Thanksgiving is a time for ...

taking a nap with a full tummy:

playing with cousins:

LOTS of desserts:

And it's a time for being thankful for the tremendous blessings we enjoy each day. To name a few, I'm super grateful for so much incredibly wonderful family in the form of parents, in-laws, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. that shower my kids with attention and me with support, and I'm grateful that we only live three hours away (although it took 7 hours to get there the day before Thanksgiving. Don't ever ask me to tell that story). I'm grateful for a quick recovery from having a baby, for a beautiful healthy baby boy, and for the best two big sisters ever. I'm grateful for the most helpful, caring husband a girl could find and I'm thankful he has a paying job. I'm grateful we found a nice area to live in and for the little things like popcorn that make my kids so happy. I'm grateful for a loving Father in Heaven that blessed me with it all!!

Faces I love

His oh-so-cute, talking-to-me faces:

His I-need-a-little-mama-cause-I'm-so-tired face:

His havin-fun-with-Mama face:

His monkey face or maybe it's a check-out-these-crazy-girls-that-just-can't-keep-their-hands-off-me face:

Can't get enough of his face!

And it kept right on snowing

Surprise surprise!! This was more than just the typical snow dusting. Much to the delight of little ones all over town, it actually added up, and suddenly a 4-day Thanksgiving weekend became a whole week off of school. Wow. And daddy even got sent home from work early so he could make it up the hill to us up the plateau. FUN TIMES!!And before we went to sleep, we peeked out the door and nearly an inch and a half more had accumulated on the chairs they'd left out. And it was 25 degrees and dropping. Brrrrr.

"I didn't know it could snow BEFORE Christmas!"

That quote is courtesy of Jenelle. Along with, "It's snowing in the Fall time. That's CRAZY!" And "Meri, you know what mommy taught me? When it gets really really cold like it does in August, then it snows." In my defense, let the record show that I never said anything about snow in August.

So the fun began as we were getting our shoes on to go out the door to church. I happened to look out the only window not covered in blinds to see it totally snowing! Surprise! The girls quickly demanded all sorts of snow gear, and we rushed out to still get there on time. By the time we got out there it was just the teeny tiny little flakes, that you can just barely see to the left of Meri in the grill of the car. See, it really was snowing :)

Ok, so you can't see the snow at all in this pic but they just looked too cute.

All throughout church and part of the day we watched beautiful flakes fall, but nothing stuck to more than the trees. This morning, the magic was back:

"I so much want to go out and touch a little little snow (Meri)." So knowing that these things don't usually last, I helped them bundle up and run outside for a few minutes of bliss. Yes, that is their nightgowns poking out of their jackets. There was no time to change. You just can't risk missing it by being practical.

And yes, we are the neighbors that still have moldy pumpkins on their porch. It's just that it's our back porch and we so rarely go out there to see them and be reminded. And now it's snowing on our Halloween pumpkins. I can't say I've seen that before.

I think I just found my excuse to not go to aerobics today. Wouldn't want to get caught out in the blizzard :) It's still going. Soon we might even be able to make a pint-sized snowball. Such a lot of excitement over a few flakes!

Isaac at 2 Months

This was taken 2 weeks ago, we just had some difficulty getting it up on the blog. So here it is, a preview of fun times to come over Thanksgiving (for those of you who we get to see)!



In the last 2 weeks he's even become smilier and talks so much more! Not to mention the ever-expanding rolls.

Sweetness

We've been looking for a preschool for Meri, and after having heard me on the phone earlier in the day, Meri randomly said in the afternoon, "Mom, are you SURE you want me to go to preschool?" I replied, "Well, sweetie, we thought you could learn lots and have fun. Why?" Little Ms. Sweetness answered, "Because if I go, you will be left all lonely." I had to jump up and give her a kiss and hug right away and assure her that I would indeed miss her but she would come back and I would be okay. It's even sweeter because when I asked her if she wanted to go to preschool she nodded emphatically and assured me that she really, really did. How adorable that she would consider giving up something she wants to do so that I wouldn't be lonely!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Check out our festive Camo-baby that is, catch this, 2 months old!!! Between dealing with that and watching Toy Story 3 for the first time with our kids (they'd seen it before and informed us what would happen, scene by scene, before it happened. Fun times), I need time to stop now! Or at least slow down a little. Please? (I tried to get the girls to agree to not grow up by using the whole you'll have to give your toys away when you're grown up. Jell shrugged and said, "I'll say goodbye to them though. No biggie mom." Great.) Anyway, with 4 babies younger than him in our ward alone, Sir Isaac has become the big kid on the block. And I do mean big kid. Check out his stats from his 2 month: 13 lbs (82%) 24 in (87%) head 16 1/2 (94%). When I laid him on the scale the nurse gave him a double look and then asked, you're here for his 2 month? Wow. Big boy. Big boy indeed! And when she asked if I had any concerns and I said, just nursing. It's like a wrestling match every time and it's driving me crazy. She replied, well, he's clearly not wasting away, so I wouldn't lose sleep worrying about it. And she's right. Check out these rolls!! We win!

