**October's Wrap-Up**

Whew! I am always behind with everything it seems. Here is the rundow of our October. MJ worked in Spud Harvest driving truck for our great friends the Ashton's. It was kind of a crazy harvest...they usually are. The week he was out of school it was so rainy they didn't dig much. The week after he went to school during the day and then drove spud truck at night. It was a long time for the kids and me. I didn't know if I was going to survive. But of course I did. :) We are glad that we don't have to do that every day...

We celebrated Halloween like the rest of everyone else. Here are the costumes in all their glory. We did simple costumes this year and it was nice.







Aidan loved Halloween. He especially thought these green fangs were the best things ever. He must not get out much. :)

Cole continues to grow and grow. He is close to 20 lbs. He is a very unhappy baby. Sure we can get him to smile and giggle. BUT, he is not content with anything. He wants to be held ALL the time. And as you can imagine, 20 lbs of baby is not that easy to carry around. He is breaking my arms and back. And to be quite honest, the crying is really, really hard to cope with some days. There. Now you know that the life I try to portray on my blog is FAR FROM PERFECT!!! I have a fussy baby, a 3 year old who won't leave said baby alone and to be honest, I have no patience with either of these issues. :):)
This picture was taken in a laundry basket because my cute sister-in-law showed me a fun idea to take a picture of your baby every 3 months in the basket for the 1st year to see how quickly they grow. This is Cole and his cute little self. Makes you wanna just cuddle him doesn't it??

Aidan and his friend Keaton get to come play at our house every Wednesday afternoon while the girls are at dance. This past Wednesday while I was feeding Cole and putting him down for a nap, these two little angels decided to make use of their time. Aidan even had green hair. How adorable. Everyone wishes I would watch their children.

Here is a picture of our 4 children. It is as good as it gets. We had at least 3 of the 4 looking. Cole was more interested in chewing on his shirt. Sigh. At least they were ready for church on time. That's something.

**September has come and nearly gone...**

At the beginning of the month we blessed Cole. Well, MJ blessed him, and the rest of us were in attendance. It was a nice summer day and MJ did a great job. Thank you to those who came. It meant a lot to me.

Cambree played soccer through the end of August and into September. It was starting to get chilly the last couple of games so it was a good thing it didn't go much longer. She had a lot of fun playing.

Brinlee and her dad went up to the temple to have some baptism dress pictures taken. We did the same with Cambree, but it was nicer weather in July versus October. :)
Aidan is quite the character. He loves his brother but a little too fiercely. It is hard for him to understand why Cole is crying from all the "love" he gives him. :) Cole has continued to grow. At his 2 month appointment he weighed a whopping 14 lbs. 13 oz. Which ironically is just 1 oz over what Aidan weighed at his 2 month appointment. We like 'em big, we like 'em husky. :)

MJ and I have been so blessed the past 2 years. He became unemployed in August 2009 and immediately went back to school to get this teaching certificate. In February 2011 he landed a job teaching high school economics and computer classes. In May the principal told him there was a budget cut and his position was being cut with it. So, we went back to searching for jobs. ALL summer...Nothing was offered to us...So we continued to wait and receive multiple blessings from numerous sources. Two weekends ago he became aware of a position at a local Jr High and applied. It was teaching 7th grade science which was what he taught while student teaching. We had a to wait a very long week, but in the end he was offered a job!! He started teaching this past Monday and is really enjoying it. It has been a long trial with much learning for us both. I am sure we have more trials awaiting us, but it is nice having this amazing blessing in our lives! (Cheesy, but TRUE!!)

Cambree turned 10 years old yesterday!

It was so strange to see the anniversary of 9/11 come and go and think about what I was doing 10 years ago...just 12 days away from having my 1st baby. I can't believe that 10 years have passed. Cambree has grown up so quickly. Ten fun things about Cambree are:
She is VERY helpful.

Very responsible.

VERY friendly.

So loving and kind.

Loves to laugh.

Loves to read.

Loves to help cook, clean, sew...

Loves to create and "invent" things.

