Family pictures

'Tis the season... for the annual family pictures. I'm very happy with how these turned out. I actually think this gets easier as the kids get older. And I may totally be jinxing this...

School Pictures

The annual school pictures. Why do they always look so grown up on these? Last year, the boys had a big gap in place of their front teeth. And the year before that, they still had their little baby teeth. Why are babies so big?!?!

Neighborhood Movie Night

We live in an awesome area. I love everything about it. The neighbors are super friendly. The neighborhoods are safe. And occasionally, they put together fun things like Outdoor Motive Night: Sing! Daddy couldn't join us, but we made it anyway, and even Alexis behaved. It was fun seeing neighbors and friends.

Alexis is 15 months

I'm sure one day I'll wish I kept better track of Alexis' growth, progress, and milestones. But my descendants will just have to make do with this. At her 15 months check-up, Alexis is only in the 5th percentile. Normally, this drop would be worry-some, but considering the height and weight of Taylor... it's just in our genes. Alexis will never be over 5'8" and she'll probably never weigh over 120 lbs. Just to be on the safe-side, we did draw some blood, which of course came back normal, for that at least. I did mention to her pediatrician that Alexis got a small rash on her chin after consuming peanut butter. Alexis got peanut butter for the first time when she was just one. That rash appeared right away but disappeared within 30 minutes. I didn't try again until she was 15 months. Again, the rash appeared and her eye lids got red. William blamed it on her missing nap, but my gut was telling me otherwise. I'm so glad I listened to my mother's intuition and looked into it, because her labs indicated a peanut allergy as well as an egg allergy. Eggs are in everything, and I haven't noticed a reaction, so I don't know about that... but we have an appointment coming up next week with an allergist to look further into it. Update coming up soon!
What else... Alexis now copies many things the older kids do, including spitting, so that's fun! She loves to climb, draw, sing, dance, snuggle, and be outside. Her fine (and gross) motor skills are getting much better and she can put together wood puzzles most of the time. She says dada, ball, bobo (her nickname), and sometimes mama. She is very generous with hugs and kisses and will give them on demand when she's feeling it, which is 75% of the time. She also kisses boo-boos to make them feel better, which the older kids love!
She still takes 2 naps, usually a nice, long one in the morning, and a quick, short one in the afternoon, when we're home. And if we're not, she's a mess all evening.
She's so fun to be around and gets a lot of attention from everyone, at home, at church, and everywhere we go. She makes our lives better and we literally couldn't live without her.

Halloween, parts 1-2-3

Part I: We went to the neighborhood Halloween Party which was hosted by a neighbor with a very large and fancy backyard. The kids had so much fun with the games and the outdoor movie while I chatted with some neighbors. And they met some kids from school they didn't even know lived in our neighborhood. I was Sandy, from Grease. Kendall was Moana, Alexis was baby Moana, Logan was a reaper (like he was 2 years ago) and Taylor was a Ninja (like he was last year). Taylor originally wanted to be the Joker, because his friend Mira was going to be Harley Quinn, but I couldn't find a child Joker costume, and the only way to make it work would have been to put makeup on him, and draw fake tattoos on his chest, and he didn't like the idea. We got some pictures outside, but they didn't turn out great :-(

Part II: I totally forgot about the Ward Trunk-or-Treat and got tickets to the Halloween at the Zoo. Although I am bummed we didn't get to hang out with our friends, the zoo was really cool. And the kids came home with just a handful of candy instead of the 4 lbs (each) they would have got at the Trunk-or-Treat, so I'm happy about that. Meeting Moana and The Joker were definitely highlights. But seeing the kids' reaction to zombies stalking them down Zombie Alley was freaking hilarious!

Just some Halloween Snapchat fun...

And since the kids aren't allowed to wear costumes to school on Halloween, we got as festive as we possibly could.

Part III: Halloween Day. Life is too short to wear the same costume twice,... so I was a scarecrow. Money spent on my 2 (!!!) costumes this year: $0! Sandy was all about the hair and leather, and the scarecrow was all about the plaid and makeup. Easy peasy. When all was said and done, Logan got 8 lbs of candy (he bragged about double picking- that little stinker!), Kendall got 6 lbs, and Taylor got 4-1/2 lbs. Alexis probably got 1/2 lb, although I didn't weigh hers. And why such variation when they all knocked on the same doors, at the same time? Because, like I said, Logan took more than he was supposed to, and Taylor was eating candy as he was walking. Kendall is the only one who did it right. Haha. It was fun! But I wish I could split myself into 2 because I did miss opening the door to the neighborhood kids. We left a bucket full of candy by the door, which is soooo boring, and of course, when we got back, it was all gone, but I totally expected that.

Another successful Halloween in the books!

Pumpkin Patch

Going to the Pumpkin Patch is one of my favorite traditions. And this year, the weather was even bearable, which was nice, because we stayed longer and did pretty much everything there was to do: the jumping pillow, the petting zoo, the carousel, the roller coaster, the swing, the zip line, the corn maze, and the pumpkin patch. And everything is more fun with cousins, so we went with the cousins.

When we got home, I made some creepy cupcakes because I enjoy making them. 

Some of my Halloween decorations... Because I love Fall decorating.

Lil' Puma

Last Spring, I signed up Kendall to be a Lil' Puma at the High School's basketball game. The cheerleaders take on the little girls and teach them some cheers and a dance to perform at half time. Kendall loved it so much that I signed her up again this Fall for the football game. Since then, Kendall has also started Cheer at Haley Elementary, and she loves it! And I love watching her. She's a natural! She isn't shy, and will try everything!