The Four "T's" of November

TRUCKEE
The weekend before Thanksgiving we did a very last minute, spontaneous trip to Truckee with Shani's family thanks to Chris and Kathryn.  Friday night they asked/convinced us all to head to Truckee after work Saturday.  Chris and Kat were obviously in, Mom and Dad unknowingly committed thinking they had only been asked to watch Kaydence at home, and John was in as long as he could make two stops at Fifty-Fifty (a brewery in Truckee).  So it was decided that we were going and they found a beautiful place to stay for an amazing price.  We stayed in Northstar at a 3 bed/3 bath condo right in Northstar village.  It was perfect!  The weatherman (aka "Gary") had us concerned about a storm hitting that weekend, but it turned out to only rain which made driving much easier.  We hit a bit of snow on the way home, but nothing was sticking so the drive was great with no traffic.  We had so much fun hanging out all together, relaxing, and introducing Landon to the snow for the first time.  As most of you know, Shani is a planner and the spontaneity of the trip had her a little freaked out, but it was such a great trip that John hopes she continues to learn to be more spontaneous :-)

Landon's first experience with snow

Kaydence smiling at her Daddy

Lando hitching a ride with Kaydence

Banzai!

A worker let Landon sit in the tractor

Kelley family

Uncle Chris, Auntie Kat, and Kaydence

Nonni and Kaydence

 

TURKEY TROT
We decided to do a 5K Turkey Trot that went around Maidu park. Chris and Kathryn and our friends Karin and Zach and Michelle and Peter all ran it too.  We had so much fun doing the Mud Run we figured why not (minus the fact that Shani is now 20 weeks pregnant).  We couldn't ask for a better location as we literally walked across the street to the race start.  The event was a little bit on the unorganized side:  John stood in line for 1.5 hours to pick up our packet/bibs the day before and the race started 15-20 minutes late.  Although we are so happy with how many people turned out for the event (walkers and runners), we were a little annoyed by some of the people who walked 5 people wide blocking the whole path and those with dogs on long leashes.  Shani actually almost tripped over someone letting the leash out too far.  Did we mention it is even harder to dodge all the walkers and long dog-leash walkers while pushing a jogging stroller?  Yep, Chris was pushing Kaydence and John had Landon.  Both kids did great and made it through the whole run.  This was Kaydence's first run in the stroller and Landon has only done 2 miles, but both were happy as can be and allowed us to finish the race.  So we all survived and managed to do pretty well since some of us haven't been running much (or at all).  Papa even hung around during the race and took some great pictures of us.  He was there just in case either of the kids weren't having it and needed to get picked up.  It was a great way to start Thanksgiving and something we plan on trying to make a tradition from now on.

Ready to run!

Uncle Chris, Auntie Kat, and Kaydence

Peter and Michelle

Karin and Zach

We did it!

THANKSGIVING
We had Thanksgiving over at Shani's parents' house.  It was a quiet year as Chris, Kathryn, and Kaydence went to Kat's side of the family and Shani's cousin who usually comes went her boyfriend's side.  So it was just Mom, Dad, Grandpa Chuck, Aunt Robin, and us.  It was really different having it so quiet but it was still nice.  Mom prepared ALL the food.  She did a great job and it tasted amazing!  We had a lot of left overs since Mom and Dad decided on a 19-lb turkey before they realized half the normal crew wasn't going to make it.  That's okay with us as we are still eating some great left-overs.  Chris and Kat and Misty and Steve then made it over for dessert.  This was the first time Grandpa Chuck has seen Kaydence.  It was quite adorable to see him with his two great-grandchildren.  Grandpa is getting tired in his old age (93) but he really wanted to stay until he saw Kaydence which was really sweet.  We were so glad he got to hold her (with Landon very close by). 

Great Grandpa Chuck with his great grand-kids

If we have another boy, do you think we can take Kaydence and she can pass for one of ours??

TREE (Christmas of course)
We decided to take Landon up the hill to cut down a tree this year.  Although we know it's early (not even December yet) we had the time, plus Shani really likes having her tree up as long as she can.  We headed to Little Bear with Shani's parents to cut it down.  We had some trouble finding one and it wasn't until we had practically given up that we found one that worked.  Although we are used to the very full trees, we were happy with the one we picked.  Landon wasn't into hiking around much, but loved running around on John's shoulders.  He was also very interested while John was using the saw.  Landon would have taken over if we had given him the chance.  It was a very fun experience and one we are sure we'll do again in the future.  Crazy to think next year we'll have another little one with us!  

We are so grateful for all our family and friends!  For the love and support we receive from each and every one of you.  We couldn't be more thankful for a holiday that helps remind us of what we have and those we can share it with.  We are so thankful for you!

Guess what????

We are adding to our family!  Landon is going to be a big brother.  The new baby should be born mid-April.  Since Landon was born a couple weeks early on Valentine's day we figured this one might be early too...April Fool's Day?  John says any other holiday than Valentine's day will be better (minus Christmas).  Since we were hoping to be surprised with Landon's gender and accidentally found out early, we are planning on keeping this one a surprise (no really we are!).  This is toughest on everyone but Shani.  She's the only one that really wants to be surprised, John says he would prefer to know but doesn't care all that much (he lies).  We'll see if we happen to see something (or lack there of) when we go in for our ultrasound next month. 

