Happy Halloween

Halloween has come and gone, the sugar highs are officially setting in...and the kids are happy.  It's almost 9:30 at night and I can still hear them excitedly jumping on their beds and talking away...even though they're supposed to be sleeping.  I'm sure the sugar coma will follow soon.

This year I kind of failed.  I really kind of let Halloween sneak up on us, and so we didn't carve pumpkins (I didn't even buy a single pumpkin!) and we did costumes from home, whatever they could find in the dress up bin.  But it was nice and low key.  We weren't sure what to expect as far as trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, but we were pleasantly surprised that we had quite a few people, and the kids got a ton of candy.  Brody didn't get a costume...because he doesn't care about stuff like that...and I'm lazy...so he wasn't in any pictures.  My bad. :)

We tried not to feel too sad about not going out with cousins this year...we miss those traditions!  But we are making the most of our time here.

And now for the pictures...which is what you really came here for anyway, right?
(click on the pictures to see them bigger)

Brielle, the zombie

 I told her she looked too happy for a zombie in the above picture...so she remedied that.

 Claire the vampire

 Once again, I had to tell her she seemed a little too happy to be a vampire...so she changed her attitude.

 Addison, the "flower princess"

Molly the pirate...she wouldn't stop yelling "Argh!" and jumping around, so I just took what I could get.

Before we put Molly's costume on, she was being a MAJOR ham!

And two more of them all together...because I can.

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Advice for a new mom...

I have a cute niece who just had her first baby yesterday, a baby girl!  I'm so excited for her to enter into this new, crazy phase of life. I was feeling so bummed that I couldn't be there for her baby shower, so I wrote a letter with words of advice to send to her.  I thought about it for a few days, trying to come up with things that I felt were important, but not pushy.  Things I would have liked to have somebody tell me before having my first baby.  I had many, many nurses tell me after having Brody, "You're the expert on this, I should probably ask YOU how to do this."  or "You know what to do...just let me know if you want my  help."  or "You could write a book on this!"  And while I do NOT feel like an expert, I'd say I'm more of  a crazy person, I guess after 5 babies...this is what I think all new moms should know.  There are so many polarizing issues out there...sometimes going back to the basics is important.

Advice for a New, First Time Mom:

• ·         People are going to give you SO MUCH ADVICE.  Only listen to them if you feel like it’ll work for you.  (Except for my advice I’m giving you…it’s obviously the best advice you’ll ever get.)  Everybody thinks they’re an expert on babies…truth is, only YOU will know the right way to take care of your sweet baby.  Trust yourself.  Just throw out those baby books (after you read them for a few tips) and smile and nod when people tell you how to raise your baby, then pick that sweet girl up and love her how you know she needs to be loved.  She’ll let you know what she needs, you just have to pay attention.  If you have all the advice running through your mind making you worry if you’re doing it right, you may miss it.

• ·         Baby blues is a real thing, and it may scare you.  There might be times where you’ll stop and think “I AM GOING TO LOSE MY MIND!”  or “Why am I crying again??” But you know what…it passes.  And although NOBODY talks about it, we all experience it.  Just take a deep breath, eat a piece of chocolate and go ahead and have a good cry.  I like crying in the shower…you know…in case you wanted to know.  Maybe that was weird…MOVING ON…

• ·         When you feel like you might just lose your mind, find something to laugh about.  Laughter is the best medicine!  Even try laughing at your own situation.  The image of yourself, not having showered for a couple days (or a week…or you won’t even remember WHEN you last showered) covered in spit up, poop, pee, milk etc. will someday be funny.   It probably won’t feel funny in the moment, but if you at least try to laugh about it, it may help ease the transition.

• ·         On that same note…don’t expect to shower or sleep ever again.  Or eat.  Or go to the bathroom.  Or have a life.  I’M KIDDING!  (kind of…)

• ·         Let people help you!  You need to take time for yourself.  Even if it’s a 20 minute shower, a quick trip to the grocery store or a walk around the block.  Don’t forget to take care of yourself too.  Sometimes just a shower, doing your hair and makeup and getting out of pajamas will do wonders for your mood, even if you’re just going to sit on the couch holding the baby. 

• ·         Babies cry…sometimes for no reason.  That’s all I have to say about that.

• ·         Don’t fall into the slippery slope of comparing your baby to others.  You’ll inevitably run into someone who says their baby was crawling by 2 months, potty trained by 6 months, reciting Shakespeare by 9 months, and a concert pianist by 12 months.  You’ll look at your baby and think “Wait, my baby is still involuntarily hitting herself in the face!” and worry if you’re doing something wrong.  But ALL babies are different and do things at different times…and that other mom is probably a liar. 

• ·         Take a lot of pictures.  Because they grow up so fast, and you’ll look back and be so glad you documented it.

• ·         Finally…ENJOY this new phase.  ENJOY the sweet baby.  Try to remember that she is fresh from Heaven and is such a gift.  She will drive you batty and frustrate you to no end at times, but she is such a precious gift.  PRAY for help every day to know how to best raise her.  

Just take it one day at a time, because as cliché as it sounds, they really do grow up in the blink of an eye!

Good luck!!