Loves to try new things (basically everything).

LOVES LIFE!

We love Cambree. She is such a joy to raise and is a great member of our family!!

**Our August in a nutshell**

As you can guess we have had a busy month and a half. This past Tuesday was Cole's 6 week birthday. :) We took him to get his pictures taken in his blessing outfit. (Will bless him over Labor Day weekend.) He started smiling at us when he was 5 weeks old and now it is a big contest to see who can get him to smile the most....However, this is usually the face we get. Not so sure how he really feels about us. (At least not Aidan. Heehee.)

Since Cole was about 5 days old, he has had a bum rash that just won't quit. It is the worst rash I have ever seen on a baby and we can NOT get it to go away. We have tried every trick we can think of. Lay under a lightbulb, wash with soap and water EVERY diaper change, every bum cream you can imagine, every cornstarch remedy and air it out solution possible. It just will not go away. It is painful for everyone involved because the poor thing has never known a good diaper change and it breaks my heart to hear him so sad. Ugh!! (We have literally been to the Dr's office every week since he was born...EVERY week!!)



But, he continues to grow and grow. Last Friday he weighed in at 13 lbs. 1 oz. and today he weighed in at 13 lbs. 11 oz. He is putting on the weight and we love it!

The girls started school on the 17th of August. They were so excited. Cam is in 4th and Brin is in 3rd. They go to different schools this year but don't seem to mind a bit. They love their teachers and I am hating the early mornings and homework already. It could be a long year!!

Aidan was so excited for the girls to start school too. He would have liked to go, but decided that having everything at home to himself was way better than anything in the world. So, he plays the Wii a lot and he is my little buddy who loves to watch everything I do for the baby. Change diapers, dress him and feed him. It is so special to have such an attentive audience. :) It is fun to see him love his little brother so much!
MJ and I celebrated our 13th anniversary this year. I can't believe how fast the time goes. I never would have dreamed what our years together would be like, but I am excited to see what the next 13 bring. :)

**A quick update**

All is well in our household. Summer is going by quickly. The kids are home from a week long vacation to their grandparents in Utah. (Thanks again Grandpa Jer-Bear and Grandma Lori and Auntie Em--even you Uncle Sean :)). It has been quite an adjustment having 4 kids. We have been taking it easy all week since little newborns make me a lot nervouse. :) The kids are bored but would it be any different any other summer?

Cambree has proven to be a great helper with many things. She is growing up so fast and I appreciate her kindness to her siblings and her helpful attitude.

Brinlee. Sigh. She is dealing with some middle child syndrome issues I think. She has developed a need to wash her hands and worries constantly about things that supposedly make her dirty. After a chat with the Dr. I feel that I can help her past this but man is it trying my patience. Hopefully with school starting and getting her back into a routine she will overcome this need for being a clean freak. :)

Aidan has actually adjusted way better than I expected with a new baby in the house. He loves this little fella and is very interested in the ongoings of caring for a baby. Feedings bring on quite the audience and it is special. He is learning to self entertain really well and I have only had to deal with 2 meltdowns from him. These are possibly from being over tired.

Cole went to the Dr. for a 2 week check up yesterday and he now weighs 9 lbs. 14 oz. He is growing very quickly and once we get this nighttime stuff under control, I will be a happy mom!! :):)

Cole on his 2 week birthday.

**INTRODUCING...**

The newest member of our church...and...the newest member of our family!!

On July 2, 2011 Brinlee was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She was so excited to enter the waters of baptism and be confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. When she came out of the water, she had a shocked look on her face and said to me, "Wow! That was really wet!" Apparently she wasn't expecting to get wet in water?? :) We had a good day and I think Brinlee will make very good choices in her life.

Grandma Judy and Mike's sister Sharon and 5 of her kids were able to come celebrate the day with us, but they didn't stick around for photos after. :) We are so glad they were able to come though and appreciate their love and support for Brin!

