Sweet Tori

Such a happy girl.
Smiles, laughs, coos all the time.
Cut her first tooth this week...
Starting to sit up on her own...
And FINALLY sleeping through the night!
HOORAY.

Christmas morning

During our last few trips to Target, a particular kitchen set has caught Lexy's eye. When she sees it, she says "I want that" very definitively. No whining, no begging. Just "I want that." Period. I have convinced her that it is too heavy for mommy, and that's why we can't get it. She tells me "We need Daddy's help. He'll come back to get it." Little did she know that we already bought one for her for Christmas morning!!!

Christmas Eve

(And Christmas Eve's Eve)

Uncle Ryan decided he'd like to buy Lexy some cowboy boots for Christmas, so off to Boot Barn we went. She picked out some boots and he found a vest that he liked, and Voilà, she's an authentic cowgirl!

B - O - Y

This isn't my way of telling you we're going to have a boy... Not yet, at least.

It's actually what we hear Lexy spelling over and over again all day.
Every time she sees letters of any sort, she begins rattling off
"B-O-Y. B-O-Y. B-O-Y."
And so on and so on....

Bill's hoping it's not a premonition of things to come.

Thoughts on Blogging

My apologies to the few faithful readers who check in regularly only to find nothing new. I haven't figured out if this because my life is too busy to blog (which it is), or if it's more of an issue of my blogging philosophy...

Am I waiting for something BIG, something "blog worthy", to happen before I post again?

I've often read other blog authors talk about the "I can't wait to blog about this" thought that runs through their heads in the midst of a life moment. I can totally relate... BUT, I think that if I did blog all of those thoughts, I would spend WAY too much time on the computer. I honestly don't know how the people who have clever, witty, LONG entries EVERY DAY do it and still keep house, play with kids, make lunches/dinners, etc. They must not sleep. I like sleep too much to blog, I guess. :)

So anyway, thank you for checking in regularly. Please forgive the lack of new entries--- I'm too busy living life and sleeping to write!

Wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas!
Hopefully the busyness of the season doesn't cause you to lose sight of the real reason we are celebrating....
As Lexy sings, "Happy Birthday to Jesus!" (over and over and over again)

(My goal is to post some Christmas videos/pictures early next week.... We'll see :) )

Disneyland

We had the pleasure of a trip to Disneyland with the Perkins and Stedmans (their last time before moving to Ohio) last week. Six kids and 5 adults. Crazy fun. Emphasis on the "crazy."
Here are a few of the pics...

The Jungle Cruise














Tori's first ever cruise. :)

Lexy and her horsey













Allison, Lexy & Kate TeaCuppin' It

waiting in line for Dumbo with "Mr. Perkins", as Lexy fondly refers to him

The Perkins










Super Mom Sarah--
3 kids at Disneyland
BY HERSELF!














Hughes Family (minus sleeping Tori)

(just pretend it's in focus)

Happy Birthday Bill!!

Hoping you have a wonderful birthday!

We are so glad you were born! :)

Love,
Lexy, Tori & Jenn

Pictures, pictures, pictures

Nothing noteworthy to say, just a few pics to share.

Tori chillin' on her play mat. Notice the drool running off her chin... Teething?? We're not sure. Stay tunned.

Silly sisters

We have begun to get out the next phase of stuff for Tori-- the exersaucer, the highchair, etc. Lexy thinks they are the most fun toys she's ever seen! She climbs in and out of the exersaucer by herself whenever it's not in use...

Here she is eating breakfast in the highchair--- Day 1 of the highchair being out, and she insisted that she sit and eat in it.


Tori had her first rice cereal last week, and Lexy decided that she'd like to eat some cereal too. So here are my two girls eating cereal. :)

She likes it! She likes it!

Bath time

Squeaky Clean

This may not seem picture worthy, but the story that goes with it is too cute.
One night last week, I put on Lexy's pajamas and we started going through our bedtime routine when she jumped up and announced, "My feet are cold. I be right back." About 5 minutes later, she came back with her daddy's mismatched socks on her feet (pulled all the way up to her thighs), so proud of herself for solving the problem of cold feet. It was so cute I let her wear them to bed that night.

Lexy's friends
(l-r) Allison, Drew, Lexy, Logan, McKenzie, Kate and Kate

Our dear friends, the Stedmans, are moving back to Ohio next week. We had a little going away party for them last weekend. We will miss them!!! We're already planning a visit to Ohio :).