Missing Halloween

Halloween is such a fun holiday with kids! I miss it already and am sad that we didn't do more for it. The whole new baby and move thing threw us off our game a bit and we didn't get to do the farm hopping we usually enjoy. While we were down in Portland for a super short visit, we did make it to one pumpkin patch with my mom. Here's the fun (although sadly I didn't take many pictures because I was holding a very sleepy Mr. Man the whole time):

Static head:

Jell was SO SO excited for the huge slide and SO uncharacteristically brave. She went half a million times because my mom had purchased a bunch of tickets and due to some seriously bad luck this was one of the only activities that was up and running. Meri wasn't so sure and had to go down with me a few times before getting up the gumbo to go by herself:

But then she squealed her little blonde head off the whole way down, jumped up and went again. And again. And again. This made up for her disappointment that there were no Meri-size pumpkins for her to get that she could hold by herself. And the puppies we got to see at the end made up for the fact that we missed the last doughnuts of the day by about 30 seconds. Breathing in their tempting goodness isn't quite the same as enjoying their calories. Oh well. We sure love sunny autumn days at pumpkin patches!

Surprise face ... and hair

This one's for daddy!

Halloweenies

Up until about 3 weeks ago, the girls wanted to be Cinderella and Snow White for Halloween. Then all of the sudden, they had to be witches, with green faces like Elphaba. Yes, we listed to the Wicked soundtrack around here, and the girls pretend to be Elphaba, Glenda, and Nessa all the time. So here they are (at the ward trunk-or-treat party) in all their wicked glory, along with the little man:

And the classic handless-eating-of-a-doughnut-on-a-string game. Jell kept spinning in circles trying to get a bite, and was laughing her head off.

Meri was incredibly excited to get a turn next but when she couldn't get a satisfactory bite got more and more upset. They timed the game and when the time was up she instantly started to cry, "I didn't even get a bite!" Daddy quickly pulled it off the string and said "you get to eat the whole thing now," to which she continued crying, "but did I win a prize???" Laughing, daddy responded something along the lines of "your prize is the doughnut!" to which she stopped crying, and happily began to eat. Crisis averted.

These three girls are in Jell's kindergarten class at school AND her Primary class. I hear all about them ALL the time! So glad she makes friends so easily.

But before I end this already too-long post, here's the little man. Apparently Jell doesn't know who Superman is though because she kept saying, "he's A superhero" or "he's dressed as A super man." Don't look too closely though. I cut out the felt and my mother-in-law stitched it on in a total of about 15 minutes as we raced to get out the door between feedings and all. Regardless of the shoddy workmanship, he looks adorable!

And I just had to add these. Look at these legs! I love 'em! The poor little boy. I spend half the time smelling his head (which smells like heaven, by the way, when he's been bathed recently), and the other half pinching his delicious thigh rolls. And I love how he claps his feet!

And stretches!

Happy Halloween!

I need video surveillance for this kind of thing

We keep finding Meri inside Isaac's crib with him. I think what happens is that when he's taking a nap in his crib, she hears him crying, goes to investigate, climbs in to take matters into her own hands, strokes his head, gives him his binky and if that doesn't work, piles toys on him to make him happy (fortunately just soft toys so far). It is totally possible she's just trying to help. However it is perhaps equally possible that she gets bored/wonders where Isaac is, goes to find him, climbs in his crib, wakes him up, he starts crying, and she quickly tries to cover her tracks so she doesn't get busted. Hmmm. It's difficult to say. Jury's still out on this one. It's hard to find anyone who'll convict her with that sweet, angelic face.

