November... catching up

My little turkey is 5 (Jake was born on Thanksgiving)! I can't believe it. Just the other night Jake was telling us about how he will need to pack a lunch to take with him next year to kindergarten and my heart began to ache just thinking about not eating lunch with my little man every day! He is getting so big too fast. (He made the mask in the picture at school and was very proud of it!)

Jake had a fun birthday. Dan took off work to spend the day with Jake. They decided to go to the Air and Space Museum (Jacob is very interested in space these days). Dan told him he could bring one friend with him and guess who he picked, his best friend TESS! I love that they love each other so much. At the end of the day Jake told me it was his best birthday ever! (In the picture above we are playing our traditional skittles/M&M game.)

THANKSGIVING was fun and relaxing this year. Thanks family for coming! The kids and I made some silly turkey hats and apple turkeys. We played thankerchief and popcorn pick up and ate lots of dessert (the favorite was Dan's sticky buns, he has turned into quite the baker)!

Abigail is 3 and 1/2 months now. She is becoming more interactive and happier. She is teething and learning to grab onto toys. She has found her voice (the cooing sweet voice) and is always making noise. Nights haven't gotten any better. I keep thinking once I get her through the cold she has or once her two teeth break through the gums I'll let her cry it out but those things are not happening. She is a beautiful baby and we love her. I am excited for her Aunts to meet her in TWO weeks!

My cute kids ready for church

Halloween

So, once again the kids are sick. There was no kissing of any pigs that I know of but the swine flu came to visit us for Halloween. Sadly all of our party'n plans were cancelled and we had to do our own thing at home. We had a great time carving/painting our pumpkins...

eating fractured tacos, and trick-or-treating around the house.

I have great memories of my dad being so funny as we had to trick or treat at home growing up. Dan was just as silly!

The kids laughed and laughed when....

Abigail answered one of the doors with treats.

But the best part was when Dan answered the door with....

a block of cheese and some sausage!

The kids laughed and laughed and laughed...

Even with high fevers we had a fun night.

2 Month Update

Abigail is 2 months old today (12 lb 3 oz, in the 85th% for length, the doctor said she was the size of about a 4 month old)! Though I enjoy how small and cuddly she is I admit I am counting down the weeks to solid foods in hopes that the colic will disappear! Yes, another colicky baby. I have cut out all dairy and chocolate in my diet but haven't noticed much of a change in her fussiness. I wish there was more I could do to help her feel well and happy!

As for a routine, we don't have one. In the past 2 months Jacob and Tess have been sick 3 times and Abby twice. (Just bad colds, thankfully not the flu.) Once all of Abigail's congestion is gone then I will try to sleep train! Depending on how her stomach is (how gassy she is) she will eat anywhere from ever 1 and 1/2 to 3 hours. She always calms down while I change her diaper, I change her diaper ALOT! :) She has her happy times and is starting to smile a little and coo. It is adorable! Jacob and Tess light up when she is happy and love to talk to her.

Jacob--- Abigail loves Jacob! He can be a great help-- bouncing her in her seat, talking to her, putting the pacifier in ect.

Jacob loves preschool and his teachers are always so complimentary of his sweet spirit. The words I hear the most from Jake these days are, "Mom, can we go OUTSIDE?" He loves to be out playing and I am thankful for the fabulous weather we have had (amidst the rainy days)! Jake loves to ride his bike down the hill behind our home. He does it over and over and over again! (He has already worn out the soles on his shoes I bought a month ago.)

Tess--- Abigail loves to take baths with Tess and Tess loves being the big sister!

Tess says some of the funniest things. Yesterday morning she came into our room, bright and cheery like she always is, and told us about her dream. Apparently an alligator ate her kitty but that was okay because her doggy ate the alligator! I really need to record her! She says everything with so much energy and excitement!

The hardest part about having a fussy baby this time is that ALL my attention goes to Abigail. I am grateful when Jake and Tess play well together. It is hard on them to not get out as much as we use to and to rarely get my full, undivided attention. That is were Dan comes to the rescue! Dan is such an amazing Dad, there is no room for improvement!! My kids are SOOOOO lucky to have such a fun adoring and attentive daddy! Jacob and Tess run to him the moment he comes home and then he is their entertainment for the rest of the night. I could no do this without him!

Dan playing with Abigail

Cleaning Confession...

So, here it is...I love to VACUUM. It is the only part of cleaning my house I enjoy. Before Abby was born I use to vacuum every day (now I am lucky if it happens more than once a week). I get instant gratification watching those clean lines appear on my carpet. A bit crazy, I know!

Why did I choose to share this bit of information today?? Well, after a very long week of sickness and Dan being out of town my house was a DISASTER! A good friend offered to take care of Jake and Tess while I cleaned my very dirty house this morning! And to top it off, when I picked my HAPPY kids up she handed over lunch she had prepared for me. Thank you Chao-yi!

GAVERS TREE FARM

Dan found the perfect farm to go do our pumpkin pick'n and have a ton of fun! Gavers Tree Farm is in beautiful Mt.Airy and worth the $5 admission!

A "corn" box! The kids loved playing in this!

Our little harvest girl with the pumpkin colored hair!

They had lots of different animals to feed and pet. Evidently rabbits are most active at dawn and dusk...lucky for us we got to see them play tag!

Tess LOVES animals and wasn't at all hesitant to pet them.

JOHN DEER trike race track!

They had a fun "kid" corn maze as well as this adult corn maze.

Abigail enjoyed the evening in the baby bjorn.

The slides were the BEST part! This video cracks me up...Dan and I enjoyed going down these slides as well.

)

We did pick out pumpkins though I don't have any pictures of that! It was a beautiful farm. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and loved that we had the place to ourselves!! (we went on a weekday

SKYTOP

Picking apples at this orchard has become a family tradition. We love the beautiful mountains, family friendly orchard, and yummy doughnuts!