Picture Story of our Fall 2013

Fall/Halloween is a big deal for us. We pack in as many activities as possible. 

Black Island Farms. This is our favorite place to go for fall fun.

Gracie waiting for her dad and Meg and Adin to go down the long bumpy tunnel slide behind her. Brian made a spectacle of himself by screaming like a scared little kid the whole way down. He had quite the group of people laughing at him. Out of character? Yup. Hilarious.

Daddy and Grace on the train ride.

Meg and Adin on the corn maze. The drive of the tractor was a 14 or 15 year old who was a little enthusiastic about his job. He was trying to make the ride as exciting as possible. He would slow down and then speed up really fast and tried to take sharp turns. At one point his enthusiasm even caused him to drop his glove and he had to pause the ride to get it. Ha ha.

Mommy and Grace looking over the corn maze.

There were 3 parts to the corn maze. I pushed Grace in the stroller through the first part and then she had had enough so I waited for the others outside. Little did I know the second leg was the biggest. It took forever for them to come out. I even had to call on Brian's cell to see what was going on. It's one of the better corn mazes in that it's actually difficult and they got a little turned around. Brian figured out where they were on the tiny map and was able to get them out.

This stack was at least double this high at one point. Brian watches tons of scary movies with the kids. They have seen lots of movies other parents wouldn't dream of showing their kids. So far no nightmares so we keep going. In fact Meg started a book a couple months ago that really freaked her out (Percy Jackson). I told her to stop reading it and pick a different book. I told Brian about it and he disagreed. He thought we should encourage her to keep reading it so that she would realize it wasn't as scary as she thought and to teach her not to be afraid.  That's what we did and she ended up absolutely loving the book and continuing on the in the series.

A little taste of our Halloween decor this year.

Droubay party 2013.

Adin's been wanting to try this kit for years. It comes with a little hammer and you pound in these little spike things. It's Frankenstein. He loved it. He paused halfway through and told me it was even more fun than he expected.

Meg carved her own all by herself this year. I didn't let her use a big knife, but she did use a little cutter that came in a kit. She ended up cutting herself a tiny bit. Brian was in the house with Grace so I told her to go have him get a bandaid. She went in and was anxious about telling him because a bunch of aunts and uncles were around and she was feeling shy. He told her to go wash it off in the bathroom. As she turned around to go to the bathroom she tripped over Grace's head. This caused and overly tired Grace to start screaming. This caused an overly embarrassed Meg to start bawling. Awe, the dramatics of our daughters. :) Meg was humiliated and ran and hid in the bathroom. Fun memory of the year. Ha ha.

We threw together a last minute Marchant side Halloween party.

Balloon pop game. 

Transfer the candy corn from one side to another game. We won. Charisse and Kory cheated. Sarah and Felipe tried but ended up just helping the kids. Brian and Michelle...not sure what they were doing. :)

The big event that was somewhat a last minute decision was Brian taking these two to a haunted house. Brian was trying to get me to go and I was feeling to old for it :). Meg overheard and said she really wanted to go. Adin went back and forth. Meg desperately tried to convince him not to go so she would have some alone time with daddy. Adin was a little nervous and very worried about leaving me home alone with Grace. He didn't want me to feel lonely. The recommended age was something like 12 so we felt a little apprehensive. We told them if they decided to go that they had to commit to it and couldn't get there and start crying and back out. At the last minute Adin decided he would regret not going and didn't want to have to wait a whole year till he had a chance to go again. They had an absolute BLAST. They clung to Brian the whole way, but took it in stride and were quite brave. Brian said there was a moment in line when he looked at poor little Meg and she had her nervous look and was biting her nails. Adin kept his wristband on for quite a few days after so that he could prove to his friends at school that he went. It will definitely become a yearly tradition.

Meg was feeling tired and dramatic a few days later and in an outburst said how unfair it was being the oldest child. She had to wait 9 years to get to go to a haunted house and Adin only had to wait 6. How unfair is that?!

That's a wrap!

Meg Right Now

This was her then.

This is her now

I heard an idea that I loved. Every Mother's day, you take time to write about each of your kids and their likes and dislikes at the time. Why oh why did I just read that. I wish I had been doing that all along. The kids would have loved to be able read a little about themselves from each year of their life. I figure why not start now. Better late than never. I will write this coming Mother's day, but wanted to start with right now. Here's a little (or big) snippet about my sweet oldest, Meg.

