October GBOMB

G O O D
+We went to Santa Barbara for a quick weekend trip. Our friends Brad and Haley flew down from Seattle to go with us and were kind enough to watch our kids one of the nights we were there so Andrew and I could go to watch a Jim Gaffigan show. More on that trip here.
+I can finally say that my all day nausea is finally gone! It only took until 24 weeks, but I no longer have to take my Zofran everyday. It is glorious.
+The Steeds were able to stop by our house on their way to and from another visit. The kids were so glad to see their cousins even if it was just a quick trip.
+I managed two trips with the kids to Disneyland this month. It's really hard to go in October because it is so packed with people who come in for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Even though our first trip was really crowded, we still had a fun time and managed to get on quite a few rides. Our second trip the week of Halloween was surprisingly empty so the kids and I lucked out with short wait times.
+We went as a family to the Aquarium of the Pacific. We've had tickets forever and finally used them. I don't think there's a better family activity than going to an aquarium.
+The whole month of October has been fun with the kids because of Halloween. They have loved watching Halloween specials and pretending to Trick-Or-Treat. Andrew took them to a fun Halloween festival in Marina Del Ray and then we had a fun Halloween activity at our church. The kids looked so cute in their costumes.
+I did a 10 day social media fast and in that time I read seven books. It's great that I read so much, but a little sad how much extra time I had when I wasn't wasting it scrolling Instagram.

B A D
+I had more dental work done. I guess this could go in the good category because it's almost all done. Only one more visit. On top of that, I had to go to an oral surgeon and have a weird blood blister removed from my tongue. I didn't expect the recovery from that to be so intense, but man, it was not fun and I'm still feeling the after effects of it. Luckily the stitches have finally dissolved so it just feels like a big cranker sore on my tongue now.
+Olive has been really grumpy this month. Anytime something doesn't go quite her way, she screams at the top of her lungs to voice her displeasure. It hasn't been fun dealing with her.

O N  M Y  B R A I N
+The upcoming election. I already sent in my early ballot and I'm interested to see how it all turns out. Make sure to exercise your right to vote on November 6th!
+I think I'm going to start potty training with Taylor again. I can't get him interested at all, but he hates having his diaper changed so it's time. I just have to buckle down and be consistent with him.

Now onto the most wonderful time of the year. We've already gotten the Christmas books and movies out. I don't think it will be too much longer before our Christmas decoration goes up. I know some people argue for a clear definition between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but Christmas is just so much fun with kids and I plan on squeezing every drop of happiness out of the season (which means we will start celebrating every year on November 1st for the foreseeable future despite the naysayers).