6 months old!

Well, Bailey is officially 6 months old now! Some days I still can't believe she's already this old & then other days it feels like we've had her forever!

At her 6 month appointment, Bailey weighed 17 lbs, 1 oz & was 26 inches long, so she's doing well! In fact, Kimberly had her 2 year appointment on the same day & I was surprised to realize that Bailey's only got another 8 pounds to be caught up with Kimberly in weight! But Kimberly has always been in about the 25th percentile & Bailey's been in the 75th percentile...

Over the last month, Bailey has made TONS of progress developmentally... And I think the Christmas tree may have helped her progression! I can't believe how well she can maneuver herself around! It's been fun to watch what just a couple of weeks can do for a little baby...

She now is rocking on her hands & knees,  going up on her tip-toes (or doing push-ups),

& sitting REALLY well!  Even the doctor was extremely impressed with her abilities for being only 6 months old!  So Bailey's new favorite is Kimberly.  She pretty much just starts laughing as soon as she sees her lately!

I've also started putting a few headbands on Bailey lately, contrary to Laron's no-headbands rule. I never used them with Kimberly, but I'm getting tired of the stuck-on bows falling off & we got a few headbands passed down to us in the last batch of hand-me-downs, so I decided to try them out (without asking for permission, I might add!).

She brings fun to the room everytime she starts bounching herself on my lap, everytime she grabs a handful of Kimberly's hair when she gets too close, everytime she pushes herself backwards across the room, & she brings a yell of excitement from the kids everytime she wakes up. Well, we feel super blessed to have Miss Bailey in our lives & can't imagine our lives without her!

"All is Calm, All is Bright"

A week & a half ago, we experienced some pretty crazy hurricane-speed (100mph+) winds around here. WE didn’t really get too much damage, but many of the surrounding cities had power outages for days, trees falling on top of houses, school buses’ windows shattering merely from the wind speeds & houses de-roofed. Between several phone-calls checking on my family’s condition throughout the day & watching the news updates that night, I found myself a little anxious that night after I put the older two kids to bed. So as I nursed Bailey to sleep that night on the couch, in only the glow of our Christmas tree lights, the phrase came to my mind, “All is calm, All is bright.” And I couldn’t help but sing the lyrics aloud as a simple, tingling peace swept over my whole body. Isn’t it amazing how, even when chaos & calamity are rampant out in the world, we can feel that “heavenly peace” in our own homes?

And so, almost every night since that night, before I’ve put the kids to bed, we turn off all the other lights in the house besides the Christmas tree & we sing Christmas songs together. And even if we’re singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” or something, it still is such a great way to end the day. Together & singing Christmas songs. What a spirit of peace it brings into our home. I’m hoping this can become a holiday tradition for us. Too bad we can‘t leave up the tree all year long…

Skyler-isms

-“Mom! We have a dragonfly in the bathroom! That’s GREAT! Now it can eat all our bugs for us!”

-“Dad, I feel the Holy Ghost in my heart whenever I look at you.”

-“I hope those women in your women’s class [Relief Society] like your cute toenails!”

-“Mom, this will make you proud in your heart… I’m getting in my pajamas!”

-“Dad, can I go watch a movie so you & Mom can talk & I won’t bother you or be too noisy?”


-"Kimberly, don't bite me because my body is a temple."

-Once when I asked Skyler what some of his “favorite things” were, his first response was, “Going to the bank & getting a sucker.”

-Skyler also likes to type up his “Home Teaching” on the computer at home like Daddy, likes to get his arms tickled & he likes to fall asleep while looking out his bedroom window at night (up on the top bunk).

-Skyler is SUCH a great older brother! He takes such good care of his sisters!


-He’s a really smart thinker & went and put on these goggles one time after getting a little juice sprayed in his eye while he was peeling an orange.

-He got his first bee sting this year (no fun!) & learned how to change the roll of toilet paper all by himself (wahoo!).  He's also finally outgrown taking naps (I guess he is 4-years-old now!) which I'm okay with.  Kimberly & him also love to pretend to "go camping" in the front room lately.

-He’s also in this weird destructive stage lately where he seems to like to break things or cut things, just to see what happens. I’ll be really glad when he outgrows this stage!

-Sometimes he calls our snacks “smakerels” (from Winnie-the-Pooh).

LOVE YOU BUD!

Our Leaves Have Finally Fallen

Now that it's almost December, our leaves have finally decided to fall... And, all at once I might add! So Laron decided it was a prime opportunity for leaf jumping!

He was hoping to make the pile taller than him, but he just couldn't quite make it! We called it "Leaf Mountain" though, in memory of the "Snow Mountain" that his family always made growing up.

Laron moved the trampoline over for better jumping opportunities, which proved to be just the trick...  Kimberly was a little nervous at first & looked at that edge for a LONG time, but once she figured it out, there was no stopping that girl!

Eventually they even talked ME into jumping in as well... Laron did too good of a job at making it look TEMPTING to jump into!

What fun memories!

And by the way, thanks again Laron for raking up all those leaves!

I'm Thankful For...