We'll Miss You, Stedmans!!

Life

It's been a while since I've posted anything.... We've just been living life.
Tori is back in good health, ruptured ear drum on the mend. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of dealing with a ruptured ear drum (be thankful), it is rather disgusting.... Think green boogers oozing out of an ear. Alarming, to say the least. But she is back to her smiley, giggly self, so all is well. Here's some video of her laughing that I took yesterday....



And since I'm pretty sure that this blog will probably be all Tori gets in the way of a baby book (poor 2nd child), here are her 4 month check-up stats:
17 lb 13 oz (way off the charts)
27 inches long (even further off the charts)
This month she has learned to roll from back to tummy (1st) and from tummy to back (2nd), which is the reverse order of how Lexy did it. Tori is also now reaching for things, which delights Lexy to no end. Lexy will bring her a toy, and when Tori reaches up for it, Lexy will shriek "She likes it! She likes it!" Or my favorite.... When Tori reaches out to touch Lexy's arm or hand (or whatever), Lexy says, "She likes me! She likes me!" May it always be so. :)

Lest you think we only have news to report on Tori, Lexy has had quite a week. It's Potty Training time! Yipee! When Lexy declared to me, "Mommy, I'm peeing in my diaper right now!" last week on the way to church, we decided it must be time. So, we are about 1 1/2 weeks into potty training, and for the most part, she's doing FABULOUS. A couple of accidents that were more my fault for pushing her too long, but other than that, she has taken to the whole Big Girl routine like a champ. And it is so cute to see how pleased she is with herself when she is successful.

Bill and I are amazed every day at her memory-- I don't think she'll EVER lose anything. When I can't find something I know she played with days back, no worries... just ask her. She'll go get it from whatever dark hole it's fallen in to. My keys, Daddy's belt, Mommy's phone, etc.-- She remembers!!!

She is also becoming quite the conversationalist (although sometimes I think I'm the only one who can understand what she is saying!). I'm hoping to capture some of her musings on camera and post them soon. Video of her is harder to come by as she is FASCINATED with watching herself on the camera display, and then she just gets silly (as any 2 yr old would).

We are looking forward to an extra long weekend together over the Thanksgiving break. Turkey time with friends and family, and then the big game on Friday--- Gig 'em Aggies!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tori's boxscore

Months lived: 4
Trips to Urgent Care: 3
Ear infections: 2
Ruptured Ear Drum: 1

Poor little thing. :(

More Lexy-isms

It's been one of those days....
How is it, exactly, that a cute, little 2-year-old can test your patience in a way that nothing else will ever come close to??? :) Despite all the craziness of the day, I am thankful the Lord has reminded me of what a blessing Lexy is to our family. It's all a matter of perspective....

Through a friend's blog, I was led to pray for the Levasheff family, whom I have never met, as they said goodbye to their precious 2-year-old son Judson. Horribly tragic, yet their faith is unshaken. And then there is the Kostjuk family, acquaintances of ours, who are currently praying for a miracle for their newborn daughter Reese. And I'm sure there are hundreds (upon hundreds) more. And any one of those families would gladly trade for a tough day with a willful 2-year-old.

So in the vein of celebrating the life of our fiery young one, I thought I'd share a few more of her funny sayings...

"Don't Be..."--
meaning, "Don't be mean", which we have no idea where she picked up, but the funny part is that she can't be bothered to actually say 'mean' at the end. That would take too much of her precious time. And then there's the humor in when it is actually used... Like when we're combing her hair (which has been smothered in detangler) after a bath, or when we're changing her dirty diaper preventing a diaper rash, or when we're helping her put shoes on so she can go outside. Gosh. We really ARE mean parents.

"I can't like it"--
translated, means "I don't like it." Uttered frequently after any new food she tastes-- unless it's a fruit or vegetable. Shockingly, even used after dessert on occasion. I love that her expression actually implies that she's willing herself not to like it... And she's got quite a strong will. :)

"I can't reach it.... (grunt, grunt)"--
Always 2 grunts. Always. Just to make sure we know she's REALLY trying. And really, this phrase is used in place of "I can't do it" because, more often than not, it has nothing to do with reaching anything. In the few instances that it does have to do with reaching, the item in question is sometimes mere inches from her, but she will contort her body in such a way that it becomes the feat of all feats to be able to reach it. Thus the needs for the grunts, I suppose. Look out Monica Seles.

