Little Monsters (and a few big ones)

Hooray! My internet cooperated with me long enough to post some pictures!! It's crappy.
But anyways, we had a fun Halloween this year. I did not put a lot into it just simple costumes and it was nice to not have to stress over it. I am so not in the mood or have the energy- this boy is sucking all the energy out of me:)
We went to a church party on Saturday, dressed up, went on a hay ride, played games like the cake walk, ghost bowling etc, had chili and hot dogs and did a trunk or treat. It was fun, I loved that it was in the middle of a field at someones ranch and not inside the church! It was also nice that it was during the day and the weather was awesome.



Ave put a lot of planning and research into her costume, she had to find the perfect thing. And Madd Hatter won. We were able to use the same skirt from her clown costume last year and just did makeup, sprayed hair orange and bought the hat. I thought she did a great job!



Ani and Joss had been planning their costumes since July. They knew they were going to be Monster High monsters and knew exactly which ones they wanted to be. Ani chose her favorite Ghoulia Yelps and the costume was so easy! Did not sew a thing. Just picked up a few Monster High accessories on clearance and a cheap $5 skirt to go with things she already had. And of course two shades of blue hair and blue skin. She was very happy with it until she had to tell every single person who she was and still they had no idea who Ghoulia or Monster High even were. She has decided next year she wants to be someone that every one knows and needs no explanation:)




Joss was DracuLaura another monster. Her costume I had to make a vest for and added fish net tights to a black shirt for sleeves and some lace around neck and sleeves but other than that easy shmeazy. She loved her costume and did not care one bit that nobody knew who she was.




I got one picture with Ry!! She was so mad at me for making them get pictures taken outside in the front yard that right after she marched right in the house and took off her costume. I am so embarrassing! She did look super cute though and planned her costume out herself and bought her own mask.





Jesse and I were skeletons. Our costumes were probably the most work but they were fun. And I know I look terrible here but I was playing the part and had black circles around my eyes. I have an aunt who swears its not me!











I also think I am about 25 weeks here. And loved that the baby could be part of Halloween with us.

Visitors

Out of order, my sister came to visit in September and my brother came out in October. We had so much visiting with them and cant wait to go out to Utah soon.
My brother was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes this year and the day after he left here he found out his little 3 year old Max also has it. My brother has been so positive and awesome with taking care of his diabetes but it about broke him to hear that he had passed it on to his boy. He is still mad about it but knows that he must go on and he is such a good example to Max. The poor little guy still cries at times when he is given his insulin but seems to be getting used to it more. He will even poke himself to check his blood! I have to also mention my brothers wife Kara. She is 9 months pregnant with baby boy #2 and was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. So the last few months she first hand knows how it is to have diabetes, check your blood sugar and give herself insulin. She has been awesome helping my brother and supporting him and now is taking great care of her boy. She has tough days but also has many good days, she is amazing! Cant wait for my new little nephew next week!!



Did not take Lyn to much while she was here, she usually can only stay for a weekend so we just hang out, eat good food, and shop! What else would sisters do??

New Do

So this child of mine has some WEIRD bad habits, I wont mention all of them just her cracking her knuckles, cracking her neck, and chewing on her hair. And I am grossed out by all three of these. But the worst was when she came home from school and the ends of her hair looked like someone had taken a torch to the ends, she must have had a stressful day at school cause she chewed her hair to pieces, honestly I was pulling hairballs out and throwing them away. It was gross, so the next day I took her to the mall and got her a haircut. And now, no more hair chewing! Yeah:)


Before

After

19 weeks 3 days

This pregnancy is going by so fast in some ways, and dragging in others. I really was not in a hurry to have this baby and thought it could stay in here as long as possible cause I am not so sure I am ready to care for a baby yet!



That was until we saw this guy. It's a BOY!! And I can't wait to meet him:) As soon as the tech put the ultrasound thingy on my stomach- there it was, as Aniston would call it "the elephant trunk". He was not shy at all and did not want his mama to have to sit and wait to find out the gender. I am pretty sure he is thrilled to be coming to a family with four girls, who wouldnt be?


I already love his personality! It seems he already has a sense of humor. Love this pic!!




It still seems a little weird to say "he" and "him" but we are getting used to it and every single one of us wanted a boy so bad that we have been full of excitement for six days now! We have been looking at boy clothes, names, and talking mohawks and it is so much fun. Now we are thinking 20 more weeks is going to take forever to get here! We cant wait to meet this boy and spoil him to pieces!!

