Baby News

When I first became pregnant, we seriously talked about not finding out the gender so it would be a fun surprise at birth. As the months passed, and I kept predicting the gender based on one thing or another, we decided that we (mostly poor Sam) couldn't handle listening to my predictions until the birth. Plus, I went to Target one day and they had tons of adorable baby clothes for the first year that were on major clearance, and since I didn't know the gender at that point I didn't buy anything. That was sad for me and made me crazy curious. So we decided to find out. I'm too impatient for such games.

Sam didn't come to the appointment with me, so I closed my eyes during the parts where I would see something, and the tech put the gender pictures in an envelope for us to open together. It was so fun opening it together with the kids!

It's a BOY!!! 

Mila cried for the longest time because she wanted a baby sister so bad. 

Emmitt was excited because he wants another boy that we can name Emmitt.

I thought it was a boy for the first few months because of the way my sickness was, but then toward that last few weeks before the ultrasound I really started thinking it was a girl because I was still feeling so sick all the time. Then my friend who is two weeks ahead of me found out she is having a girl. It seems like babies are often born in gender batches, which happened with Mila and Emmitt, so I was a little surprised it was a boy. Although I think I would have been surprised for one reason or another no matter what.

 A handsome profile already!

October and Halloween

GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND

Mila and Emmitt watching Conference together under an umbrella.

 Something about Elder Hales' talk sent the children in to fits of joyful dancing. I don't know why Mila doesn't have any pants on.

Between sessions we went to the pumpkin patch with the Hobbys. It was fun, but 83 degrees was way too hot for such a fall activity.

Cambria and Mila on the hay ride out to the pumpkins.

 Poor Nathan, all Emmitt wanted to do was tackle him.

 This farm also had some rides and food vendors. We let the kids pick one ride each. Emmitt chose the cars and Mila wanted the obstacle course leading to the giant slide.

HALLOWEEN

Mila missed all the festivities at school because she had strep throat, but luckily we were well enough to enjoy everything else.

We went trick-or-treating with the Coopers and Hobbys on beggar's night, which was sadly on the 25th.

Jake, the Neverland Pirate, and Snow White.

 Jake and the Neverland Pirates is a cartoon on Disney Jr. that just came out in the last few years so only one person actually guessed who Emmitt was. Emmitt likes the show, but we also borrowed the costume from our neighbor so it was free.

Understandably, most people guessed that he was a rock star.

 Cambria and Mila.

Mila and some of the other cute girls at Trunk-or-Treat the next day.

 Practicing her princess wave.

 Emmitt spent all of the chili cook-off dinner and trunk-or-treat glued to Sam because another boy wore an alien mask and scared him to death.

We carved our pumpkins the day before Halloween. Things had just been too busy to get it done before that. It was fun to have something to do closer to Halloween since everything was done by the 26th.

Sam working on the 37 pound beast we got from the pumpkin patch.

 Emmitt would not leave the little carving knives alone. It was driving me crazy. Carving pumpkins is tough with little kids since there is so much of it they can't do. It was great just coloring them last year.

 Mila jumped right in to help clean out the pumpkin goop.

 It took Emmitt a long time to touch it. He kept saying it was too yucky.

He changed his mind so he could help collect pumpkin seeds for roasting.

We made half of them plain roasted with salt and the other half kettle seeds with a sugar glaze. They were delicious! The kids loved them and they were totally gone by lunch the next day.

 The finished products.

Mila picked the Grim Reaper design for the pumpkin (from a pattern book), and we made the gourd into a fairy house.

She even decorated the inside and saved some of the seeds for fairy food. 

 A couple of Sundays ago a woman at church gave me a pumpkin baby hat for next year, and Emmitt has been wearing it constantly even though it doesn't fit. Just details for a three-year-old. On Halloween I peeked in on Emmitt in his bed and he was wearing it while he was sleeping. Sadly, that was about the most Halloween thing about the 31st. Otherwise, it was a fun and very busy October.

September

PHILADELPHIA

We took a quick day trip to Philly with the Hadfields. We saw the temple construction site and some historical sites. Going to the temple site was neat because they gave each family a piece of granite dug from the bedrock during excavation.

 City Hall. Beautiful and huge building!

 Independence Hall. Unfortunately, we were too late to get tickets for a tour. We went on a Saturday, and they were gone early.

 The Liberty Bell.

 Being as patient as two kiddos can be.

 The stairs from Rocky. 

 We couldn't visit Philadelphia without getting a real Philly cheesesteak from one of the famous rivals.

 We chose Pat's this time. It was tasty, but I'd still like to try one when I'm not feeling pregnancy nausea.

FOOTBALL AND APPLE PICKING

SVU played the College of New Jersey so we met the Hadfields again in New Jersey. The boys went to the football game while the girls (plus Benjamin) went apple picking.

Emmitt absolutely loves going to games with Sam. It is adorable! I think Emmitt goes mostly for the popcorn and snacks, but whatever, he still gets so excited to go.

 I made some homemade bread this summer while I was feeling so sick, and all I wanted was some homemade apple butter to go with it, but sadly the stuff I made last year was long gone. Plus, apples were one of the only things that sounded good to me for months, so I could not wait for fall to get some really good apples to eat and to make more apple butter.

My apple picking partner.

 Benjamin photo-bomb.

 Mila picked like five apples and then she wanted to leave. It ended up being quite hot the day we went and we both had pants on. She really just wanted to go back to the entrance to play with these chickens.

Emmitt and I made apple butter a few weeks later, and it is so good! Now I just need to make some more bread to give that craving some closure.

And those were the high points of our September.

A Happy Monday

Mila started kindergarten on Monday!

She was so excited to go and loved it! She was the most excited about riding the bus.

Emmitt was feeling left out.

When we went to the bus stop, he had to have his backpack as well.

It has been so hard for him to watch her get on the bus because he wants to get on the "lellow stoobus" so badly.

 Waving good-bye to Mom and Emmitt.

 About three hours later and she's back!

A successful first day!

After school on Wednesday, she realized that we hadn't had any playdates this week, and she decided that she doesn't like going to school everyday because she misses her friends. Friday night at bedtime she had a full-on meltdown about it. Her enthusiasm for school lasted an even shorter time than I thought it would. Oh Miss Mila, if you only knew how wonderful half-day kindergarten is!

In other news:

On Monday morning I had a Dr's appointment that I've been looking forward to for weeks. I got to see that there is indeed a living baby with a heartbeat growing inside me. It was such a relief. I'm due March 16, which is also my dad's birthday. I will not try to post the ultrasound picture because it's quite blurry. The baby was being very active. Plus, at this stage they aren't that interesting.

Needless to say, this has been a miserable summer. I feel like I'm just trying to make it through each day. Getting everyone dressed and fed each day plus dishes and one, maybe two, other chores/activities is about all I can handle. I've been such a boring mom. Thank goodness my children love to have me read to them and will sit through movies. We've also been doing abcmouse.com a lot and playing with toys in my bed. I am certainly grateful that I get to have this experience again, but I will be so grateful to feel better.