Say "EEEEse"

Molly is usually very camera shy.  It takes a lot to get her to smile on command for any reason, but especially not in front of a camera.  Don't get me wrong, she loves to laugh and giggle if we're playing...she's just not a performer.  So when she learned how to cheese...or "eeeese", and smile, I just had to capture it.  Hopefully she'll keep it up.  

Fun with Hats

It's amazing to me the things that entertain us after we have had kids.  The other night we spent probably a half hour having fun with hats...wearing them forwards, wearing them backwards, pulling them down over our eyes and playing peekaboo, switching our hats.  It's amazing what makes us laugh these days.  

15 Month Update

Molly had her 15 month check up today and did very well with the doctor.  No squirming or crying...until the shots that is.  She is growing well and the doctor says she is right on track for everything.  Here are just a few updates on her life these days:

• 31 3/4 inches tall (85%)
• 22 pounds 12 oucnes for weight (50%)
• She has 11 teeth...still waiting for that last first-year molar to pop through.
• Was eating well until this week.  She is getting picky all of the sudden.  Perhaps she is getting teeth and doesn't want to eat right now.  She doesn't like to drink milk.  I'm lucky if I can 6 ounces in her a day.  She'll drink water from a cup, and water with a splash of juice, but doesn't care much for milk.  Cheese is her favorite.
• Still sleeps great.  She is mostly down to one nap, from 1-3.  If she does take a morning nap, it is very hard to get her to take an afternoon nap.  She goes down at about 7:15 and I usually get her out of bed at 7:15.  She does not cry when she wakes up, so it is hard to tell when she is actually up.  She just lays in her bed and waits for me.  That was so hard for me to believe at first since Grant NEVER did that.  So that has been a big change for us.  
• She is starting to show more fiesty-ness and will throw an occasional mini-fit.  I say mini-fit because they last all of about 1 minute.
• She babbles a lot and I think she really believes she is telling me something.  She'll say Mama...very directly, and then just babble a bunch of sounds in a questioning tone.  And then wait for an answer.  She doesn't care what the answer is, but she expects me to answer.  It's very cute.  She does say some actual words, which includes, mama, dada, ball, baby, done, cracker (cracka), cookie (cook-cook), night (ni-ni), bye, hi, nona, mimi (grammie), ba (bath), baba (bottle), papa, and some sounds that I  know represent things, like bee...means fruit for some reason, pa means up, ca I think is milk, wa means water, and so on.  She is starting to mimic the sounds of words I say, so that's fun too.
• She loves to walk around the house holding Grant's hand.  And they kind of sing while they do it.  She loves to sing La, la, la.  
• She plays pretty well independently and really enjoys having books read to her.  
• Diaper changes and changing clothes are her least favorite activity.  It's usually a struggle to get through it.
• She sleeps with her lovey still...a green frog mini-blanket.  She sucks her two fingers on her right hand and holds lovey up to her nose.  That thing gets so gross, so I had to buy another.
• Her hair is still super curly in the back, especially after baths, but kind of straight on the top, so we'll see what happens as it grows out.
• She has been pretty reserved and shy, but seems to be coming out of her shell a little bit more, and she is willing to give hugs and kisses more.
• We love to do high fives and knucks.  
• She loves her daddy and gets so excited to see him when he comes home.
• We call her Molly girl, Mouse, Mols, and Molly Bolly
• She has a very sweet heart, is a bit shy, and has a very cute laugh.  We love her gap-toothed smile and her quiet voice.  

Playing with Friends

Lately, we've been having some fun playing with friends.  Grant really enjoys having kids over to play, and its great for him to burn off some energy with other kids his age.  As I watch him play though, I'm learning more about his personality.  Nothing really new has come up, but I'm working on adjusting a few things.  Being a firstborn, he is quite bossy.  To put a better twist on it, I think he'll be a good leader someday!  We're working on letting the guests pick what games to play.  :)  Molly also seems to be doing okay playing side by side with kids her age too.  Everyone still seems to have a good time and we hope we can play more soon!

