September!

 Want to know the coolest thing that happened in September??  DYALN CAME HOME!  He is so skinny!  Maybe I need to go on a mission ;)  He radiates happiness.  We are all so happy that he completed his mission and is home safely!  Angela made the boys shirts with some pictures of Dylan on them....they were a hit!

 Want to know the second coolest thing that happened in September?  While Caleb was at school one afternoon the other 4 chitlens napped at the exact same time.  I honestly didn't know what to do with myself.  Sadly - I did have to wake them all up after about an hour to go & pick up Caleb.  But....I did get to dry my hair while they were sleeping, so that was a bonus!

I have a lot of pictures of little Lexi this month.  She has such a sassy personality.  She loves to snuggle, loves jewelry and will rip your earrings right out, and she loves to jabber!  Pretty often I find that she has climbed into her car seat.  It's adorable.  Don't mind the mess.  It's just my life.

 She is also very flexible.  Try this position...I double dog dare ya. 

My little ladies started dance class at Turning Pointe.  They love to put on their leotards and skirts and twirl like ballerina's.  I am so excited for their fist recital!!  Just for my own personal reference...Rylee is in front & Taylor is in back.

 Having a night cap.

I did the craziest thing ever...I loaded up all 5 kids and met Ashley & Eva at the Children's Museum in Ogden.  It was actually quite a successful outing!  Caleb was in a sour mood, but we still managed.  Eva loved having this robe thing on her head.  The girls loved being princesses.  Lexi was funny sitting in a giant chess set. 

They had a small space of soft things Luke & Lexi could play on.  Luke sat in this circle & I thought it was freaking adorable.  Caleb's favorite thing is the train tables.  He could play with them for hours.  All of the kids enjoyed the little puppet show they could do and Ashley was a champ helping everyone with a fall tree art project!

 You eat your snacks sitting on the floor, don't you??

 Where's Lexi???

 

 This is one of my favorite things ever.  Checking on my kids and seeing their little butts in the air and their little feet crossed. 

 Here is Lexi & Caleb getting their snuggle time in while watching a movie one night.  Melt my heart!

 

An addict in the making.  I can't believe my babies are old enough to stand up!!

Caleb & Casey were so lucky!  Kevin took them and Colby and boy's out fishing on his boat.  They even got a couple of fish!!  What a handsome boy my baby is turning into.

 Taylor & Rylee love these toy animals lately.  They love to line them all up on the stairs for some reason.  I'm waiting for someone to biff it big time.  It will probably be me.  But maybe I'll break something & have to spend a couple of days in the hospital....then I could get some rest!!! 

I love this picture of Mona & MaKayla.  Shelby's family was in Brigham so we all got together for a bit.  Seeing a newborn makes my little ones seem so big!  Time sure flies.

Gardner's Village!

I had major excitement going on inside of me anticipating this day.  I had to miss it last year because of little babies, so needless to say I was ready to go!  We started with lunch/dinner at Sandra's.  YUM.  She made burrito bowls.  It was kind of like a café rio salad, but without the lettuce.  She made bean dip & cupcakes too!  I bet she was exhausted.  Everyone was pleasantly full!

 

After lunch we went outside to enjoy our cupcakes & the fabulous weather.  Angela was taking turns with Eva, Taylor & Rylee on the swing.  It was Rylee's second turn when all of the sudden they were in the air & falling to he ground!  The swing seat broke!  It was the most graceful fall I have ever seen.  Rylee didn't even make a noise.  She was in total shock. 

 

They had music playing at Gardner's village & I am pretty sure everyone enjoyed getting their groove on.  The three little girls were adorable of course.

 We took every opportunity to get a photo in.  We are fabulous - how could we not?!  My mom was laid up from having surgery so she couldn't join us this year.  Next year for sure!!

Annual Pumpkin Carving Party!

Ashley hosted the Anderson pumpkin carving party this year.  I'm not sure if she will ever do it again.  This one girl came and she had 5 freaking kids.  Needless to say - it was a smidge on the crazy side.  She made yummy chicken and sweet potato chowder for dinner.

 

Lexi loved tasting the pumpkin scraps!  It was adorable.  It was nice to have the real live Dylan there this year and not the stuffed bear Dylan.  I think that we are all happy that he is finally home!  Jordon's hair is getting super long.  It might be longer than mine by next year!  My dad was funny - he started to carve his pumpkin & got a big frown on his face and said, "I can't believe I need glasses to carve my pumpkin!!" 

 My mom was a champ.  She had just had her meniscus operated on in her left knee a week earlier & she still came to the party.  What a trooper!  We only ended up with four pumpkins this year.  My family's, Blake's, Dylan's and my dad's.  Jordon's broke.  It was sad.  I read the kids almost every night a story titled, "Twas the night before Halloween"  There is a pumpkin on one page of the book that Caleb always says he likes, so we tried our best to duplicate it.

 Earlier in the month my mom & I tried to get a good picture of Luke & Alexa in their darling Halloween pajamas.  It's a chore to get these littles to look at the camera!  At one point my mom started doing patty cake to get their attention & Lexi got so excited that she about clapped her hands raw.  (See top right picture)  It was pretty funny.

I freaking love this holiday.

Baby Blessing

On Saturday, October 11th we loaded up the van with pack-&-plays, toys, books, 7 bodies, a double stroller and bags of clothes and headed to Price for a couple of days.  The stow & go feature in good ol' blue steel is amazing!  Shelby & Malissa blessed sweet baby MaKayla.  It was a very nice day for them!  Brad & Mona's family has sure gotten bigger since I first started coming around.