Random catch up

Here is a quick catch up of what we have been up to...
Starting to get out more and explore our new city. Went to a park for a picnic on Saturday night, it was pretty and fun we will for sure go back.

Here is belly at 16 weeks





Girls want to be cool like dad in his shirts, hats and shoes


Ani has been scared at bedtime lately so she will crawl in bed with little sis, and its so cute we have to get pics before putting her into her own bed. I love these pictures!!



And we have been starting to get out and meet more friends and neighbors, it's been nice to have people to chat with and let kids play. One mom had a cookie party and the kids made elmo and cookie monster cookies, Joss had a lot of fun.


And she is super cute:)

Back to School

The girls started school last week. It was really needed! We were getting bored and cranky with each other and I just need a little alone time with a super cute 3 year old:)
The night before we did our back to school fashion show, and guess what? It turned out great this time! No crying, yelling, pouting like last year. Just silliness, dancing, and lots of diva attitudes.





Caught this as dad was leaning down for a kiss during a dance. Cute



And Ani might win best poses and moves again this year, she is pretty crazy.





Ani is in all day kindergarten which is tough, she is getting a little better after a week and cries a little less but she is exhausted and not used to all this learning. She told me she hates growing up, you have to color in the lines! She also came home saying "the boy on my left is annoying and the one on the right is obnoxious"!
Ave is loving school-of course. She jumped right into it, found friends, loves her teacher, sits by a cute boy etc.
Ry on the other hand has had a harder time. 7th grade in a new school is tough. It was really hard for me to drop her off on the first day cause I knew how nervous she was. Each day seems to get better for her, luckily she is outgoing and not like me! She will be fine as soon as she makes some friends I am sure.
And the boss and I just love the quiet house to ourselves. I am so glad to have this time with her and get to pay all my attention to her, its tough when you have 3 loud sisters to ever get heard, she will yell "my turn to talk" over and over until you let her talk.
Dad was able to meet us for a few minutes for after school icecream which was a great surprise and Aunt Beth and uncle Mikey were in town visiting so they were there too. Which they loved cause our family misses out on a lot with us being so far away.

Top it off

We have had a pretty crappy summer. After moving to a super humid area we sit home every day. The most fun we have is going to the grocery store, the library and happy hour at Sonic for slushies. So with the girls starting school in a few days we decided to go have some fun to top of the summer break. We decided on St Louis, and Jesse's co-resident and his family came with us.
I can not even describe to you the amount of fun we had! The 2 1/2 hr drive not so much fun, but the rest yes:)
We started out at the Saint Louis Zoo which is free, you just walk right in. Which was crazy because it is an amazing zoo. We had fun at the zoo and saw penguins and puffins for the first time, but it was hot! After about four hours the kids had had enough. So we drug them to a nearby park and had a picnic, and then I poured icewater on them to cool them down, they loved it!
From there we hit Ted Drewes famous custard shop, it was so good! The kids had custard in little St Louis Cardinals helmets and loved it!
Then we went to a place called City Museum, it is definitely not a museum. It is a huge building that they built mazes, slides, tunnels, wire climbing areas, rope swings, magic shows, ball pits, ramps, etc. I cant even describe this place besides saying it was so awesome. We saw grown men giggling and moms and dads playing right with their kids, it was comparable to Disneyland for sure! So much fun!
There was an art area and the kids loved sculpting with clay, painting pictures, making collages, etc this area was a big hit for our artists. Aniston actually loved the whole place and went down crazy scarey slides, swung on rope swings, and slid down skate ramps right along with the older kids. She was awesome. Joss had a lot of fun too but hers was downsized to the kiddie area, the train, building with blocks, and painting. Ave loved it all, except the slides. She had fun running wild with Ani and exploring all the tunnels. Ry on the other hand did nothing. She sat and read the entire time. She went outside and climbed a few things but thats about it. She said it would be fun with friends or cousins but apparently we are not fun. Her loss:)

We finished the night off with some pizza at Vito's and watching fireworks by the arch. It was a pretty fun last minute ending to our summer break.




Our group at the zoo. And yes this is the only picture I have of Ry with us.


We loved the penguins!


Cooling down with icewater showers and a shaded picnic


City Museum







The family ( and mylee) having frozen custard.