welcome home daddy!

the girls worked really hard on a giant poster for bailey and put it in his chair to welcome him home from a long two week trip to china/malaysia! ken and mck had written and drawn lots of stuff on the poster . . . and then kam kinda went crazy! :) so you have to kind of look through the doodles to find the messages! :) they were sooooo excited to see him! it was so fun to see them so excited! :) it'll be nice for things to get back to normal! :) daddy brought lots of fun goodies for the girls . . . pearls, nightgowns, fans, and TONS of movies! welcome home daddy!

a fun week at school

what a fun/crazy week! there were lots of special events for the kiddos! :)

mck had her school halloween party with lots of goodies and fun activities! it was off to a rocky start . . . she woke up in a HORRIBLE mood and cried for a good 15 minutes. . . after she started eating some junk food she was much better! :) kam and ken had a great time . . . ms. b is so good to them too! everyone enjoyed lots of yummy stuff! :) we listened to mck lead the prayer, sang some songs, listened to a story and got to check out the pumpkin they carved! way fun!

ken had her first first grade performance! it was awesome! :) the kids did a beautiful song with sign language about beauty and then each class performed a "dance" to classical music! ken's class did a cool number with a parachute! what an awesom music teacher they have! :)

ken finished out the week with the halloween parade! what fun to see everyone in the school dressed up! it was so worth gettin everyone up, dressed, and out the door by 7:15! :) kam and mck had lots to talk about on the way home! ken enjoyed the rest of the day as they investigated pumpkins . . . she even brought home a pumpkin seed for us to plant! :)

b.c. rolls over . . . TWICE!

how fun! :) b.c. actually rolled over twice! :) he got so excited and was sooooo rpoud of himself! :) now the fun really begins! oh my goodness! :) i can't wait! :) go little guy! :)

halloween dances!

kam and mck each gave a little halloween performance at dance this week! :) mck danced to "ghostbusters" and ken danced to "i want candy"! too fun! :) i think the best part for them was getting to wear their halloween costumes! :)

kamy time!

kam and i have been having so much fun with our new playgroup! today we made ghosts with our feet! i had b.c. do it too! the weather was beautiful! kam enjoyed getting her tootsies painted and then some slide time! we even got to see the squirrels and ducks! :) and then we added ken and mck's prints at home! so fun! the print made a great little treasure for daddy!

little guy

can you tell he was thrilled to be wearing his bathrobe for the first time? :)

fall goodies!

we've had so much fun making fall goodies lately . . . two of our favorites . . . caramel popcorn and chocolate pops! :)

who knew homeade caramel popcorn could be so darn good? kam and i had lots of fun making it while the girls were at school!

ken and mck loved making the chocolate pops while kam and b.c. were napping! they were a little too rich for their taste buds, so most of it ended up in the trash, but it sure was fun filling up the molds! :)

the girls are already thinking of ideas for chirstmas goodies! :)

for red ribbon week ken had to wear a rock star shirt . . . so kam and mck decided to wear theirs too! too cute! mck got to wear a tie for "t" day at school . . .

cute kids! :)

and another tooth makes 7!

okay, so we'll officially stop posting and counting when we reach 8 . . . maybe! :) it's just so fun! the stire family gets excited! this morning mck told ken she should try to pull it out at school . . . and sure enough, ken came home with her tiny tooth tucked in a treasure box! she pulled it out at school and got to go to the nurse! :) mck and kam were all smiles with the news! kam replied with "my tooth is loose too!" :) too cute! :) so number 7 is under her pillow tonight . . . wonder what the tooth fairy will bring! :)

i'm three months old today!

oh my sweet little guy! you are such a beautiful baby and are changing so fast! you are "talking" now and even giggled last week! you make all of us smile! :) you love attention . . . and need it all the time . . . or let us know that you are unhappy! you want to be held or talked to unless you are sleeping . . . you nap for about two hours a day . . . and sleep from 10-3 at night.
you are outgrowing all of your 0-3 month clothes and have filled out so much. you are working hard on those two bottom teeth and are drooling . . . a lot! sometimes your paci just isn't enough and you try to chew on your whole fist or the side of my hand! you still love your play mat, but really don't like tummy time. you have discovered the "baby" in the mirror and love smiling at him! :)

you love to do "airplane" and smile down at me while you're flying in the air. you still like the bouncy seat - but won't last long in the swings! you LOVE the carrier and are so quiet and alert when you get to hang out in it while we're outside or shopping! when you are getting tired i have to hold you just right - hold your paci in and your blanket right by your face . . . you are pretty high maintenance - cute, but high maintenance! :)
you love listening to mck talk to you and are really starting to watch all of your sisters while they play. you like to "sit" up on the floor and just hang out with us . . . you don't miss out on anything! you are now riding in the stroller without your baby seat and love being able to look around! you love being outside and getting fresh air too!
you had a few firsts this month . . . your first trip to the pumpkin patch, your first hayride, your first taste of frosting, and your first babysitter!
we love you sweet little guy!

funny girl!

we were all still in a little bit of a fog at breakfast this morning when ken, very seriously asks me, "mom, how do you wake up lady ga-ga?"
me . . . half ignoring her, "i don't know."
ken - "you poke her face."
i was cracking up! :)
too cute! she learned it from a friend at school . . . funny. the things 6 year olds talk about! :) she has come home with a slew of jokes, loads of song lyrics, and other funny sayings. who knew at 6 you actually have "real" conversations with your friends! :)

first concert . . . 9th row!

my sweet little girl traveled to san antonio with a friend to see miley cyrus in concert! not only was she lucky enough to get invited (because we all know i wouldn't be buying tickets to the show since they start at $80!) she sat in the 9th row! she was so excited to be going . . . i'm not sure if it was seeing miley or leaving me and her sisters behind and getting a chance to go somewhere without us! :) she had an amzing time . . . although i found out she's a bit like me and wouldn't just let loose and scream with the rest of the fans! :) i heard the motorcycle flying over her head was the coolest part!

