We have a smiler...

Wesley is 6 weeks old today and has just started really smiling at us and is it ever cute! I am so loving his cheeks and little dimple. Such a sweetheart.

A Happy Halloweek!

We had a fun and busy week of Halloween. The girls had two 1/2 days this week and no school on Friday and a school parade and party on Thursday. Saturday we made yummy doughnuts and that night we went to a Trunk or Treat hosted by some friends in our ward. It was a lot of fun! The kids came home with a ton of candy and we gave them a dime for every piece they were willing to part with (which I passed out in Young Womens on Sunday!) Sophie ended up with $2.50 and Nora $2.00. A good deal all around! Miles has been talking about being a puppy for such a long time that half the time he insists on being called "puppy Miles". A friend of ours gave us Wesley's costume and he made a cute little skeleton. I went as an Oompa Loompa (if you couldn't tell) and Brian was a gas station worker (boring!) I wanted him to be an Oompa Loompa with me but he didn't want to put on the hair and face stuff. And the girls told him he couldn't be "that weird guy again" so....
Pictures from the girls' school parties:

Happy Halloween!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

leaves and baby love

We are having another beautiful fall here! I just love this time of year. We have a cute chinese neighbor named Linda who pays us to mow her lawn and rake her leaves (we've tried telling her not to pay us but she insists) The girls had a great time helping rake the other night.

Sophie was the most motivated to rake because she's earning money to buy an American Girl doll. (She was going to ask Santa for one - but I talked her in to saving her money so she can buy one on her eighth birthday next summer...) So she is always asking what she can do to earn a dollar.

Nora had fun raking as well...

Miles just liked riding his tricycle up and down the sidewalk, and pulling faces for the camera

The boys! Here's daddy and Miles enjoying some baby love from Wesley. Miles has been a bit more interested in "Weswee" lately.

Wesley is growing so quickly. He is such fun to have around. Sure love this sweet little guy!

One month!

It's true. This little man has been in our family for a month now. And it's sure been a busy one! It is so fun to have a little baby in our home and enjoy every second of his sweetness. He's been a very good baby and although he wakes up 3x each night to be fed he has been the best one of our babies at not getting days/nights mixed up, so he eats and goes right back to sleep. He has started making those sweet baby cooing noises and we are still waiting for that first genuine smile... hopefully it's soon!

Home again, home again jiggity jig

Brian spent most of last week in Ireland! He had a conference there for school on Saturday so he left Tuesday afternoon and spent a few days site seeing with some fellow students. Lucky. (I will post some of those pictures when he gets them all downloaded.) So I was parenting solo for the week, and the only thing that had me worried was the nights. Miles wakes up fairly often and obviously so does Wesley, so I was worried about being able to take care of both of them at the same time. Turns out my fears were legit. :) It was pretty rough except for Wednesday night and Nora and Miles both got sick on Thursday with fevers and sore throats. I ended up taking Miles to the Instacare on Saturday night because he had some red and white sores in his mouth and throat. I thought it was strep, but it ended up being herpangina. Miles had a worse case than Nora and he was pretty miserable from Thursday - Sunday. Which actually made me feel a bit better about how he'd been acting, because for three nights in a row he would wake up crying and screaming and nothing was working to calm him down so I resorted to letting him watch Thomas the Train shows at all hours of the night. It was my means of survival. I love you Thomas! Needless to say we were all thrilled to have Brian back home on Sunday night. Single parenting a newborn and sick kids is not my cup of tea. But I am so glad Brian was able to go to Ireland. He was worried about leaving me, and I know he would have stayed had I asked him to. But how could I ask him to miss out? I didn't end up taking too many pictures all things considered, but here's one:
Sophie was such a helper with Wesley. She would hold him while I made dinner or do any other various tasks that really require the use of two hands. And she loves doing it.

P.S. A big thanks to my neighbors who brought me pizza dough, dinner and watched two of the kids while I was at Instacare. You all know you are THE BEST.

Damage Control...

Miles is a determined little boy. He likes things his way... or not at all. And because of my lazy parenting skills in the last months of pregnancy and the last month of having a new baby around, well - let's just say he's pretty much gotten his way most of the time. So now we are doing damage control. There are a few certain things that need changing around here. Like no more waking up at 530am and yelling for chocolate milk - and then yelling again 5 minutes later when he's done and we have to go get the sippy cup. And no more fruit snacks for breakfast. Or calling everyone poop head. This kid needs to be reminded who's running this place, because I'm pretty sure it should be me and not him.
(But at least he's nice to the baby.)