As I was uploading pictures for this post I was wondering where on earth November went. Seriously! I don't even know what we did the whole month, but now it's gone! I do know that we have all been passing around colds to each other since about the beginning of October. It seems like J gets sick, then R, then E, then Phil and I. Every time. It is so frustrating! Phil is fighting his second cold right now and I am praying that that is the last of it for a while. Usually we are very healthy... I don't know what is up this year. Anyway, here are some things that have been going on in our lives lately. Not too many great pics because it's hard to take pictures when you're feeling and looking poopy and/or wiping noses and holding sick babies all day!
I realized the other day that I never posted any other pictures of J playing soccer. Most of his games were either during naptime or right at bedtime, so Phil usually took J to his games while I stayed home to let E and R sleep. And Phil was not really keen on taking the camera with him and taking pictures during the games. ;) Soccer was quite the emotional roller coaster this year. J got sick right after that first practice that I wrote about, and then did not want to play at ALL at his second practice or first game. So we started thinking that this whole season was just a wash and that we would just take him to the games and practices when we could to let him get used to the whole thing. Well, Phil took him to a game right after Halloween when he was feeling all better and he started running and playing right away and even scored a goal! After that Phil said J would usually run around and chase after the ball a little but not always focus and play like he was supposed to. But he seemed to really enjoy it once he was feeling better so we'll probably try it again next year. Anyway, on to pictures...
We have a family of deer living behind our house. It seems like there might be a daddy, mommy, and baby or two. So cute.
We were (thankfully) well enough one gorgeous Saturday to attend a birthday party for one of our friends. We went on a fun hayride around the neighborhood...
... and were so proud of J when he actually allowed himself to be blindfolded and took a few swings at the pinata! He would never do this before (the blindfolded part, at least) and had to watch for several minutes before deciding he wanted to try. But he did it!
Oh, Reid... he totally melts our hearts. He is still just the sweetest baby ever. Except for right after he wakes up. He is like Mr. Hyde before he gets his mommy milk and Dr. Jekyll afterwards. It's like flipping a switch. :) He just looked so cute hanging out on the floor right before baths the other evening that I had to snap some pics. He's so chunky here!
He was squinting his eyes to avoid the flash... so funny!
Look at that soaked shirt... his spitting up is getting better, but he has been drooling like crazy! Like I said, this was taken right before we stripped him down for a bath.
He has started babbling and making "Da-da" and "Ma-ma" sounds. "Da-da" happens more than "Ma-ma." Standard. :) And he is cruising around everywhere! He's getting really fast at crawling and cruising. He's been standing and cruising with only one hand holding on and we are wondering how soon he'll start walking. Seems like he's ready!
My mom and dad sent J and E some Thanksgiving stickers and they had so much fun sticking them all over their clothes. :)
I asked J to smile and he did this... preschool gang sign? :)
The boys all love these bar stools. I think they feel like they're their own personal forts or something.
Doesn't Reid look so grown-up here? I cannot believe he is almost a one-year-old!
Here's J showing off the turkey and pumpkin he made at school. I took pictures of them so I wouldn't feel so bad getting rid of them. Is that bad? We don't have the biggest house and I don't know where to keep all of this stuff!
We spent a quiet Thanksgiving at home with just our family this year. It was different, but nice, too. The boys were a little under the weather that day, but a few days later they started to feel a little better and played outside together for about an hour without any issues! It was a really nice day and they loved jumping on the trampoline and pushing each other in this car.
Yes, Emmett has his shoes off. He loves to be barefoot and sometimes it's just easier not to fight it!
Reid was eating lunch while all of this was going on outside...
Here's E picking up leaves and pretending they are gas for the car. He put them in the hood part in the front and I asked J what they were doing and he said, "We need to get more gas for the car!" Look at how "green" and earth-friendly my boys are... pretending their car runs on leaves! Blech! :)
E wanted me to take his picture here with his brown bear slippers on. And look at that cute shirt that I found at Old Navy! Phil's jet is nicknamed the "mighty eagle" so I thought it was perfect. Even if the jet on the front is an F-16 instead of an F-15 like it should be. Still cute. I was even able to get one for all three boys so they can match! You know I love that.
At school before Thanksgiving they asked J for his recipe to cook a turkey and these are the responses he gave. I thought it was funny that he included "go to somebody's house and wait for people." We obviously go to other people's houses to eat a lot! He's been doing this funny thing lately where he sticks his lower jaw out when he smiles. It cracks us up!
Okay, the other day the boys were all playing on the floor separately but nicely while I was folding laundry and I thought I'd take a picture. So I get up to get the camera and all heck breaks loose! Here's E doing his standard, "NO, Reid!" pose with his arm and fingers outstretched. He hates when Reid touches his things. Ugh.
And then right after this picture was taken E tried to push Reid away from his trains and ended up knocking R backwards into the bucket. R was fine and since I saw the whole thing go down I was able to discipline E accordingly, but this sibling rivalry is SO frustrating! I really hope it gets a little better as E gets older and a little more patient.
And did you know that Gordon and Henry were present at the birth of Jesus? I don't know if it was J or E who put those there, but it cracked me up!
I decorated for Christmas right before Thanksgiving this year and it is so nice to have it all done at the beginning of December. I did a lot of different things this year and used different colors (blue, green, gold, silver, and a little pink) and it was a lot of work. And it always takes a lot longer than it should because I try to do most things during naps or after bedtime or when Phil is home. Halfway through a project like this I always think, "Ugh... this is so much work! Why do I do this to myself??" But I love it and am (usually) always happy when I'm done so I try to push through. :) We are going to cut down a Christmas tree this weekend and hopefully I can get it together and get some good pics of that. I am really going to try to be better about taking pictures this new year!