Oh the hotel room.  The floors were so dirty!  Luke & Alexa's knees and feet were black from crawling around.  I hope they don't get any diseases.  Caleb LOVED it there.  He wants to live there.  I remember when I was younger loving going to hotel's.  It's just fun to get out of routine I guess. 

The first night I got stuck in the room while everyone else went and enjoyed pizza and swimming.  I was kind of bummed that I missed out, but it was also nice to have a moment of silence.  I got my sweet Halloween puzzle finished and Casey did bring me some pizza and Mountain Dew.

Spanish Fork canyon was beautiful!  I hate that the sky looks fake in this picture...the sky really was that amazing that day!

Everyone packed up and headed up to Northern Utah on Sunday.  My family stayed and did some more swimming and went to dinner at McDonald's with Shelby & Malissa and our crew of kids.  Filthiest McDonald's ever...but the kids had fun! 

 

The next day we took Luke & Lexi to Sandra's house to play while we went to lunch and to explore the new Aquarium.  It was fun!  BUT - I don't care if we go again.  It was expensive to get in!  $70 to be exact!  They had a neat rope bridge that Taylor was excited to try...Caleb was not excited and wanted to quit half way, but he made it....Rylee wasn't having any part of it.

I loved the black sea urchin, the penguins and petting the starfish.  I hope that the kids had a good time!

Happy Birthday Littles!

Look at who had a birthday!!  Both of these cuties are crawling everywhere.  We are slowly working our way to most table foods.  They are so good for nap time and bed time.  I just put them in their cribs and the lay down, roll over & fall asleep.  A blessing indeed!

Lukie Pookie...Lukester Pookster - those are the names that he gets called the most.  He is such a handsome boy!  He has the cutest smile & laugh.  He LOVES when he is getting attention.  He HATES cold food - we have to wait until it's about room temp before we feed him or he just spits it right out.  He is a very fast crawler & loves to help me unload the dishwasher.  He loves to explore the outdoors.  He says "mama" all the time when he wants something.  Casey claims that he doesn't whine much unless I'm around.  I've got an adorable little mama's boy.  This little guy already has 8 teeth!!  That is a ton!

 

Luke's 1 year checkup

Weight - 19.10 lbs - 8 percentile

Height - 30" - 55 percentile

Head Circ. - 47.6 - 80 percentile

This little sweetheart has the nicknames of Little Lexi, Lexi Loo and Rylee calls her 'Ol' Lexi' quite often.  She is a serious little girl with some spunkiness here and there.  She loves to cuddle.  She loves to still suck her little thumb.  She is a pro at waving and giving kisses.  I'm glad that she likes closed mouth kisses and not the usual open mouth messes that babies tend to give.  She likes to be outside but does NOT like to leave her blanket.  I don't think that she likes the grass.  She is so tiny!  I still feel like I'm going to break her little body when I pick her up.  This beautiful girl only has 4 teeth.

 

Alexa's 1 year checkup

Weight - 16.15 lbs - 3 percentile

Height - 29.25" - 52 percentile

Head Circ. - 45.2 - 52 percentile

 Their little family birthday party was fun.  They were cute.  Casey & I got them a walker that the 3 older kids fought over for 2 freaking days.  My mom made them some comfortable and darling blankets, Casey's parents gave them some toys & some clothes, and my siblings gave them a cute alligator ball toy.  Lucky, lucky kids!!

They were pretty adorable investigating their cupcakes.  Luke kept grabbing the fondant owls and shoving the whole thing in his mouth.  Lexi was more interested in squishing it all between her fingers than she was eating it.

August Picture OVERLOAD

One day we went to a park over in Logan.  I love finding new parks that are the right size for my kids.  I also LOVE finding parks where there aren't any people.  If a park looks crowded - we find another one.  If to many people come to the park while we're playing - we leave.  I think this stay at home mom thing has me becoming a MAJOR people hater.

 These two cuties are out of the tub bucket and onto adventures in bathing.

 Luke has to see what Shadow is doing every morning.  Shadow is such a good kitty and plays with him for a bit.

 I babysat McKenna one morning.  These three together may cause some major trouble.  The slid down the stairs in unison probably 50 times.  The cracked up every single time.

 Caleb took swimming lessons at the Brigham City pool this year.  He really enjoyed the days that he got to "walk the plank".  He cracks me up.

 Malissa and Shelby had their darling baby girl, MaKayla.  We had a baby shower for her at the beginning of the month.  Mona made the cutest and funniest fruit tray I had ever seen!! 

I love Luke's teeth.  I love Luke's cleavage.  I love Luke!

 I still look at these cuties and think, "How did this double thing happen again?" 

 They have started to wrestle.  It doesn't always end well.  They fight over toys.  Lexi LOVES to put her fingers in Luke's eyes while he is enjoying a bottle.  It's pretty rude!  She's a lot smaller, but she's going to let him know who the boss is.

 They both started getting onto their knees and pulling themselves up to standing position.  I am going to miss little babies!!

 Taylor got sick for a couple of days.  It was strange.  She had a fever and complained of a stomach ache.  Then all of the sudden, she was better.

 One of my little artist's favorite things to draw is treasure maps.  He does a great job at it!  His little mind is quite creative. 

 Sweet sleeping babies.  I slept on the floor once a couple of weeks ago and my back was freaking sore for a day.  Kids are amazing.

 

 I love when these two interact.  They will crack each other up once in a while and it is adorable.