Meg is nine. She wishes she were a teenager. I don't know if it's being the oldest or if it is just being her but she wants to be so grown up. I want her to be so little. I've had her at home with me more than half the time I will most likely get her. :( Heartbreaking! She constantly asks if she can wear makeup. She always says, just a little? just some blush? She wants to wear big hoop, dangly earrings. I've told her not till she's older. The other day she even told me she thought she should pluck her eyebrows. I worry to death over this girl. I hate the pressure of the world/media on young girls. I'm trying desperately to instill in her that what is important is on the inside rather than on the outside.

Meg is super shy. Especially around adults she doesn't know. I've seen her at work at school though and she isn't shy with kids there. She is friendly with everyone and tries to include everyone. She is always telling me about different friends. She is trying to watch out for people who don't have friends.

Meg is super sensitive and aware of other peoples feelings. She doesn't want to offend anyone especially her friends. She will go out of her way to not hurt one of her friends feelings even if it means she gets hurt instead.

She is fiercely protective of her dad. They have always had a special bond. She seems to be very intune with his feelings and wants to keep him happy. If her dad ever needs someone to come along with him on an adventure, Meg is there. She has gone really late at night in freezing cold weather to a Christmas mass with him...twice. She went all over back east with him this year because Gracie was hard to go places with and Adin would rather just stay at Grandmas and play wii, so they went off and did all sorts of fun things together. One time in the car, Adin teased Brian about a mole on his head and how "huge" it was. Meg immediately scolded Adin (as did I), but Meg thought she saw in the rear view mirror that Brian was crying (he wasn't), but she started bawling in the back seat.

Meg is courageous. This last year she got a ribbon for her science fair project and a medal for her reflections entry. I am always trying to protect the kids from disappointment. I hate for them to be sad. I shouldn't. It's part of life, but I did it anyway. She wanted to enter reflections and was sure she could earn a medal. I told her she was only in 3rd grade and competing against all the 3rd-6th graders. I told her her chances of winning weren't good and to not be sad if she didn't win. I told her a few times. Well, she entered and she won a medal. She said, see mom I knew I could even if you didn't believe in me. Awesome parenting moment.

She's an anxious little thing. Right now she is terrified to walk down the hall in school in the morning to hang her backpack up. She worries about it every morning. What if one of the teachers stops me and tells me to go outside. I tell her to tell them her teacher lets her hang her backpack up before she goes outside, and that sends her into panics. She has trouble standing up for herself. Until this year she has been terrified to talk to her teachers. If she doesn't understand something she just can't speak up. It would literally terrify her. She loves her teacher this year (Mrs. Harris) as do I, and she has told me of instances where she has to talk to her and she is getting bolder.

She is Adin's second mother in not a good way. She is always on top of him. The older he gets the less he takes it from her. It's led to two siblings who fight quite a bit, but I'm holding out hope that they will be close someday. They do have little glimpses of wonderful moments together. She also is a tease and likes to push all the right buttons with Adin until his lashes out. It's awesome.

She is Grace's second mother in a great way. She adores that little baby. She can't get enough of her. It makes me so happy we had Grace because I love how happy she has made Meg. Meg helps me so  much with her. I can always ask her to entertain her or go get her out of her bed.

She is smart as a whip and an excellent student. She catches on quickly to everything so far and is quite an accomplished reader. She read all the Harry Potter series before she was 9. She's read the Ranger's Apprentice Series and is in the middle of the Percy Jackson series.

She still loves her stuffed animals and insists that they have feelings. She worries if she sleeps with one that the others will be jealous. She will also instantly attach to a stuffed animal she sees on a shelf at the store and is sure that she is the one child in the entire world that is meant to save that stuffed animal and bring him home. This has created disaster. I raised her bed up so she has storage for her stuffed animals underneath. She has so many. 100s. Ridiculous. I try to go through them occasionally and donate the ones I don't think she uses. This has been disastrous on a few occasions when she comes asking if I've seen a specific animal.

She loves real animals. She is best buddies with her bird Henry. Henry loves her and is so attached to her. She would have so many animals if she had a supportive mother. I just don't like pets. :(

She loves to climb trees and do "flips" on bars at the playground. She likes to ride her bike. She likes to bake. She loves playing makeup games on my kindle. She currently likes a band called Big Time Rush. She loves steak. She loves Texas Roadhouse and Chuckarama.

