Season of Thanks

When November rolls around, you can't help but feel a little extra thankful for what you've got. Maybe it's the cooler weather keeping us all inside together, or the family gatherings we are attending, or maybe it's none of that at all. Maybe it's just a good time to sit back and reflect on the good that God has blessed us with before the craziness of December hits. Regardless, I'm feeling a little thankful today.

Thankful for this beautiful house we built, knowing our kids' memories will come from growing up inside (and out of) these walls. And extra thankful for the garage that allows me to load and unload all the things without the threat of any type of weather.

Thankful for Brayden, lover of all things dinosaurs, tractors, monsters, and diggers. And Katie, I can't forget how much he loves Katie. Thankful for how much he loves his momma, even though at times I wished he loved me a little less. I'm already dreading when he no longer needs my kiss to make his owies feel better or wants to snuggle up on the couch to watch a movie. I'm thankful for his love of books and music- the boy can sure bust a move.

 

 

Thankful for Ashley, the queen of independence. She might be a tattle tale (Brayden does everything bad in our house ha!), but she's smart, and loving, and ornery as can be. I'm thankful for her desire to try new things, and how much she loves a hug and kiss before you leave or when she's going to bed. She's already grown up so much in the past month with not wanting me to tuck her in at night (shutting the door herself if a huge deal right now), so I need to do everything I can to keep her little forever. 

 

        

Thankful for Katie, our "golden child" and true ray of sunshine. Thankful that she loves to smile, and giggle, and let Brayden smother her with his love (and feet. He loves to put his feet on her for some reason). Her face lights up when you walk into the room and say hello to her, and she is learning and growing every day. 

 

Thankful for our families. They have always stepped up when we needed it, whether it be for a sick kid, to let Eric and I have a kid free night out, or just loving them with their whole heart. I know I'll never be able to repay them for all that they do for us. 

Thankful for friends. The ones who we see often. The ones who we only see a few times a year but talk to much more than that. True friendship is a rarity, and I believe we've struck gold with ours. 

Thankful for Eric and this life we've built together. It's far from perfect, but it's ours. All the craziness, all the grief, all the laughter, all the love. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Oh, and I can't forget good ol' Photoshop. I'm eternally grateful for that for allowing me to have somewhat decent family photos ha!

And for all of that, I'm Thankful.

Katie: 6 Months

Half a year has come and gone with Katie, and we are loving every minute more and more with her. 

This month I finally got Katie in the studio for her tummy time session!

Katie also celebrated her first Halloween and Thanksgiving this month. 

We sure are extra thankful to have this little turkey in our lives. 

Katie's absolutely favorite thing is to smile, with giggling being a close second. You just have to look at her and she will flash a smile across her face. And you don't have to do much more for her to start laughing. 

She is wearing 6 month clothes and is in size 2 diapers.

Her schedule is still up for two hours and eating about every three hours, but we have sometimes pushed her to be awake for longer than two hours, especially if she's only within a half hour or so of the twins' nap or if we are trying to get her to stay up just a little longer before bed. She is also still taking five 6 ounce bottles a day. 

Right now, Katie is loving her jumper or sit me up seat, chewing on anything and everything, and even doing a little spitting. She is a huge fan of music and any and all attention you throw her way. She adores her brother and sister, and has started opening her mouth to give you kisses after you give her one.

She is still not a fan of loud startling noises or getting "stuck" on her belly. 

Katie weighs 16 pounds and is measuring 25 and a half inches tall at home. At her doctor's appointment on December 2nd, she weighed 15.9 pounds and measured 25.25 inches tall. 

We are looking forward to starting real food with her soon, and seeing what she thinks of Christmas. Here's to another fun month ahead with her!

We Scare Because We Care (Halloween 2022)

I never realized (or maybe respected) how much as a parent you stress about Halloween costumes each year- or maybe it's just me ha! You start thinking about them early, and then their interests change, new interests blossom, you second guess your ideas, your kids second guess their ideas. It's a storm of uncertainty until Halloween actually arrives and the kids are stuck with what costumes you've bought/made.

Brayden and Ashley were OBSESSED with Monster's Inc (and coincidentally Monster's University after Eric and I needed a break from the original movie) this summer. They constantly requested the "monster movie". Brayden has about every move from the first 10 minutes of Monster's Inc. memorized and would do the motions with the movie. He and Ashley love to be monsters and roar at each other, Eric and I, and Katie- who is usually less enthused by their roaring and often cries because they've scared her. 

By the end of August, I'd decided that we would be Monster's Inc for Halloween. Brayden and Ashley would be Mike and Sully, and Katie would make the perfect Boo. 

Not long after that, the monster movie wasn't our most requested one. We moved on to robots (the new Buzz Lightyear movie) and dragons (Raya and the Last Dragon/How to Train your Dragon) and most recently Up (because of the puppy dogs). Every so often I tried to entice them with the monster movie, but they weren't biting.

But it was too late. I'd already ordered their costumes and had already talked to my mom about making Katie's. (Yes, my mom is a rock star and handmade Katie's costume. Let's just take a minute to give her a huge round of applause for all that she does for us!)

Luckily two year olds are persuadable, and five month olds do whatever you tell them to. Eric and I's excitement about them getting to be monsters for Halloween was contagious, and soon they were again excited about the prospect of dressing up as a monster. 

I'd imagined that Brayden would be Sully and Ashley would be Mike, mostly because Brayden loves all things blue at the moment and Ashley is pretty nice and would let Brady pick the one he wanted. But when the costumes arrived, Brayden actually chose the Mike costume and Ashley went straight for Sully, which was probably for the best anyway. It's up in the air as to whether Brayden would have worn the hat or the tail on Sully's costume.

And then have you ever seen a more adorable little girl dressed up as Boo?

I don't know about you, but I think they make pretty cute monsters. 

We enjoyed trick or treating at Scare on the Square last weekend. It was way warmer than expected and they were all pooped and past ready for a nap by the time I decided to attempt a group photo, so this is the best we got. 

This past week we finally carved the pumpkins we picked out at the pumpkin patch. Brayden chose the face I carved on my pumpkin, and Ashley chose the one that Eric carved. Eric is most definitely a better pumpkin carver than I am- and it was all totally free-hand! Brady and Ashley really enjoyed taking the "guts" out of the pumpkins, and I think they were both pretty proud of the final products. 

We also spent some time trick or treating their grandparents and great grandparents. While it can be daunting to travel all around multiple counties to see everyone, seeing everyone's faces as they welcomed us in for some candy and hugs definitely made it all worth it.

Last night, we did a little more trick or treating, a little roaring, and a lot of eating our Halloween candy. Happy Halloween from our little monsters! And remember, we scare because we care. Roar!