What Autumn looks like at our house

I guess it is officially Fall/Autumn!  Hip Hip Hooray!  Fall is so beautiful and we are so excited to get a baby at the end of it!  Here is what Fall looks like around this household full of boys . . .

Lots of soccer games/practice.  Benson is playing on the Pirates and is rocking it.  Griffin plays on the Thunder and does awesome too.  I wish this picture wasn't so blurry, oh well.  These boys aren't the best at holding still, especially at soccer games.

All things pumpkin.  I seriously want to add pumpkin to everything I cook these days (which isn't a lot since I am too pregnant to want to cook ever).  A few weeks ago I returned from Stake Conference (Keith stayed home with some sick boys) and my house smelled like a bakery.  Keith made homemade bagels while I was gone.  Jealous?  You should be.  We ate them with pumpkin schmear until we were sick.

I am whaling it up these days.  Only 8ish weeks left.  Hallelujah.  I am ginormous.

Snuggling Baby Paisley.  Griffin loves babies.

Early morning movies/snuggles in mom's bed.  Our house is cold in the mornings, so we snuggle to keep warm. Oh yeah, and note the bowl next to Griffin.  We have had our share of Autumn sickies too.

Trips to Home Depot to get things ready for room shuffling before Baby Brother arrives.

Wearing new school jackets for the first time!  And very excited about it.

I am very much feeling God's love for me and my little family these days.  So grateful to know He loves us and cares about us.  He has granted me extra patience with an ornery kindergartner lately.  :)  I am so glad He answers my prayers.

Auntie

My little sister Mari finally had her sweet little girl.  After about 24 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing, Baby Paisley Shannon came out just 30 minutes past her due date!  Mari is a trooper and Paisley is one beautiful baby.  I got to come out the next day and snuggle her.  I am so grateful she lives close because there is nothing I love more than mugging on a newborn.  I came with pink blankets for baby and snacks for mom and dad.  Congrats MarBear and GarBear on your sweet little Baby Bear.  Can't wait to squeeze her more.

Paisley's first picture.  I have never seen such long hair on a newborn, you could braid it I swear.

Leo loved holding her, which shocked me entirely. He was so sweet with her trying to kiss her and poke her eyes out.  I think my sister looks gorgeous in this picture.  I couldn't believe how amazing she looked after enduring so much.  This girl was meant to be a mother.

Griffin has always been very sweet to babies and loves to hold and kiss them.  He was all over holding Paisley and probably kissed her 100 times.  What a sweetie this guy has been recently.  He melts my heart on a regular basis.

Pretty jealous that I don't get to keep that beautiful blanket my MIL made.

Benson did not want to hold the baby.  He has been acting so weird these days.  Today he has been feeling pretty sick, and I wonder if he just hasn't felt right.  I forced him to sit on my lap and hold her and somehow that sweet baby girl forced a smile out of this guy.

S

It is one of my favorite things of all time to watch someone become a mother for the first time. Mari is a natural at it. She will be a wonderful mother.

My sweet mother came to do her favorite thing-take care of her daughters and their sweet babies.  My mom is pretty much the most amazing woman ever.  And I think Mari and my mom are twins.

It totally trips me out to see Keith hold a little girl baby.  All babies love Keith and Paisley was no exception. Keith drove out all on his own to come see her because he loves babies so much.

I could have snuggled that sweet girl all day and missed her the instant I left.  I am so excited to be an Aunt again and have a sweet little girl in my life.  And a little bit jealous too.

Congrats to Mari and Garret on their baby girl!  We love you!

Happy thoughts

Here are just a few things that make me happy these days . . .

 This guy.  Always.  Keith is my most favorite person of all time and I sure do like him a lot.  And this picture.  

 Produce from my garden.  Garden fresh tomatoes are from heaven.  After watering for months with my boys, we are loving going out and picking yummy veggies every day.

 Having this little boy at school.  I thought I might hate it, but I love it.  He sure is tired and ornery and hungry when he comes home though.  I still give him a nap quite often and try and cut him some slack for being so grumpy.  School is hard work after all. 

 Going to a late night BYU game with this guy.  And no children.

 This guy.  And the fact that he took our family pictures for free.

 We had a Poulsen family reunion in September and we brought this.  It was a camping trip-this is how I camp.  I was a terrible picture taker the whole time, but I had a blast chatting with my family and eating yummy food.

 Keith driving a giant RV.  It was pretty awesome to travel in a giant house.  My kids played football and built a fort on the way.

 Cousins coming to visit and entertain the boys by building a sweet fort downstairs.

 We have moved some of the toys out to our main room to make room for Benson and Griffin to move downstairs into the playroom before boy4 comes.  

 I went through all of my baby stuff and gave the boys some summer newborn onesies that this baby won't wear.  They promptly dressed all of their stuffed animals in them.

 I love having just Griff and Leo for a few hours in the morning.  Griffin is like a different kid.  He is so cute most days I could die.  And he is one awesome little soccer player who scored two goals on Saturday.

 Griffin sneaking cheese while I made dinner.  He ate almost the whole bowl.

 Keith's delicious birthday dessert-peace delight.  And the fact that Keith is 31.  It is my favorite time of year when Keith is two years older than me for a little while.

Happy Birthday to my Keith!  We had fun giving him presents (a waffle maker and BYU jammies) and making him dinner and going swimming as a family.  I am so glad Keith was born.

We are pretty happy people over here and feel so blessed.  We are trying to be patient as we await the arrival of our baby brother.  I am 30 weeks and can't wait to have him join our family (and not be pregnant anymore)!