WOW - It's 2015

I can't believe its been 3 years since I last posted. I can't even begin to fill in the blanks since then so I won't even try. I can't promise I will post much on here but I will do what I can :-) The only blank I better fill in is LUKE - the newest member of our family :-)

Life

Things have been busy here for the past couple months and blogging never seems to make it to the top of the list! I need to start making it a priority because during this season of my life it is the only "scrapbooking" I am doing. The kids are changing so much, having lots of fun, saying funny things and learning new stuff and I need to start capturing it again. Until I find a way to work it into my schedule, here are a few pics of the kiddos

13 Months

I have been trying to get her 12 & 13 month posts done before she turns 14 months! Yeah - I made it :-) She has changed TONS this month. The biggest change is she is walking! I thought it would be a long way out because she hadn't even gone from sitting to standing yet and hardly stood on her own at all. She surprised us all and 1 week after turning 1 she just stood up and took 3 steps, then got right back up and took 5 and she just kept going until she was up to 14 steps.

Not so exciting has been her ongoing weight saga. She lost over a 1/2 pound this month and is now not quite 15 1/2 lbs. She started the month out well - eating much better and also seemed to be tolerating dairy. Unfortunately, she didn't do so well the last part of the month. On the way home from CO she got the flu. All the kids ended up getting it but she just couldn't seem to shake it. She puked so much - poor little thing. She seemed to be getting better but continued to puke at least once a day for nearly a week and had bad diarrhea. When she was finally done puking she continued to have diarrhea. I decided to do some googling (cuz it was such a strange color & texture) and quickly realized she wasn't tolerating dairy like I thought she was. Her reactions were so different than the past so I didn't make the connection right away. After stopping dairy she was back to normal diapers in 3 days. So . . . . goodbye for now dairy. I thoroughly enjoyed you (maybe too much) and promise to see you again someday :-) Once feeling better she was back to nursing great and eating a variety of foods. She continues nursing well - no getting distracted, no squirming and crying, no refusing. She actually gets really excited and squeals when she is about to eat. So cute!

She DOES NOT like it when Samson licks her! I love Samson's guilty eyes - he knows he is in trouble now :-)

She continues to be a little talker/signer. She says, Good bye Daddy, Hannah, Isaac, Audrey, Baby, Puppy, Mommy, Daddy, All Done and More. She signs baby, puppy, all done and more. She loves playing peak-a-boo, giving kisses and hugs and hiding (she finds great spots and then pops out to "scare" us). She also neighs every time she sees a horse :-) It is really funny - as you can imagine Madison taught her that.

She loves to look at books. She really focuses on them and turns their pages slowly. She seems mesmerized by them :-)

She loves to stack things up. She would get so excited and clap each time she got a ring on. Cute!

Her hair is getting longer and gets pretty frizzy and crazy!

Off she goes

Our sweet little girl is growing up - she is getting more stubborn, more determined, more cuddly, more loving, more attentive, more demanding and more expressive. I am trying to take the good with the bad and savor the moments because I know they wont last long. When I am up with her 6 times in a night I remind myself this too shall pass. When I cuddle with her in the night I ignore my uncomfortable position and remind myself that this too shall pass. When she wants me to hold her (and clings on for dear life when I try to put her down) I hold her a little longer and remind myself this too shall pass. When she gives me a kiss and hug I remind myself to hug tighter and kiss her again because this too shall pass. Some things I wish would pass quicker than others. Unfortunately, we don't get to pick and choose so instead I must enjoy them all!

Until next time . . . . I'm off to ENJOY the moments :-)

Field Trip

Last month the kids, Brock's mom and I went on a field trip to a local grizzly sanctuary. It was really cool! We were really close to the bears and the information the host gave during her talk was very informative and useful.

Isaac and his friend Lukas

It was a free event for homeschoolers (each person brought food for the bears) so the kids got to see lots of their friends there :-) Hannah and Kenley

It was so funny to see the things the bear would do - he would play with sticks, dig, rub his back on logs and lumber around the area. According to the owner he was even pouting because she blocked off the area he liked to dig in!

This field trip was a definite hit! Everyone from big to little enjoyed it (except maybe Audrey who just wanted to get down and run around) :-)

1 Year Old

On September 9th Audrey turned 1! Help - she is growing too fast!

She is not walking yet - but still cruises all over the house. She either pushing something around or walks along anything that is handy. She signs & says "more", "puppy" and "all done". She has an adorable high voice!

She has 4 teeth - 2 on top & 2 on bottom. She doesn't seem too bothered when getting teeth - a bit fussy is all.

She is pretty excited about inching up to 16 lbs! She still doesn't eat very well and has frequent episodes of not nursing well either. Every ounce she gains is hard earned - whether its nursing her most of the night or tricking her into opening her mouth so I can get a spoonful in. It is a struggle and sometimes it feels like we are winning and sometimes it doesn't.

This is her new birthday outfit - isn't it cute. Grandma and I spotted it at the farmers market and bought it together. It has inspired me to try make one myself (will show the results another time)

Another birthday present - her trike! She LOVES it and wants to be on it all the time. It is really easy to push and holds her in well (she is strapped in tight).