Somebody LOVES riding the bus!

I hope she didn't wear the glasses at school, but she was so excited to wear them at the bus stop. I couldn't see a good reason to say no, and I've been trying to say no less often (like when there's not really a good reason for it) so okay then. Fortunately for us, they gave us our own bus stop right outside the apartment complex that takes us 10 seconds to walk to. Such a blessing! Before they added it to the route, we had to drive to the stop, and there was nowhere for me to park the car and wait. Might as well drive to the school in that case. Except for the fact that she thinks it's about the coolest thing in the world to ride the bus. Not how I remember it, but hey, things change. Then again, this is coming from the girl wearing those green glasses in public.

One of the rare occasions on which she actually remembered to turn and wave to her mom. Sniff sniff. They really grow up too fast.

A conversation for a different time ... and age

Daddy: Meri, finish eating.
Meri: You finish eating hehehehehe (not said in a snotty voice, but a silly one).
Daddy: I have finished. I've finished eating 2 plates full already.
Meri: Whoa! What if you finished eating 10 plates?
Daddy: Then I'd be as big as a balloon!
Meri: Wow!! (giggles) What if you finished 100 plates?
Daddy: Then I'd be as big as a blimp!
Jell: Daddy, what's a pimp?

Cutie-patootie

So I'm kinda a bit picture-happy lately, but he's just so cute. I can't get enough. And I know lots of family appreciates the pics because he's growing so fast! It's crazy. So here's a couple of pictures to get your Isaac fill of the day:

That first one looks like he's about to skip off to save the day or join in a musical dance. And the second, he's just trying to figure out what that flashy thing mom keeps putting in his face is.

Concerned face (noticed the finger much later):

Kissy kissy kissy! This sister in particular loves to kiss and hug and squeeze him until I have to peel her off. So far, she hasn't managed to actually "squeeze his guts out" and a little surprisingly he loves all the attention. He smiles so much at her when she comes into sight.

Since when did my little girlies get SO long! Nothing like having an infant around to make your other kids look like giantesses.

Milk does a body good

Skinny newborn no longer! At only one month old, he has become Triumphant bearer of round belly and leg rolls! And don't forget the double chin. Next on the docket: forearm rolls, wrist folds, and elbow dimples. Coming soon.

Tired old folks

Nothing like some serious lack of sleep to make you feel old ... and narcoleptic. Although I do have to admit that this (having a new baby asleep on your chest) is probably my favorite thing about having a new baby around:

He smiles and actually laughs out loud all the time in his sleep. What could he possibly be dreaming about???

I'm on a horse.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Smith!

We miss you!

That's Daddy's Girl

Jell came home from school the other day and said: "I was talking with Jack (he sits next to her) about sports and said, we always like the Ducks. Jack said, 'my family and I hate the Ducks.'" Coop and I laughed and he explained, "Well that's probably because his family roots for the Washington Huskies." Jell responded, "Well, we can cheer for Washington too, as long as the Ducks aren't playing ... or the Beavers ... or the BYU." Atta girl. Way to make daddy proud.

Meri insisted I post this

However, when she asked that I put it on baby Isaac's picture book, it took me a few minutes to figure out what she was talking about. It seems that since the blog has been predominantly about our little man, she now thinks it's his. So here's Meri's moment to shine:

She wanted everyone to see her pretty picture of a mommy (far left), a daddy (middle), and the girlie (right) out in the sun and blue sky. Be sure to note that the mommy and girlie are wearing high heels. I find this particularly funny because this mommy doesn't even own a pair. Regardless, I love those eyelashes!

Then, as soon as I'd posted this, she ran over, told me she was going to erase it all and do another beautiful drawing. Upon completion and after receiving my congratulations, she said rather demurely, "you can take another picture now and post it too." So here you go:

These are happy flowers singing Disney songs with the sun, but the sun isn't real (which she said because it's not yellow). I love Meri's art. She is really creative with colors and shapes and never worries about how things should look, but comes up with her own way of making them instead of asking me how to do it. Like the orange circle in the top left with a couple of lines in it - those are the Disney songs. When Jell tells her something isn't the right color or doesn't look like it's supposed to, she, in typical Meri fashion, always replies, "that's okay, it's how I want it" or "it is right to me." I love it!