October in Instagram

Our little London turned three months old!

We took a trip up to Camano Island.

While we were there we went to the pumpkin patch.

It rained almost the entire time we were there.  A nice change from the 90 degree weather we have been having.  

Erin and her kids came up to visit when we were there.  I've never seen four kids sit so still as they did during "the quiet game."  It was about the only time they were quiet. 

London is big enough for the Bumbo.  It is making our days easier to get stuff done.

We had a week of sickness starting the night we flew in from Washington.  Ian had food poisoning and then both Addi and Von ended up with the flu.

Siblings.

Von had his first dentist appointment.  He was a champ.  Sat perfectly still and luckily had no cavities.

Addi's first grade picture.

I started training for a half marathon in February.  I've been running four or five days a week, 3-6 miles at a time with my milage increasing every two weeks.  This week I have to run a 7 miler.  It actually has gotten easier and I don't dread the long runs quite so much these days. 

A few more Halloween pics.  This is Addi and her little friend Parker.

Von, Luke, Lainey & Addi.

Halloween 2012

Our Catwoman.

Right after school on Halloween, we met up with five boys from her class at the shopping center up the street from us that was having early trick-or-treating.  Von, of course, thinks he is one of them and always gets in on the action.

His best growl.

Flexing his "muscles."

The kids ran from store to store.  They were so amped up as you would expect on Halloween.

We met up for round two of trick-or-treating with Jaime and Dan and the kids in Del Mar.  It is the best place to trick-or-treat around here.  Festive houses, hardly any cars on the road and great sidewalks to get from house to house.

All of these pictures of Von crack me up.  He was so animated.

London wore a little Batgirl outfit Katie had made for McKinley when she was a baby.  Luckily she had passed it on to me when Addi was a baby.

Londie Lou.

Addi and her BFF Indiana Jones.

Von was feeling left out, so he had to put his arm around Luke too.

Adddi and her loot.

She was angel of course, content in her carseat the entire time.

Addi's First Visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Last weekend we were running some errands with the kids and stopped at our usual place, Phil's BBQ. A few bites into Addi's meal, so says, "my tooth just fell out!"

It had been loose for weeks.  The tooth to the right of it is loose too, and in fact, there is actually another tooth already growing in behind it.  Which all we can think of is $$$ and braces in the future.  We were actually at the dentist last week for cleanings, and he said if it doesn't fall out by January, he would want to pull it.  I keep sending her to school with apples and carrots in her lunch, in hopes it will fall out on it's own.  So far, no luck.

She was so excited, as she is one of the last in her class to loose a tooth.  The tooth fairy came and gave her $3!  Generous tooth fairy, right?  She turns seven in a month, can you believe it???  School is going really great for her.  Her teacher asked her to be on the student council and she has lots of friends.  Most of which are boys.  She is playing soccer at NCSP with three other boys from her class.  They practice together at recess and we get together after school with them to practice.  She is just one of them, the only girl in the class that has infiltrated their group.  It's pretty funny.

All About Von

In September, Von and I joined a play group with some of the other moms in our ward.  Last week we made a trip to Bate's Nut Farm to go to their pumpkin patch.

All of the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes.  Von as you can tell is Batman, although he was not a fan of wearing the mask.

He is our most challenging child as of late.  He gets very angry when he doesn't get his way and seriously yells at anyone who is depriving him of something he wants.  It is so different than the easygoing baby he once was.  It makes me sad.

These days are so good for him.  He always feels so special because he knows he is getting to do something fun that Addi is not.  Typically sibling rivalry.  Ian keeps telling me it's just a phase and that it's due to London's arrival, and I hope he is right and that he will get over it soon.  We can only hope.

The pumpkins there were huge.  I don't know how you would even pick them up.

I wanted some pictures of him running with his cape in the wind.  So he was cooperating, running back and forth for me.  The mask is a bit big on him, and he couldn't see very well and slipped on rotted pumpkin guts.  They were all over him, it was so gross.  He didn't seem to mind luckily.

London's Blessing

We blessed London on September 23rd at Ian's parent's house.  She was so sweet as usual.  We celebrated her that night with the usual group of close family friends, the Davises, Kings and Jacobs.   

Pretty girl.

Joaquin loves all of his cousins.  He is so excited every time he gets to see Addi, Von and now London.

Proud parents.  She is such a little bundle of joy.  She only cries when she is gassy and is so happy all of the time.  Anytime anyone, including strangers, look at her, she smiles at them.  She is very engaging with her facial expressions and eye contact.  She is the only baby I've had that loves getting her diaper and clothes changes.  I think it is because, sad enough, that it is some of the only times during the day that all of our attention is on her until Addi and Von go to bed.

She is such a blessing to our little family and we could not be happier that she is ours!

September in Instagram

September flew by!  London had her two month appointment.  She was 10 pounds 2 ounces (25th percentile) and 22 inches (50th percentile).  She has finally gotten over her colic, which is so great.  Our nights the last few weeks have been so much more peaceful.

Two months old!  September 6th, 2012.

It has been SO hot this last month.  Today, still, it was 95 degrees.  We hit up the beach at Del Mar one Saturday with Jaime and the kids.

We started a playgroup on Thursday with a bunch of kids from my ward.  Every week a different mom plans a field trip for all of us.  One week was a trip to the pet store and a train ride.  Von was in heaven!

Oh Addi!  Where do I begin?  This particular day, she managed to get in trouble in class for flinging her headband all the way across the room like a slingshot and cut a hole in her brand new shirt because she said, "Nobody in her class liked it."  

The kids decided with a Batman theme this year for Halloween.   I ordered their costumes from Amazon and they were a hit.

A few weeks ago, Ian and I had the opportunity to spend four days in Carlsbad for work.  We sent Addi and Von to Ian's parent's and enjoyed some peace a quiet just with little London.  It was SO nice. So nice to be able to give all of our attention to her and to relax at such a nice hotel.  She was perfect the entire time, even when we had to attend dinners and such with the rest of the group from work.  The last day we were there, we met up with Ian's parents and dropped her off with them for the night.  We had a more formal dinner that night, and it was nice to be able to enjoy it kid-free.  

She really is the sweetest baby.  I have never had a baby that LOVES getting her diaper changed.  She just smiles and coos the entire time.  She is sleeping pretty well, going down usually around 8 pm and then is just up a couple of times to eat and then goes right back to sleep, waking up for the day around 7 am.   

She is usually happy unless she is hungry or tired.  She hasn't settled down to a nap schedule at all, which is probably my fault.  We are usually out during the morning when she should be napping in bed and then the afternoon, when she should be napping, we have to pick Addi up from school and cart the other two kids around to their different activities.  She usually just has her naps on the go, hopefully we can get away with this a bit longer.  

Another play group pic.  We hiked around Lake Hodges.  The group is mostly boys, and they are perfectly happy playing in the dirt and throwing rocks while us moms chat.  After this outing, I had him come home and get right in the shower, there was a pile of dirt at the bottom of it from all the dirt he had embedded in his hair.  

He must have tuckered himself out because after his shower he put himself down for a nap in Addi's bed.  We also blessed London in September, there will be more pictures to come.  It's hard to sit down and type these days.  My hands are usually full with little London.  This post took me almost a week to finish and on Thursday we are heading up to Washington for a long weekend.  So it may be awhile before I sit down again!