And my personal favorite that just happened today, in the midst of my lack of patience....

I laid down in my bed with her hoping that she might actually take a nap, since she'd been literally bouncing off the wall in her room (where Tori was also sleeping). No dice. It was a nice thought, anyway. When it became ever-so-apparent that no nap would be happening, Bill came in and told her that she could sit still in the bed and watch Monsters, Inc., while Mommy took a nap. So, she hunkered down real close to my face and in a hushed whisper began singing "Jesus loves me", just like Bill and I do for her at bed time. At the end of the song, she continued whispering a bunch of words that only she understood and then said "Amen." and kissed me on the forehead. "Nigh nigh, Mommy. Sleep well."

And then my heart officially melted.
Thank you, Lord, for my tender-hearted (and strong-willed) Lexy.

Growing up before our eyes...

Victoria Grace, 4 months old

Our little Monkey

"Enough pictures already MOM!"

It's not every day you see a Monkey using binoculars....

Ok, now let's have a tea party. :)

Pumpkin carving and Halloween

The customary pumpkin carving shots...





We went to our church's "Trunk-or-Treat" Fall Festival for Halloween and Lexy enjoyed walking around with Daddy. And she liked the candy too. :)

Curious George & The Man in the Yellow Hat
Inspired by her favorite show that we watch every day

For (a few) more pictures, click here.
I got wrapped up in doing my "trunk-or-treat" responsibilities and neglected to take any close-up shots of Lexy in her monkey costume, ...HOWEVER....she liked the costume so much I don't think I'll have any trouble getting her to put it on again for a photo session.... Stay tunned. :)

Fire Aftermath & Pumpkin Patch

Thankfully, the Santa Clarita fires are all out, and we actually had some light drizzle this morning-- wish it could have come LAST weekend. It has been kind of weird to drive around and see the charred hills in every direction.

I thought this picture was amazing.... Shows how close the fire really was to Bill's school.

This afternoon, we went to Lombardi Ranch to pick out some pumpkins for Halloween. This is a locally-owned ranch that has been around in Santa Clarita for as long as I can remember. In fact, I remember going there as a child. Unfortunately, it was right in the path of the recent fires and suffered great losses. You can read about it here. Very sad.

Nevertheless, we had a great time. Here are some pictures....









Here are some shots that show the fire damage to the ranch....

BLACKENED HILLS

fire debris in background

Click on the "Hughes Family photo album" on the right margin to see more pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch.

All is quiet on the western front

Just wanted to say that all is well at our house...
TV coverage has returned to regular programming, so we (Santa Clarita) seem to be out of the woods.

I know from an early morning report that the fire in Castaic is still burning like crazy, but that is a good 5-10 miles north of us, and the winds are driving that fire west towards Piru and Fillmore. (For out-of-towners who've made the drive to Ventura/Santa Barbara with us, Piru and Fillmore are the little towns you pass through when driving on Hwy 126.)

Last I heard, the fires in the Lake Arrowhead area as well as the Orange County fire are still burning (and destroying homes). San Diego seems to have the biggest fires raging right now.... On the morning news, they were reporting that a major portion of Camp Pendleton is on fire; military families were given notice to prepare for evacuation. The I-5 freeway was shut in both directions. Continue to pray for the 1000s of lives affected down there-- both firefighters and citizens who are in the fires' wake.

Bill is back to work today, after a nice little 2 day break. I am busy catching up on laundry that was put on hold due to the hot water heater's death. Bill was able to get a new one installed yesterday evening-- disaster averted. Again, I am SO THANKFUL for my handy husband. :)

Thank you for checking in on us!

Update as of 2pm

We've been glued to the TV all morning watching the progress of the firefighting... I'm happy to report that 3 of the 4 fires seem to be "under control"-- no where near being put out, but no longer threatening houses and people.

The fire that was headed towards my brother's ranch this morning was seemingly under control until about 2 hours ago when the winds kicked up again. I haven't heard a TV report on its current status due to the fact that the fire burning in Running Springs (near Lake Arrowhead) and the one in Foothill Ranch (near Irvine) are going crazy. I do know that there are TONS of helicopters and planes battling our local fire from the air because I can hear them overhead. Lexy keeps looking at me shouting "Helicopter!" as she does the sign she knows from Signing Time. Fun the first 2 or 3 times. (not so fun the 100th time)

Some of you have asked... The horses did make it out okay and were moved to a field/meadow closer to the I-5 freeway. They are "out of harm's way" for now.... Another move could be required if the fire jumps. We'll wait and see.

