Blessing Outfit

Blake was actually blessed almost 2 months ago. But even though his Grandma found the smallest blessing outfit, Blake was so tiny that it was too big for him. It fits him perfectly now, so I decided to take some pictures. Isn't he so handsome?

Blake might win the "best baby" award out of our children. He is almost always smiling. He keeps himself entertained by chewing his fists and talking to himself. He gets lots and lots of attention from his big brother and sisters. They compete to make him laugh. Sometimes they all get in his face at once and he gets kind of scared. He does love them though. He sleeps through the night sometimes. And sometimes (like last night) he wakes up three times. At least he takes bottles, so James can help me out a little. I don't like for him to have too many bottles. These past two weeks have really shown me the benefits of nursing. Everyone in the family has been sick. Taylie had bronchitis, James had a terrible cold, Brenna had a flu and ear infections in both ears. Ethan got sick for about a day (immune system of steel) and I've been battling a cold for at least 10 days. Blake has been healthy as a horse. All those antibodies must be doing their job! Today I finally feel like everyone is getting over it. Hallelujah!

Thanks, Stacy

Oh, I forgot to thank Stacy for the cool new background. I'm not so computer literate, so I didn't know how to make it really cute. I depend on my relatives way too much. But I appreciate the help. THANKS!!!!

Dog

Okay, so I should probably explain why I said I hated my dog. It's because I hate my dog. Not really, I guess. We had just had a bad night. He sleeps in the 1/2 bath off of the kitchen. Usually I put him in there and he just sleeps until Ethan lets him outside in the morning. But on the night in question that's not how it happened. He barked relentlessly for about 30 minutes at 3:00 in the morning. Finally I put him in his outside crate and went back to bed. It is really cold outside right now, and I hear rumors of bear cubs in the area, but I figured whatever happened to him served him right. I couldn't get back to sleep though, so I was pretty tired and cranky in the morning. I really wanted to take him to the pound, but instead I decided to vent to cyberspace. While I was online, I researched shock collars. He hasn't done it again, so I still have a dog. And I've been told that several other neighborhood dogs barked that night. Maybe there was some very very high-pitched noise that humans can't hear. Maybe the aliens were landing. I don't really care as long as it doesn't become a regular occurance.

My dog is not the only one determined to make my life difficult. Today Brenna took my kitchen scissors and cut my shoelaces into little bitty pieces. Now all I have are Church shoes and sandals. Thanks, kid. At least she's creative.

I HATE MY DOG

Belossom

This is the actual picture of Belossom that Taylie drew for me so I'd be able to create the costume. You can see that a little bit of water got spilled on it, but that only adds to the charm.

And here is Taylie in the costume I created. They look just alike, right? She says that three different people actually knew who she was. Go figure.

I had to spray-paint that pumpkin for her to collect candy in, because orange didn't match. Taylie can be such a diva sometimes.

Costumes

Here are the Halloween costumes. Blake was a Bumble Bee. He sat on his bouncy seat outside in the sunshine while we passed out treats. We didn't
go inside until about 6:30 pm. It was the warmest Halloween we've had since I can remember.

Ethan was Ironman. I actually haven't seen the movie, but James and Ethan watched it together and I gather it was great. Boys and superheroes. Ethan and his friends went trick-or-treating without adult supervision for a little while, so he felt all grown-up.

Brenna wore Taylie's old flying pony costume, but she refused to wear the wings. She said "No, I'm a WALKING pony!" which I thought was pretty cute. This picture was at her Preschool Halloween party. The kids did a costume parade, then sang some songs for the parents. Brenna had some stage fright, but I still enjoyed it. She really understood trick-or-treating this year. James took her out for about an hour, and she loved very minute of it.

I have a great idea for a post about Taylie's costume, so watch for that later this week.

The Down Side . . .

So, remember how 2 weeks ago I was all "I loooove living in the mountains!"? Well, there's a down side. Last Wednesday morning I decided to take a picture of Ethan's awesome haunted house pumpkin. And here it is. Yep, the deer ate it. That little blob inside is all that was left of Brenna's pumpkin (the lid) and Taylie's was in pretty bad shape as well. Bummer. Fortunately, the kids weren't heartbroken or anything. They thought it was funny.