October Review

I love October in Utah!  We spent the whole month soaking up gorgeous, real fall outside, and happily preparing for Halloween. 

We've been playing outside every chance we could get, knowing the nice weather will not last forever. Every day that's been sunny and in the 50's, we've been outdoors.  Winter is going to be rough on us.  

Hazel made milk jug jack-o-lanterns last year in preschool, and asked if we could do them again this year.  I sense another tradition budding!  

Per tradition, we went to a pumpkin patch.  It had an awesome straw bale pyramid the kids loved climbing around in.  Hazel loved jumping from the top.  Always a daredevil...

Jack photo bombed the kid photo, but that is real life.  He almost never smiles for the camera.

We carved the pumpkins afterward, and they lasted a grand total of two days on our porch before shriveling up.  

A week later, we snagged another pumpkin from the grocery store and carved another jack-o-lantern which survived brutal porch life much better.

We made a couple more trips up to the canyon while the leaves were vibrant and the weather was nice. 

Our last trip was especially breathtaking.  We had a grand time climbing rocks and hiking to trees so orange, they looked like they were on fire.  These photos just came straight from my phone.  No messing around - it was brilliant that day.  

Some days, I sort of feel like I'm getting the hang of three kids.  I have to let go of control and accept chaos swirling all around me, while still maintaining consistent standards of behavior.  I remind myself multiple times a day to stay calm, not yell, focus on the kids and keep their needs as my most important accomplishment of the day.  It's hard not to feel sorry for myself sometimes, because it seems so glaringly obvious how much easier my life would be with Todd here to partner up with.  But wallowing in self-pity never helps, so I usually don't stay there for long.  Sometimes I really, really want to.  But most days, if I make sure to snuggle each kid even though I want to get things done, and slow down to give them each meaningful one-on-one time with me sometime in the day, I feel pretty good at the end of the day. Thank you for your prayers of strength.  I'm feeling them.  

Gemma's nine months old now.  She still only weighs 15 1/2 pounds, but she eats well and sleeps fine at night.  I am a little put out that she had to weigh so much when she was born (8.14) if she's going to turn out to be a little chicky.  

She's going through a Mama phase right now.  

We went to a community event called the Pumpkin Walk.  There were lots of carved and painted pumpkins on display.  It was a fun thing to take the kids to.  

After running a 5K while pregnant with Gemma last year, I knew it was something I could accomplish and that would be good for me, so I made a New Year's Resolution to run one again this year.  I ended up organizing a family run to get some of my siblings in on my goal.  We met up at my house a couple weekends ago and everyone participated as they could.  Some walked, others ran.  My dad pushed Gemma and Jack in the double stroller the whole distance.  

Hazel rode her bike, and I jogged alongside her.  I had no idea what to expect from her, and tried to be prepared for a whole slew of situational possibilities.  She said herself she was going to do one loop (1/3 the distance) and then walk the rest of the way. And so I announce with great pride that she accomplished a major goal, and rode her bike without stopping the entire three miles!  I was listening to my ipod as I jogged, and couldn't hear much of anything she said, but she chattered happily at me the whole time.  I occasionally interjected an, "Mmm, hmm, yeah," but that was about it for the most part.  I don't think she noticed.  And she announced afterward that she rode slow so I could keep up with her.  Ha!  (I'm glad she did.)  

We spent a good portion of October looking forward to Halloween.  Jack adamantly wanted to wear Hazel's costume from last year and be Peter Pan.  Hazel was happy to go along with the theme and be Tiger Lily, and she had the idea to make Gemma Tinkerbell.  

I made Hazel's dress out of one of Todd's old t-shirts, cutting the edges and tying strips together to make fringe.  She helped me sew ribbon stripes on, and we added some boots and a dark wig, and suddenly she looked like a completely different person.  It was fun.  

I scavenged most of Gemma's costume from our dress-up box, but if she was going to be a legit Tinkerbell, she needed some green shoes with white puffs.  I searched the web for a tutorial and was surprised to find out how easy it is to make baby shoes.  It was quite fun!

