Ain't No Party Like a Frozen Party

Brooke's had pretty big parties her first four birthdays, so this year we decided to take it easy on the birthday festivities. She was fine with that, but REALLY wanted a Frozen party, so we got a few Frozen decorations for her Wheaton family party.

It was very low-key, with pizza and salad. Brooke requested nicely that gifts be before cake and we obliged.

Her gifts looked like a Disney Jr. commercial block, but she was very excited and grateful for everything she got. She took all of it to bed with her that night and most of them came to breakfast with her the next morning.

Matt's Grandma has a really sweet tradition of bringing a little gift for the other kids who aren't opening birthday gifts. Miles was very excited with his Olaf and Paige enjoyed (chewing on) her stuffed My Little Pony.

Of course, the kids cornered Will in the playroom.

Blowing out the candles was a challenge, but she eventually got it.

Enjoying all of her loot the next day. Thanks to everyone for making our little girl feel so special!

The Tradition Continues

 

Once again, we met up with our friends at Cosley Zoo for a costume/fall photo op. The kids were pretty wired that day and these were literally the best shots that I got. I'm thinking Christmas card for this one?

And when we did get a few of our kids looking, other kids would end up being in the background. The nerve! Like it's a community zoo or something. 

 

We thought maybe the hay bales would contain them better, and we were right for a few minutes...

Thank goodness Michelle got some better pictures. We finally gave up and partook in the overpriced "rides" that Cosley was offering this year.

They ended up stopping this ride so Miles could get off. I don't blame him.

After Michelle and Kristina left, the kids and I explored for a bit.

Miles made a point to find and point out the poop in each of the pens. Such a boy.

Paige in her candy corn hat. It gets us compliments daily. Thank you, Target.

See you next year, Cosley!

Lately (Early October Edition)

Since my last post was about the girls, I'll start this one with Miles. The poor guys was sick for several days a couple of weeks ago. He started out really whiny one night and the next day kept telling me that his "teeth hurt". I tried brushing his teeth and flossing a couple of times before realizing that he didn't know the word "throat". I looked in his mouth that night and it was not pretty. He was also running a pretty high fever.

The doctor diagnosed it as Hand, Foot, Mouth disease, but I'm not buying that diagnosis 100%. He didn't have any sores outside his mouth and (thankfully!) no one else in our house got it, so I'm kind of thinking it was just a virus that they couldn't do anything about, anyway. At any rate, we're sooo happy to have our goofy, fun-loving, mischievous little guy back.

The picture at the top of this post is from the night of our family photo shoot. I was super-happy with how they turned out. I just ordered them today, so I'll have the rights in a few days. In the meantime, if you want to go to the Autumn Fields website and enter Alley2014, you can see our shoot (I think it's only up for another couple of days). You'll hear this more in a future post, but we love Liz's work! Thankfully, Miles took a turn for the better the day of our shoot. Prior to that, we had our fair share of movie watching in Mommy and Daddy's room.

We ventured to the mall for winter coats and I bribed the kids with a train ride for being good. I didn't bring in the double stroller so Miles really did well having to walk quite a distance. That makes me happy and sad all at the same time.

We also got in some fun time with Aunt Jamie when we went to visit Grammie Deb and Grandpa Brian. I got in at the "silly face" part of the shoot.

Miles also had his first "performance" at school on Wednesday. He did a really great job. He'd been saying the poems quite a bit at home and I was wondering how he'd do with an audience. He stepped it up and dare I say, was one of the best little ones out there? So proud of my little big boy!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

I had so many pictures of the two of them, I thought I'd dedicate a post to just the girls. Speaking of pictures of Brooke, we seem to have entered a "painful pose face" phase. Most of the pictures that she knows are being taken of her look like this lately:

But they looked cute in their matching outfits (that she requested they wear), and they're pretty funny, so I'll post another.

I'll do a six-month update on Paige soon, but for now, know that she's enjoying the Bumbo as it gets her closer to the action at meal times.

She also tried cereal for the first time a couple of days ago (at 5 1/2 months). Because I kept telling the kids that she was going to have cereal that night, when I went to get it ready, Brooke went to the pantry and started to select a box of cereal for her. As in, Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It was pretty sweet.

She took the first several bites well, then started eating at her hands and eventually crying. I then remembered that you're supposed to feed them solid food when their tummy is already somewhat full. Whoops. It's not like I've done this before...

Enjoying a milkshake that Matt brought home. This might have been the day before the "painful pose face" started.

No joke, this is how she falls asleep at least a couple of times a week. She's become a super-staller at bedtime, so we'll go with whatever it takes.

This is what happens when I leave the room for a minute.

I love my girls.

She endures enjoys a lot of "love" from her siblings. In all seriousness, I was a little scared to have a second daughter, but I've already seen the love these two have for each other and am excited to see their bond as sisters grow.

Happy Birthday!

My annual 7-week Cougar status came to an end when Matt celebrated the big 3-3 last Sunday. We partied pretty hard. First was church, then a baptism party that afternoon and back to church for a potluck that night (Brooke is still enjoying the spoils from said potluck in this picture). As if you weren't jealous enough, he got a golf luggage bag and a garment luggage bag as gifts from his parents and us. We're pretty rock and roll. Matt and I did get out to dinner and to see "Gone Girl" (pretty great) the night before. In all seriousness, we're all so grateful to have such an amazing guy in our life. Happy birthday!

We also stopped by to tell Grandpa Brian "Happy Birthday" the next day. We definitely didn't add any relaxation to his day, but hopefully we did add a smile or two. And we got this shot, which I think is a pretty great one. Happy birthday, Dad/Brian/Grandpa! We love you and are thankful for you, too!