The most wonderful time of the year!

We love fall in our house.  I love the crisp mornings and warm afternoons, all the wonderful fall food and drinks and the activities that come with fall.  Adam loves the return of football and we share a love of all things pumpkin!

On labor day weekend we took a little road trip with just baby Vera to IKEA to purchase a bookcase I wanted and of course had to celebrate with the first pumpkin spice latte of the season.  Sadly, I have yet to have another PSL this season :(  I don't make it to coffee shops so often these days, but I digress.... It was really fun to have some time to talk and IKEA was a shopping experience like no other, but I love our new bookcase.

Amaia is really into dressing up and costumes in general lately, so it was really hard for her to decide what she wanted to be for Halloween this year.  She has been really into Wonder Woman and super heroes in general lately, but we finally landed on being Elsa again this year.  Aren't these sisters the sweetest?!  At this point in Haddon's life he basically wants whatever his big sister tells him he wants much of the time, so he is going to be Olaf, but Haddon isn't a fan of the mamarazzi sometimes.

We painted pumpkins!  I let both Haddon and Amaia paint with non-washable paint, which i was nervous about, but they both loved this little project and it kept them busy for quite some time.

One gorgeous fall morning we went to the park to find "treasures".  We found leaves, acorns, walnuts and lots of other things.  Our little nature lover Haddon really enjoyed this activity.  We made pictures and researched some of our items when we got home.  Amaia called her picture a fall kingdom where every day is fall!  Clearly I have rubbed off on her a little bit.  I think Haddon could have walked around finding treasures until his bag broke.  He has really been learning a lot lately and is all of the sudden very interested in learning his letters.  It seems like a few weeks ago he knew about half of the alphabet and now he practically knows all of the capital letters.  It is so fun to see these little minds learning so much.

Last Saturday morning we all (including Aunt Ashley) got to go to a farm to pick apples and raspberries and also got to go on a hay rack ride.  The weather was perfect and I think everyone really enjoyed it.  Haddon in particular really enjoyed picking the fruit and eating the fruit. Haddon takes after his Aunt Jessica and when he eats and apple he eats everything but the stem if you let him.

My sweet Vera was along for the ride.  After a bad trip to the grocery store, during which Haddon terrorized Vera in the cart for our entire trip, I took up baby wearing!  I got this carrier at a garage sale last summer and I find it so much easier than the moby wrap.  I think Vera and I both kind of love it.  

Vera 6 months

My little lady is 6 months old!  We love this little sweetie pie so much.  I barely remember what life was like without her.  She is sweet and smiley and darn near perfect.  I truly don't want this kid to grow up.

She is still on a 3 hour schedule during the day, but I think she is close to being ready to move to a 4 hour schedule, so we might work on that soon.  She sleeps from 8 at night until about 5 or 6 in the morning and takes 3 naps a day.  We started solids a few weeks ago and she loved it from the first bite, which amazed me.  She might be my best eater yet.  We have had sweet potatoes and peas so far and it's a messy but fun experience.

She is getting quite good at sitting up now.  She can sit on her own for a minute or so before falling over and I can tell she really enjoys it.  She loves splashing in the bath, jumping in her jumper, watching her big brother and sister, making crazy noises and smiling at whoever is talking to her.  She loves her mommy, but will go to most anyone else happily and is taking a bottle really well now too!

I'm just quite simply over the moon about my little lady.

Sweet Miss Vera

16 lbs. 5 oz.

26 inches long

Summer Vacay!

The last week of July we took a trip down to Tablerock Lake to visit Grammie and Papa Stan.  It was a wonderful and quite close to perfect getaway.  We ate very well and we all had a great time.  

Here are a few highlights:

Amaia and Haddon went out on the boat with us one day.  Haddon was unimpressed (I think because we made him wear a life jacket the whole time) but we did convince Amaia to jump in the lake for a little while.  She didn't last too long in the deep water, but really enjoyed the boat ride.

The big kids (myself, Adam and Ashley) went out on the boat with Papa Stan several times on our own thanks to Grammie staying with the kiddos.  It was so relaxing and refreshing to me. 

We went to Silver Dollar City one morning and Amaia loved it!  She couldn't get enough of all the rides.  She went on a water ride with all of us and lots of kids rides, including a roller coaster.  She is turning into such a big girl right before my eyes!

The day at Silver Dollar City was also VERY hot!  Luckily, Aunt Ashley is awesome and Vera is pretty awesome too.  She was a trooper and a cutie pie.

