Sleeping?

Sophia has been our easiest baby especially when it comes to sleeping.  I don't really know how long she sleeps because when we put her down at night or during the day she lays in bed quietly playing for up to an hour.  She has to have her baby, her bear and her Minnie to sleep and sometimes even a book.  We can hear her babbling and kissing and rolling around, but she doesn't cry or yell.  This is usually the position we find her in when we check on her, tell her night-night again and cover her up with the blanket.  LOVE IT!

Cookies, ketchup and chips

Sophia wants to use a fork or spoon to eat everything, even cookies.

 And of course when she's done there is the customary mess for me to clean up.

 When we were at Bear Lake this past summer we found out that Sophia LOVES ketchup.  Most of the time she will dip things in it, but sometimes she will just eat the ketchup.

Sophia also loves chips.  When she sees them she will do anything to get them- even climb up and sit on the kitchen table.  When I find her she looks to see if she's in trouble and when I leave her alone and get the camera she knows it's okay.

Pears

 Sophia loves eating fruit especially when she can do it herself.  She will eat it when I cut it up for her, but she really likes it when she can just take big bites and let the juice drip down her chin.

Fall Drive

This is my favorite time of year to be living in Southeast Idaho.  I love the weather and the leaves changing colors.  One Sunday after church we decided to go on a drive to Jackson, Wyoming.  I didn't have any plans other than I wanted to be in nature and see all the beautiful colors.   

Sophia slept most of the way there and when she woke up we decided to pull over and stretch our legs.  We came across this pretty lake and decided to get a closer look.  The kids all had fun throwing rocks in, but we had to keep a close eye on Sophia so she didn't go in the water.

 Ben tried to teach us how to skip rocks and the kids loved hunting for the "perfect" skipping rock.  We all had fun, but Ben was the best and could get his rocks to skip for the longest time.

 After some more rock throwing, playing in the mud and mud throwing we decided to get back in the van and continue our drive.  A little bit later we found this park, so we got out and played.

 Sara and Brandon loved the teeter-totter, but Sophia hated it!

The slide was so much fun!

I think Sophia's favorite part was the slide.  Too bad it was so big and she couldn't do it herself.  We didn't make it all the way to Jackson because it got too late and we had to head home so the kids could get in bed. We had such a fun day and I loved being relaxed with nowhere to be and nothing to do.

Sophia and cereal

Sophia will pretty much only eat when she can do it herself.  We might be able to get a bite or two in before she refuses to eat anymore until we give her the utensil.  Here is how she eats cold cereal-

 1. Hold the very edge of the spoon and scoop up some cereal.

 2. Lean over the bowl as far as possible and get spoon to mouth.  Hopefully with cereal still on it.

 3.  Make sure to keep the mouth closed so the cereal doesn't pop back out.

4. When done push the bowl as far away as possible so mom will know to come clean up.

Sophia loves eating cold cereal in the mornings and runs to the cupboard and wait for me to open it so she can pick out the one she wants.

Motivation

Does anyone know where I can find some motivation?  I have a lot of things I would like to do, but I am hugely lacking in the motivation department.  I have a 1000 page book I would love to read, but I can't seem to start it.  I would like to make matching skirts for Sara and Sophia.  I have fabric for a blanket I need to make for Sophia.  I have more fabric to make a blanket for my sister who is having a baby in February (I know I have lots of time for this one).  Then of course there is always the housework I should be doing..........   All these projects are swimming around in my head needing attention, but I find myself playing on the computer instead of starting or doing any of them.  What I need is a block of time to myself with no kids so I can get started on some of these things.  Maybe I'm just tired and need a nap- who knows??