We are still safe as far as I know. We have our own set of fun issues today as our hot water heater just quit on us (in the middle of laundry, of course). Bill is currently at Home Depot buying a new one. Thank the Lord I have a handy husband. :)

Smoke and Orange glow

I feel like all of Santa Clarita is on fire....

If you've seen the news recently, I'm sure you've heard about all of the fires in southern California. Currently, there are 4 burning in our little valley. I described it to a friend like this... It's as if our town is in the middle of a bowl, and the rim of the bowl is on fire on every side.

We were awakened this morning at 5:30 am this morning when my brother called to say that the area where his 3 horses are boarded is now in the wake of a new fire. Bill left immediately to go help evacuate animals. As I sit here and type, I hear multiple helicopters in the night sky. The news is reporting that the helicopters are water dropping aircraft busy at work trying to put out this "new" fire near my brother's ranch. This is crazy because usually they don't do water drops in the dark... I'm not sure if the fact that they ARE doing them signals the severity of this particular fire or what. For those of you reading that want area specifics, this is over by Eternal Valley cemetery, near where San Fernando road meets Sierra Highway.

Bill's school (West Ranch High School) was surrounded by fire yesterday afternoon, but nothing was damaged. WEIRD watching air shots on the news of fire surrounding the tennis courts and baseball fields. I found the below picture online... it is of the neighborhood ("Westridge") that surrounds his school...Thankfully, that fire seems to be dying down and all is clear around the school and neighborhood.

Here are a couple pictures Bill took last night around 10pm of the "Magic fire", which is burning in the hills behind his school, and behind Magic Mountain.

You can see the famous red "Six Flags" tower in the lower left corner of the shot above. I think it is the "superman" ride that is right in the middle.



I guess I should clarify that as of now, our family (and our home) are in no danger.
We are surrounded (at a distance) on all sides by fire, but I REALLY don't think the fire would ever burn a path towards us. If it did, it would have to go through HUNDREDS of homes first.

Please pray for the firefighters who are exhausted, I'm sure. They've been working for about 48 hours straight, and I don't think there is any relief in sight. Pray also that the winds would die down soon- they are what is driving all of the flames.

I'll update later.

Just a Cold?

Well, it turns out that Tori has an ear infection, not "Just a cold" as the Urgent Care doc said last night. We went to her pediatrician's office this afternoon because she still had a high fever and was tugging at her ear. Poor thing.

Antibiotics, here we come.
Ugh.

Urgent Care

My question of the day is this:

Why is it called "Urgent Care" when there is absolutely nothing "Urgent" about their care?

Yes, we spent the better part of 2 hours waiting in the local Urgent Care because poor little Tori seems to have come down with Lexy's cold. She woke up from her nap with a 101 temp which is really high for a baby her age. Thankfully, we were assured that all is well-- it is JUST a cold. Wish I didn't have to wait for 2 hours for that diagnosis. Oh well. Better safe than sorry.

Lexy-isms

Well, we are on week three of sleeping in the "big girl bed." I thought it was going to be quite an ordeal... I had visions (nightmares??) of playing the "go get back in bed" game over and over and over every night, but... (dare I even type this) She hasn't even crawled out once!!!! Shocking. Truly shocking to me, since she is such an independent little thing.

Currently she is under the weather-- we're hoping it's just a cold. Time will tell.
I spent a lot of time talking to her today (read 'listening to her whining') and realized that I should be documenting some of the hilarious things she says.

So, in no particular order...

"Dirty Animals"--
nothing is ever just "dirty", be in her hands, her clothes, the floor, etc. In Lexy's world, it "has dirty animals." A daily occurrence is Lexy raising her hands in the air, clearly dirty with food, paint, playdough, etc., and proclaiming, "Mom, I have dirty animals." Rather than try and reason with her, I've just accepted the fact that she is WAY ahead of the curve and already understands the ins and outs of microbiology.