 Sadly, Jack stopped constantly wearing the Peter Pan costume right around the time I finished Hazel's Tiger Lily costume, so although she was in character for days on end, we never really had a good opportunity to take a photo.  Bad went to worse Halloween night when I realized we'd lost half the effect with our jackets on underneath.  Add to that the massive tantrum Jack was throwing before we left to trick-or-treat, because he definitely did not want to dress up or leave the house, and these are the absolute best pictures I have of Halloween costumes this year.  So sad.

I'm holding tight to Jack's arm in this photo to make him stand by us.  Ug.  My brother Chris came with us trick-or-treating and wore Todd's Smee costume from last year.  I was Wendy.  Too bad people kept thinking Hazel was Pocahontis and Jack was Robin Hood.  Oh well.  Funny.

September Review

 September has been an eventful and exciting month for our family.   The changing of the seasons has made me feel like time is finally passing, and we're getting a little bit closer to Todd's return.  We passed the half-way mark and got past the endless summer, which makes the end of winter seem a lot closer.

Hazel started preschool after Labor Day.

I am really excited about the preschool I found for her this fall.  She does an art project every single school day, and has lots of time to learn through play.  It's a much more creative set-up than what I had her in when we first moved here, and so far, I've been really pleased.  It's run within a recreation center, and in addition to her preschool class, she gets to attend tumbling, movement, and swimming classes.  It has been a good fit for Hazel's artistic and energetic persona.

Gemma crawls everywhere now, so we've got a gate at the top of the stairs.  Hazel can climb over it, but Jack cannot, unfortunately, so he needs my help to go downstairs to play.  A few days ago, I forgot to ask him where he wanted to be before I took Gemma into her room for a nap.  When I came back out 15 minutes later, I was surprised and happy to see Hazel's creative solution.  She brought the set upstairs to Jack.  Do you see their shadows?  They were playing puppy and owner.  

We've had some really fabulous weather this month.  I've been encouraging everyone to play outside as much as possible.  The kids have no idea what's coming; they simply have no concept of winter.  It drives me nuts when they don't want to go out and play when it's 65 degrees outside.  

I tried an intensive "potty camp" with Jack.  He loved wearing underwear and watching movies and eating salty snacks all day, but just wasn't making ANY progress on identifying when he needed to go potty.  I threw in the towel a day and a half in and felt liberated.  I packed up the froggy potty and told Jack we'd try again when he was a little older, and have made zero efforts to have him use the potty since.  For now, diapers are worlds easier than potty training.

After lots of searching, we found a local u-pick apple orchard that was in business this year.  Apparently, it's been a bad year for apples.  We were happy we were able to keep up our September apple-picking tradition, although I much prefer the orchard we have gone to in California for the past few years.

 Todd's parents, Larry and Ellen, came home from their mission to Estonia. The entire family (minus Todd and Erika's husband Steve) met them at the airport, went out to eat, spent the night, and had a reunion the next day.  Hazel latched on to Todd's brother KB and would not leave his side.  Thankfully, he seemed to enjoy it and was totally sweet to her.

I got to celebrate my birthday all weekend, at the Bonner's on Saturday, and at my parents' house on Sunday.  Someone asked me how old I was turning, and I had to think about it, and actually calculated wrong and told them 33.  It didn't even hit me until the next day that I was only 32!  Is it weird that I don't know how old I am anymore?

Larry and Ellen came up to my house the next week and spent the night, so they could spend some time with the kids.  Hazel and Jack were thrilled to have them visit.  

 Gemma's had a big month.  She got faster at crawling, learned how to sit up, finally got her first tooth, began pulling up to a stand, and has even let go while standing, trying to balance.

She even got to sit in the front of the shopping cart for the first time.  

Now she crawls to the bathroom door when we're all hiding behind it, brushing teeth and doing hair and trying to keep her out.  She's always right outside the room when we open the door.  She stands at the stair banister when the other kids are downstairs, wishing she was with them, and she hangs out by the back door when she wants to be outside.  

Jack has started mothering his Snuggle Pup.  He often tucks him in for a nap, then comes out of his room shushing us, saying we need to be quiet so we don't wake Snuggle Pup up.

We've gone to the canyon a couple of times.   The kids absolutely love it.  They explore and throw rocks in the water and find leaves to take home and are always disappointed when I tell them it's time to leave.