she arrived home at 1 a.m. . . and went to school the next day! :) poor little girl was asleep on the bus in the afternoon! daddy had to drive her home from the bus stop! she swears it was worth it! :) thanks ms. s and g for such an awesome night!

tooth #6

yes! she lost another one! :) this time she pulled it out herself! :) she was walking over to show me how loose it was, wiggled it, gave a little tug, and kind of freaked out as it came out in her hand! :) how cool! :) this time the tooth fairy left $1.00 AND a giant box of tic-tacs! :) lucky girl! :)

p.j. day!

yep. the girls spent the entire day in p.j.'s! what a fun day! :) we made halloween cupcakes (complete with frankenstein marshmallow men on top!), painted pumpkins, had our first real tea party, and just enjoyed being "bums" for the day!

the girls are becoming really great in the kitchen! ken now does everything really well without help, mck is getting really good at pouring everything in the bowl instead of all over the counter, and kam loves anything that has to do with helping - especially if it means you get a lick of it! :) b.c. was all smiles with his first taste of frosting! yummy!

all 3 loved painting the pumpkins and spent a long time doing it . . . putting layer upon layer of paint on their little pumpkin! :) they turned out pretty cute! :)

and the tea party . . . well the girls did get dressed for that - in dress-up clothes! i let them have real tea - orange - for a treat - complete with milk and lots of sugar . . . surprisingly, kam LOVED it and had seconds . . . ken and mck only took a sip! :)

trip to the pumpkin patch

we made our trek to the pumpkin patch early this year . . . before bailey heads to china in a week! the weather was less than perfect, but daddy insisted we head there (a little background on our pumpkin patch trips . . . we can't remember a year where the experience hasn't warranted some complaints . . . it's been pouring down rain, raining and cold, 100 degrees and totally dusty, just plain old hot . . . basically we can say that every trip has sucked in some way . . . so i guess the consensus was, why not this year too?) so we headed there, minus our bff's, who were admittedly too whimpy to brave the elements! we took a few pics before heading out because i figured we'd be bundled up and not be able to see the kids' cute halloween tees! :)

to be honest, both ken and i had a meltdown about going before we left the house. neither one of us wanted to be hanging out in the rain - me - because 2 kids were under the weather and the baby isn't even 3 months old yet, and ken because there was a chance the pony rides wouldn't be going today because of the weather. so, we both left the house in GREAT moods!

when we got there, it was misty, but bearable! we actually got a close parking spot - because, hello! who goes to the pumpkin patch when it's 54 degrees out and raining! we took some pictures and headed for the ponies! ken was the first to ride and was all grins! she loved it! mck was next . . . climbing up like she knew what she was doing! and then it was kam's turn . . . she wanted to go all by herself this year . . .boy did she look tiny on that big horse! she was quiet the whole way until she got off the pony and said "thank you"! too cute!

we hung out by the goats for a bit and then we hit the hayride . . . that's when it started raining for real . . . the girls were troopers - really not minding the rain! i was not too happy. . . and was holding a trash bag over the baby because of course we hadn't brought our umbrella on the hayride with us! :) the hayride was cooler this year and the guy even stopped in the middle to let the girls climb a spooky old tree!

we picked out pumpkins in the rain . . . mck was very decisive - just a big orange pumpkin - and she wanted to make sure that hers was the biggest! ken assisted kam in picking out her pumpkin which had to be "a baby one!". bailey and i each picked out nice big orange pumpkins. the girls all helped pick a small one for bentley. and ken picked a huge fairytale pumpkin . . . she had decided on that kind a week ago! :)

so, the weather stunk, but we made it . . . another successful trip to the patch! :) is it possible that despite the horrible weather each year the trips actually get to be more fun? just don't tell bailey i said that!

fiesta firsts!

our trip to fiesta texas was a wonderful surprise for the kiddos! :) they knew we were going somewhere special . . . but didn't find out where until we were super close! :) the weather was overcast for most of the day, so it was truly fall weather . . . perfect for the halloween fun at the park!

ken and mck were in the same height category, so they could ride all the same rides . . . including their first REAL roller coaster! :) they loved it! :) mck was the first to say she would go - ken took a little convincing, but both ended up loving it! :)

kam was able to ride most of the rides by herself - just with her big sisters and actually had a meltdown when i tried to ride with her because she only wanted to ride with the girls!

even b.c. got his first taste of the amusement park and rode the carousel sitting on a bench with daddy! :)

poor mck was sick . . . so, being the great parents we are, we drugged her up, and took her along! what a trooper! she didn't complain once . . . and had a smile on her face most of the day, but if you looked at her eyes you could tell she wasn't feeling great! she didn't say anything until we got in the car to leave!

i was so over prepared for the day . . . extra clothes, p.j.'s, snacks, drinks, i even packed a lunch to save some money . . . wouldn't you know we'd get there and the camera wasn't charged! holy crow. i was devastated. for $23.99 (yikes!) we could have purchased a disposable, but opted instead for some pics the kids took with the characters and mck and ken's first roller coaster ride (yes, they both look scared!). on a plus side, we didn't have 100's of pics to go through when we got home!

two teeth . . . already!

so just when i thought b.c.'s fussiness was ending . . . he started acting really fussy again this week . . . and drooling . . . and biting on his paci and on my hand . . . sure enough, he is getting two teeth . . . ALREADY!
my reaction, i sat on the floor and cried. i think it just hit me that things are already going by way too fast. :(
so, poor little guy has so much going on . . . growing, working on sleeping through the night, trying to roll over . . . and now teeth!