Early Halloween Fun

With my sister due to have her baby this week, we decided to take last Saturday and get all our fun Halloween activities done before the baby comes. This year we started out at the pumpkin patch.

I loved the Happy Halloween pumpkins!


Our first stop was the hay maze. The kids just love running around this maze. Of course Ashton and Zach stuck together pretty much the whole time.


As did Hailey and Branson. These two are pretty much unseparable - if they did get separated, they seemed more intent on finding each other than they did trying to get through the maze.


The two older boys thought it was fun to run from the two younger kids, at one point they climbed up on the bridge and kept telling the younger ones where to go - it was hilarious since the younger ones had no idea what they were saying.


After playing in the maze for a bit, we headed into the pumpkin patch to choose pumpkins.


A lot of time was spent searching for the perfect pumpkin!



Even when we had already found that perfect one, we had to compare others we ran across, just in case they were any better.


Tate wasn't sure what was going on, but he was happy just being outside with everyone.


After getting the exact pumpkins they wanted, the kids played in the hay maze some more and then stopped for a quick picture with Nana and Papa. Tate was asleep, so we just pushed his stroller up next to Nana so he was in the picture too. Apparently watching those kids run around the hay maze tired him right out!


Next we headed back to Nana and Papa's to paint and decorate the pumpkins. Everyone chose a different color and the painting began.


Hailey chose a light purple color for her pumpkin ...


while Zach chose green and brown.


Tate hung out next to Papa while I painted his pumpkin for him (he told me he wanted his name in green).


While the pumpkins were drying, Nana had stuff for the kids to decorate their own trick-or-treat bags. They all were so different, but they all turned out great!


Once the kids finished their projects, the bigger boys began carving their pumpkins.


Zach and Ashton decided to help their dads out.


Jeremiah and Zach chose a Washington Husky for their pumpkin.


Tate hung out with Aunt Kylie during some of the pumpkin carving.


I think he's smiling because he knows when little Libby is planning to come, but he's not telling anyone!


He also spent some time in the new bumbo seat. Since he loves to sit up, he's really loving his new little seat. He kept looking at Kylie while he was sitting there, it was hilarious that he wouldn't even look at me long enough to get a picture!


Here's a picture of everyone with their pumpkins. The kids had added some foam stickers to make faces, so they were all finally completed. Don't they look great?


Of course the kids had to show their trick-or-treat bags!


After dinner, the kids got dressed up in their halloween costumes to trick-or-treat at Nana and Papas. We had a cowboy sheriff, hunter, pinkalicious, bear, and lion.


I had to grab a quick picture of our three kids.


And then individuals of each of them. Here's our cowboy sheriff complete with handcuffs, badge, and dart gun. What a handsome boy!


Pinkalicious was in pink from head to toe - including her clothes and even her hair! She was so excited about the pink hairspray we bought.


And here's our little lion. What a cutie with those chubby cheeks!


After the pictures were done, the kids all headed off to trick-or-treat at the different room at Nana and Papa's house. They loved all the treats and prizes that Nana had for them.


This is one of my favorite traditions. As the kids are getting older, they want to trick-or-treat around our neighborhood, so we don't make it up Halloween. It's fun to have an early trick-or-treat where the kids get to dress up and trick-or-treat Nana and Papa.


It definitely was a fun, but busy day! Thanks Nana and Papa for all the fun activities, candy, and prizes - WE ALL HAD A BLAST!

What's That???

It's 8:30 pm.

All 3 kids are in bed and asleep.

Husband is at the church.

Laundry's done.

House is cleaned.

Toys, clothes, and everything else is picked up and put away.

Homework is finished.

Work is done.

There's no one needing snacks, juice, to watch a movie, to be fed, a diaper changed, or any one of a thousand things I get asked or need to do during the day.

And hear that? That's right, quiet. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??? I've almost forgotten what quiet sounded like.

After a rough couple of days, it's nice to finally have a few minutes to sit and think. Wish my husband was here, but he should be back soon. In the meantime, I'm going to sit and just enjoy the peace and quiet. Heaven knows that starting at about 6 am tomorrow the quiet won't be anywhere near here!

Four Months Old

Today was Tate's 4 month check-up at the doctor. That's right, I said 4 months. WHERE ON EARTH DID THE TIME GO??? Well, it must have passed correctly, because Tate has definitely grown. Hard to imagine considering how big he has been, but he has gained in every category. As of today, here are his stats:

Height: 25 3/4" (77th percentile)
Weight: 18 lbs (93rd percentile)
Head Circ: 42.8 cm (62nd percentile)

I've had a lot of people ask me how Tate's measurements compare to Zach and Hailey at the same age. Well, I've been meaning to compare all 3 side by side for a while, so here goes:

Height at four months:
Zach: 26 1/4"
Hailey: 25"
Tate: 25 3/4"

Weight at four months:
Zach: 19 lbs, 4 ounces
Hailey: 13 lbs, 9 ounces
Tate: 18 lbs

Amazingly enough, Zach was heavier and a little bit taller than Tate at four months. Hard to imagine since Tate seems SO HEAVY and I don't remember thinking that about Zach. Maybe it's just that I'm much older and my muscles aren't what they used to be. No comparison in weight with Hailey - then again she's always been a skinny little squirt, even when she was little. I still remember us celebrating the day she hit the 10th percentile. All three of them are pretty similar in their height measurements - they're all very tall, although that's no surprise is it?