The leaves are changing color!  It's so beautiful.  Fall is my favorite season, and I really miss it when I'm in California.  

 Todd gave me a crackdown when I was telling him about some reward Hazel was doing chores to earn.  He said she needs to work just because she's supposed to work.  So I started making her empty the dishwasher every day to contribute to family life.  She made a HUGE fuss about it for about a week, then suddenly announced that she loved to do it.  She always wants to listen to Pandora on my phone while she works, and she does it cheerfully and quickly most days.  I have absolutely loved having one less chore to do myself, and can't wait to incorporate more into Hazel's contribution.  I have also started making Jack help me put away laundry whenever I'm working on it while he's awake.

We are working on Halloween costumes over here!  I am not a year-round creator, but I love making Halloween costumes for some reason.  It is very satisfying.  Can you guess what Hazel's going to be this year?  I'll give you a hint: Jack's being Peter Pan.  

 I'll leave you with this little Gem:

August Review

I don't even remember August.  This post will be short and sweet, mostly just pictures.  

Jack discovered the Peter Pan dress-up and has worn it a bunch, leaving dresses and butterfly wings in the dust (although he still loves the clip-clop shoes (and has a flower clip in his hair)).  He may be Peter for Halloween.  We shall see.

Hazel embellished our dinner with personalized fancy toothpicks.  Jack got tiger stripes, she had cheetah spots and zebra stripes.  She is gaga for animal print anything!

She pulled her bangs out of her face for the picture.  Jack does absolutely everything his big sister does, and followed suit.  He is a major copy cat.

Jack has had quite a bit of success using the potty, although I still wish we weren't attempting potty training yet.  When am I going to have a kid who knocks it out in a week?  Jack's going to be a dragger, just like Hazel.  He knows how to go, but doesn't keep his diaper dry, and is really inconsistent with his interest level.  He's already learned how to milk the system, claiming to need to pee-pee whenever he wants me to sit down and read a book with him.  He will hold it through the entire book, too, hoping to get a second one read to him.

I love, love, love our trampoline/backyard.  If Gemma needs to go to bed first, I send the big kids outside to play until bed, and they stay happy out there for a loooooong time. Thank goodness!

Hazel took private swim lessons.  I think I wrote about this in July?  She did it for several weeks, and picked up on the skills really quickly.  It was fun to have that "date time" with her and me as well.  We often ran a quick errand together before coming home, while my mom stayed at the house with the nappers.

My parents and I took the kids on a "hike," that ended up being just an outing at the Logan River.  We found a great inlet where the water was super shallow, and the kids had a major party wading in the water and tossing rocks in.

My heart melted when I spotted this scene.  Look at Jack with his arm around Gemma!  He is so naturally sweet and snuggly.  Hazel and Jack both adore Gemma and are so great with her.  They love to feed her and try to make her laugh.  Hazel is always really great about staying near Gemma and playing with her while I shower or get some other job done.

They found the enormous blanket sleepers in the storage drawer in their dresser and proceeded to plague me for the next two days playing Baby.  Everyone whining and crawling and crying for help because they got stuck under the furniture... Such a delight!  (I have since hidden the blanket sleepers in a much more secure location.)

Jacko fell and split the back of his head (while wearing the afore-mentioned blanket sleeper) and had to take an emergency trip to the doctor's office.  Thankfully, stitches were not needed - glueing was sufficient - so he didn't have too traumatic of an experience.  Two weeks later, there's still crusty glue on his hair, and he still won't lay down flat on his head.  I don't know if it still hurts, or if the glue just makes it uncomfortable.  It's looking lots better.

When Jack saw this picture on my phone, he said, "Here I am, making mischief."  Yep.  He was supposed to be going potty, it takes forever and I left him there to actually DO IT after I read a book, and he decided it was a good time to get into my lotion and earrings instead.  Busted!

Can't remember... pretty sure they were pretending I was a pirate while I did my hair and makeup in the morning.  They asked me to tie them up in their blankets.  I just thought it was so darn cute.

Gemma's crawling all over the place, so we're constantly doing floor checks for choking hazards.  She's not sitting up yet, but she's doing the hip sit.  She had her weight check and is making her way back up in the percentages.  Nothing to worry about.  Don't you just want to smooch all that soft, squishy skin?