October Randoms

Here are some of our random happenings in October:

Spent the day with Nana.

Mya got to help make some of her favorite cookies.

Mya took her bear on a dance.

Went on a Sunday drive to see the fall leaves.

 Mya took Owen on a train ride.

Speaking of trains, Mya used her birthday money from G&G Barfuss to buy a train set.

And finally, Owen learned to wave and give fives, but only when he felt like it.

Brothers

Without any prior discussion on the topic, Loren showed up at our house last weekend wearing almost the exact same outfit as Duncan.  I think they must be brothers.

Fall Festivities

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year and this year was especially good.  We had nice weather for months!  We tried to take advantage of that and crammed in as many fall activities as posible.  Here are a few of the places where I managed to take pictures:

Gardner Village Witches

We went to Gardner Village for girls day with my mom, Allison, and Lyla.

I thought the witch scavenger hunt was for kids, but hopefully I was wrong!  I couldn't figure out which witches were supposed to be what on the sheet, so it wasn't long before we gave up on that.

The babies were good and Mya loved being able to roam free for a little bit.

 

I may have been a tad bit overwhelmed with trying to keep her out of trouble, but overall we had a good time.  We love being outside and Gardner Village is always a fun place to do that.

Boo at the Zoo

A very generous benefactor gave our family zoo passes this year and we wanted to take full advantage by going to Boo at the Zoo.

The plan was to get there at 8 for early admission.  I pretty much knew from the moment we made the plan that it was going to happen, but hey, it never hurts to try right?

We ended up rolling in around eleven and the zoo was packed!  There were so many people there!

We weren't exactly in it for the candy and it showed.  I think Mya got maybe five pieces of candy the whole time, but she loved seeing all the costumes.  "Look mom!  It's the guy from Toy Story!  Look at that dinosaur!!  Where's the dinosaur going?  Did you see that giraffe???"

Mya's costume was a hit and she loved all the attention she got in her big Snow White dress.  In spite of all the craziness, I think it's something we'll be going back to in the future.

Pumpkin Patch

Before Halloween we got together with some friends in the ward and went to Black Island Farms.

I hate to say this, but it beat Pack's Pumpkin Patch by about a million.  And because we went as a "preschool" group I think it only cost $4/person - totally worth it.

The place was full of fun activities - riding on the trailer, picking a pumpkin, horse tire swings, huge slides, corn mazes, tractor train rides, etc.

I think Mya was in heaven.  She probably would have spent the whole day there if it were up to her.

I love this picture of her and a little boy from our ward.  Future romance?

Overall it was a successful day.

Can't wait to go again next year!

November 11th - Ten Months!

Ten months was definitely my favorite photo shoot so far.  Owen was being so cute and laughing up a storm.

At ten months he was:

• still army crawling
• finally starting to get the spit up under control (down to only once every few days)
• loving his mama more than anyone else
• as handsome as ever
• a great sleeper (14-15 hours every night)

Halloween 2013

Halloween was so fun this year!  Mya was Snow White and wanted to wear her costume ALL the time.  Owen on the other hand, wasn't a big fan of the costume thing (he was a zebra in case you can't tell) and slept through most of the fan.

Trick or Treating at Mimi and Papa's.

We did a fun little dinner with our neighbors before everybody went out trick or treating.  We live on the best street!  I was told to dress up, and this was the best costume I could manage.  Dunc refused to participate in the costume action.  We'll get him one of these years!

Mya made it around our little block before being trick or treated out.  I was hoping she'd keep going to get me some more candy, but unfortunately she thought she had plenty.

The suckers were her favorite again this year, and after taking one lick of each flavor she proceeded to throw them all away.  I guess that's one way to get rid of the Halloween candy.

The best part of Halloween was that I almost got her to give me all her candy!  She just couldn't let go of the suckers.  I think I'll still take that split - suckers for her, the rest for me.  I hope the rest of my kids will be as generous as Mya!

October 11th - Nine months!

At 9 months Owen was clapping, giving fives, waving, and pulling up onto his knees.  He also went from angel baby to demanding baby.  He knows what he wants and he's not afraid to yell/scream until he gets it.  He still has the sweetest little spirit, but if his demands aren't met nobody is happy.

Mya and Owen Stats: 3 Years and 9 Months

Mya (3 years):

39.33 inches (93%)

30 lbs (46%)

Owen (9 months):

28.15 Inches (45%)

17 lbs (4%)

Head 44.5 cm (26%)

Mya (9 months):

28 inches (75%)

15 lbs 9 oz (5%)

I was curious to see how big Mya was when she was the same age as Owen, so I flipped back to her stats.  Looks like Owen is bigger than she was size-wise, but because he's a boy he's smaller on the charts.  I'm still  holding out that he'll get some of his dad's height!

Mya's Friend Party

Princess Mya had quite the birthday party this year.  I had the hardest time motivating myself to get everything ready for her party, but in the end it all worked out.

She had the cutest group of friends over for her party!  Poor Bridger was the only boy, but he didn't seem to mind.

 We took the kids down to the basement and let them go crazy to break the ice a little bit.

I think that may have been the favorite part for most of them.

We played musical pillows, red light/green light,  and pin the sail on the boat.

 Then headed outside for a little pinata action.  I really wanted an anchor pinata to go with the theme, but couldn't find one, so I ended up making my own.  It turned out pretty cute, but just a little too sturdy.  None of the kids could do any damage and I didn't have much luck myself.

In the end we took it over to the patio and just ripped it open.  The kids didn't seem to mind at all once they saw the goods.

After that we headed inside to let them decorate the cupcakes.

and sing Happy Birthday to Mya.

Mya loved the presents!

But my favorite part was the card from Bridger: