The Spoon

 My kids have this obnoxious habit of having to borrow something every time we visit the grandparents. It has been going on for years and I am pretty sure it started with not wanting to put toys that they were playing  with away. We have tried to teach them that borrowing means you give it back. I usually have bags of stuff to return to both grandma's when we are over for visits. 

Last week, Tessa took her borrowing addiction to a whole new level when she had to borrow a particular spoon she had used to eat her dessert. Ma was nice enough to let Tessa borrow it and Tess brought it home and proudly displayed it on her dresser, making sure to take special care of it until she could use it at breakfast the next morning. She calls the spoon "My Special Trusty Spoon" and uses it everyday. I told my parents they might want to start hiding their art and throw pillows cause who knows what these kids will need to "borrow" next time we are over!

Fall Break!

We had a fun Fall Break last week and were glad to have Adam home with us all day long. It made me wish it was summer all over again! On Thursday, we spent the afternoon with our Riley cousins at the Red Barn's Pumpkin Patch. My kids went crazy! You'd have thought they had never seen a pumpkin before!

6 of our 7 Crazies

Saedree, Tessa, Adam, Boston, Bryson, and Anni

 Aunt Jodi and Gwennie

 We took a windy hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. Yes, Tessa wears her crown everywhere we go....

 They had an awesome slide for the kids to play on. It was so fun to hear them squeal as they came down it.

It was hard taking pictures while holding a baby.

 Tessa and Anni

 Saedree, Anni, and Gwen

 I loved watching all of our kids run crazy through the pumpkin patch. I told Jodi, who would have thought all those years ago that we would get to raise our kids together. I am so glad that we are able to! We love the Riley's!

 On Friday, before Daddy left for school, Adam wanted to take a picture with him. Tessa wasn't as thrilled with the idea. I'm sure we interrupted a very important cartoon. Eric had a long weekend of finals, but he did well!

 Gwen has gotten so good at feeding herself. She still isn't quite sure about her sippy cup. 

 On Friday we built this fort to play in. It ended up being a very rainy weekend, so most of our playtime was inside. All 3 kids had fun playing in the fort. They read books, played with puzzles, drew pictures, ate meals, raced cars and tried scaring each other. On Friday we braved the pouring rain and ran a bunch of errands! Mommy spent the weekend making Halloween costumes, working on some recipes, and rotating everyone's clothes for the winter. 

 Gwen's new favorite place to play is inside the cupboards.

 We cheered our Cougars on again....it was a good game until the end. While he loves football, Adam is counting down the days until basketball season starts at the end of the month. 

Sunday we went back to church after many weeks off! We have had Stake Conference, General Conference, a temple dedication and sick kids. I don't think we have been to 3 hours of church as a family since the beginning of September. After dinner, we found Gwen playing with her toys, but she was sitting in a basket. It looked much funnier in person, but I had to capture the moment!

It was a nice weekend, but now it is back to school for everyone. Now we will countdown the days until Christmas break!

9 Months Old

Last Wednesday (October 3rd), our beautiful Baby Girl turned 9 months old. She is getting so big and changes so much every week. She is moving so much and is so fast! She is starting to stand on her own. It's only a matter of time before she starts walking.

She had her 9 month check up yesterday with Dr. Paxton. She is perfectly healthy. However, according to their measurements, she hasn't really grown at all since her 6 month appointment. She has grown an inch and a half lengthwise, but they said her head hasn't grown and she has only gained about 8 ounces. Dr. Paxton was a bit baffled by this and a little concerned, but she is clearly developing fine and it's not like she is wasting away. She still has her chunky rolls. She has leaned out a bit since she started crawling and she was sick with a 10 day cold, so both of those can be factored into her weight. Dr. Paxton said maybe my milk has gone from Whole to 1%. She is a  good eater, so it will be interesting to see how her numbers change in the next 3 months. 

She loves music and loves to be sung to. She has started "dancing" and her favorite songs are "Wheels on the Bus" and Baby Bubble Bee". She is still pretty attached to Mom and for some reason really isn't into her Uncle's right now. She cries if they even look at her. Hopefully she will grow out of that soon. 

 We still get comments on he big blue eyes!

 Gwen loves to be outside and specifically in the grass. She loves to pull it  and then tries to eat it. 

 We get the best faces from her!

 She is getting pretty good at feeding herself. I am still feeding her jarred food, but she is getting good at feeding herself smaller foods that we are eating. She loves her nannas, potatoes, and rice. Tonight Tessa asked what she was eating. I told her it was rice and she said, "Rice? Human rice?" I love that Gwen still isn't quiet "human". 

There was rice everywhere, but she loved it. You can even see a small piece next to her eye. I love how messy babies are. I think she gets extra messy on purpose because she knows it will lead to her favorite place....the bathtub!

Happy 9 Month Birthday Baby Gwen! We love, love, love you!!!

Mommy Moment

The other night I walked upstairs to put the kids in bed when I saw this. I always have the kids get their clothes out the night before, just to help our mornings run a little bit smoother. They do it on their own every night and I just laughed when I saw how cute all of their clothes looked on the table. 

 Tessa  had her clothes so nice and neat. She also almost always gets her bows out as well. 

Not only did Adam get his clothes out for school, but he set out his jersey and sweat bands for after school as well. Too cute!

Gwen

I realized the other day that Gwen does not get enough blog time. We are always busy doing something and Gwen is either getting into something or in my arms when we take pictures. She has changed a lot the last several weeks. She was such a calm and mellow baby for so long. Then all of the sudden she found her voice and now she is full of personality! She knows what she wants (mainly her Mommy) and she isn't afraid to try and get it! 

 One of Gwen's favorite places to play is under the table. She is starting to thin out now that she is on the move, but I am glad you can still see her chubby leg rolls. 

 We love when she gets stuck under the chair and can't figure out how to get out. 

 This Baby is still an amazing eater. She is still nursing several times a day and has baby food with rice or oatmeal cereal for breakfast, a banana for lunch, and more baby food for dinner. I have tried introducing more solids, but she has a hard time with anything she can't gum. We are anxiously awaiting those teeth!

She loves her little snacks though and would eat them all day if she could!

 She has very rug burned knees from all of her crawling. 

 She has discovered the kitchen cupboards and loves to play with the Tupperware lids. 

 Her favorite hiding spot!

 She's not happy about something.....

 This is how I spends most of my days-with Gwen attached to my legs. She burrows her head between my knees and then usually throws her head and body back while she complains about not being picked up.

 This is always the first thing she goes for...playing with Mommy's cookbooks. 

 She LOVES our toy chair!

 She likes to play with dishes-especially if someone is using them. 

 This girl has loved water since the day she was born. She has never cried during bath time, even as a newborn. Now that she is older, if she hears the bathtub running, she crawls as fast as she can into the bathroom to see it. She only cries when we take her out of the bath tub.

She also loves remotes, balls, and ripping magazines into a million pieces. Since our trip to Oregon, she is not a fan of her car seat and throws a fit every time we put her in it. That makes going to and from school fun:) She still gets so excited to see Daddy when he gets home from work and loves playing with Adam and Tessa. She loves chasing them around the couch. Our family would not be the same without this blue eyed beauty and we love her so much!