Busy, busy, busy

Things have been very busy here the last few weeks!  Conference was great and I think Sara and Brandon actually listened to some of the talks.  Brandon started scouts and loves it!  Sara started going to a singing and dancing group and has had practice three times a week to get ready for an upcoming performance.  The kids didn't have school last Thursday and Friday and this week is parent/teacher conference.  The kids get out early Wednesday and Thursday with no school on Friday.  We got our Halloween decorations up and made sure the house and yard are ready for winter.  Sunday we went on a fun drive to Jackson to see the pretty leaves that are just starting to change color.  I will post some pictures later when I get them on my computer.  I love this time of year, but things won't slow down again until January, so I'm just gonna' hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

Where did my baby go?

 Remember this adorable baby?  She smelled so sweet, slept 18 plus hours a day, would stay wherever I put her and only cried when she was hungry.  I seem to have misplaced her, because now this little person has taken over.........

This 18 month old little girl.  She has a snotty nose, messy hair, dirty face, smells like dirt, she screams all the time and throws huge temper tantrums.  Crying, fall down on the floor, kick her feet temper tantrums.  I know I will survive, but this phase seems to last FOREVER!

Brandon baptism

 Brandon is 8!  We had a party for him with his friends on his birthday and I made a small cake for that, but I knew I wanted to do this cake for his baptism when all our family and friends were with us.  If you can't tell, it's supposed to be an x-box 360.  The fondant worked beautifully, I still need to work on my corners though.

 Ben and I got Brandon the new Halo game for the x-box, but for his baptism I also got him a real tie and Ben taught him how to tie it.  He can do it all by himself now and loves to practice.

 The baptism was awesome and Ben did a great job!

 This is the only picture I have of everyone there and all of them except Grandma Walker, Kathy and our good friend Windy and her two boys stayed at my house Friday night!

 I really like this picture of Brandon.  He just seems so calm, and the look is totally him.

 One of Brandon's requests was to play the donut game.  The kids were supposed to eat the donut off the string without using their hands and the first one to finish wins.  I think Brandon won with Chandler and Sara close behind.

 Sophia must not have heard me when I said no hands :)

 Kaitlyn had a lot of fun and probably ate 5-6 donuts.  I have no idea where she put them!

Brandon got some fun things for his birthday/ baptism but his favorite was the set of scriptures with his name on them and the nice case.  Every night Ben or I read to the kids before bed and every night now Brandon wants us to read out of his scriptures.  We had a fun time, but it was tiring entertaining all those people at once!  I felt like I didn't really have time to sit and visit with anyone.  I like it much better when just one or two people visit, it's much less stressful!

Random Sophia

 Sophia likes putting stuffed animals or babies on her couch and sitting by them and playing on Brandon's old Spiderman laptop.  She knows how to turn it on and off and can find the letter O.  She says "Mom!  O!" over and over again.

 Sophia also loves shoes.  It used to just be her own, but recently she will put on any shoes she can find and try to walk around in them.  If she already has shoes on she will find you and try to put your shoes on for you, and then take them off for you, and then put them on for you...............

Whenever someone gets Sophia out of her bed from a nap or in the morning she has to grab everything in her crib and bring it with her.  It usually ends up forgotten on the floor 10 minutes later and I pick it up and put it back in her crib for the next time she goes to sleep.

Sleeping Beauty

I am not a morning person, so getting up with the kids during the week for school is hard for me.  I usually go to bed around 10:30 or 11:00 and I have to be up at 6:45.  If I don't have anything going on I will try to take a nap in the morning on the couch while Sophia watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Sometimes Sophia gets tired and takes a nap too.

One morning I woke up and it was way too quiet, so I thought she had gotten into my room or bathroom and was making a mess.  I called and called for her and when I got up to go look for her I found her asleep on her couch.  She stays asleep when I carry her to her bed  and will usually take a pretty good nap.

Coloring

Sophia has started coloring on everything.  I got her a cute coloring book and crayons, but her favorite is using a pen and paper.  She hasn't colored on herself yet and only on the kitchen table when she was left alone too long.  It is a nice way to keep her quiet and occupied for a little while.