snap shots from the month

one of his last naps in the pack n'play he is now happily sleeping in his bottom bunk

Emily mixing up batter for her turkey cupcakes for Thanksgiving dinner

I love this, lately Noelle has ended up in our bed after she eats around 5 or 6 am. I have to get in my snuggles

Catching a little smirk, Rob thinks she has Greg's smile. I now think she has a little dimple on her right cheek

Ready for winter, remember this hat?

Visiting Walmarts Christmas trees

Our family tree

We stayed in a hotel over Thanksgiving, for a fleeting moment we tried the kids in the same bed. Luckily gpa Dallas reserved us two cribs, because they were having too much fun to sleep

They look sweet but shortly after this picture they had a fight over who was going to hold Noelle, they Dallas poked her in the eye

Fire Chief Dallas

Rob's handiwork. The swagger wagon all shined up after a day of waxing, putting in the winter floor mats and attaching the rear mudflaps.

I think I could get rid of most of our real toys and they wouldn't even notice. Laundry baskets get played with a lot around here, especially when I try to keep them empty! Dry beans also occupy them so nicely in that last hour before Rob gets home but I am trying to cook and entertain all three. It is about time for a new batch, I have swept this bunch off the floor for the last year and we have significantly less beans but more dog hair!

transitions...

Things are changing around here. Colder weather, new beds, and growing kids.



Last weekend was Rob's annual clean and wax the cars time. Saturday he washed the Chevelle and winterized it, changed the oil, and we took it over to the garage to spend the winter. The kids were saying night, night, as Rob covered it with the "blanket" car cover. He took the afternoon off to watch the Cyclones lose with me, then he spent the remaining day washing and waxing the truck. The same process occurred on Sunday after church, only with the van. It was his first time waxing the van, and it is a tad bigger than our other vehicles, so that ate up most of Sunday. He also installed the vans rear mudflaps, I know you are all jealous!

Sunday afternoon Emily went to a Strawberry Shortcake Birthday party and had all sorts of fun!

Monday night Dallas slept in his new bed, after several fits and lots screaming/crying he finally settled down, and ended up in the bed. I figured he would end up sleeping on the floor with Bo. Now that the crib is down, I am going to try to boy up the room for him a little and hang some stuff on the wall.

And I know you are all wondering why I haven't complained about raking one of God's greatest creations, LEAVES. We are once again splurging this year and have hired it out. I found a guy on craigslist willing to do large yards for $40. I wonder if he has driven by to see what he agreed to yet? Plus since we have scheduled him to come Sat. a free yard waste day he doesn't have to bag the leaves, he can throw them loose in his truck, that saves us bag money too! I know in years past we have spent more that $40 in bags alone. This is a tremendous help this year as Noelle and Dallas don't nap at the same time, not allowing me afternoons to rake!

Noelle is growing everyday, she is such a smiley girl when she is well rested. I have been sort or sleep training her, trying to teach her to go to sleep on her own. I stick to an eat, play, sleep schedule, keeping her awake time to less than an hour. This keeps her from becoming overtired. I can usually stick her in the crib swaddled and awake, and she drifts off. I know writing this will probably jinx the process, but as with kids, once you think you have it figured out something changes.

comparisons

Three kids

Eight weeks old

Three hair colors

One Kibbe nose

All blue eyed? (Noelle might break the mold here, at eight weeks Dallas and Em already had their brilliant blue eyes, how does that happen when Rob and I have muddy hazel eyes)

Emily 2 mo 11lb 2oz 22" 38.5cm
Dallas 2 mo 13lb 10oz 24" 41cm
Noelle 2 mo 11lb 5oz 22.75" 37.5cm

the weird thing is Dallas weighed the most at birth and the least at 2 weeks?

The Doctor's trip

I feel shorter, do I look shorter? What a trip. This morning started out with me going to my annual trip to get my moley skin looked at, always looking out for that cancer! Robert really needed to go to work, but I was lucky enough that he was able to watch the kids for my appt. I assume chasing three kids in a 4x4 ft room in a paper gown is not fun.
He met me at 9:00 with the kids across town at the other McFarland clinic for Noelle's 2 month well check. He scampered off to work. We waited for our turn, Dallas yelled at another girl in the waiting room that apparently got to close to him, perhaps he found her threatening. Then he pooped, I wanted to change him, but didn't want to miss them calling our name, so I decided to wait it out, sorry for the stink, if you were there! We go back to the room, I have to undress Noelle so she can be measured and weighed, I decide to change Dallas too, and then gave Em and Dallas snacks. Everything is going smoothly. Noelle is a perfect 50% baby. She weighed
11 lb 5 oz, and was 22.75 inch long.
I asked if we could get the flu shot for the kids during this visit, I was hoping Dallas and Emily could both get the mist, so I would only have the baby crying from the shots. Emily qualifies for the mist, but Dallas has to be two years first, but then he still doesn't get the mist, because of his past breathing issues, and the fact that we use the nebulizer often.
Nurse Janet thought it would be easiest to do Em first since she would get the spray, guess what she freaked out the most. Luckily Janet and I are strong, we had to wrestle her, and Janet had a near miss to the head. She moved to Noelle next, gave her the one oral immunization. Then Dallas got a shot in his arm, he took it fairly well, cried, was better after the hug, and then said over and over owie hurt. And finally Noelle needed three more shots in her thighs. She squeaked a tad, I dressed her and then she fell asleep. Meanwhile Emily is still throwing a fit, and Dallas is Owie Hurt! Thank goodness I had put two bags of fruit snacks in my bag that we got while trick or treating. We have not had fruit snacks in the house in over 6 months, so that was an attention getting snack, and solved every one's problems. But boy am I tired, and short...

Go Cyclones!

One more win until we are bowl eligible. Cheering this Sat with some of our bestie college friends, too bad Rob will be traveling and out of town.

Emily's first Ballet class

Our little dancer started ballet lessons last Thursday. She was a little unsure at first as we were the first to arrive, I had told her we would know some friends in the class and I think she was expecting them to be there. She warmed up about 10 minutes into class, and joined the class and her friends. They learned 1st and 2nd position, and plie. Also some tap, which Rob will get to review with her as he is the tap dancer in the family.

Halloween 2010

Jesse the Cowgirl and Cowboy Woody

You know how they say a photo captures a memory, with little kids, sometimes your memories look like this

DeMoss Farm and carving 2010

The Church has left the Building

Hair nets and plastic aprons were provided.

We participated in the 2nd annual TCHLTB, at our church E-Free. The concept is to get people to volunteer and take our ministry out into the community. The church aids you in finding lots of opportunities to volunteer in the community and we also hosted an event to make 100,000 meals for Orphans in Haiti. As it is called the church has left the building, we literally don't have church that weekend. The Sat. night before we worked a shift to assemble meals. Dallas went to the provided daycare, and I wore Noelle until she got a little fussy, then she went to be cuddled in the nursery. Emily added the dehydrated vegetables to the packets, Rob ran the heat sealer, and I helped Em remember to add the veggies, as well as the other little kids at the table to add the rice, vitamins, soy protein and flavor packet. It was a fun thing to do as a family, and hopefully Emily learned something in her first volunteer event.