She tries hard to be good. She is quick to apologize to me if she is ever disrespectful or mean. She tries so hard to make good choices. She says great thoughtful prayers and has faith that they will be answered.

She can't stand the way people chew. She doesn't eat breakfast with me and Adin because she is particularly grumpy in the morning and canNOT stand us chewing (politely with our mouths shut even). She also get's annoyed if Brian is breathing heavy after a workout. Silly girl.

She loves to wrestle. She is always begging to be tickled or wrestled in some way.

She doesn't outwardly give a lot of affection, but I can tell she loves to be on the receiving end of affection.

I feel like I'm probably missing so many things about this amazing girl. I love her so much. I am so amazingly blessed to be her mother and that thought crosses my mind at least once a day. She scares me because she is my oldest and I don't want to ruin her and more often than not I feel like I have not idea what I'm doing, but I'm sure trying my darndest. love, Love, LOVE this girl.

Grace at 6 months

I would freeze time somewhere right in between 4 and 6 months. Grace isn't newborn fussy anymore. She isn't mobile. She wasn't teething. Such a great age. Here are some snippets about Grace right now.

She is and has been for the last couple months, pretty stranger shy. Unlike Meg and Adin, she isn't super friendly with people that stop to ooo and awe at you. It's hard for a stranger to get a smile out of her. However, she adores me and Brian and is super attached. She will let Meg hold her if she is in a good mood. If she is grumpy it's got to be me or Brian and if she is suuuuper grumpy it's got to be me. I can't say that I hate this about her. I'm having such a hard time watching her grow up and feeling like time is slipping by that it helps for her to be a little clingy and cuddly. It never (at least not yet) annoys me at all. A couple examples of this trait. Sarah just had Cheyenne. I wanted to go the hospital to see her. She was actually in the NICU for a week. I went when the kids were at school and just arranged with Sarah that Felipe could come out and watch Grace while I came in and held Cheyenne for a few minutes. The hospital has a rule that kids that are siblings aren't allowed back. I packed her diaper bag with quite a few toys and figured she could just sit and play with toys for 15-20 minutes. I went back and washed up to hold Cheyenne. I held her for a while while Sarah talked with a nurse. When the nurse left, I figured it had been a while and that I should go relieve Felipe. As I walked out of Cheyenne's NICU area, I heard a screaming (SCREAMING) baby. Now, I could probably count on one hand the number of times that Grace has got so worked up she cried her piercing, wailing cry so I didn't immediately recognize it as Grace, but I started walking faster wondering if it was Grace. As soon as I came out the double doors. There were Felipe and Grace. Grace was sitting on his lap completely red, blotchy faced SCREAMING. I picked her up and she did that kind of shutter breath and stopped crying and gave me a tiny smile. I felt so bad for Felipe. It just didn't cross my mind that she would do that because I haven't ever left her with anyone. Another short story, my mom is here helping Sarah adjust to two kids for a couple weeks. I called her with questions about setting up Grace's crib. I just couldn't remember what order everything went together. She offered to run over and help me. Thank goodness. It was even more complicated than I thought. Grace just sat on the floor and played with some little things I had put within her reach. She started to get a little fussy after a while and I was busy on my end of the crib so my mom picked her up. Grace's head immediately flipped to look at me and she gave me such a panicked look. I wish I could have caught the look on camera. Within just a couple minutes of grandma holding her she was crying for me. I was just beginning to think that she might be old enough to leave with a sitter. Now I'm thinking she can be left with a sitter, but only if asleep. Sheesh. Can't say I hate it though. I think that makes me crazy. I guess I like to feel like she needs me.

On with snippets. Gracie thinks her dad is a source of constant entertainment. If he is in the room she looks at him with these adorable wide eyes like she is anticipating what he is going to do. He talks in voices that she loves and she loves to wrestle with him. She started doing this adorable scrunched up nose face and she blows air through her nose while she does it. Initially she just did it to anyone. Now it is reserved for Brian when he is wrestling with her. She loves wrestling (baby style of course) with her dad and he knows all her ticklish spots better than anyone. She always puts her tiny little hands on his whiskery face when he is wrestling with her and screams the perfect little scream as he gets her. They have a cute special bond that I adore.

