Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Just in the nick of time we made it to the pumpkin patch! The kids have been asking for weeks and we finally had to go or we would have never made it in time for Halloween.

Reid was the perfect age for a first trip. He was happy in the stroller and happy to have a pumpkin to look at.

Lucy was enamored with all the little tiny pumpkins! 

Gwen was excited to get in on the pumpkin excitement this year too!

I don't remember there ever being a pumpkin washing station before but it certainly was a hit with Andrew. And a hit with me. No trying to bathe the pumpkins in my sink! Andrew wanted the biggest pumpkin in the entire field, Eric told him if he could pick it up then he could have it. So Andrew bent down and hauled it up. I don't think Eric is going to make that rule anymore. We may have some VERY large pumpkins in our future!

Zane got a pumpkin from his kindergarten pumpkin patch field trip this year. He was very excited to use that one to carve. Works for us. He was a big help finding Reid a pumpkin instead.

Boys Halloween Preview

The boys got in the costume action as well. Reid is going as a baby bumblebee...His momma is very proud!

Andrew and Zane both picked costumes from previous years which worked out great! Andrew is a race car driver (no idea who, not a NASCAR fan) and Zane is James from the Thomas the Tank Engine series.

They are both over the moon excited for Halloween to come this year. I am looking forward to it but not looking forward to all the candy in the house!

Girls Halloween Preview

We had a party at church tonight and the kiddos all got to dress up. The girls both wanted to be princesses.

Gwen was pretty determined to be Cinderella.

Lucy is sporting her Sleeping Beauty gear. She is so proud of her new costume!

CHEESE

SUPER CHEESE!!!

Seriously, seriously cute.

Best Buddies

I took Andrew to the bus this morning and when I got home these three cutie pies were waiting for me! Apparently Reid and Zane both figured that Reid wanted to sit on the couch and watch some cartoons.

I love how Zane takes care of his baby brother. He is home this week because of school conferences. And I think Reid is going to love having some big brother support around!

Panties for Gwen

Apparently this weekend was the perfect time to potty train.At least that is what Gwen seems to think.

Gwen has managed to go 2 whole days with no accidents. None in pull-ups, none in the night. So we went and bought new panties for the girl. They are huge on her and they are 2T/3T. The smallest they make. I started Lucy with 4T and wondered, who on earth actually buys 2T/3T. Apparently we do for Gwen.

This whole thing is unreal. After the nightmare week of potty training Lucy, this is happening way too easily. I keep waiting for her to change her mind and decide she doesn't want to do it anymore. But I suppose I should just go with it.

The lady wants to be a big girl and who am I to stop her from it. It reminds me of Zane. Just wake up one day and do the potty training thing. No looking back. I am just crossing my fingers that this is really it.

Pumpkin Pie

Tracie sent me this ADORABLE pumpkin hat for Reid. It is just too cute! I can't hardly wait to go to the pumpkin patch. If I put him among the pumpkins do you think he will blend in?

Yes, he is chewing on a Christmas elf...

Makes me want to learn how to knit!

A Checkup for Reid

Took Reid in for his 6 month checkup last week. He is doing absolutely fantastic, just how I thought he would be.

He just finished trying to suck my eyeball out of my head in this photo. I found something else more satisfying for him to eat a few minutes later.

Reid is growing but just not as fast as the brothers did. I am in complete shock over how much shorter he is. The nurse and I think maybe we caught him in between growth spurts.

Height: 27" (61%)
Weight: 19 lbs. 7 oz.(75%)

You can see his new teeth in this photo though. Reid has three teeth on bottom and none on top yet. Although I looked this afternoon and I can see three little white spots on his top gums so I think he is going to cut all of them at once. No wonder he was so stinking cranky last night!

Brotherly Love

Reid is so excited to be able to hang out with his brothers. He finds them all kinds of fun. He loves it when they wrestle with him and pick him up and tote him around the house. He also really enjoys grabbing at Zane's glasses which is not something the rest of us enjoy at all. I love that they all love each other so much.

Zane's First Month at School

One month come and gone for Zane and kindergarten. It has been somewhat of a whirlwind with Zane's first teacher getting switched to a 1st/2nd split class on the 4th day of school and having to get used to a new teacher with very little warning but Zane has managed to handle it like a champ and I have no concerns about him.

Zane loves kindergarten so much he never goes to the bathroom at school. According to him he might miss something exciting. I tried to assure him that he should go if he needed to but he seemed pretty sure something fantastic would happen if he left the room to go use the bathroom.

Also my sweet boy has a tender little heart. One little boy in his class keeps having a hard time listening to the teacher and obeying the class rules. He gets into trouble a lot and it made Zane cry that he was having to miss recess. I am glad that Zane has been behaving himself in class. We have conferences for him at the end of the month and I am excited to hear how he is coming along!

Sweet Sisters

Two sweet sisters waiting for Zane to get home from school. They are often best friends. Occasionally bitter enemies.

But they can play so well together. They will take their babies for walks in strollers around the house or play pretend kitty cats together. They color together and share toys often. Of course they occasionally will fight and insist on being the boss and there is always the danger of one of them saying "NO MA'AM!" to the other one which is like throwing down the gauntlet for a cat fight. And the anticipated scratching, biting and hair pulling. But really, they are very sweet together a lot of the time. Best friends forever I hope.

Crawling

I could have labeled this post, OH NO! Because Reid is on the move and I don't mean just a little. He is full on, hands and knees forward movement.

I watched him this morning at the gym crawl after a ball only to knock it forward and then crawl after it some more. I am in trouble. He is only 6 and a half months old. I don't really think he is going to be content with just crawling either. I am not going to be surprised if he is up on his feet early too. He just loves to move and he has lots of big people to follow around.

Reid is still working on getting back up to a sit after he makes it onto his tummy to crawl. I am guessing he is going to have that soon though. He seems to like sitting now at least. If I give him a toy, he will play with it for awhile before he gets bored. And he really seems to enjoy books too. But I still think he is going to be very active. My running shoes are at least broken in!

Potty Success!

Miss Gwendalyn has had two successful trips to the potty this week. Pretty much amazing in my book. I am not into pushing potty training. It happens so much easier when the kid controls it but I must say the idea of only having one in daytime diapers is nothing short of a dream. I am eagerly anticipating what she is going to do next!

Almost 4

Lucy keeps reminding me that she is almost four. Of course there is almost 4 months until her birthday but that seems to mean nothing to her. She is quite determined that her age will be changing very, very soon.

I have noticed in the past few months that Lucy is definitely growing up. She still has her whirlwind moments and still has been known to write on her hands, arms or the available wall but in general she is mellowing out a little bit. I think all the talking we did about her growing up and being my big girl when Zane goes to school has helped.

Lucy has also really gotten into puzzles the last few weeks. She can consistently do these Strawberry Shortcake puzzles by herself. I can't even tell you how proud of herself she is about it too. She has watched Zane and Andrew do puzzles for years and finally, FINALLY it is her turn.

She is growing up entirely too fast!