Our Weekly Update

1. 1 year 9 months 5 days. That is how long I gave up diet Pepsi for. And today I fell off the wagon. There was no big event that sparked my fall, I just wanted one. I had been wanting to have one for a while and I figured, why and I fighting it. Ah...it was so good!
2. While I was changing Colt's diaper yesterday, Rachel said to me "Be careful with is peanut mom." Of course I couldn't help but laugh. What a funny little gal she is. And I am glad she forgot the real word. This is much funnier coming out of her mouth even though it is not atomically correct.
3. Yesterday Livy asked me to help her write cat. She said "Can you help me write cuh, ah, and tuh (making the sounds of the letters). This is her first word she can spell all by herself! Rachel has learned our street address. She knows the number and street. Way to go Rae!
4. Colt has a certain song he sings in the car as he is going to sleep. I call it his sleep song. It is really just some tones he carries out but it always sounds the same. Maybe since he doesn't suck his thumb or a pacifier this is his relaxation. I love his sleep song. And when I nurse him at night he likes to play with his eyelashes. At first I was worried that he was ripping them out but he just rolls them between his fingers.
5. We were at the lake this weekend for General Conference. It was beautiful up there but I did spend most of my time inside and actually got to listen to almost every talk! It was great. I loved this session. I am truly grateful for a prophet. I am grateful for the instruction we recieve and a huge spiritual uplifting and sense of renewal after each General Conference.
6. The girls are getting older again. We just switched them into booster seats this week. They love their new seats and Colt is loving his new one too that just got passed down to him. We are loving that they unbuckle themselves now!
7. On the boat this weekend we were taking a slow drive and Livy sat next to me in the back and leaned back and said "woo-sah, woo-sah." Which is hysterical and I will tell you why. This is something that Eric has said for as long as I can remember. It kinda means relax and chill out. It is from the movie Bad Boys with Will Smith. The captain is stressed out and they tell him to do his woo-sah and rub his ears, or whatever his therapist told him to do. Either way, it is so funny to hear the kids pick up stuff we say. This was the first time I had ever heard her say it. And she got the meaning of it without us ever explaining it to her. And she was right, what a great time to woo-sah.
8. The other night at our Relief Society Activity we learned about education. One of our RS presidency members works at the library and gave a presentation on some of what the library and the web site has to offer. She showed us this site from the kid's page that is called Tumble Books. It is great. It shows a book to the kids and reads it to them page by page. We started using it the next day. The girls love it and it is good if I need a few minutes.
9. Colt started using his "more" sign. It's so cute. And started giving kisses. Wet, wide open mouth kisses that I love.
10. We hung these magnetic strips in the play room for all of the girls artwork. We had bought them before Colt was born but just got to hang them only to find there was not nearly enough. They are already full and having to be rotated. The girls love seeing their pictures and always ask me to hang their stuff in there instead of the kitchen where I put some on the pantry door. I guess we need more for the other wall in the play room.  

Night fishing at the lake.



The "big" catch of the night.


Happy kids swinging in beautiful weather.



Boat ride out to "the beach."









The beach. It's a little island in the middle of the lake.


Picassos.




Eric napping anyway he can.    

