4 Months

Will was four months old on the 7th. He is a very rewarding baby. He smiles when you talk to him, he loves his jumper and he giggles when you tickle him. He is a fairly easy baby and I am so grateful. I love to kiss his chubby little cheeks.

Everyone told me that our third child would throw me for a loop. They were wrong. My adjustment with Maggie was pretty easy. Parker was 4 1/2 and very self sufficient. This has been by far my most difficult transition. The laundry is never caught up on, I don't get out of my pajamas until 10:00 most mornings, I can't seem to keep the house clean and I am exhausted. I'm not sure if it is my age, arthritis or just having a fourth child that has done this to me...probably a combination of all of them?

I know that this will pass. Our kids will grow up and I will miss them. So for now some of my chores will have to wait. And the projects I want to do will have be put on the back burner, because I don't want to miss the short time our kids are little.

Three

Margaret turned 3 on Thanksgiving day this year. We were in Heber and had pumpkin pie and birthday cake for dessert. All she really wanted for her birthday was a cash register and pretend money. She was very funny about it.

Maggie is the child in our house who always makes us smile and laugh. She is a like a little bit of feisty sunshine wherever she goes. I'm so glad she's ours.

MTC

My parents entered the MTC on Monday. They are there for a week and then off to South Carolina. I have to say that selfishly I am sad they they are going to be gone for a year. William will change so much in that time and they won't be here to see it. I know it will be okay and their will be other blessings for their service, but it still makes me sad. BUT, I am happy for them. It will be a great adventure for them and I know that they will be great missionaries. The people of South Carolina are lucky to have them. Ruben went through quite the physical transformation to go on their mission, and my kids got to help in that process.

Will: 14 Weeks

Will likes: watching his siblings, the swing, the bumbo

Will loves: standing up and balancing while holding onto someone's hands, being swaddled, his monkey mobile, being talked to.

I love: that he smiles when I get him out of his bed, the high pitched squeak he makes when he wants to be wrapped up and go to sleep, the baby noises he makes when I talk to him, that he is almost always content, his solid little body and chubby cheeks.

Halloween

We spent Halloween in St. George this year . The kids have a lot of fun with their cousins and my sister lives in a great neighborhood for trick or treating. My kids started deciding on their costumes months ahead of time. I have never convinced them that having a matching theme for all of them would be cool. Thus we have a baby (matching with her cousin Cami), Wolverine, and Little Red Riding Hood. Maggie talked for months about how she was going to be Little Red and Papa was going to be the Big Bad Wolf. So Papa played along and made himself a costume. He is such an awesome Grandpa.

California

I wish we could have stayed longer. Actually, I would stay forever if I could.

We went to CA for a quick trip. Matt replaced flooring in part of my grandparent's home while the kids played, swam, played and swam some more. I got to visit with Grandma and a couple of my best friends. It was great. I decided that on this trip we would forgo our normal Disneyland adventure and go to some of the places that my mom took me when I was a kid. We wanted to go to the LA Children's museum, but it was closed. So we went to the LA Zoo and to Phillipe's for lunch. TT, John and Kira met us at the zoo, it was great to see them. The LA Zoo is the perfect size. We looked at everything in about four hours and the kids thought it was awesome. The zoo was even better than usual because the reptile house was closed. I hate that place. Phillipe's is exactly the same as I remember it and the food was delicious. The kids were very interested in the sawdust on the floor. The kids built a fort behind my grandparent's house and played back there a lot. They had some unwanted visitors show up at the fort and Parker threatened them with his pocket knife (which he didn't actually have on him) ...isn't that nice? Papa was there for the first couple days of our visit. He took the kids to the fire station to visit Nick and to the beach. He took food for the birds...Kate and Parker thought that was fun, Maggie did not.

A Handmade Affair

So I am going to be selling wire trees in this upcoming craft show. If you are in town and can stop by that would be great. You can check out what will be there at this website.