Here's our chubby little Tate at four months:



Check out those chubby cheeks! Despite the fact that he has acid reflux and spits up all the time, he's still one chubby baby! No worries about him wasting away!


Those last pictures just didn't do the chub justice, so I had to include these ones of him in just his diaper to show the chubby belly, arms, and my personal favorite - those chubby thighs!


Check out those chubby rolls under his arms and at his chest.


And of course that double chin!


I love this child! He just cracks me up!

The other day he was getting a big fussy in his highchair, so I had Hailey run over and grab his binkie to help him settle down for a minute while I finished cleaning up the dishes. We have started setting a few soft toys on the tray for him to play with now that he's actually started grabbing things. One of his favorites is a little bear/blankie toy that he can easily grab and of course put right into his mouth! But with the binkie in there, he basically just grabbed the bear and held it up to him. It was so cute, I couldn't help snapping a few pictures of him cuddling up with his bear.


Is that not just the sweetest thing?


By the time I was done taking pictures, he was actually smiling and giggling - so I guess if nothing else, that not only helped settled him down, but actually made him happy.


It sure has been a fun and wonderful four months. I sure love this little boy and continually wonder how on earth we ever lived without him!?!

Three Cute Kids!

Check out the three cutest kids ever:



What more can I say?

Takin' a Little Nap

You know that silence that is so quite it's almost too quiet? When I hear that type of silence, I know that one of two things is happening:

1. Someone is doing something they aren't supposed to (9 times out of 10 this is the reason at my house) or
2. Unplanned napping is going on.

After a long morning full of football and some lunch, Zach and Hailey headed outside to play and Jeremiah sat down with Tate to watch some college football while I did some work on the computer. After a few minutes, I heard silence from the recliner behind me. As a mother, I was naturally curious what was going on. So I got up ...

And this is what I found:



It was so cute, I HAD to take a picture of these two napping buddies! Don't they look a lot alike?

I'm in LOVE! (Shhh, don't tell my husband!)

I met someone about 3 months ago and I fell in love at first sight. He may not be much when you look at his stats:

Height: ~ 2 feet
Weight: ~15 pounds
Doesn't talk much
Needs me to do EVERYTHING for him
Won't put away any of his stuff
The list goes on and on ...

But he's one of the most handsome I've met in my entire life.

So why do I love him? Well, just take a look and tell me you wouldn't fall in love with this face too?


I love all the chub on this little boy! I can't help but squeeze his cheeks and I laugh every time I see those rolls on his thighs! This is the first time he's worn this outfit - he's just barely 3 months old and this is a size 3-6 month outift! Yeah, this may be the only time he wears it because he's already outgrown it! I have a feeling it's going to be that way with a lot of the clothes we have for him. In fact, I could barely pull these cute little cargo pants up over his thighs and I had to work all day to keep the shirt over his chubby belly!


Yesterday was the first day he sat in his highchair and he loved it! No more laying on the counter or floor when we eat to be near us. We're hoping before long we can sit some toys on the tray for him to play with.


Honestly, I think Zach and Hailey were more excited than anyone else that Tate was in his highchair. They both just HAD to take a picture with him on that momentuous occasion.


He did quite a bit of smiling during dinner, I think he really likes being up where he can see us.


Yep, I'm totally in love with this little ball of chub! How on earth did I ever live without him? (And by the way, I feel the same about my other two kids and my husband as well!)

Gymnastics!

After a very successful and fun dance season in the spring, Hailey decided she wanted to try gymnastics this fall. I was a little reluctant since she's so tall, but decided that as this age, there really wasn't anything to worry about. So we signed her up and her first class was on Friday. She was so excited! She was bouncing off the walls all morning until it was time to head to class.

We got her leotard on and some knit shorts - she really looked cute!


As you can tell, she's not the least bit excited!


When the class started, they all sat on carpet squares and stretched out.


She was so cute doing the stretches, she kept looking up at me to see if I was watching her.


Once they finished stretching, they split up into 3 groups and rotated through a few of the different things. Hailey's group started off on the beam. She did a couple of different walks on the beam and fell off fewer times that I thought she would.


Here's a video clip of her walking on the beam:



They also practiced picking up their feet while standing still on the beam - she's like me and has a hard time with balance with being so tall, but she did great.


After the beam, their group moved to some things on the floor. They practiced jumping back and forth over a jump rope, ...


doing sommersalts on the big triange wedge, and rolling over the big cylinder.





I was hoping that they'd make it to the uneven bars, but there wasn't time. I'll try to get pictures of that next class. Rather than doing that last rotation, they decided to spend some time playing with the big parachute instead - something that she absolutely loves!


She had a wonderful time and it's going to be a long week until she gets to go again. Later that day after lunch, I asked her which she liked better: preschool or gymnastics? She thought for quite a while until I told her she could like them both the same, which she said she did (and looked relieved that she didn't have to pick one over the other). I'm so happy that she's having so much fun with both preschool and gymnastics, it's fun to go and watch her have such a fun time!