Baby's 5 Months Old!

My mom has requested monthy documentation of Claire, like my sister Jen does of her baby.
So here she is, all the way from Cedar Hills! Miss Claire loves to lay on the floor and listen to me play the piano. It's quite sweet. She also loves to just lay on the floor and grab her socks, pull them off and stuff them in her mouth. She could probably do that all day. She also loves taking baths with Gabriel. I put the bumbo in the tub (bad mommy?).

We've started eating grown up food this month, too. Most of it stays in her mouth, which is more than I can say of Gabriel's first eating habits. She likes to feed herself. I have to pry the spoon from her hands most of the time.

Her laugh melts my heart and makes me laugh and smile. She's the sweetest baby and she loves her mommy. That's the best part. When I found out she was a girl, I was disappointed because after Gabriel I thought boys are the best.

But now I want the rest girls. Am I allowed to pray for girls? I think I'll try and see what happens.

This Thanksgiving was so wonderful! Super low key and happy. We were able to meet my parents in Ogden at my mom's brother's house. My children behaved, the food was fabulous and we just had a great time visiting. After dinner my aunt and cousin taught us how to make real fudge (not fake fudge) and somehow it all came home with me. Sorry, Mom. I'm afraid I will stick to my plan of bread for neighbor gifts this year, despite my new "ability" to make fudge. Mostly for 2 reasons: 1. I will ruin a lot of expensive ingredients, and 2. I will eat it all if it is successful.
This day also got me thinking about past Thanksgiving highlights, and since they've all been great and normal, somehow this one stuck out to me.
Yes, we're at North's Chuck Wagon in Pocatello, ID. I'm holding back tears in this picture. I was at BYU-Idaho that semester and so home sick. My sweet Aunt invited me to spend the holiday with her family and I was so excited until she told me that we might just go to North's. Oh! the horror! It actually ended up being a great day because we all went back to my cousin's house and played games for hours and never had to do the dishes. I have pictures of me at Grandma Shirley's earlier that day playing Rook with my grandparents with the egg timer set for 60 minutes on the table. The good old days.

Thanksgiving night this year was my favorite. My family in the state all went to their in-law's for dinner and then met at my house for pie in the evening. We gathered around my table for tea and pie and really just enjoyed each others' company. It was so peaceful and fabulous. Thanks for coming, kids.

Friday night my little family went to see the lights on Temple Square. There were so many people there, but it was so fun. It's not something that I've done since we've lived here. Last year we went to a Christmas concert there, but in order to fight the crowd, I had to move fast and didn't really get to see the beauty around me.

I love Temple Square! Especially when we get a killer parking spot.

I love this girl

Octoberfest!
Family fun at the Scarecrow Festival in Lehi.
Mostly we just watched Gabriel line up balls and bean bags that were meant for the childrens' games, (he has to line things up; he can't help it!).

Me and my sweet thumb sucker.

She does the best things with her eyebrows.
Gabriel's birthday we just had a little playgroup at the house and told them to wear costumes (so they could wear them more than once, I guess). I made this pinata out of paper mache in an effort to be cheap. It was supposed to be a jack-o-lantern, but looked like an alien. It looked hilariously awful, actually. And yesterday I saw cute pinatas at the grocery store for $6. WHATEVER!

I guess Gabriel had some attachment to the ugly thing because it hurt his feelings when all his friends hit it with a stick and punched it with their fists.

Happy Birthday, Gabriel!



Halloween Day

I made Claire a candy corn costume from the pattern in my brain while she was asleep. It turned out a little too small and I had to cut it off of her. Don't ask how I got it on. She looked fantastic though!

Our friends came over for the evening's events. This is Tyler and Gabriel trick-or-treating. Of course Gabriel walked right in the doors of the houses to pick his candy. This is him walking out of the house.

I love Halloween with little kids. I'm determined to make some wicked awesome costumes for next year, which I will start in July. I always start 2 days before. Also, I'm going to be a master pinata maker some day. It's going to be my thing. So for my kids' 10th birthdays, they will have awesome pinatas, because it will take me that long to make a good one.

Rainy Days and Mondays

The kids are both full of boogers and it's raining, which means no play dates, no outings to the park, and no fun.
Except when there's a pumkin on the porch to carve!

The specimen

Claire could not endure to the end without falling asleep. And Gabriel made me do the whole thing by myself while he watched. He wouldn't touch the yucky insides, but his reaction to pulling it out was cute.

I think this is their first good picture together. I love these guys!

I'm on a tight schedule these days, and blogging is not in it. Here's a ten peso version of what we've been up to.
My sweet little boy likes to help me make the bed, but he "helps" me by standing behind the pillows and not moving... no matter what. He gets the saddest look on his face when I move a pillow from his domain. And he stays behind the pillows until long after I've left the room because he won't let me get him out. We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Idaho for the first time. Claire did great. She's my prize baby for sure.

Can I have your watch when you are dead, Grandpa?

Claire meets he great grandma Shirley.

Chillin' with Grandpa Bob

Gabriel trying to sabotage Uncle Aaron's attempt to finish a book.

I love Grandpa's pens (and I'm not making fun of him).


We had a great time with Grandparents. Thanks for letting us come!