Caleb and Grant - friend from school

Taylor and Grant

Molly and Zach

Ava and Molly

Cousins Lily and Evy with Grant

31 Years!

Today is Matt's 31st birthday!  I really still have a hard time believing that we are now in our thirties, but it's here for sure now.  I just wanted to wish my wonderful husband a very happy birthday.  I have had so much fun being married to you these last 8 years.  You are an amazing husband and an awesome father.  I love watching you with kids, and I am so proud of all the things you've accomplished.  You are a hard worker and a great man.  God has truly blessed me and this family. You make me so happy.  Happy birthday babe!  You're old!

Pig Tails

Growing up, I wore a lot of pig tails in my hair.  I always thought it would be fun someday to put pig tails in a my little girls hair.  Well, its not so fun putting them in, and it may look a little silly yet, but I still think its adorable.  These are her first pig tails, besides the pony tail I sometimes put on the top of her head.  Not sure that Molly is too thrilled with it...hence the serious look.  But then again, Molly is pretty serious most of the time.

20 Weeks

Yesterday I hit the halfway point.  I am now 20 weeks pregnant!  Only 20 more to go...ugh.  For some reason, things seem to moving very slowly for me.  I feel like I have been pregnant forever.  Perhaps its because I was pregnant with Molly not too long ago...and then nursing for nine and a half months.  So, it is nice to hit some sort of milestone, but March 25th still seems like a long ways away.  Don't get me wrong, I can use the extra time to prepare for a third child, but 20 weeks is still a long time.  Hopefully the holidays will fly by as usual, and then I just have to get through the three worst months of the year...January, February and March.  Here's a pic of what the belly looks like.  Some days I feel very big, others, not so much.  Black always seems to help though.  

Shootin' Hoops

Grant started YMCA basketball last Saturday...just barely.  I missed the deadline and was on a waiting list, but got Grant on a team at the last minute.  Oops.  I still have to work my timing out for these things.  He's playing with some kids that he also played soccer with, so that is nice for him.  I wasn't sure how things would go for basketball, considering we haven't put much emphasis on it around here.  It's mostly soccer and golf, but thought we'd try it out.  I was impressed how quickly he learned to dribble better and he even made a couple of shots.  It's a stop and go game at this age.  Ever time possession of the ball changes, the teams are supposed to stop to let the other team set up on defense.  It's definitely a learning process.  Although, soccer was definitely a higher scoring game at this point. 

I believe this one went in...he's in the blue shorts

 

Fall Time

It has been a beautiful Autumn thus far, and we have had awesome weather.  I love the bright colors and the leaves falling.  I wouldn't mind a little cooler weather, but I'm not complaining. It's nice to be outside before the cruel winter comes, and I'm certainly enjoying the sunshine on my face.  The kids love to be outside!

Trick or Treat

Halloween has come and gone, and the kids had a great time this year.  It was probably the best weather I can remember for Halloween night, and we were so thankful for that.  Grant has been talking about being a cowboy for the last month or so, and little Molly made a precious butterfly (thanks for the costume Peter and Rach).  We brought home way too much candy and only had to deal with Grant falling in his cowboy boots (rain boots) twice as he dumped all his candy out of his bucket.  Molly seemed to get the hang of it quickly as she waddled up and held her bucket out. I think Grant told every person we visited that he couldn't eat that chocolate, but his mom sure would!  Darn chocolate!

Visiting with neighbors Theo and Cole

We stopped by to see our new friends and neighbors, the deKornes.  Say hello to Heidi and new baby Kaiya!

Ava and Molly...about 3 months apart and destined to be best friends (sorry I stole this pic from your blog Heidi...super cute!)

Attempt at a group pic...Stella bumble bee, Sofia Princess (Cinderella I think), Molly the butterfly, and Grant Cowboy

Grant and Fia...they stood there for like 2 minutes straight saying 'Trick or Treat' over and over again while we tried to get pictures of all of them.  

And it begins...

