Happy Fall!

Happy fall and happy to be healthy again! What a crazy couple of weeks.  After a few weeks of feeling under the weather and the entire house with colds and fevers, I somehow ended up in the hospital a yucky case of meningitis… fever, chills, sweats and definitely the worst headache and neck pain I’ve ever experienced.  After a positive spinal tap, the doctor then has to confirm whether it’s viral or bacterial (scary kind), so to err on the safe side, they put you in an isolation room and gown-up like you are an infectious disease case… kind of a freaky experience.  Thankfully, thankfully, it was confirmed the viral kind and I was able to go home and rest and recover.  Thanks to my parents for helping with the kids and for all the sweet wishes…. feeling much better now and very happy to be able to return to work this week and get back to our normal routine. 

When the temperature drops, this doesn’t keep the kiddos out of the pool!

CANNOT believe this little dude is going to be a year old in just a week!!  Jed had another great check up with Dr. Stock last week in Phoenix…..we don’t have to return for another six months now!!  My mom was awesome to take my spot and go along with Blaine for his appointment, since I was stuck in the hospital.

Lutes Take-over for Yuma Lutheran a couple of weeks ago.  My crazy Colbie… so rambunctious, stubborn and feisty one minute, and such a sweetheart the next.  We threw pennies in the fountain before taking the kids to Lutes and I know you’re not supposed to ask, but I asked the kids what they wished for.  Grayson wished for some magnetic toy he had just seen in a window and Colbie said she “wished for Mommy to be her best friend!”  I’m sure she did something to get under my skin seconds later, but she definitely melted my heart during that moment!

Best friends and worst enemies!

The “boys” planted their garden again this year!  I love how Colbie needs to look the part too!

St. Jude’s Trike-a-thon at Hand-in-Hand Preschool

Pumpkin patch 2014!  Kinda crazy to think we were pregnant and in Phoenix this time last year.

Found our friend, Quinn to play with and star struck Colbie got to meet Queen Elsa, Ana AND Olaf!! OMG OMG!!  Colbie reminds me of Mary Katherine from the old SNL when she gets nervous or in this case, star struck.  She folds her arms, takes a deep breath, loses eye contact and becomes very serious.  I’m just waiting for her to smell her arm pits!!

Warm hugs for Olaf.

Climbing trees at a birthday party this am.

Where has this year gone?!

The past several weeks seem like such a blur with so much going on around here.  And yet I know it’s about to get a heck of a lot busier with more birthdays, holidays & functions right around the corner.  Gotta buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Park day a while back and also to cheer on my friend Monica’s son in his cross country race.

Yep, these kids definitely didn’t get this fearless-of-critters gene from me OR Grammy!  I think I was doing Grammy’s snake dance while taking the picture!  Oh, and the snake is dead by the way, thanks to Uncle Ryan!  From playing with dead snakes, to dancing in tutus and playing baby doll… that’s my Colbie!

Grammy bought me some Wonder Woman jammies recently.  This of course made the kids want to match with their own super hero jammies!  Here they are in their new crime fighting pj’s!   Gotta love Wal-mart…. $5 clearance!

Jedders has a new buddy!  Chase is going to be eight this year!  Took him to the vet recently to learn that poor guy is going blind in one eye :(  As if he wasn’t a big old klutz already!!  Such a goofball and a serious pain in the butt sometimes, but he is such a sweet dog with all the kids!

And Skyler’s gotta be 12 or 13 now and still going strong!

Hard to believe Jed is eleven months old with his first birthday sneaking up on us!  He pulls up onto everything and walks around holding on to things.  He has four teeth and seems to be teething hard core lately…. lots of drool, sleepless nights, fussiness and chewing on everything.  His new word is “Uh-oh!”  He loves to throw his juice cup and say it over and over and OVER!  Fun game!  Aside from being an occasional cranky pants, Jed really is such a sweet and happy baby and on the days that I work… unlike his brother and sister as little ones (especially Grayson!) he doesn’t make a huge fuss when I drop him at the sitters.  In fact, he LOVES Paty and his whole face lights up when he sees her on Monday mornings (probably because he knows he doesn’t have to compete with two older siblings for an entire day!)  This definitely makes it so much easier on my end.  He went on a little nursing strike there for a few days, which totally broke my heart and had me worried.  I was in no shape ready to give up, especially knowing that he’s my last and wanted to make it at least for another few months through this cruddy cold and flu season.  Happy to report he likes me again and we are back to our routine :-) We have an appointment in Phoenix with his cardiologist next week and are eager to see how everything looks and sounds…. thinking and feeling positive. 

These two are two peas in a pod!  LOUD and rambunctious!

Jed has become a great eater, enjoying more an more table foods…. peas, fish sticks, spaghetti, avocados to name a few, with his favorites being broccoli and mac n’ cheese!

Wendy and I carpool, taking turns every other week since our kids go to the same schools.  So glad we opted for the Pilot eight years ago, as we now fit 5 kids in my car (4 in car seat/boosters) every other week!  Being that Hand in Hand gets our earlier than Yuma Lutheran, Colbie & Carter get to have playdates on Wednesdays while we wait for brother & sister.

Loves her baby dolls!  Colbie seems to really enjoy her new school.  We’ve had a couple parent functions there already.  She is getting good at writing her name now and says the pledge Allegiance and sings My Country Tis of Thee every morning!

Grayson got to have lunch with his principal last month for being Student of the Week!  Way to go GG!  This happened to be one of the days that I volunteered at school so I got to be there for a picture.

Mother and Son Bowling NIght for Yuma Lutheran!

Western dance and BBQ concert with Randy Houser for Bridget’s Gift breast cancer foundation!  This event also marked Blaine and my nine year anniversary!

Fun “kid-free” night with friends!