8 months {Lincoln}

Well time isn't slowing down around here and before I know it this kid has another month under his belt.

He is the happiest little guy and we all enjoy his giant smile. I would say he is pretty laid-back (except when it comes to sleeping).

The big kids give him so much attention - I love to see how they interact with him which includes bringing him toys, randomly running up and kissing him, playing peek-a-boo when he is in the exersaucer, and always volunteering to feed him.

His doctor had him come back in at 8 months to check on weight. He still dropped down in the scale (from 5% to 4%) so he recommended one feeding a day be supplemented with formula or pediasure. We are also increasing solids to a degree to see if that helps as well.

And as far as sleep goes...he still wakes up at night. He will have a few terrible nights then a run of "better" nights. AJ and I have a running joke on what great infomercials we saw in the middle of the night :) I haven't had to watch many lately so I think we are making progress.

But with this little face I can hardly be upset that I don't get solid sleep. :) We are seeing more and more personality each day. He loves to wave. And sometimes will just keep waving and waving when someone is talking to him. He has also started grunting, which I've noticed when he is off playing in the exersaucer and decides he wants some attention.

He is interested in rolling back and forth to reach certain things on the floor, but hasn't showed any signs of crawling yet. He hasn't mastered sitting up on his own either (see photo above) so we are working on strengthening his core. 

You'd think after three other ones we would have night times, feedings, and growth progress all figured out by now :) But I guess that is the beauty of parenting. I'm so thankful to have this joyful little babe.

Evangicasso

We have an artist in the making :)

Does anyone else see a striking resemblance?!

Fun in October {Part 3}

Our annual tradition to Appleworks continues...

Our first stop was the pumpkin patch. Which actually ended up being more like a pumpkin graveyard.

Normally it's "pumpkins as far as the eye can see", but this year with all the rain earlier in the summer the pumpkins didn't do so well. My brother found a few decent ones and the kids ran around and picked onions and weeds. :)

It's so fun having new little ones join each year.

Next year there will be one more in the mix! I will have another niece in the next month or so :)

It was tricky getting enough pumpkins gathered around for them to sit on. But maybe not as tricky as it was getting them all to look and smile :)

After the kids ran around the pumpkin patch, we headed over to see some animals.

The kids loved feeding the animals.

They also loved playing hide and seek in the maze.

The big kids just ran the whole time so I only caught an action picture of them.

Then off to the bumpy slide and pile of hay. They were being goofy!

This was pretty far up there (made me nervous!) but even Selah liked being up high to see everything.

Fun in October {Part 2}

It's really strange being on a school calendar now. We crammed so many things into a 3 day period on the days AJ was able to get off.

First we hit up the zoo. The weather was so nice!

I used to shun the parents who let their kids climb up on the big, tall rocks (because I didn't want mine thinking it was a good idea)...but I've apparently become a softy in some areas and now my children are the ones climbing away :)

We were so thankful for nice weather the next day too! Normally we go to Brown County on Columbus Day (banker's holiday!) but that didn't happen because of school. *sigh*

But again...we were SO thankful the weather was great on the only day we could go.

The trees were at their peek of change and the view was just incredible.

The big kids did a great job at keeping up. In fact, they pretty much led the way.

AJ and I were feeling the burn after hauling around these two all day. They loved it!

Downside of going to Brown County on fall break and on a Friday - lots of people everywhere and long lines to wait for a pony ride. After seeing the horse in front of us get startled, Evangeline decided she didn't want to ride this year.

The kids played hide and seek around the big trees while daddy waited in the long line.

On our way out we stopped in Nashville for some fudge and coffee. I forgot my camera and am so sad because we always get a picture sitting on the steps eating fudge. :-( 

We also stopped at my grandparents. The kids love going to see them.

I have many great memories of visiting my grandparents in this house. The only thing that has changed is their age...well, and their pets. :)

As if we had enough energy and time in the day to go somewhere else...we went to the apple orchard in Mooresville on the way back to get some apples. (Yay for homemade apple butter!)

This place has a super fun hay tower and playground.

Lincoln seemed to enjoy watching the other kids get filthy.

The hay was in every nook and cranny of those kids. :)

The drive home from Mooresville seemed so long. We were all exhausted, needed some dinner (including Lincoln), and even a potty break. It's only about a 40 minute drive home and we ended up stopping twice! We had doubts that we were going to make it home :) But we did.

Fun in October {Part 1}

We've had a full month from soccer 3 nights a week, to dance, to home group, to birthday parties, field trips, hanging with family and fall break. 

Soccer took up a lot more time than we thought since some Saturday games were rescheduled for during the week.

It seemed to only be cold, rainy, and windy on Saturday games.

But we bundled and snuggled to make it through :)

We took a trip up to Wheaton for our nephews birthday. He turned 3 and it was our first time being able to make it to his party due to a work conflict AJ has in September.

There was a lady who brought many animals for the kids to learn about. They were able to pet most of them. Evangeline wasn't shy when it came to holding them! She was the first to jump at the chance to have a python resting on her shoulders. Ari pet a few but passed at the chance to hold the python or sit on the tortoise.

There was a fox, parrot, python, skunk, hedgehog, kinkajou, lizard, and tortoise. I think there were others but I can't remember.

Evangeline was also the only one of my kids to sit on here.

And they most definitely got their fill of special treats. Evangeline told us after eating half of her cupcakes "I want to save this for later, I've had too much junk food!"

Our next day in Wheaton was spent getting family photos. Confession #1 - I squeezed both girls into their boots from last year just for the pictures. They were troopers even though their toes were squished and Selah's didn't actually go all the way in :)

Here's a few more from soccer: Evangeline kicking it in and throwing it in.

The last day of soccer they both got a medal and a doughnut. We were bummed that they cancelled her last game and Ari only had half of his last game. They said it was too cold even though all week long they told us we would play in the cold. 

But since they were anticipating going to Nolan's house that day, it was all ok. Here they are painting pumpkins with their second cousins Nolan and Maddox.

We've spent some time with Papa Alvin. The kids love to give him hugs and they pray for him regularly.

We've still had some nice days mixed in with fall days. The kids love their summer clothes and continue to wear them any chance they get :) which is pretty much every day.

Evangeline and I were able to go on Ari's field trip to the Artcraft Theatre in Franklin.

They were celebrating the 50th day of school by dressing up in 1950's clothes. Now Ari requests to listen to music from that time period every day. And he even does the twist to accommodate it :)

This was their first time in a movie theater! They had popcorn and sprite to go along with Charlotte's Web, what a treat! Confession #2 - within the first 20 minutes of the show both kids wanted to leave because they didn't like Wilbur's life being threatened. Even though everything turned out fine for the pig, that was still their big take-away. Ah, tender hearts.

And of course they loved the bus ride which was also a first for them.