new trick

LM just started this yesterday.  I think it's pretty cute.  The kids get a kick out of it too.  (You may want to pause the music to the side so you can hear better)

preparing for winter

I have been wanting to make a reversible car seat cover for quite some time now.  I bought fabric and everything a long time ago.  But before making it, I was going to have to learn to sew.  Thanks to a friend I was given the very basics of how to operate my machine.  After about a month I had got as far as cutting the fabric, pinning it together, and sewing the two pieces together.  After having my project sit on my counter for a couple of months, it was time to be honest with myself... I was never going to finish a project I had to sew.

Knowing that winter was coming, and coming fast, I knew I wanted something to use.  So I decided to still make a car seat cover, but I cheated a bit.  I went out and bought some fleece - a material I figured I could handle.  Within a week I had my project complete - and just in time for the first huge snow storm!

I just cut and tied the edges - so much easier than sewing.  So all I had to do was figure out how to sew the straps on.  If you were to see my sewing job you'd be able to tell that sewing isn't my thing. But guess what, I did it!  And it works!  Hooray!  Oh, and can I just say, I LOVE the fabric!

5 months

On Thursday, November 18 our little LM turned 5 months old.  It's hard to believe that it has been that long already.  Like everyone says, she is still like a newborn.  From the scientific method of weighing me + baby and then me alone, I estimate she weighs about 8.5 pounds.  I think that's the big increase.  She also has increased the amount of food she is eating, so she really is growing!

our little princess

of course upon getting the camera out, everyone else had to join the picture

when we brought her home she was about the size of this doll

primary program

Yesterday was our ward's Primary Program.  The theme this year was, "I know My Savior Lives".  All the children in our ward had speaking parts and each one helped in writing their own part.  Both of our kids had their parts memorized and did amazingly well, requiring no help.  Here were their parts:

CJ: "A miracle is something that turns the sadness into happiness.  My new baby sister is an answer to praying for a miracle."

CD:  "He gives me food."   --Her class was asked how they know Jesus loves them.

Jon and I were very proud of our little ones.  Grandma & Grandpa Allen, Clint & Hilary, and Grandma Parker all came to support them.  It was a very beautiful program.

why oh why do I let them...

Most people have beans as part of their food storage.  Not us.  Our beans are for entertainment.

happy Halloween!

Here's a bit about our day while celebrating Halloween.

While carving pumpkins... Dad did most of the work - cleaning them out, that is.  CJ but his hand in a couple of times and thought it was pretty cool.  CD put her hand in, touched it, and immediately said, "that's gross!"  Mom carved her first pumpkin - Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  And Dad carved a dragon.

This was a rainy Halloween but we were determined to go out.  So we suited the kids up in their costumes and found umbrellas for everyone.  We even took LM out for a bit.  CJ was Mr. Incredible, CD was a dancing butterfly, and LM was a kitty.  Even though it was quite wet, it really wasn't all that cold.  I think I'd much rather deal with rain than snow.  Mom took the kids around after Dad took LM back inside.  Surprisingly we didn't get as wet as I thought we would.

While trick-or-treating CD would repeat almost everything any one at the door would say.  The cutest is when she'd say, "happy Halloween!"

Here are some pictures from the day for you to enjoy.

weekend review

We spent this last weekend in Rupert, Idaho visiting my parents.  This was LM's first road trip and visit to Grandma & Grandpa Allen's.  Thankfully she slept the whole way there.  Saturday my mom and I went to a craft fair taking LM with us while CJ and CD stayed with dad and played in the leaves.  We don't have many leaves at our house, so they loved being able to play in the leaves at Grandma's.  That night we had a little birthday party for CJ.  We opened presents and had cake and ice cream.  Can you believe he's going to be 6?!  I can't. Over all we had a good relaxing, fun weekend.

where does time go

Our little LM is four months old - already!  AMAZING.  She went in for her check up today and she is now 7 lbs 10 ounces and 20 1/2 inches.  Even though she is just now the size of most newborns, she has come a long way from her 2 lbs 14 ounces and 16 inches at birth!

Notice the feet by her head... That would be CD...

CD really didn't like the fact that LM was wearing "her" flower in her hair.

Here are some things about LM at this stage of her life:

• she is a very happy baby that only cries when she is really tired or hungry
• she loves to smile
• she has discovered her voice a bit and loves making noises - especially in the car with CJ and CD encouraging her along
• she sleeps 6 to 7 hours at night on a regular basis (now if only I would go to bed when she does I could get that kind of sleep too!)
• she enjoys hanging out on the floor as long as her siblings don't squish her (yeah right!) and now we just really need to work on tummy time ;0)
• she also has discovered her hands a bit and enjoys sucking on her fingers

She has the biggest smile - it's just really hard to catch on camera

And one last treat for all of you.  Here is a little video of her smiling and making some of those cute noises that she does.  You may also notice (and even hear) her little legs kicking and going 100 miles per minute.  Definitely a happy baby!  We love her SO MUCH!

 

Not the best quality - sorry.  Notice, she has the hiccups too.

crafts

I have always thought of myself as being a creative person, but not crafty - there IS a difference. I LOVE designing and digital scrapbooking is mainly where I do my designing. And of course I use Heritage Makers to do that scrapbooking and storybook making. However, Heritage Makers can also be used to make way cute home decor! Here are two projects I completed this weekend - neither designed by me - but I did craft them together. ;0)

a very cute block calendar - I did choose my own color scheme on this one

beautiful Fall blocks

For some reason I have just been in this "crafty" mood.  I have found a few different blogs that display their own craft ideas and those of others.  I just keep thinking how cute everything would be and how much fun they could be to make.  I have never sewn in my life but I happen to be in the middle of trying to make my own car seat canopy.  I won't tell you how long I have been working on it, or how far along I am.  But it's started and one of these days I just might finish it.  And when I do, I'll be sure to post my success (or, hopefully not, failure).  ;0)

quick weekend adventure

We are fortunate to live about 2 miles away from a wonderful place called the American West Heritage Center.  It offers lots of fun things for families to do including pony rides, a train ride, and seasonal activities and events.  This year we bought a Gold Membership pass for our family.  So we are able to attend certain events as many times as we want!  Unfortunately we haven't been too many times.  But we did go on Saturday.

We have been wanting to take the kids to the corn maze for awhile.  This last week it rained a little bit each though.  We finally decided that maybe Saturday afternoon things would be dry enough to go, so we went.  The first thing we did was went on a train ride.  CJ decided to ride in the caboose this time with a couple of other kids - he had a blast being silly with them.  CD was nervous at first, but then really started to enjoy it.  After the train ride we walked over towards the corn maze.  Before going in the big maze Jon and CJ went through a "black out" maze.  CD played around in a little straw maze for kids and enjoyed figuring it out on her own.

Finally it was time to go in the corn maze.  Jon, CJ, and CD all had maps to help us find our way through.  To begin with CJ was navigated us through on his own - and he was doing awesome at it!  All the sudden we would come to a place where their was two paths.  He would tell us, "you go this way, and I'll go this other way".  So we would split and meet up again.  I thought it was amazing that he could follow the map well enough to discover that.  After awhile he lost his place on the map so we just followed Jon.  I knew Jon could get us out.  So I just follow along.  CD was cute because she would look at her map and say, "we go left".  She walked this year, so we were a bit slow going, but it was still a lot of fun.  And it turned out to be a beautiful day!  Oh, and LM slept in the Moby the whole time.  Love that thing!