Ten on Tuesday, um, I mean Thursday

1. Livy has made it a week in panties!! And no accidents! I can hardly believe it is real. She wore a pull up to school today and kept it dry so she got her pick of toys at Target after school. It has been a week and that is what I had promised her, a new toy after the first week of dry panties. I am so proud of her and so happy I can't even explain!! I think school helped because she would see all the others going all the time and she was the only one in pull ups.
2. I am glad for these Ten on Tuesday postings because I have not been doing many others so I am glad to have something written down at least.
3. Colt had an allergic reaction to something he ate on Sunday. We made macaroni and cheese from a recipe we found and it must have been something it that, probably the eggs but maybe not. He has had eggs in other stuff so I don't know. He got hives on his face and a few on his arms and his eyes got all red and swollen. Luckily it didn't last too long and started turning around after about 20 minutes. It was scary though wondering how bad it was gonna get. He got an allergy blood test today at the doctors so we will see if it was eggs that he was allergic to. They had to stick him in both arms because his are was too chubby they couldn't find the vein, they said. Poor little guy. He was so upset, and Rachel cried the whole time too because she was sad for him.
4. The girls are so imaginative. They are always finding imaginary things while we are out and holding them and talking to them. A handful of tiny kittens, a bunch of bouncy balls, tiny pups they ask me to hold, etc. I love listening to them playing and the stuff they come up with. They are playing so good these days. What a blessing!  
5. Colt is 9 months old now and all over the place. He is pulling up on everything and now has let go and just stood there without holding onto anything for a few seconds. I am not ready for him to walk so I hope it takes a little longer. He is such a good baby still and makes all of us happy every time we see him. He loves imitating every sound you make. He loves following his sisters, flinging the door stoppers, climbing on Pebbles, playing in the playroom, eating, and going on walks. He weighs 22 lbs. 3 oz. He is 28.5 inches tall.
6. The weather here has been so nice this week. I love Texas at this time. I could use a few degrees cooler but I will take what I can get. It has been about 88 for the high each day. We have gotten lots of time in at the parks which we were greatly missing since we didn't go during the 105 degree days during summer. Another great thing about fall.
7. So many good things about this time of year. But Conference is one of my favorite. I look forward to the next one  as soon as one ends as lots of people probably do. I remember when my mom had to force us to listen to one session and I never understood how she wanted to listen to all of them. Now I understand. I can't say I get to listen to them all but I really would love to. What a great blessing we have to have a living prophet. Just think of the years on this earth that they didn't have one. I really enjoyed the Relief Society Conference this year as well. It is so inspiring to hear from our leaders and those chosen to speak to us.
8. Colt is slowly being weaned from breastfeeding. It took a while for him to take a bottle but now that I found one he likes he can't wait to get his hands on it. He gets so excited and upset if he doesn't get it right away. Right now I nurse him in the morning and at night and he takes a bottle during the day. It's nice. And great that we can leave him now if we want to go out and not worry about putting him to sleep before we go.
9. We are very excited about Halloween around here. Eric loves it and loves to decorate. He has lots of little battery operated creepy Halloween things. They girls of course love it and we are all so excited to have some visitors from New York for Halloween this year! Can't wait to see you guys and your costumes!
10. And Rachel just woke up from a nap puking. Lovely. Hope you all have a great week.

Playing airplane with the kids.

Trying to get up the stairs.


 

Chubby little hands. 


 

This Weeks Ten

1. Richie and Erin are having a boy!! I am so excited for them to have this little guy. And it will be fun for Colt to have another boy around when we are in NY.
2. "Can we go to bed hungry?" That is what they ask when they don't want to eat dinner. I guess some parents around here have been using the old adages a little to much!
3. Eric and I got new church callings. Eric got called to be a youth Sunday school teacher. He is ok with it. He doesn't like to teach much but he is glad it is a team teaching class so that he can still go to Austin some weekends. I got called to be the singing time person for nursery. I know, I wasn't really aware that this calling existed either.
4. Colt is trying to pull up everywhere and does it in his crib now. If he wakes up there is no chance of him going back to sleep because he stands up at the edge of the crib and cries until you come in there. The girls love going in to his room before me because he is fun to see now that he is standing there.
5. The other day Rachel said, "That is so interesting" while Eric and I were talking about something. We laughed at her because it was just funny coming out of her mouth so now she says, "That is the word that makes people laugh, interesting."
6. The girls are in love with these little puppies that they got from the toy vending machines at HEB. They are an excellent bribe for good behavior while we shop and they love them. They are kind of a pain to keep track of because they are so tiny. I found one in Colt's mouth this morning.
7. Livy made her first keep out sign this week, and it wasn't for Colt. She wrote her sign and taped it to the wall. It said "Pebbles can't come here and can't take my Dalmatians." I guess Pebbles was bothering her!
8. The girls, mostly Livy, call me Mother Bear now. They have been watching a Little Bear video that my mom got them and now they have taken to calling me Mother Bear. It's funny because it comes right out of her mouth so naturally, she doesn't miss a beat. And it's kinda sweet.
9. Football season is here. We know because every Saturday we lose Eric for a few hours to the Texas game. He wasn't an avid football watcher when we met but I am glad he has something he looks forward to and loves to watch, even if it is too long. He only likes college football though because he says they play like they care still. The pros get paid so they don't care as much any more.
10. Rachel has started napping again. Not everyday but most days she asks me to put her to bed. She fell asleep at the table the other day when Eric made her sit there until she ate, or fell asleep I guess!She is already realizing how wonderful naps are!

Two weekends ago at the lake. The kids loved hanging with Grandma and Grandpa. And Grandma and Grandpa whipped Eric and I in sequence. We need a rematch.

Colt exploring.

Livy helping me make brownies while Rachel napped.

He is loving the play room. So many things to see and eat! He doesn't even take a bottle but right when he saw this one he went for it and knew just what to do.

Rachel's table nap!

Father and son watching the tube. Colt won't sit this good for me.

Livy's "Pebbles can't come here" sign.

All the little pups in their sticky note tents.

This is what they each carry around. A set of choking hazards.

Cutie pie. Love this kid.

I asked for a silly face and I got the crazy arms.

She's done with my picture taking.

Livy's silly faces.

Sweet face. Love this kid too.