So, after having kids for a few years now, it's hard to remember what life was like before them... It just seems like we've always had them. Although it seems like I'd be able to get SO many more things accomplished during the day without them, I think it would also seem a lot more boring & pointless. And why buy this great house with a fabulous yard to play in, if not for our kids to play in & run around in? We live in kind-of a crazy world nowadays that often views children as a hassle, but now that I've experienced it myself (hassles included!), I know I wouldn't want it any other way. Many women out there are still hoping & dreaming for this day, & sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm living my dream! And so, I'd just like to say how thankful I am for the opportunity I have to be a MOTHER.
The other thing I'm extremely grateful for this year is a new DISHWASHER! Almost exactly a year ago our old one leaked all over, ruining an area of our kitchen floor, & we have now finally saved up enough to replace it! We decided to hold off on buying it until the Black Friday sales & are sure glad we did because we got a great model at a great deal! We're still getting used to the LED lights, but overall we love it! And thank-you Heavenly Father for helping our old dishwasher to last over the last year until we could save up the money for a new one. Now on to saving up for a new kitchen floor...

Bailey's 5 months old

Well, Bailey is officially 5 months old now & fun as ever.  We started her on rice cereal, but she just seems to want to lick it off the spoon instead of eat it, so we might try waiting a little longer before really pushing the issue.  She's finally starting to try rolling over, but would much rather just hang out on her tummy most of the time.  She's got very expressive eyebrows nowadays & is by far my most snuggily baby, so I'm loving that!  Thanks for all the lovin'!

Canning Projects

Well, we've been busy around here the last few weeks with different canning projects... I now have a whole new appreciation for the phrase, "Harvest Time". Mainly, we've had apples & grapes coming out of our ears, which my mom says is a terrible trial to have. :) I've also been trying my hand at making homemade babyfood, while I've had neighbors giving us free squash to use up too (which unfortunately I learned the hard way that you can't BOTTLE homemade squash babyfood, or it will form botulism because you can't heat it up enough with home canning methods). We've learned a few things the hard way, but all in all, our hard work has been worth it!

I got smart by the end & enlisted Skyler's help to help fill up the juicer with grapes each time. Right away, he came up with a funner way to do it, by sliding the grapes over the cardboard's edge.

When all was said & done, we ended up with7 quarts apple pie filling, 37 quarts of applesauce (I think that's what Bailey's staple babyfood is going to be!) & 84 quarts of grape juice (counting the couple I gave away & the one I spilled all over the floor! What a mess!). We still have a few more apples to do something with, but I'm glad that the majority of the work is over with. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all these bottles...

Halloween Costumes

So for Halloween this year, we kind-of ended up with a Winnie-the-Pooh theme...

We borrowed a Tigger costume for Skyler from a neighbor & that kind-of started it all.  Then we found Kimberly some simple rabbit-ears so she could be an easy Rabbit.  Then I found this adorable Piglet costume (after searching high & low!) for Bailey that really added the perfect touch to our little trio, so that sealed the deal of our theme for the year!


Kimberly also had a secondary cotume that we also borrowed from a neighbor that she actually used for Trick-or-Treating (because let's face it, rabbit-ears aren't very warm & for some reason she just liked this costume better). She made a pretty cute looking flower as well (even though it didn't go along with our Winnie-the-Pooh theme).
A few days later we visited my parents to show off the kid's costumes to them... Always fun to get Grandma's & Papa's approval!


And Piglet was being extra smiley that night, so that was fun!  Skyler & Kimberly are such great friends.  I love it!


Well, Happy Halloween!
I can't guarentee a theme again next year
but it's sure fun when it works out that way!

Preschool for Skyler

So Skyler is "Preschool age" this year, but we haven't had him actually enrolled in a Preschool (because let's face it, $65 a month for Preschool is a little pricey!) until last week... It's kind-of a crazy story, but my ward did a "Service Auction" thing for a Relief Society activity a couple weeks ago, & one lady's service she offered was for "3 months of 3x's/week preschool for one child". Uh, wow! What an offer! So I saved up all my points, bid them all on it & amazingly I won it! It's especially amazing because I'm not really a bidding/auction kind-of person, but I knew Skyler would just LOVE being able to go to school, and so I went for it.

For some reason, learning your letters & how to spell your name at home with Mom & two crying siblings just isn't the same thing. And no one in my ward was really interested in doing a "joy-school" this year, so he was just stuck with Mom. Which had been actually really good for us to have that one-on-one time together everyday, but we kind-of went in spurts of doing it daily & then forgetting about it for awhile.
So, without further ado, meet the big preschooler on the block! He is SO excited about it! And even though I know I can teach my child about numbers & colors & such, Skyler really needs the sociality of learning to interact with other kids his age & not being too shy to answer the teacher's question when she calls on him. This'll be so good for him. Can't believe that Kindergarten is right around the corner...

And I have to admit that I've been enjoying just hanging out with the GIRLS around here... A little bit of a different feel to it, but I'm loving it!

More than your average Pumpkin Patch

So last week, the kids & I went to a local pumpkin patch with some friends from our ward...
As soon as we got on the trailer to tow us out to the pumpkin patch, Skyler immediantly choose a seat next to his friends, with no obvious spot for Mommy next to him... My heart broke for a moment, but then I just tried to enjoy the view of my little Skyler growing up on me & making friends.  But at least I still had my girls to sit by me!

Skyler found the perfect pumpkin... Small, yet cute.

Kimberly had to show him up though... Bigger obviously means better!

So, besides the pumkin patch, there was also this cool slide/playground made out of bales of hay,

a "train" pulled around by a tractor, a corn "sand-box",

tunnels to climb through, hidden from view by cornstalks, a corn maze,

farm animals to pet & admire, and LOTS of picture opportunities!

All in all, we totally recommend "Black Island Farms" in Syracuse to everyone (just make sure you find a school group to get a discounted rate with so you don't have to pay $15 per person!).