Happy November!

I thought for sure I'd be ready to decorate for Christmas on November 1, but our Halloween was so much fun and the girls enjoyed it so much, it's nice to have a tiny break before Christmas. I have my Thanksgiving wall hanging up, and we are picking a gratitude activity out of it each day. And then maybe next week we'll decorate for Christmas :) I really can't wait!

Since my last post was before Halloween, here are some pictures from the day of:

 Amelia and Lexi at the cute Fall Festival we went to.

 There were games and lots of candy.

 Amelia, Lexi, Blake, Maya.

 Maya and me, and Amelia just done with pictures, haha!

 Our apartment complex did a cute scavenger hunt for the kids. (And this is the picture that decided the mustache had to go! I love you Juan.)

 Amelia got her first try at a pinata!

 Trick or Treating!

 Amelia had an entourage of adults with her, our 2 couple friends without kids came along. 

 She had so much fun going to a dozen or so houses.

This is Amelia at the park. They have a little store window and she loves to take my orders and get food for me.

 Maya walking along with the stroller, she is getting sick of hitting a wall in our apartments within 5 seconds. She needed wide open spaces!

And Amelia's first big braid. Doesn't she look so grown up?

Potty Training Update

After 3 1/2 months of  'potty training', this girl has got it down!

We took a very relaxed approach. She wore pull-ups and from the beginning preferred to go poops in the potty. And was going pee half the time. Mostly it was at my request that she go, and when I say at my request I mean either bribing her or threatening time out if she didn't. Awesome parenting tips, please take notes :) Then about a week ago, it just clicked. I had been putting underwear on her almost at all times while we were at home, and she just started coming to me and telling me when she had to go. So once that got consistent, I got brave and took her out and about in underwear, and she was telling me when she had to go and was holding it as we made our way to the nearest bathroom. She had been nervous about big toilets, but she just got over it and she is doing great! There are many false alarms. In the 3 hours of church, we took her to the bathroom 5 times before she actually went. But I'd rather have it that way than having accidents. I am so proud of her and I'm glad she kicked up the pace because you know me, I could have had her in pull-ups for many months to come.

Looking back, I feel like I started too early. But now I think maybe it wouldn't have clicked now if she hadn't been going in the potty a few times a day for 3 months. My sister always says, it is based on the parents' commitment. I agree with that. I think we went a way that fit both Juan's and my personalities. I do like the pull-ups, I didn't mind that she wasn't potty trained quickly. And it made for much less accidents.

I am so proud of her. And now, please enjoy costumes, silly girls, Maya walking with the walker(!) pictures:

 My little bugs.

 Amelia utterly terrified of a witch at our Halloween party, ha!

 Maya just started walking  s l o w l y  with the walker. I put some cute shoes on her to help her flatten her feet, she has been standing on the insides of her feet. The shoes seem to help. She is getting so big!

San Antonio and Austin Zoo

This weekend we traveled long and far to San Antonio- about an hour and a half. On the way out of town, we stopped at the zoo!

I mostly posted this picture because of how happy Juan is in it, I am loving his mustache he is growing for Movember (mustache + November, something for work). We've come a long way from when we were 15 and one of the first things he said to me was, "I'm growing out my mustache". I wasn't a fan back then.

Maya rocking the model pose, in front of the lioness.

Maya and the pig having a stare down.

One of the best parts about this zoo was feeding the animals. I thought Amelia would be like me and want nothing to do with it. But she loved it! She got a little shocked each time, but wanted to keep feeding feeding feeding.

Feeding the llamas too.

Juan was busy during the days, so we filled our time at the pool and out shopping.

Amelia and her new found love, Root Beer.

We spent an evening at the River Walk. I was bummed thinking we wouldn't see it at night again, but then I saw an ice cream shop and apparently was so desperate for ice cream that I waited in that line for 30 minutes (ended up being worh it!), and what do you know, we got to walk back to our car in a moonlit River Walk. I just love the feel of it. 

Maya's cute little hand fold. 

Girls playing at the hotel. 

A cute yogurt shop over by the San Antonio temple. 

Diva. My family is getting sick of the camera these days. But we still have Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays! It is not going to stop anytime soon.

We took a stroll around the temple. Amelia just loved it and I know she could tell it was a very special place. I love how she says temp-oe. And she kept demanding, Go in! 

And now we are back home and Halloween festivities have continued. We have a couple parties this weekend, woot woot!

Happy Weekend!

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

We visited 2 pumpkin patches this week! One for Amelia's cute playgroup, and another with our friends this weekend. I love pumpkin patch pictures, it just represents the beginning of the Holiday Season, woot woot!