Brooke's Family Party

We had Brooke's party with Matt's family this past weekend. Because we and Matt's parents will both be gone on Halloween, we decided to do a little costume preview.

Bri is the cutest little strawberry ever!

 

We spent some time hanging out. Dinner was tacos with a side of sushi, per Brooke's request (I had to talk her out of only sushi).

Paige made the rounds.

Miles had a great time with Grandma Audie. He waited for her to get her plate before he ate dinner and then he wanted her to sit next to him on the couch.

Brooke was very happy with her gifts and seemed genuinely appreciative, which we were happy to see.

Shopkins!

Cake and ice cream. She requested a marble cake and chose "Inside Out" as the icing theme. It came with zipper pulls that she put on her backpack the next day.

Notice Matt intercepting a rogue candle blow from Miles.

Reading her book from Aunt Jamie. It's nice to have an aunt who's a reading specialist.

Thanks to everyone for making our girl feel so special!

October Randoms

This little girl is now eighteen months old. I think that she can officially be described as "hangry." If she's hungry, she is an angry little girl until her tummy is full. And she's hungry often.

She's recently been evaluated for speech and physical therapy and both said she'd qualify and that they think she'll make progress quickly. I'll update on that at a later date.

She's still a bit of a stinkeye and can take a minute to warm up, but once she does, she can be pretty happy and silly.

Brooke and I went to see Olivia in Spotlight's "High School Musical" the other night. It was another great performance and Brooke can't wait until she's old enough to try out for their shows.

Miles recently started a speech program through our school district. He goes to a class on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, after his regular Tuesday and Thursday morning preschool class. We think it's the right thing for him right now, but it's also a lot of work for a little guy. It leads to him resting in random places.

"Take a picture of me!"

He's working really hard and holding it together really well. We're very proud of him.

I also mentioned before that Paige is doing My Gym. I've seen her strength improve significantly since we started and she really seems to enjoy being there.

More updates soon!

Fall Fun

Our fall weather here has been pretty amazing, and we were able to get out and do some "fall" activities recently. First, we made our annual (here, here and here) Halloween visit to Cosley Zoo with the Wellers and Clousings. Even though I'm pretty sure we didn't get any pictures of all of the kids together, I love that we do this and plan to make my kids continue doing it as long as I can.

Brooke was really intent on getting Elsa's "finger" pose correct.

Paige decided to play a somewhat somber Anna.

 

Miles LOVES his costume. It's so cute to watch him get into character when he puts it on.

I did get a picture of all the kids on the train, with the exception of Paige who had no interest.

She did have some fun with the pumpkins, though. Thanks to Kristina for these shots!

 

Then, last Sunday we met Mike, Jane and Bri at Blackberry Farm (first annual?).

We got to do the paddle boats this time (the line was too long last time) and Brooke was thrilled. She "helped" Matt paddle and steer.

We also got to fish for pumpkins, which was a highlight for Miles.

Family carousel shot.

Guess who took a few minutes to enjoy her ride?

Pumpkin photo shoot.

This one's probably my favorite. It looks like they're talking about something important.

Add a couple more kids to the picture. This should go smoothly.

Big kid/Little kid shots.

Riding toys in the farm area.

It was a fun day! Happy fall!