Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was at G&G Herd's this year.

Kyndra and Riley decided to be on the same holiday schedule with us so they were there too. Yay! 

We hung out, colored pictures, made gum drop turkeys, had dinner (non-traditonal since Gramma Herd is not a turkey fan. We had steak and prawns! Yum!), played balderdash (Kyndra kicked everybody's trash), and went together to see Frozen (which we all really enjoyed!).

Here is our day in pictures :)

Kyndra wouldn't let anyone touch her picture. She is very particular when it comes to coloring pictures.

Eli was an excellent turkey maker :)

Gramma, Grandpa and Eli played Angry Birds (Eli's favorite game).

Gavin has decided to follow in Dad's footsteps and have his eyes closed when his picture is taken ;)

We all stuffed our faces for about 5 minutes straight with no talking and then we all thought we would die from food overload. Haha

We are so glad to have family so close to celebrate the holidays with!

Also, Bub was there, I promise. Haha he just napped for most the day so poor kid didn't make it into any pictures. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

(p.s. For some reason the picture of Mom and Kyndra is showing up way different on blogger than on iphoto. On here it is taking on a very "soft" look. But, that's okay because it's making you two look super young and glamorous ;) Haha you're welcome.)

I looked out the window and what did I see?

For those of you that don't know, we are in the process of building a house. As of right now the walls are all up on the main floor, and they are working on putting up a partial second floor. Every few days we will go as a family and check out the progress that's been made. It's still strange to me to be walking around seeing the different rooms, knowing it's where we will be building all our memories as a family. I guess it doesn't seem real to me yet :). I feel so blessed that we have the opportunity to build a home and make it ours. Many people don't ever get that chance and I know it's a wonderful blessing! My favorite part of going to see our house is standing at the hole in the back wall where our windows will go, and looking out at our view. We are surrounded by farmland. Ever since I was a little girl and we lived on an apple orchard in Wapato, I have dreamed of raising my family in the country, where my children will have the opportunity to learn how to work, and the opportunity to become each other's best friends. I feel so tremendously blessed to see that happening in my life! 

Lullabies

Our nightly ritual includes baths, scriptures, family prayer, teeth brushing, going potty and heading upstairs for personal prayers, a little critter book read aloud and lullabies sung. Since Eli was born I've always kind of stuck to the same three lullabies (I am a child of God, I have two little hands, and stay awake). Every now and then I will throw in a different primary song. Lately though, Eli has been voicing his opinion about what I need to sing. It's always funny to me when the boys develop different tastes and opinions and make them known. It's a nice reminder that they really are people too :). But, this time more than being funny it has really just been sweet. He has decided that I am a child of God is his favorite and if I try to sing a different song, he will correct me with "no mom, I want a song about Jesus Christ. Sing child of God". Even though Christ isn't mentioned by name in the song he has somehow made that connection and it is so sweet to me. And so, I sing all four verses (sometimes twice) while I stroke his cheek, and play with his hair, just like I have since the day he was born. And it's in those moments that I feel rejuvenated, my love for my children feels like it's overflowing, and I feel like I can make it through another day of sticky floors, toys strewn everywhere, movies on repeat, and learning how to share. 

All Hallows Eve

Every year for Halloween we have "gross grub" at my parent's house. 

This is a tradition that has been going on since I was a little girl. 

I don't remember a Halloween that we didn't have it. 

And I love it. 

This year we had "monster meatloaf"

"jello blood worms"

"snakes on a stick"

And some mummy drinks

Just to name a few things :)

Eli talked and talked about how he was going to be Toothless from how to train your dragon.

He wouldn't let it go. 

Unfortunately, there weren't any toothless costumes worth buying.

I'm not kidding, you should search for one sometime. 

They are hideous and really a terrible representation of the character.

So, I made him a homemade costume.

He loved it, and really it's pretty cute, but it's not easy to get a picture that really shows it off. 

Especially when a 3 year old is wearing it. 

Haha.

Bub got to be a viking to go along with Eli, but we kept his costume to a minimum because honestly it was just impossible to keep it on him. 

He's not really into hats.

We took Eli trick or treating around my parent's block and he loved it!

He's going to need some more practice though. 

He would say "trick or treat" loud and proud when we were walking down the street, but as soon as he knocked on the door and someone answered, he was quiet as a mouse. 

Haha he would hardly say it!

And then his thank you's were just as shy. 

Silly boy. 

As soon as the door closed again and we were walking away, he would shout "I LOVE TRICK OR TREAT! It's so fun!!"

We went to about 10 houses and then went back to my parents where the boys shared Eli's spoils.

Last year Eli loved answering the door and handing out candy, and this year he was just as excited to do it. It was fun to watch.

We just felt bad for the kids he was giving candy to because he wasn't always equal in his distribution. Haha. 

And now that the holiday is over Eli is already telling me what he wants to be next year. 

It's currently "Rubble" from the show "Paw Patrol".

I guess we will see how many times that changes :)

Bub's #1

Folks, my baby has turned 1. 

So exciting and so sad.

He's only going to keep getting older from here on out.

Haha.

Oh how I wish he could stay my baby. 

For his birthday I made him a monster cake and he dug right in.

And he got lots of help opening his presents.

I just know I'm going to kick myself over this for years, but we were out of memory on our video camera so we don't have much footage of him opening gifts. Just a few little clips from our phones. My Dad got the cutest video of him when he opened the activity cube. He was seriously giddy. Like literally trying to jump up and down. Haha it was adorable. 

I wondered before I had Bub if I would ever be able to bond with another baby and love them as much as I felt like I had bonded with and loved Eli.

I was so naive!

My heart is overflowing with love for this little one.

He has taught me that a mother's love can only grow and multiply with each new child.

He brings me unmeasurable joy each day and I am so grateful that he belongs to our family for all eternity!

I love you Bub!

Only "pwoo-doh" will do.

Eli is a great helper. He is always willing to get whatever I need. Most the time he is running diaper errands, either getting new ones or throwing used ones away. Lately he has been insistent that Bub wear only the diapers with Pluto and Mickey on them. The ones with Minnie simply will not do. So, consequently there are usually diapers strewn everywhere from him searching through the basket for "pwoo-doh". The funniest part is that even when I'm the one grabbing a diaper and I haven't asked him to help me, if he sees me using a Minnie diaper he says "no no no! Pwoo-doh mom!" And runs and gets me a different diaper to use. Silly boy. I guess it's good that he's looking out for his brothers manliness right? Haha :)

Thoughts on bath time...

Eli and Caleb have different opinions about bath time. Unfortunately neither one of them loves everything about it. Eli loves to play and hang out in the tub, but HATES getting washed. We're talking extreme meltdowns every single time. But, he's a gem if you just let him do his thing. Bub on the other hand doesn't mind getting washed, but isn't all that content to hang out in the tub. In fact he won't even sit in the water. He used to, but ever since he learned how to stand up on his own he won't sit down. He will splash around and play with the toys for a minute or two, but then he's whining at me nonstop until I get him out. I guess I have always imagined bath time with my babies being a little more relaxing and playful. But so goes a lot of things in motherhood.