumpkin patch. (Last year it looked like I was trying to steal a pumpkin under my shirt!!)

Maya took picking out a pumpkin VERY seriously. She checked every pile, I think, to make sure she got the best one! And she even carried it all by herself.

Some times my parents are able to join us. They have been getting a BIG pumpkin for many years now. This year they couldn't make it so we picked out a pumpkin for them. Here are the girls sitting on one of the prospectives!

Teagen even got her own little pumpkin!

After a long day, with not very long naps . . .

. . . we had one crying

and one dog tired!

Thought it would have been the other way around, huh!!

Tahoe Fun

We had an absolute BLAST in Lake Tahoe. After a busy summer and avocado season, we all needed some time to just be away from the hustle and bustle. And what better place to do it in than Lake Tahoe!

My sister, her husband and their two kids were up at the house with us for the first week. It was a great chance for the kids to plan non-stop! We had some fun times at the lake, fun (and crazy) times on the boat (we got caught in some bad weather. Good thing my brother-in-law trained to be a boat operator for the Long Beach lifeguards!!), great times at Squaw Valley Resort, and above all, quality family time!

Maya, Taylor and Teagen looking out to the front yard.

Taylor thought she should do some homework while Maya was doing hers. Thank goodness for a fax/copy machine at the house!!

The kids at Squaw Valley


Best buds!

After my sister's family left, we had some quality Hustead family time.

We also got to stop on the way home to see a friend of our, Josh, from college, and his family! They have two girls, so all four of them had a great time playing. It was a short visit but well worth it!