First Snow of the Season

We had our first snow of the season on November 11th, which is pretty late.  We've had a few flakes here and there but nothing worth getting excited about.  We probably got about 7 inches and the kids were so excited.  Ryder came into my bathroom at 6:30 AM and said "My light turned on, I'm going outside to play ok?"  What??  Nope your not going outside at 6:30 in the morning in your pajamas, ha!  

They did get to go outside to play and lasted a whole whopping 30 minutes as usual.  30 minutes to get dressed, 30 minutes of play time, and 30 minutes of clean up and undressing. I want to love playing in the snow, but really it's just tons of work.  

I guess Ryder's smile makes it all worth it....

We were lucky to have the snow stick around and got to play in it quite a few days.  I totally got lazy and started sending them out with normal clothes and pretty much told them if they were cold to be done and come inside.  They lasted the normal 30 but I didn't have to spend 30 minutes prior to playing dressing them.  Pretty sure that is how I'm going to roll from now on.  

Every time I pick up the camera these two knuckleheads start throwing snow balls at me!

This last Monday I saw that we were supposed to get a pretty good storm so the kids and I headed into town to take a bike ride before we were stuck inside for a few days.  It was so nice out and we went 2.2 miles plus played at a park halfway through the ride.  The kids were definitely tuckered out.  

I'm glad we got outside because we ended up getting about a foot and half.  Definitely the biggest storm we've had since we've been in Larkspur.  I wish it snowed like that every day only because I don't have to go anywhere and it is sure pretty in the forest when it snows.  The kids are happy because we have a decent snow hill from the road getting plowed.  

Instead of Where's Waldo it's Where's Zoe

Poor Tinkerbell might be a little cold.  I guess she should wear more clothes...just saying...

We are loving all the snow we are getting and hope to get a lot more this winter!  

Sawyer at 18 Months

Our baby is definitely no longer a baby.  He is in full blown toddler mode and is growing and learning every day!  I think this is such a fun age because everything is still so new to them and every day is a new adventure.

Sawyer is still more of our serious one, but less so than he was as a baby.  He is an observer and watches his older siblings very carefully.  Sawyer is very imaginative and plays well with toys and his siblings.  He is typically in on whatever magical pretend play they have going on.  He is cautious around strangers but not really shy.  He will walk through the halls at church waving at everyone, but as soon as they respond he is looking for me.  He screams when dropped off at the nursery, but calms down quickly and enjoys himself.  He also throws way more temper tantrums than the other two ever did.  Actually more than the two of them combined.  We just send him to his room until he is calm, and then he comes out on his own when he is ready.  Of course, when we are out of the house he typically gets whatever he wants, I'm just going to admit that right now!  He has an ear piercing scream that gets attention very quickly.  The good news is he is still really easy to take places and I enjoy being out of the house with him.  I know Sawyer's personality combined with his lack of words is why he screams and acts out so much, so I know there is light at the end of the tunnel and it will pass.

Speaking of words, Sawyer has a few words, but none of which are very helpful when it comes to getting his needs met. As of today, he consistently says "mama, da (dog), more (and signs it),        mat man (batman), hat, hot, night night, mitamin (vitamin), amen, and daddy.  I've been being more intentional about making him talk and he will produce sounds individually well, but struggles when putting the sounds together.  I think we will definitely see an explosion of words here shortly.  I think he just wants to maintain his title as caveman in our family.  Lots of grunting and pounding!

Sawyer started sleeping through the night at about 14 months, and sleeps really well now.  He sleeps 11 or 12 hours.  He goes to bed before 7 and is awake between 6 and 7 in the morning.  He sleeps with is monkey and elephant lovies.  He takes one nap in the afternoon which is anywhere from 1 - 3 hours.

Sawyer eats great.  He is still not picky and will eat most of what you put in front of him.  He loves cheese, yogurt, black beans, guacamole, all condiments, mac and cheese, pancakes, eggs, and anything sweet. He doesn't really like cereal or rice.  He recently stopped nursing at about 17 1/2 months.  He still asks on occasion or should I say demands by pulling the heck out of my shirt, but I've been distracting him with something else.  Mostly because he is kind of an abusive nurser!  He pulls my hair, hits me, messes with my glasses, etc and too be honest I was kind of done with that.  It was nice to nurse him for so long, but I am also happy to not be pregnant, nursing, or both for the first time in 5ish years!

He seems to have hit a growth spurt recently too.  I just moved him up to 12-18 month clothes in September, but many items are getting to small for him.  At his well visit he weighed in at 23 lbs 13 oz (50%) and 33 inches (75%).  Maybe he won't be a tiny squirt forever.

He takes showers by himself and loves to brush his teeth, all 12 of them.   He also is getting good at climbing the ladder at the playground.  He is always doing preschool with us.  He likes to color, play with stickers, paint (as long as it doesn't get on his hand), counting, and play with his leap frog letters.  He is just starting to enjoy looking at books.  For the last couple of months, he would sit for only "How do Dinosaurs Count to Ten," but more recently has been initiating and listening to a variety of books. Especially books with animals in them.  When we are outside he is very aware of sounds and points out every truck, airplane, dog, and train.  He still loves playing outside and you better be prepared to take him if you are going out!

He definitely keeps us on our toes and laughing.  He is loved by everyone so much and we are incredibly blessed we get to be his parents!

Halloween Part 2

We always enjoy carving pumpkins and this year was no exception.  Too be honest, we don't spend lots of time carving, it's more fun to get our hands all messy and see what they look like with candles inside.


Ryder does not care for getting his hands messy so he is not a big fan of scooping out the pulp.

The day before Halloween we enjoyed some trick-or-treating downtown.  It was great!  They had face painting and pony rides and everything was free as long as you waited in line!

Aebrynn in her little piggy costume

The morning of the 31st, we went to Home Depot where they had some Frozen characters to meet and take pictures with.  The line was super long so Tyler and Sawyer headed out to do some grocery shopping since Sawyer can wait in line about 3 minutes before melting down.  The other two and I hung out so we could say hi to some of their favorite people.

On Halloween night, we went to Megan and Clint's house and got to enjoy pizza and trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.  It was a good neighborhood for it and all the kids had lots of fun.  We are so lucky to have cousins to trick-or-treat with!

Sawyer loved it and walked up to most houses on his own. He of course we more interested in the dogs he saw and wanted to go in every house that had one.

Rilyn wanted to make sure Xander got candy too and although he was doing just fine on the candy front she made sure to get him a piece at every house.  So, Xander may have ended up with double the candy.

Ryder really liked any scary house and has asked every day if he can go back to the Zombie house.

I'm happy to announce most of our candy is already gone thanks to me!  Best part about having 3 kids is 3 buckets of candy to chose from!