She is still a little monkey - she climbs up and down anything in her way. If you turn your back she is long gone. You will have to look up and down for her because she could be on the table or down the steps!

Lost in the Maze

We had a great time at a corn maze with some friends this weekend. It was a beautiful day - a bit cool and windy but still nice. The maze was fun and challenging and the farm where it located was so pretty. Beautiful views, lots of cool old buildings and a variety of animals.

We went right over Audrey's nap time but she did great. She looked like her eyes were going to close at any moment but she stayed awake for it all.

I wanted to LIVE at this farm. It was so peaceful, simple and beautiful

Through trial and error, multiple dead ends and many laughs we figured out the maze! If you can call random paths, lots of mistakes and being completely turned around most of the time figuring it out. :-) So, after conquering (or I mean stumbling across the exit) we pulled our map out and explored a bit - trying to make sense of where we were instead of just randomly choosing paths. Map or no map, I never knew where I was - I just followed the guys. My exact location didn't matter as long as they knew and we were all having fun :-)

Looks like I caught Brock cutting through the corn! Hey Mr. that's not allowed!!

There was an added adventure for the kids. They were given paper bags at the beginning and had to find 5 people hidden throughout the maze with orange buckets of candy. After receiving some candy they would get their bag stamped. Once they collected all the stamps they had found all the candy givers! They had fun searching - and fun eating!

Our whole group - us and our friends Mike and Erika with their three boys, Kevin, Luke and Andrew. Imagine all of us walking, running twirling and giggling our way through the maze. Yikes!

These cows were HILARIOUS. We noticed right away how short and fat they were - it was so crazy looking. We proceeded to read the sign - they were miniature cows! I had no idea there was a such thing. Look at that cow - it is shorter than Hannah! They were really friendly and the kids loved them. They all had name tags on their ears so we are still hearing about Erica, Sophie, Darla and Lucy!

Oh look - there is Erica - she was the kid's fave!

Kevin, Madison and Isaac. I really loved the neat barn! I decided I better let the kids get in the picture too :-)

They had several big black horses (percherons according to our resident horse expert Madison). They were very cool to see!

All the kids minus the two littles - Hannah, Luke, Madison, Kevin and Isaac.

We all had so much fun and can't wait to go again next year!

Missing In Action

I can't believe it has been 2 months since I last posted! At the same time I can because life has been busy. With all I need to do (or should I say GET to do!) blogging is low on my list of "must get done". I have tons of catching up to do because the last two months have been full! Audrey has turned 1, she has started walking, Madison has turned 11 and Isaac 7. I have taken a trip to Colorado to visit my sister and stopped in Wyoming to see another sister. School has started back up and Awana is in full swing. I am sure that just scratches the surface but it is all I can think of off the top of my head.

Just wanted to share a few pictures today before we head off to the corn maze and pumpkin patch. The kids had harvest fest at Awana and we had fun gathering things to make their costumes.

Madison was a scarecrow and got first place. We found the hat, suspenders, bird and straw stuffing (hula skirt) at the thrift store. I had some burlap fabric from some long ago project I was going to do and she sewed herself some pants. We used a bunch of Audrey's blankets for stuffing. We went to the thrift store looking for some greens because she was going to be a tree and once I saw the hula skirt sitting next to a few scarecrow decorations a new idea took hold :-) It was fun to get a sewing class included too. She did great sewing and is already learning so fast!

Right from the start Isaac wanted to be an indian so I had to start from scratch and hope to find things that would work. I found a pillowcase at the thrift store that I made into his shirt, the pants were at the thrift store and the boots are Madison's. We made his tomahawk out of a stick, cardboard and tinfoil. For his headdress we taped a bunch of feathers on a piece of fabric and then used washable marker for his face paint. He LOVED his costume and wanted to sleep in it that night and has wore it many times since. His group didn't give prizes but he didn't seemed bothered because he had so much fun.

Last but not least, Hannah! Her dress was Madison's from last year. We had a black wig in our dress up box but it had big streaks of white in it. We used permanent marker and colored the white in and then braided it. Once we tied the bandana around her head and added the feather - she looked awesome. I also used some cardboard, her doll, some of Isaac's shirt/pillowcase and some electrical tape to make a papoose. We tied it around her and it hung off her back. She commented continually how much she liked her costume and how great she looked - it was funny!

I couldn't resist including this cute picture of Samson! He has struggled the last couple years with hair loss, weight gain, lethargy, seizures, large/sore joints and lots of limping. He is now doing great. The vet found he had a thyroid problem and some issues with the dog ACL. He has medicine for both and he is like a new spunky dog. We are so glad and hope that means many more years with him :-) He has been amazing with the kids and has been no different with Audrey. He is so careful and gentle with her. She really likes him and one of her first signs and words have been puppy!

The weather has been awesome. No snow yet (yeah!) and crisp, sunny days. I love fall.

Madison is still busy drawing and drawing and drawing. This is one of my favorites.

Audrey is changing daily. She needs several posts of her own just to cover all her changes :-)

School is going good. Slow but steady. They all love the new curriculum. There are of course days where everything goes great and days when it doesn't but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

"In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less." J. D. Greear

Gospel: :Rediscovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary

Until next time . . . . . whenever that may be :-)