Halloween

We had a great Halloween week. It began Monday night with some pumpkin carving.
Later in the week I had the cutest pumpkin patch in my living room!
Friday night we attended our ward Halloween Party. Carter was pretty happy to find out that saying, "Trick-or-treat" got him some candy.
Grant was feeling festive too.
Carter enjoyed adding every detail to his costume. What truly masculine fireman doesn't sport some facial hair?
Abby was beautiful as Cinderella. Halloween night we met up with Maclynn, Gill, Tanner, Hannah, Jack, Emma, Tyler and Grandma Wendy for some trick-or-treating. The kids had a great time.

Four Months

Yesterday Grant had his four month check up. He is doing great. He is still a really good baby. (I have not ruined him yet!) Most nights he sleeps through the night but if not he usually wakes to eat once then back to bed. He likes to sleep on his tummy, he likes his pacifier but loves to suck his thumb. He is a BIG boy. He was off the charts for his weight and height.

He is 19 pounds 3 ounces (above 95%), 28 1/2 inches (above 95%) and his head was about the 75%.

Carter is really into trains and semi-trucks right now. He loves to play outside, mostly swinging and climbing. His speech is still delayed. (I anticipate we might be in speech therapy) It is just frustrating for both of us because he can't communicate to me what he wants.

Abby is doing great. She loves school. She learns so fast, it is amazing to me. She constantly has a notebook and is writing all of the words she is learning.

Abby also always has something crazy coming out of her mouth. We have had ants coming into our house and she told me as I was cleaning them up one morning, "I want to be an ant squisher when I grow up." And a couple of months ago she told me, "I wish I had two mouths so I could talk more."

Having a family with young kids is crazy. We are apparently bi-polar. It seems like our family is wild fun and happy or crying and screaming. I am sure that once I have teenagers I will wish for these days so I am trying my best to enjoy this time of my life.

Disneyland and then. . .

Thursday after picking Abby up from school we drove down to Anaheim to begin our Disneyland trip. We stayed at a nice hotel. Abby and Carter were pretty tired in the car but as soon as we got to the hotel they got wild. Surprisingly it didn't take too long to get the kids settled down.

Friday morning we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel and headed to Disneyland.

Abby wanted to go on the Dumbo ride first. Carter was nervous while we stood in line but by the time it was our turn he was okay with it. Carter liked going on the rides and both the kids were very patient waiting in line.



Around lunch time we went back to the hotel and ate. We put Carter and Grant down for naps with Grandma Dori and Dean and I took Abby back to Disneyland for a couple more rides.

Then we went back to the hotel picked up Grandma and the boys and got some dinner.

After dinner we went back to Disneyland. Carter and Abby have very sensitive hearing so I bought these ear muffs for them to wear on the rides that were too loud. (Which ended up being almost all of the rides.)

The next morning we let the kids do a little swimming at the hotel before we headed home.

We had a great time at Disneyland. He kids did great even without their usual amount of sleep.

BUT

We are an accident prone family so about 30 minutes into our drive home. . .
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As is typical with the L.A. area we encountered some traffic. . .
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We are okay. A couple of bruises. My mom is pretty sore. We feel very blessed that it did not turn out worse than it could have. Again, the kids did great. Although if the kids think this is what happens when you go to Disneyland they may not want to go again.

New Camera

I have had the same camera for at least seven years. It was a good camera at the time but is now showing its age. Anyhow, I wanted a camera that would take better pictures. One of the features I wanted was a camera that would not have shutter delay so I could get action shots.


I will be able to look back at the picture and remember how much Grant drooled.


Pictures are all we have to look back on. I want them to be good.



I think I got what I wanted. (Thanks Dean, I love you!!)

Cousins

Baby Emma and Baby Grant holding hands
Dean's family came to visit last night. I was able to get a picture of the Babies together. They are six weeks apart so hopefully Grant will play nice and they can be buddies.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Grant sleeps swaddled. The past couple of weeks he has been waking up because he wiggles his way out of his blanket. The beginning of this week each time I would swaddle him he would get right out and it was a fight to get him to sleep.

I began shopping online for swaddling blankets. Since Grant is so big, I didn't want to buy a $30 blanket that he wouldn't fit into. So after a google search I found the following solution. . .
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With his arms inside of his onsie and Abby's hair ties, we are able to keep his arms from flailing around and waking him. Since learning this new trick we have been sleeping much better.

Two Months

Today Grant had is two month appointment. He is doing well. He weighs 15 pounds 13 ounces (90%-95%) He is 25 1/4 inches long (above 95%)

He is such a good baby. He sleeps well, even through the screaming of two older siblings. He also loves to "talk." He is a blessing to our family.