"Go Get it"--
Two-year-olds have a lot of wants. Mine has a lot of want it RIGHT NOW. Yes, it sounds demanding, and well... it is. But it is really kind of funny when you watch the thought pop into her head and the subsequent action that follows... Example, "Mommy, I want cheese. (reaches for my hand and begins pulling on my fingers) Go Get It!" What's even MORE funny (and I dare not laugh to encourage it) is when this all occurs while I'm working the computer or reading. Then she adds the "Put that down right here" command in there also (motioning me to rid myself of all encumbrances).
This one also sometimes comes disguised in other clever little phrases... like the time I told her we were out of juice, and she succinctly responded "Go Buy More." I've wooed her into going to the store with me since then by telling her we're "going to buy juice." Works like a charm. She heads for the door saying, "bye bye Daddy! Be right back. We're going to buy juice!"

"ONLY..."--
This kid knows what she wants. Often, she'll tell me something she wants, and I begin listing off other wonderfully exciting options to try and dissuade her from whatever activity she wants to do. Oh, but she's too clever to fall for my trickery. Example: "I want to watch Monkey." Monkey=Curious George, her current favorite show. She watches it every morning when she wakes up, and a sad fact that I've learned about children's programming is that there are only about , oh, 15 episodes of any given show. They just constantly repeat them, which the kids couldn't care less about. But the poor, poor parent (read ME!) who watches begins to memorize the dialogue. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Bill and I can recite almost entire episodes.
So.... when the suggestion (ha! demand) is made to "watch Monkey", I calmly say, "How about Sesame Street, or Signing Time, or Veggie Tales, or ...." Each option is met with an immediate "No!" and then she pulls out the zinger. "I want Monkey, ONLY Monkey," shaking her head for emphasis.
Recently we have been trying to teach her that her name is Lexy HUGHES, not just Lexy. To bring home the point, Daddy is "Bill Hughes", Mommy is "Jenn Hughes"... She employed the "Only" here as well, telling me that Daddy is "Bill, ONLY Bill."

"I need a hug" --
From early on, when Lexy has having a not-so-good moment due to hurting herself, being punished, or whatever, I would always ask her "Do you need a hug?" Hugs always seem to make things feel better. She definitely latched onto that idea, and now says with increasing regularity, "I need a hug" whenever things aren't going her way. She's also been using it recently to get out of whatever task I've asked her to do--
Me: "Put away your blocks."
Lexy: "I need a hug."
or
Me: "Eat your sandwich."
Lexy: "I need a hug."

Clever little thing. But how can you not hug her?!? :)

There are countless others, but the dryer is done now, which means I can put the sheets on the bed and go to sleep. Sweet Dreams. :)

Tori is 3 Months old!

Here are some pictures of Tori in the last week...
We've had lots of fun going to Disneyland, Gigi's house, the Kern County Rodeo, and just hanging out at home in the swing and her new Bumbo seat. She is a great baby, always willing to offer a smile.

We went to Disneyland last week for the first time in a few months, so it was exciting to see Lexy understand the rides and parade in a new way. She LOVES the Teacups and couldn't get enough of them. I think between Bill and me, we rode them at least 5 times. Good thing neither of us get sick from the spinning. And yes, she wants it to be spinning as fast as possible the entire time.



Daddy's turn













Mommy's turn
(Daddy is a much better photographer!)

Everyone enjoyed the parade

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last weekend, we traveled up to Gigi's house in Bakersfield to go to the Kern County Fair and Rodeo. Bill and I started going up there annually for the event about 5 years ago because it's kind of like a little piece of Texas for him. Now that Lexy is old enough to understand what's going on, it's even more fun! She LOVES the animals, and it is such a delight to see her get so excited about seeing them and petting them. Here are some shots of our time at the fair....

Watching the Pigs with Daddy


Looking at cows with mommy

There is always a big pen of pregnant cows, due to deliver any day, at the fair. A few years back I was lucky enough to watch a calf be born right in front of me. AMAZING. This year, we were hoping to get lucky, but we missed a birth by about 45 minutes. We did get to see the newly-born calf trying to stand and nurse for the first time. I told Lexy that the baby cow is called a "calf" and she quickly replied, "No, mommy, it's a baby cow."
In the above picture, Lexy and I are looking at about 10 different cows, trying to determine if one of them might be getting close to delivery time....

Here Lexy is excited because one of the cows is breathing really heavy and hard, and it looks like it might be time. Unfortunately, my 2 year-old doesn't have the patience to stick around and wait for the action, so I have no idea whether or not anything happened. :)

Later that night, we went to the rodeo and watched "horseys running around, and cows running around, and people running around, and the [cowboy's] hat falling down." Or at least, that's what Lexy remembers. Fun times had by all.