 Adin calls her baby or baby balooga. He is insanely crazy with how he interacts with her. It is always big motions. Kind of rough. Lots of his loud version of goo goo ga ga baby language that drives everyone else completely nuts. Grace is completely entertained by him. She loves every bit of it. Strange. She is too big for him to be able to carry around so he hasn't taken on a role of helping me a lot with her, but he sure is good to entertain her for me. He absolutely 100% adores "baby". He has never once complained about her or complained that I have to help her.

Meg equally adores Grace. She calls her cuddles or baby sisterer. She has this shrill high pitched baby talk that she does that can drive me equally nutty. She is always asking to take Grace. She loves to lay down and lay grace on her chest and says "and crawl, and crawl." Not sure about that one...neither is Grace. Grace does love Meg though and if I'm busy Grace often seems relieved to be taken by Meg and entertained a little bit. Meg is a super big helper and I don't know what I would do without her many times. She has been a definite bonus to having a baby in the house again. I didn't have a big helper with the other two.

Grace is a horrible sleeper. Horrible, I tell you. She doesn't like to nap longer than 45 minutes in the day. If I just pull her out after 45 minutes she is really grumpy and rubbing her eyes and just needs to be put back down. Dr. Arnold (pediatrician) said to make her cry it out a little to lengthen her naps and help her adjust to napping longer intervals. It's only supposed to take short time of crying it out for it to work. Well, we are going on a month now and she is still wailing for 20-30 minutes before she finally falls asleep for another 45 minutes. Because of this she is currently taking 3 naps a day. She is awesome at putting herself to sleep.  In an effort to see if it would help, I stopped rocking her to sleep. I adored rocking that girl to sleep. It was such a special one on one time. I actually wrote a little post down at one point about my love of rocking that girl, in hopes of helping me remember. I'll have to post it. Now she puts herself to sleep for naps and bedtime. She is nursing 2-3 times a night. I wouldn't even care about that but I know I have to wean her for stinky radiation. The older two just eventually weaned themselves off night feedings. I don't get that luxury this time.

Grace got her first tooth (bottom middle left) at 6 1/2 months and her second (bottom middle right) a week later. She was so miserable. Even drugged up she was still in pain. Poor thing. I was alternating motrin and Tylenol to try to help her. I was a tiny bit sad because I love toothless grins. Now you can see those two little bottom teeth inching their way into her smile and she is just as cute.

Food hasn't gone well with her. I think it goes back to her sensitive stomach from her newborn days. Most new foods I try make her gassy and give her diarrhea. Rich cereal with breastmilk was our first try. She loved it and gobbled it up, but then was super gassy and in pain for two days. I tried again...same thing. I tried again a few weeks later...same thing. She does like mashed up bananas. Isn't so keen on yogurt. I think she doesn't like that it's cold. She has tried graham crackers and those are okay and same thing for the baby puffs. She sure does adore nursing though. Again, a little stressful for me as I have to ween her in a few short months. Got get pumping so she can try bottles.

I have so so much fun dressing Gracie up. My mom bought her some adorable new clothes. I love the headbands. I love baby shoes.

She has been up on all fours for about a month now. She will rock back and forth like she knows there is something to that position, but just can't figure out how to get those hands moving. Sometimes she gets the knees going and then ends up face planting it into the carpet or wall or whatever else is close by. She started sitting unassisted about 4 1/2 months and now is a seasoned pro. She can even rotate her little body around as she is sitting. She usually only topples over when she is doing it on purpose and she wants to try her crawl position.

Things are definitely easier than when she was a newborn...by far. She is significantly better in her carseat even though she doesn't love it. She is able to be set down for 5-10 minutes at a time to play with toys or something. She is still by neediest baby by a long shot.

Finally, she adores baths. She loves when she is laying back if the water covers her ears. This always triggers her wide eyed look and a smile. Who doesn't love sounds under water? If she is on her back she also constantly tries to turn her head to the side and get a drink of water (she loves to drink water). Since she has gotten so good at sitting, I have started letting her sit up in the bath if I am right next to her. The other day this spurred her lower her head down in between her legs to try to get a drink of water that way. A couple times she ended up putting her whole face (eyes and all) in the water while trying to drink. She cracks me up with water. She will gulp water from a cup.

I think I have covered a lot of bits about her right now. I really wish I had done this every  month since she was born. It took me so long to get on the ball. Now I am stuck trying to backdate and remember as many details as I can.

Here are a few pictures that I took at Brian's parents house with Brian's dad's camera. These were taken about a week before she was six months.