first day of church

had to get a few quick photos of him in his cute little church outfit after church. he was so sleepy. he slept almost the entire three hours of church

baby ben and his handsome daddy

and one with mommy

halloween 2013

halloween started out wet, dark and dreary. it rained all morning and all afternoon. the kids were really worried that trick-or-treating would be rained out, but by 4:30 the rain stopped and the sun came out from behind the clouds. it turned out to be a lovely halloween evening!

elayna dressed up as a scarecrow.

kyla wanted to be a mummy. we had so much fun making her costume. we tore an old white bed sheet into 2-4 inch strips and then tea dyed them so they wouldn't be so white. (i wish we would have soaked them longer) Then i hot glued the strips onto an old white shirt and sweat pants. this was such an easy, inexpensive costume and she loved it

avery was a vampire. we bought her dress at target when costumes were 30% off

evan wanted to be a skeleton. i found the black shirt with the ribcage bones on it at target and then we added the arm and leg bones with contact paper using this template. Evan was so ready to go trick-or-treating. he was all dressed in his costume at 3pm and kept asking every thirty minutes if it was time to go yet.

lolo was a pretty princess :) i had originally bought her a bumble bee costume but she did not like it one bit!

and last but not least...benjamin bunny

can't believe halloween is already over. christmas will be here before we know it!

handsome little guy

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

ever since the weather got cooler, I have been craving these cookies. I found this recipe a few years ago on design mom and it is my favorite! They are so addicting! Recipe found here. (the only thing i do different is add a little less flour and sugar.)

finally feeling better

the past couple of weeks have been really rough. everyone in the family (except baby brother) got sick with a really bad strain of the stomach flu. it started with fever, chills, and body aches, followed by four days of diarhea. the really hard part was that dan and i were sick at the same time. dan missed nearly a whole week of work and almost ended up at the hospital. evan was the last to get sick and he had it pretty bad. i'm so relieved he is feeling better now!

recent reads

*i love the international covers

with a nursing baby, i do a lot of reading. i just finished reading all five of the books in the Flavia de Luce series. the first two books i read while still pregnant. here is a description from the website:

Picture an ancient country house somewhere in England. The year is 1950. Picture a girl who lives there with her most eccentric family. Her name is Flavia de Luce- and she's almost eleven. Picture a long-abandoned Victorian chemistry laboratory; no one ever goes there but Flavia. Put them all together and you'll have a deliciously original approach to detective fiction.

i loved these books!

1 month

baby ben is one month old already! he is going through that awkward newborn stage where they get newborn acne and a receding hair line. despite simultaneously resembling a teenager and old man, he's still super sweet!

brothers

before benjamin was born, evan picked out this dinosaur onesie for him while we were shopping at target. evan has been so excited for him to finally wear it. you can't see in the photo, but evan is wearing his "matching" dinosaur shirt :)

two.

Lorelei turned 2 on October 4th. this is a busy time of year for birthdays in our family!

she is at the cutest age where she says and does the funniest things. we love our sweet little lolo!

10

during all the new baby excitement, someone had a birthday!

kyla's birthday was two days after we got home from the hospital. needless to say, i was completely exhausted. aunt Nicole was so sweet and thoughtful and made kyla a delicious chocolate chip cookie cake. everyone celebrated at cici's pizza while i rested with baby brother. happy birthday kyla! we love you!

little raccoon

thanks for the cute outfit aunt jessica. he loves it!

10 days old

one week

baby benjamin was one week old on tuesday.

big sister

Lorelei visiting baby Benjamin in the hospital. she is so in love with her baby brother!

and a few with big brother too

introducing...

Benjamin Liam

9.17.13   2:18 pm

8lbs. 4oz.   21 in.

i love his kissy lips

we are home from the hospital and loving every minute with this sweet baby boy. we feel so blessed to have him in our family.

39 weeks

yes, my baby bump is ginormous! tuesday is the big day. so excited to meet my baby boy!!

back to school

2nd grade

4th grade

8th grade

we survived the first week of school! it's been hard going back to an early morning routine. i think i'm having a harder time adjusting than the girls. i sure do miss having them home with me during the day! i'm already counting down the days till christmas vacation :)

13

it's official! we have a teenager! elayna turned 13 last week. i can't believe she has entered the teen years.

her only request for her birthday was a skateboard. she has been wanting one for quite awhile and we finally gave in and got her one. she was very excited and has been on it everyday after school.

we feel so blessed to have Elayna as our oldest. she is such a hard worker and always willing to help with chores and play with her younger siblings. happy birthday Elayna! we love you so very much!

(big thanks to uncle jeremy, the skateboard expert, who directed us to zumiez and provided the wheels and trucks!)