First Foods

Audrey turned 6 months old on May 6th.
We celebrated with:
Avocado


Banana


Rice Cereal


Not all on the same day of course.
I think zuchinni or sweet potato are next on the list. Thus far, she is a fan of everything except peas... those made her quite upset at night...

She is quite pleased when drinking water too.

Mandatory Evacuation

Evacuating is never fun. We should know, we have done it 3 times in the 5 years we have lived in our current home, the last two times in the last 12 months!

First, I was teaching in Oxnard, pre-kids of our own, and could not go to work for a week because 101 was covered in the La Conchita landslide. We were evacuated due to the culvert that SB City believed would overflow sending insane amounts of water down the creek behind our house, flooding the creek, and our home too.

Second, last July, GAP fire. We were enjoying some time with Christian's family just before 4th of July when the GAP fire got closer to our home (gotta love those sundowners) and we packed as much as we could and got our of dodge... pregnant and with a 2 year old. Sent the Schaleskys back home, my poor sister-in-law was also pregnant and had to pack up the camper, 4 kiddos, and drive the bumpy ride home in the middle of the night! We stayed with family in town for that one and were on warning for a week before we could go back home.

This time, we were watching the fire closely. We packed Tuesday night before going to bed, the day the fire started. The fire was not even close at that time, but with our track record, we figured we would be evacuated before long. The pic at the top is around 5:30pm when the wind changed directions and the fire started heading our way. Within 5 hours we were on mandatory evacuation and on our way to our friends house. Had to wake both Caleb and Audrey from sleeping, bummer. Audrey has been fine through it all, of course she doesn't understand what is happening. Caleb has had a rough time. Misses his toys, his bead, wondering how his house is, etc. Cried a few times. Scary for a 3 year old. He was dead asleep when we evacuated. I had to bring him outside to the noise of helicopters over head, sirens blaring, ash flying and stinky smoke swirling. Poor guy, must have been scary.

Caleb was sure pleased this morning when I told him that our neighbors called and the evacuation is lifted and we can go back home. He was so happy his things and home are safe. Very thankful for firefighters too. Had a very peaceful nap afterwards. Hoping he sleeps better tonight too. Last night, he awoke in the middle tof the night, teary, asking, "Where is my home?"

Thankful for good friends and family that host us during these evacuations, and love and care for my kiddos to help make this as easy on them as possible.

Naked!

Audrey... Almost 6 Months!

Audrey will be 6 months old this Wednesday. Wow. Just today, I noticed two little slits on her bottom gum. Yep, that is right, teeth are coming in! Just like big brother Caleb, Audrey is getting her first teeth at six months.

I am trying to decide what her first solid food should be. My sister has my baby food book, so I am feeling rusty because I don't have access to all the ideas I had with Caleb. I know the whole eat rice cereal first, then either banana, sweet potato, or avocado thing. I am just thinking I want her first food to be a veggie instead of a carb or a fruit. Although, with everything going on around here these days, banana sounds easiest, or avocado since the trees at church are ripe right now. Post your ideas in the comments.

Technically, her first food was amoxicillan, since she had double ear infections and strep last week. Poor thing. Well, and even before that, she had Mylicon and Tylenol. And, to counter the pink stuff, we gave her a little bit of acidophilus in water too. Hey, she has had a lot of things other then breast milk. I am thinking I just let her eat whatever we are eating and be done with it. What do you think? It sure would make my life easier!

While we were sick...

So, there has been a blog silence. I normally post every Monday. However, 2 Mondays ago Caleb was sick, then on Wednesday Audrey got it, Sunday I got it, and Thursday Christian got it. Audrey and I are still sick. As you know, when kids get sick, they sleep less and still want to be active, and therefore, are even more cranky then the usual sick person. What is up with that? I get sick and I want to crawl in bed. Caleb and Audrey get sick and they think it is wakey wakey time at 3am. I get sick and I think getting cozy and watching a movie at home sounds nice. Caleb and Audrey want to play, outside. Go figure. All to say, we sis not just stay home for the last two weeks while we were sick. Instead, we:
Went to the Santa Barbara Fair





Went to the new California Trails exhibit at the Zoo


And of course to the grocery store, and some other random errands.

Caleb and Audrey... Wake Up Time

Caleb just woke up in this picture, and started singing to Audrey. I grabbed the camera. The two of them just love each other so much. I LOVE how they love each other.

ABC's and 123's

Caleb got a toy, Leap Frop Fridge Phonics, and has been learning his letters. He can identify and name a word that starts with that letter for 13 letters of the alphabet. It si a great toy because he just learns the letters on his own while he plays with it. The Cinnamon Schoolhouse Cookies at Trader joe's help too. They come in ABCs and 123s, mmm and they taste like snickerdoodles. Christian and I try to save some for Caleb.




We started a countdown in March. We were using his calendar and a chain of paper rings, to count down to his birthday. Well, it started this counting routine. So, now we count each day as we look at the calendar and move the marker to the correct day. He can count to 30, by himself, but skips 15, 16, 17, and 20. Too cute.

Even better then the ABCs and 123s though are the books we read. He reads a lot, loves it. It is the only thing he will do by himself for a sustained amount of time (longer than 5 minutes). I think one of my favorite things is reading books with Caleb. The best part? After nap, Caleb will come out of his room with a book and ask me to read to him. Sometimes, Audrey is still sleeping, and he will cuddle up on my lap and sit there as long as we can and read together. I love it! One of the rare times when I get cuddles from him now.

My baby is growing up... he is a big 3 year old now! My how things change.