Weekend fun!

We have had a GREAT weekend, playing with friends, kicking off Halloween with a stake party, losing teeth, playing board games, and feeding the sister missionaries.  We've been really overwhelmed at how inviting and kind this ward has been to us.  I hear from someone in the new ward every day, rather it's text, phone call, email, Facebook message or comment or even hanging out at my house.  We've had people bring us hand me down clothes for the girls and offer baby food and other kid items that they don't need.  It's amazing!  And although I haven't been shy about not being overly happy with this move, the people are making the transition infinitely better.

I will admit, as I was going through the ward calendar and putting in all of Marty's obligations for his new callings (1st councelor in the Young Men's presidency and Varsity Scout Leader...busy, busy) I was feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the time we would have to be without him.  But with how kind the people here are, inviting us to movies, play dates, farmer's markets, story time etc., I think we'll be ok.  Luckily my callings won't require nearly as much time (ward librarian and enrichment leader).

Anyway...wow, we went off track here, didn't we??  SO...back to the fun weekend we had.

We started out by going to the dollar theater with our friends on Friday night to see Planes: Fire and Rescue.  I took the older three girls while Marty stayed home with Molly and Brody (the movie started at 7:30 p.m., a little late for the little ones).  The girls had a GREAT time and loved sitting with their friends giggling and talking.  We were so grateful they invited us!

Saturday started out with the stake Fall Festival.  A little carnival type thing was set up in the parking lot at the stake center.  Each ward had a booth with a little game and treats.  It was a ton of fun!

A zombie, a pirate, a princess and a vampire...I think we covered most the bases, except super hero

The brown dress and the red cape on the right are Brielle and Claire dancing at the "Dance Party" booth.

Hula hooping vampire...probably laughed the hardest about this image

Hula Hooping Zombie

They also got their faces (and hand for Addison) painted

After the carnival, we had to run a couple errands.  It wore our little pirate girl out!

Later that day, Claire pulled out her SECOND tooth in the last four days.  She has another one that is loose as well...I just love those gap tooth grins!

Then we busted out the game Fibber...way fun!

Followed by Moustache Smash

 Sunday we fed the sister missionaries.  The girls had their fill of showing off their sweet dance moves to a captive audience.

And finally (if you're still with me here...sorry for my lengthy post!) just a few random pictures to wrap it all up.

Brody is growing up, even though I tell him not to.  He's a rebel I guess.  This is comparing him coming home from the hospital to 3 1/2 months old.  My baby is getting huge!

Made this cute wreath at super Saturday...I like it.

Finally decided to hang some pictures and add some decorations to the house to make it more homey.

Claire is the most patient sister ever!  Molly is always following her around, watching everything she does, and Claire just goes right along with it.  So grateful for her!

  Brody in the BCG's (Army glasses)

Claire helped feed Brody while I made dinner.  Marty was out of town, so we were flying solo.

And there you go...more than you could have ever hoped to know about what we have been up to. 

 YOU'RE WELCOME!

A Fair, Conference, Cute Kids, Face Swapping...all the good stuff!

Time to unload some pictures....YAY! 

Molly LOVES her baby brother...she calls him 'Roby'...which is actually a character from the horrible show Yo Gabba Gabba.  But I can see how Brody and Roby could get confusing in her mind. :) 

I finally somewhat organized my side of the closet... 

Marty's side looks a little more like this...

(does this count as throwing him under the bus?  In his defense, he's been working a LOT since we got here.)

This past weekend we went out to a fair.  It was a really small town little country fair with lots of horses, Civil War reinactment type things, carriage rides, booths selling cowboy hats and boots and animal skins...pretty fun.  The kids all did the blow up slide:

Addison

Brielle and Molly (Brielle was nice enough to take Molly)

Claire

 Then there was a bounce house that they had basically to themselves 

There was this wood cow that you could "milk".   The girls had fun with that.

 We also got to do one of those old time carriage rides, like the old Wells Fargo type stage coach.  Me and the girls all rode on the top of it, and we thought we were going to die.  When they started to go, one of the horses wasn't cooperating and he was going up on his hind legs and smashing into the other horses...I feared for us being up on top.  But he luckily calmed down and we went on a nice ride.  We didn't get any pictures...too busy trying to stay alive. ;)

After the fair, we got little ice cream cones.  Molly stuffed most of hers in her mouth at once.

 Brody didn't get an ice cream cone, but he was still happy! 

 That weekend was also General Conference.  Brody enjoyed all the talks...obviously 

 The girls kind of listened...even our little witch.

 Addison drew a portrait of her frog...we thought it was pretty good. 

I was changing Brody after a little spit up, and just couldn't help but take these funny pictures of his onesie on his head. 

The girls hanging out at the school, waiting for Addison's parent teacher conference. 

 Molly wanted to go ride her bike one morning, so we went walking around the block.  Brody obviously enjoyed it. 

AND...some more fun with face swapping.

The ones with Addison never turn out great...she's WAY more tan than I am, so it looks funny.  But we tried anyway.

And finally, a cute video of Molly.  We've been working a lot on her speech and answering questions.  I just think she has the CUTEST little voice ever!