First Noises

Our little baby is growing fast. At her 2 month checkup, she was 10 lbs, 10 oz and 23 inches. Her brother and sister are very sweet to her, even if Emily still calls her baby "Abby". They love to talk to her and hold her, especially when she rewards them with smiles, which she frequently does. The other day, Cole was holding Addy on her lap and she was smiling at him and kicking as he talked to her. He loved it. He keeps asking me if I remember that day when Addy was playing with him. Cole and Emily are also very good to her when she cries. They are very good at finding her pacifier and putting that in her mouth, and then if that doesn't work, Emily runs to me and tells me that Addison needs her "Mommy's Milk".
I'm so grateful for my sweet baby and her siblings.

Winter is Here!

Last week we woke up to .... SNOW! My kids were so excited. The problem was, I had ignored the forecasts and I wasn't really prepared for the snow. So, at 8:30 in the morning, after my kids went out in their pajamas several times (to get snow for breakfast they told me), I decided I'd better go dig out some more appropriate gear. Luckily, last year's gloves worked for Cole and some of Cole's old gloves worked for Emily. Emily also had some hand-me-down boots that worked. But the winter coats were too small, so we ended up in jackets! (And apparently they wouldn't wear the hats I found!). But they didn't seem to care too much. They just loved being out in the snow!

I'm pretty sure that my neighbor wasn't quite as excited when my kids showed up at her door fairly early in the morning so Cole and Emily could show their friends the snow. I wasn't sure the snow would last until after preschool, so I let them go over there to see if they could play for a few minutes before Cole had to leave.
The first snowball fight of the season.
My neighbor was more prepared. Her kids had new hats, gloves, boots, and coats! Oh well, maybe she will shop for me next time!
And of course, poor Addy had to go outside with us for a few minutes so I could monitor Emily and Cole! Thankfully a few blankets and a hat were all she needed to stay warm!

Halloween Fun

Ever since Chad and I have been married, I have enjoyed doing our costumes around themes, for example we have done a Dora theme, a dinosaur theme, a Star Wars theme, etc. I figured I had another year or two where I could convince my kids to pick costumes that I could build a theme around. Well, I was wrong. About a month ago, an advertisement came in the paper that had about a hundred costumes in it. Cole looked through it several times and finally settled on being a white (not black, blue, red or any other color) ninja. I was a little concerned about this, because white ninjas are not easy to build a theme around, at least not in my thinking. But, I didn't worry too much because everyone told me he would change his mind multiple times before Halloween. The problem is, he didn't change his mind. HOW DO YOU MAKE A THEME WITH A WHITE NINJA AND TWO GIRLS!?!?! (Can you tell I had a bitter Halloween!) But being the good mom that I am, I let him go ahead and be a white ninja. (Mostly because 2 weeks of trying to persuade him to be knight or a superhero or a football player didn't work, so I finally gave up.)

Somehow, Emily decided she was going to be a kitty cat, which I didn't mind because at this point my theme creation was ruined anyway. So, I decided I would work a theme with her costume, so Emily, Addy, and I became the Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens.
Emily was a hoot to watch trick or treat. I'm not sure how much she remembered from last year, but after the first person dropped a piece of candy in her bucket, she was off to the races! She ran down the stairs to show me what the nice man had given her and she kept running for the rest of the night!
Cole, on the other hand, was the slowest 4-year-old trick-or-treater you have ever met! He was content to stroll from house to house at his own pace. (Which drove his father nuts!) The ninja mask was shortlived. It apparently made it difficult to breathe! Where are his priorities? Cute costume or breathing. I mean really!
Emily was always standing at the stairs waiting for him to take her up to the next door.
Chad allows me to have a theme with his costume as well. He was wearing a sign that said "Kitty Tamer". As if we need taming! Addy was obviously not quite as into the trick-or-treating as her sister was. She decided her dad's arms were a nice place to take a nap. (Big surprise on the sleeping in the arms thing!)
The kitty cats were much better at posing for pictures than the white ninja!
This was near the end. I think they were a little worn out!
Overall, it was a successful Halloween. Cole and Emily got lots of candy and had lots of fun! And even though I sound quite bitter at times, I enjoyed watching my children and seeing the joy they found in every little thing, from their costumes, to seeing their friends, and of course to all of the fun things they got to see and do!

Pumpkin Carving

This year, as usual, we went to Jennifer's house to carve pumpkins. I'm very grateful that we can go make the mess at her house instead of ours! Of course, we don't make a huge mess because NO ONE WILL TOUCH THE PUMPKINS!! (Can you tell I'm a little bitter about this!) I had to clean out all 3 pumpkins and Chad carved Cole's and Emily's. Cole was a very good supervisor and told Chad exactly what he wanted, but he had no desire to touch anything. Emily was the same way, except worse. When we got there, Emily tiptoed around the newspapers and pumpkins and then went into the other room, where she remained until we managed to coax her back for a picture or two. But even that took plenty of bribery! We are going to have traditions whether they like it or not!!

Emily and her pumpkin (notice she is carefully sitting so as to touch as little as possible!)
Cole and his pumpkin. He would at least touch the outside of them.
Addy and her pumpkin. (Ok, we cheated here, her pumpkin wasn't big enough for this picture, but Mason's was!) Notice she does not like to touch the pumpkin either!! Actually, it was funny because Cole and Emily both freaked out when we put her in the pumpkin. They couldn't believe we were going to torment her like that! Emily was really appalled when we pulled her out and she had pumpkin guts on her pants!
Chad and I working on the pumpkins, with Cole as a supervisor. (Notice he is not close to the pumpkins!)
Me cleaning out pumpkins the only way I know how, with Addy sleeping in one of my arms! I wouldn't know how to do anything with both arms these days!
This one required some bribery. Again, notice how carefully she is sitting so as to touch nothing!
Chad carving Cole's pumpkin while Cole supervises!
Chad carving Emily's pumpkin, under her careful (to not touch anything icky) supervision.
Cole NOT carving pumpkins. But, I'm sure the cookie is good!
Emily NOT carving pumpkins. But at least she is educating herself?
Addy NOT carving pumpkins. But apparently my girls were good at entertaining Kira! (Although the swing only occupied Addy for about 10 minutes. Then it was back to Mom's lap.)
Chad, having carved so many pumpkins, turned into a PUMPKIN HEAD!
Oh wait, she did touch a pumpkin!
Maybe one day, my kids will learn to enjoy it like Jennifer's kids. (Although I had to put this picture on because I was laughing at Mason trying to carve his pumpkin with a caramel apple in his hand!)
Always time for cute pumpkin pictures of cute cousins! (This picture is evidence of why I'm not a professional! Or why it's impossible to take a picture of 3 kids 2 and under.)
The finished products. It's a good thing they are all cute! This tradition will continue and THEY WILL LEARN TO LIKE IT!!

Halloween Snapshots

Here is a sneak peek of Halloween. Aren't they cute. (Except of course for the scary white ninja.) More to come later!

Addy's First Game

Addy got to attend her first BYU sporting event on Saturday. What a lucky girl! She managed to hold out until she was almost 2 months, which could be a record for our family.

Grandpa Bud (Not Pictured), Grandma Lorna, and Double Grandma also attended the game with us. (It might have also been Double Grandma's first BYU football game. I think I have her beat by a few years!)

I was obviously more interested in eating my hand than watching the game. On the bright side, the cannon didn't scare me a bit! So I might get to go back one day.
BYU winning makes me happy! (And my Mom and Dad also.)

Name that Tune 3

The songs are getting trickier! This is one of Emily's favorites though.