park days

we have this really nice park right by our house that we have been going to almost on a daily basis. i've been trying to be more active and i want brooklynn to be active so it works out. it takes about 10-15 minutes to walk there so i walk pushing quinn in the stroller and brooklynn rides her scooter. she's getting really good at it. the weather has been really nice lately, cool but not too cold so we have been loving going to the park. it has been so nice living in california. i've got to enjoy these days before we endure a bakersfield summer. i hear it gets pretty dang hot. so for now we will be at the park. probably every day until it's too hot. brooklynn is just learning how to swing on the big kid swings. she will hop on and repeat out loud, "forward and back, forward and back" and she does it with her legs. it's pretty cute. quinn loves the baby swing. she could swing in that thing forever. i think quinn is quite enjoying being outside so much. she is 6 months old now. i can't even believe it. half way to a year. what in the world!? i love these kiddos of mine.

valentines day / / orange county

one of the many great things about moving here to bakersfield is that we are so much closer to my family. orange county is just over 2 hours away from us which means i will get to see them so much more often which i am beyond excited about. 

for valentines day the kids and i headed down there because my mom planned the most awesome valentines day. it started at jerry's dog for lunch and my mom had made the cutest valentines day pouches that looked like envelopes that were hanging on the back of every child's chair. they were to die for! ah. all the kids exchanged valentines, it was so fun for brooklynn since it was her first time really getting into valentines day. plus lunch was yummy!

then we all headed to cinepolis luxury cinemas. this place is awesome! it's a movie theater where all the seat are huge soft recliner chairs and they have servers to come and wait on you and bring you whatever you want. it was so nice for me juggling the two littles to have two huge seats to deal with. it made the whole experience so much easier. we saw the lego movie and if you haven't seen it you should. i wasn't sure how much i was going to like it but it turned out to be so good and so funny. i would definitely recommend it. 

after the movie we all headed over to toys r us because my mom treats every kid to a valentines day toy. so all the kids ran around toys r us picking out their perfect toy. brooklynn had originally chosen the huge $40 bear.. this was what she wanted.. out of every single toy in that place she was set on this bright green bear. since she already has a big bear and a million other stuffed animals i was determined to get her to pick something else. and she did! we went into the art supply area and she saw a esle and she was sold! best choice ever she LOVES it!! 

so i have to say a huge thanks to mimi and papa for such a fun valentines day!

we stayed for one more day which consisted of breakfast with my girlfriend kourtney, she then cut my hair and brooklynns hair and did her hair all cute, then met my other girlfriend nicole and target with her kiddos, then i met my sister janice at the mall for lunch and shopping, and then got brooklynn's nail painted, then just hung out at my parents house for the rest of the day until we headed home that night. it was such a fun weekend! i look forward to many more just like it!

here is a little video of brooklynn dancing at the gap in the mall while we waited for janice to try some clothes on. she's such a nut.

we're moving...

we are moving to...

(drumroll please)

bakersfield, califoria

now i have to admit i at first didn't have the best attitude about moving to bakersfield... i just feel like i was born to live in big cities with lots of people and things to do... but i've come to realize that i really know nothing about this place and i need to go into this with an open mind and a good attitude. 

luckily i have a friend who grew up in bakersfield and knows all of the good areas to live in and the areas we need to stay away from so it's nice having her help while we find somewhere to live. we will be moving there literally as soon as we find a place.. it's all happening so fast.. 

i really am excited for this new adventure.. i am so happy to get out of the cold and it will be so fun to be less than 3 hours away from my family. it will be nice for brooklynn to be able to play and ride her bike outside.. and we can start going on walks again!! but it will be so sad to leave curtis' side of the family out here. it has been so nice living close to them and i love them so much that it is going to be really hard to leave them.. it will also be really hard to leave my friends that i have here.. and the ward we are in. i absolutely love it! 

and who am i going to go to dinner with and spend hours and hours talking about one direction with when i'm living so far away from kaitlin? ahhh

so as you can see this is going to be a bitter sweet transition but i am feeling optimistic.

i am ready to start this new chapter of our lives.