On July 12, 2011 we welcomed our new baby boy into the world. It was kind of a wild day. I was supposed to be induced on the 13th but was debating whether or not I really should. My mom was at girl's camp for the week (she is the stake YW president) and would not be able to come up right away. I was in good hands though because my sister Emily was willing to come whenever I needed her! Mike's mom was also very willing to help where needed and boy did we end up needing her.

I ended up going into labor in the middle of the night on Monday night (Tuesday morning technically). We had Judy come to our house about 4:30 in the morning and we headed up to the hospital. I had him about 10:50 am and went to fast for the Dr. to get in the room so the nurse caught him at an angle and were we ever glad for an experienced nurse!!

July 12 is my grandpa's birthday so we were excited to have such a special little baby born on such a special man's birthday. My grandpa is SO great!! Thanks for sharing your day with our little guy Grandpa!

We have named our new bundle of joy:
COLE JAMES

He weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz.

and after a couple of measurements we believe he is about 20 or 21 inches long. :)

He is a healthy eater and is so dang cute!
We love him and are excited to have him in our home...

**Our Blondie Turns 8**

Brinlee turned 8 yesterday. She has been anticipating this birthday for quite some time. In fact, she started asking for her birthday present about 6 or 8 months ago or longer. All she wanted was a Nesting Doll. Her teacher had a nesting doll at school and it was all Brin could talk about. She begged and begged for one. She even told me that I should "google" it so I could find a place to order one on-line. Well, as luck would have it Grandma Lori has a neighbor that actually was working in Russia this past winter and in April he brought one home for Grandma Lori to give to Brin. Whew. Mission accomplished.

She had a great day. She was treated to a breakfast of crepes that her dad made her. Then she was able to take 2 friends to the movie and out for snow cones after. She came home and we celebrated with dinner and more presents from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Gene. It was a day to be remembered.

8 things we love about our Brinlee are:

1: She is quite the comedian. She comes up with some of the most hilarious things to tell us and keeps us laughing.

2: She is thoughtful of others.

3: She is always good to share things with her sister and brother.

4: Brin is a great student in school. She reads fast and does well in all her subjects at school.

5: She is usually helpful. She will do what needs done...if you can get her attention.

6: She is truthful to a fault. She tells you EVERYTHING she does wrong. And I mean EVERYTHING!!!!

7: She has a contagious laugh and she laughs a lot. (She also has a sad face that she uses a lot and at times can be heartbreaking...but only SOME times!)

8: She loves to color, paint, draw, create. Anything crafty or creative this girl is all about it!

We love this blonde haired, blue eyed little beauty. She keeps our lives entertaining. She is about to be baptized so we are so excited for her decision to do that. She is a joy in our lives!

**My hour of Terror**

On Wednesday Aidan was outside playing. Next thing I know the neighbor boy had let Aidan out into our front yard through the gate and they were playing. So, I made them come into the backyard again and I shut the gate once more. I had the screen door open and was ironing while listening to them talk and play. Then silence. I went outside and called for them and more silence. I picked up the neighbor boy's shoes and marched over to the neighbors house to retrieve Aidan for a punishment of a lifetime. Unfortunately the boys were not there. So, I proceeded to go on a boy hunt. Calling for Aidan and wondering where 2 barefooted boys could have gone. Luckily there wasn't water in the ditch near our house. But after a quick walk to the local park, I didn't find any trace of them. I began to get a little panicky. I called MJ and wondered what to do. I got in my car and drove around the big block. I came home and went in the backyard again. At this point most of the neighborhood was out looking and checking every backyard and place they could think of. Still nothing. 45 min into the search the police were called. They came to our house and began taking descriptions of the boys. I was walking back to our house with a couple of neighbors and one of them heard little voices and after looking through the slats in our fence we found the missing duo. They were crouched down under our canoe in the backyard playing a great game of hide and seek I guess. I was so relieved that I broke down crying but so angry I wanted to whip them both. Aidan always answers me so I am amazed that he would be so quiet for an hour and not move.
Needless to say the outcome could have been different and I realize how blessed I am to have all my children safe at home. I am so grateful Aidan was safe so I could spank him. :) But only after the audience had left. :):)