All of Haddon's dreams came true and he got to ride on Papa Stan's tractor a couple times.

We can't wait to go back again soon!

4th of July

I have decided that the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays.  We are so thankful for the freedom that we have in our country AND it is holiday with no pressure, no required preparations, just fun!

We decided to forego the crazy Urbandale parade this year and tried a small town one and it was a great decision.  Haddon loved all the firetrucks and tractors, though Vera didn't really appreciate the loud sirens :)

Amaia loved the candy that they threw at her!

After the parade, Adam grilled us some lunch and we had a relaxing afternoon at home until our air conditioning broke.  I was VERY thankful that it ended up being an easy fix and we were back in the cool air in a matter of hours.

After church we went to my parents house to watch fireworks.  We let Haddon and Amaia both stay up late this year and they both loved it.  Haddon's reaction was so cute!  We was amazed and kept saying "whoa!".  It was a great fun day together!

Haddon 2.5

I can't believe this kid is nearly two and a half!  He has taught me so much in his young little life about life and what is important and my own faith.  He can be a challenging little two year old but he is also the sweetest, most affectionate little boy full of hugs and kisses and sweetness.  Here are some things I want to remember about Haddon at this age...

He loves trucks, trains, cars and all things with wheels.  If a car is parked he wants to know why it isn't going and he creates "garages" all over the house to park his cars in.

He is particular like his daddy.  If his pillows are not the right way, he fixes them.  If the books are backwards on the bookshelf, he fixes them.  If there are crumbs on the floor or on his highchair tray, he cleans them and he does not like to have messy hands!  I sure do hope this trait lasts into his teen years :)

He must give me a kiss on the cheek every night before bed. He insists upon it!

He loves his sisters!  He wants to do everything his big sister does and tries to tackle her all day long, though I'm not so sure she sees that as loving :)  He loves his baby Vera too and is getting good and saying her name.  He loves to lay next to her, bring her toys and lay on top of her, though again, I'm not so sure she sees that as a loving gesture. Ha.

Every time I pick him up from the nursery after church he runs into my arms with the biggest smile as if we haven't seen each other for weeks and I definitely don't want to forget that!

Vera: 4 Months

This beautiful little lady is 4 months old!!  I don't know if it's my perspective or if she is the best baby ever (probably a combination of both), but she is SO easy  She is happy and content nearly all the time, loves her siblings, and gives loads of sweet smiles every day.  If I could make her stay this age forever I think I probably would.

Like all my children she started waking up in the middle of the night again right when she turned 4 months, but we are back to sleeping until 4-6 in the morning again, which is amazing!  During the day she eats on a 3 hour schedule and is an eating champ other than the fact that she is getting very distractible.

We visited the doctor last week and she is perfect as can be.  The doctor also did not hear a heart murmur anymore!!  We won't know for sure until we visit the cardiologist, but the hole in her heart and likely very small or completely gone now.

14 lbs. 8 oz and 26 Inches long

Vera at 2 months

Our little lady is 2 months old!  I've said it before, but the baby stage just gets sweeter every time.  Though I would not mind getting some more continuous sleep, most nights I honestly don't mind getting up with her, because she is just so darn sweet and there is probably nothing better than snuggling with a sleepy baby.

Sadly, on her 2 month birthday miss Vera and I were battling the stomach flu, so we didn't make it to the doctor until a week later.  But, at 2 months + 1 week she was 11 lbs 12 oz, 50% for weight, 60% for height and 99% for head circumference.  All of my babies seem to have very large heads :)  She is smiling now (!!!!), cooing and being all kinds of sweet.  She was sleeping for about 8-9 hours at night, but then that nasty stomach bug hit us and messed everything up, so we we are working towards that again. 

I feel like I am starting to get my groove back in terms of getting out and about with all three kiddos. Vera didn't sleep well out and about in her carseat until the last few weeks.  It's a little strange but wonderful that she is doing this better as she has gotten older, so we have been getting out and about again and I believe I have even mastered getting groceries with all three in tow. 

The comment I hear about her most often is that she looks lot like Amaia and I agree.  Sometimes I almost call her Amaia. Ha.  And if she ends up looking a lot like Amaia as she grows older I think that will be perfect, because Amaia adores her baby sissy.  I call her my baby whisperer, because she enjoys her so much and is quite good at talking to her and keeping her happy when I need a few minutes before feeding her.  One thing that this girl will never be lacking in is love and attention.