Monsoon Storms

The kids have been enjoying monsoon season and have had several chances to play in the rain. We haven't had a drop of rain in months so it's been pretty exciting.

Usually, monsoon storms are fast and furious--a lot of rain comes down in a very short period of time. They also seem to occur in the evening.

On this day, it rained off and on for most of the late morning and into the afternoon. The kids had a blast playing outside, making mud pies and getting filthy.

It's funny how your perspective changes. When we lived in Philly, I used to dread rainy days. They always made me feel melancholy--especially when there were several rainy days in a row. Now, three rainy days in a row is cause for celebration!

It's Tough Being the Baby Brother

Poor Grant gets subjected to girly things a lot. He is frequently covered in glitter or wearing jewelry. He doesn't seem to mind much. I think he's just glad he's being included because he is so often shut out from what the girls are doing. The other day, the girls put these tutus on him and it was cracking me up. You can tell by his face that he wasn't as amused.

Grant's First Birthday

My sweet little boy turned one and I'm sort of in disbelief--where did the last year go?

This boy is the light of our home. He brings such a special spirit into our family.

He weighs 19 lbs. and has 12 teeth.

His sisters absolutely adore him and he's crazy about them too.

He's such a sweet boy. He's very friendly and gives his smiles freely.

He loves to play with balls. I saw this big one and knew he'd love it. (Sweet wrap job, right?) He also likes cars and music.

He's mischievous and a climber which make for a frightening combination at times. He's taking lots of steps and will be walking before we know it.

He LOVED his cupcake(s). It was hilarious. He just shoved them in without taking a breath.

We just adore this boy. I mean, how could you not? Look at that face!

Ten Months

My little guy is 10 months old day and he reached an important milestone...unrolling the toilet paper.

We sure love watching his curiosity blossom. The age of exploration is always so entertaining. He's also really into standing next to the bathtub (or standing next to anything, really), unloading the dishwasher and pulling things off the coffee table.

He still army crawls. I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever hands-and-knees crawl or if he'll go straight to walking.

He's not my best sleeper. He still wakes up most nights and I'm such a sucker for him so I don't usually make him cry that long. It feels easier just to feed him quick and put him down rather than listen to him cry forever but I think I may start to regret my weakness pretty soon.

He absolutely loves to eat. I think he would eat all day if we let him.

We sure love our sweet boy!

For fun, here's Abby unrolling the toilet paper for the first time, right before her first birthday.

A Weekend in CA

My parents were heading to California for my nephew's first birthday, so the kids and I decided to tag along for the adventure. We had a blast! It would have been the perfect trip if only daddy could have joined us (and if my kids would have slept later!)

 

We went to a "pumpkin patch" one day. It was really just a carnival which also sold over-priced pumpkins, but it did provide some good photo ops.

 

 

We bought a few tickets for the kids and they decided to ride the tractors and the train.

The tractors were hilarious. They were like the ride-on Barbie jeeps. They all kept crashing into things/each other. We were laughing so hard watching them.

 

We ended up going to buy pumpkins at Home Depot instead. They each picked the perfect pumpkin.

After scooping out the guts (which Abby and grammy did for all of them), we let them draw faces on their pumpkins. Merrick carved what they drew and they turned out so cute!

 

The next day, we went to Knott's Berry Farm. It was the perfect day. The weather was gorgeous and there was hardly anyone there. We never had to wait more than like two minutes to go on a ride.

 

These little pump cars were so cute. They had to pump back and forth to make them go. Poor Clara was pretty slow. She finished, though, and didn't seem to notice she was running behind.

This little boy was good as gold.

 

That night, we had a birthday party for my nephew.

 

 

Abby loved wearing the party hat and eating a cupcake. The countdown is on for her birthday. (Excuse me while I go cry in a corner.)

 

We went to the park the next morning and the kids had a lot of fun. It was a cool park and another gorgeous day. Abby liked climbing the rock wall--like father, like daughter.

These two are the best of friends. They are always hugging each other and playing together. They helped Merrick bake some cookies and got to sample the dough, as all good helpers get to do.

Then, we went to the Halloween party at the church. Right before we left, Clara fell and split her lip. However, she was more upset that she broke her pumpkin bucket in the fall. Luckily, Merrick had an extra so a crisis was averted.

They had so much fun trunk-or-treating. They came home with quite the haul. Atfirst Clara kept scowling at everyone who gave her candy. She seemed a little overwhelmed with it all.

 

I was very proud of how the girls costumes turned out. I'll write more about them another day.

 

Grant was the cutest little shark. However, I think he looked more like he was eaten by a shark.

 

 

 

Inside, the kids played games and won prizes and sugared up good.

 

 

It was a wonderful weekend which ended with Grant puking his guts out in my parent's driveway. Hey, at least he didn't do it in the car.