We are currently 19.5 weeks along.  Shani feels like she's made to be pregnant because just like with Landon, she feels great!  Again, no morning sickness thankfully.  Just like last time, the sweet-tooth craving came on strong again, as did the tiredness.  We are unsure how much the tiredness has been due to Landon getting up in the middle of the night still (he is improving!).  So with all of these "signs" being the same as Landon, Shani thinks she's having another boy.  Although we'd be really excited if we were having a girl, there definitely isn't any disappointment with having another boy.  We'll have to wait and see if her prediction is correct.  Shani thinks she felt the baby for the first time a couple weeks ago, but hasn't had quite the movement she had with Landon.  John hopes that means we have a better/calmer sleeper, ha!  While sitting and watching one of our shows last night, John had his hand resting on Shani's belly and felt the baby kick.  It's always fun to share that connection together!  We guess there actually is something in there and there's no looking back now. 

It's really adorable because Landon knows there is a baby in mommy's tummy.  When we ask where they baby is he rubs Shani's belly.  When he's playing rough and jumps a little hard on Shani's belly we tell him to be gentle with the baby.  He then gets a concerned look on his face and says "baby" while rubbing the belly  It's quite cute.  He's getting some great practice with cousin Kaydence.  He loves going up and saying hi and touching her.  He's been very gentle with her which is great.  The other day he tried picking her up (with Nonni very close by) but she wouldn't budge.  Thankfully he didn't keep trying but it was cute to watch.  Another time Shani was holding her and patting her back.  Landon then wanted Shani to stop patting so he could pat her.  We are still holding out hoping he continues to be this way when the new baby gets some of his attention.  So far so good! 

We'll keep you updated as the new baby grows as well as what's going on with Landon and our family.  We have just had a great year so far and look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving and all that we are grateful for!

Wrapping up October

Like we mentioned before, October has been a busy month for us.  It has been overall a great month but still has been really busy.  Take a look at what we've been up to.

APPLE HILL
We made our annual Apple Hill trip mid-October and some of the trees had started changing colors.  It was a cool day which is how we like to experience Apple Hill, but also a shock as most of the days in October have been quite warm.  Unfortunately it didn't work out for the whole Kelley family to go together like we normally do, but it was still a great time with Nonni and Papa.  Landon enjoyed eating apple donuts (his first donut experience), watching people catch fish, and riding on the train.  Landon has also enjoyed the apple cider/juice he's been having and we've enjoyed are apple turnovers!

Yummy donuts

Landon sharing with Papa

Landon with Papa and Nonni at High Hill

Same donut!

Landon loves Trains

AUNT JAN AND UNCLE BILL
John's Aunt and Uncle from Colorado made a visit to California--something that they don't do very often.  The last time we saw them out here was probably 6 years ago.  We had a great visit with them.  They joined us for Trunk or Treating at Nonni and Papa's church, which was the first time Landon really dressed up.  He had a great time handing out candy (thankfully he doesn't know candy yet so he enjoyed handing it out rather than eating), going down the big bounce house slide, and playing in the fire engine.  They took us to a great breakfast at a place we don't get to go very often which was also a great way to end their stay with us.  We were so glad it worked out for them to come visit as Landon absolutely LOVED the attention he got from them.

Handing out candy with Nonni and Papa

Playing in the Fire Engine

Uncle Bill

Aunt Jan

Landon enjoying his time with his Great Aunt and Uncle

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Landon had a lot of fun Trick or Treating this year.  Last year he was in bed before the kids arrived and was in his costume long enough to take a picture.  This year he actually got to enjoy the evening.  We went over to Uncle Chris and Auntie Kat's house with Nonni and Papa as well as Auntie Kat's family.  They made a lasagna, salads, dips, and great desserts.  We had a fire-pit at the end of their court and just hung out.  We then took the boys around to the houses and totally wore Landon out.  He would knock at the door get his candy then ask for us to "hold you."  John was disappointed with the amount of candy Landon brought home since we didn't buy any.  Thankfully, we won't have that around the house.  We also carved a pumpkin with Landon and he didn't care much about that either.  He played along for a bit but then got bored.  He did put his hand into the pumpkin once, but didn't really like the feeling.  He'd pick out the seeds from John's pile, but didn't care to actually grab any of the guts out. 

Our little chicken

 

Landon and Tyler

Biker Papa, Chicken Landon, and Farmer Nonni

Uncle Chris with his nephews

Landon and Tyler Trick or Treating

Nonni and Papa with their Grandkids

Scooping out the guts of the pumpkin

AROUND THE HOUSE

We had a really large tree in the front yard that would drop paper towel size leaves.  Every fall we would dread the time we 'd have to clean up all the leaves.  We filled so many trash cans...we'd have to use the neighbors' can too.  During the last major wind storm a couple huge branches fell down and it became clear that our tree was in poor health. Instead of worrying about it coming down on our house (or the neighbors) or paying a ton to prune it again not knowing when something else would fall, we decided to just take the whole thing down.  Landon enjoys playing in the bark and climbing on the wood pile.  It's so great that he loves being outside so much.  

Shani's old roomie from Cal Poly and soccer buddy was in town for the weekend.  She came over for a fun visit and to meet Landon.  The last time we saw her Shani was pregnant with him.  It was great fun catching up and playing with Landon.

Christy and Landon

JOHN TESTIFIES IN COURT

John testified in San Mateo County Superior Court on Monday and Tuesday last week. He was assigned a big case (a former psychiatrist who had been diagnosed with dementia), had a controversial opinion (that he was faking symptoms to avoid trial), and then was called to court to defend it. John doesn't want to put any identifying information on the blog, but if you're curious about the case, you can "Google" John's name and "psychiatrist" and read some of the articles. John felt good about his testimony and put a ton of work into the case, so he was pleased with the positive feedback he received from the district attorney and the judge (through the decision). The case has been stressful for a while, so this weekend has been especially relaxing.