Halloween

Yes I am multiple holidays behind now. I have had zero motivation with this pregnancy. I forget how tired it makes me! Here is a quick update of our halloween.

Pumpkin carving with a cozy fire and lollipops:

Cole really got into it. I LOVE carving pumpkins. I don't know why. I kind of like getting dirty. :)

We went to our new ward's Halloween party and had a blast and got way too much candy.

But off we went trick-or-treating with some neighborhood friends for even more candy.

Seven Years

This cute boy turned seven (a month ago... hey I'm busy). He is such a light in my life. Grey has the sweetest heart and is so thoughtful and loving. He is the one that surprises me with things to make me smile. He'll surprise me with a chocolate milk on my nightstand or help out Elise or read books to Cole just to make me smile. Even though he is seven, he still lets me hold him and snuggle without end in sight.

He had school on his birthday so we quickly opened presents before school and sent him off. I picked him up early and we met up with Grandma & Grandpa at Lollipop Park. All the kids had a blast.

His sweet teacher from church brought him a birthday cookie!

His birthday party with friends was a couple of days later at the gymnastics gymnasium at our rec center which is AWESOME!

A couple quick videos from the party. Elise sure got into it on the foam pit jump--terrified me the first time I saw her!

And the traditional birthday boy quiz:

What is your favorite food?

cereal

What is your favorite vegetable?

cauliflower

What is your favorite fruit?

apples & pears

What is your favorite thing to do?

play sports & be at home

What are your favorite things to play with?

remote control cars

What is your favorite color?

red, white & blue

Who are your best friends?

Danny, Brady, Andrew & Emmett

What do you like to wear?

PJs

What is your favorite sport?

football, soccer & baseball

What do you want to be when you grow up?

be in the Air Force

What are you really good at doing?

sports

What is something that is hard for you to do?

building with wood

What makes you sad?

when I'm sick

What makes you happy?

when I get to play and have fun

What makes you mad?

Elise & Cole fighting over one of my toys

What is your favorite TV show?

Despicable Me 2

What is your favorite book?

Indiana Jones

What is your favorite game?

soccer video games (we don't even have video games...)

What is your favorite animal?

snake

What is your favorite song?

Lulukeilulo (huh?)

What is your favorite thing about mommy?

when you watch tv with me

What is your favorite thing about daddy?

riding on his motorcycle

What do you want for your birthday?

legos & footballs

What is the best part about being 7?

being older

Brothers

We are working on transitioning Cole to sleep in Grey's room as practice for when the new baby comes. He isn't there every night but has slept there a few nights. I found them like this the first night and I about melted. Grey chose to sleep on the bottom bunk with Cole.

Breakfast Date

Grey has about one late start a month at his school and it happens to fall on the day Elise & Cole are both at their school. So I have adopted a tradition of taking him out on a date before he goes to school. Last week he chose chocolate chip pancakes at Village Inn. I felt a little guilty sending him to school after consuming so much sugar--but his giddiness was worth it! I miss having alone time with that boy.

Enjoying the Farm

One of the days my sister was here, we went to a farm. It is so sad to be doing these activities without Grey. It breaks my heart that I can't just take him out of school everyday to have fun and play with me!

The farm was a blast. The kids enjoyed the corn maze, riding the tractor around the farm, playing in buckets of corn and jumping and playing.

My sister & I enjoyed harvesting loads of vegetables. It was the day before a big freeze so the farmer was giving away any produce we pick for free. We took full advantage. Cole loved eating the yellow lollipop tomatoes off the vine. So cute.

Rockies in the Fall

My sister, her husband and daughter came to visit and I decided to take them up to the mountains to enjoy the fall colors for a few days. After the exhausting drive up there with I-70 being shut down and taking a terrifying, dark & snowy drive over Loveland Pass, we were able to relax and enjoy.

We rested, talked a lot, hiked, fed the fish at keystone, playing in the lake and river, and went for a lot of walks. It sure is beautiful in the mountains any time of year, but I especially love the fall.

New Neighborhood

Even though we moved away from our beloved Washington Park, I must say I am absolutely loving our new neighborhood.  We ride bikes to Southglenn for ice cream and hopefully movies someday soon, ride bikes to the temple, walk to the park almost daily by our house and meet new neighbors constantly. It is such a great community and everyone is so friendly and out talking or playing. It was so hard leaving the place we loved, but I realize more and more that this was definitely the right move for our family.

BIG changes

This summer has brought some big changes to our family--hence the lack of posting since May. Whoops. Big apologies for this forever long post, but here is a semi-quick update of -oh- the past 4 months.

G finished up his kindergarten year at Steele

(field day was a smashing success!)

 

 

We closed on a fixer-upper house at the beginning of June and did a lot of this with three kids while trying to keep our sanity (and no G did not drink DP):

(before/after pics coming up in another post)

My BFF sis came to visit and we celebrated our Independence on the 4th among other things

G took his first trip without us to St. George with Grandma to visit his great-grandparents. He LOVED it and I missed him a lot

I squeezed in a concert at Red Rocks with my brother

We had to put our sweet Porter (the brown one) down amidst our emotionally-charged summer. That was surprisingly painful

 This little princess turned FOUR and we moved into grandma & grandpa's basement for the next SIX weeks

We fit in a mini-vacay to the mountains which was a much-needed break

My friends from high school came to town so we met for dinner. I love those girls!

This wonderfully awesome and exhausting boy turned TWO

My sweet Grey started first grade at the same school his daddy went to way back in the day. He is so happy there.

Elise started preschool and Cole started Parent's Day Out which means I have five and a half hours to myself once a week. I have been eating out, reading, napping and I guess trying to get some things done.

Grey started Lacrosse and Elise was jealous

Our nephew left for his mission to Arcadia CA. We are so proud of him & will miss him!

Oh and by the way, I did all of this with the kind of nausea and exhaustion that only comes with two pink lines. I think I deserve a medal or something. I am about 12 1/2 weeks and will welcome #4 April 11th. Here is my 12-week shot and pics of sweet baby from today. 

I am impressed if you made it to the end of this. I promise I will be more on top of things so don't give up on me.