3 to 2

Today we had our ultrasound...and found out that we are going to be having another GIRL!!  That makes three girls to two boys in this family (as Grant explains it).  This was the first time that we have found out what we were having.  Since we have a boy and a girl already, we thought we would try it out this time.  We figured it might help Grant prepare too, considering he really wanted a brother.  When the ultrasound tech announced she thinks its a girl, Grant frowned and put on his pouty face.  He quickly came out of it though and seems to be excited to know what the baby is, even if it is another girl.  I still can't believe it's a girl, and won't be surprised if it really comes out a boy.  The tech said she was 85% sure, why 85% I don't know, but that's not a for sure thing to me.  So we'll see for sure when March comes around, but it's looking like Molly is going to have a sister.  The baby seems to be healthy and very active.  She is weighing it at 7 ounces as of now and has a lot of growing to do.  Please continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy!

The girl shot...apparently those three little dots by the arrow mean girl.  The right hand side of the picture is her tushy.

Face shot...kind of creepy

My fav...profile shot

Pumpkin Time

Every year, we tell ourselves that we're going to find a nice pumpkin patch and pick out the perfect pumpkins on a warm fall day.  Well...that's not usually how it goes.  About a mile from our house, there is a house that sells pumpkins on their lawn.  And today, it was cold and rainy, but we figured we'd better get on top of this pumpkin carving thing, before it was too late. Grant was less than thrilled with the "slimy-ness" of the pumpkin guts, but enjoyed watching Daddy do the hard work.  

Fall Carnival

Fall Carnival time!  This year, I was involved with helping out with planning the Fall Festival and Carnival at Grant's school, so it was fun to see the kids have a great time.  Grant especially enjoyed the blow-up obstacle course, the pig race, and getting his face painted.

Obstacle Course

Scarecrow Building

Grant's Fav

Lovin' it

Molly Girl with Dada

Boo-ed!

We got Boo-ed this year...meaning someone left us a bag of Halloween treats on our doorstep, rang the doorbell, and ran.  We still don't know who was the culprit, but thanks if you're reading this!  We received a Thomas and Friends video, a cookie decoration kit, sweet treats, and more! As most of you know, I am not a cook or a baker, but when it comes to things in a box, I usually do okay.  Check out the yummy treats that Grant and I made one rainy afternoon!

So...not the prettiest sugar cookies

Proud Grant

 

Mmmm...enjoying the finished product

Just "Cuz"

We are very blessed to have a lot of family in town, and Grant loves to play with his cousins!  Ryan is my sister's youngest and is a year younger than him...you wouldn't know it though, considering he is taller than Grant.  Everyone once in a while, Grant will catch up to Ry Buddy, as Grant calls him, but then Ryan grows like a weed and shoots right past him again.  The other day they decided to dress up as superheros.  The funny party was, Grant was wearing a costume that is a size 2T and Ryan was wearing a size 7 I believe.  Height is not really our friend in this family!  I'm sure Ryan will be well over 6 feet tall, and Grant...well, not so much.

Sofia, or Fia as we call her, is my brother's oldest and is a year and a half younger than Grant.  They usually play pretty well together, but sometimes I have to remind Grant that Sofia is a girl and doesn't want to play rough and tackle, like he plays with Ry buddy.  But they always seem to have fun together.

Ryan and Grant

Grant and Fia

Haha!  Too bright mom!

Pumpkin Spice and Apple Cider

I really love this time of year.  There is just a slight chill in the air, the leaves are changing colors, and it's time for pumpkin spice donuts and apple cider at Robinette's!  We love this yearly tradition and we always thoroughly enjoy it...bite by bite.  Molly especially enjoyed her first tastes of pumpkin spice donuts.   Covered in cinnamon and sugar, we hopped on the hayride too.  Molly loves animals...although she quacks at every animal she sees, since she only knows what a duck says.  They both loved petting the horses.  Maybe we'll make it twice this year.  Oh how I love pumpkin spice donuts and apple cider!

Molly and the pumpkins

 

Yummy donuts and cider!

Waiting for the hayride

I'm so excited daddy!