One of our most favorite things we liked when we bought it was the big beautiful trees. Well, there are some down sides to the trees---LEAVES! We now have 22 bags of leaves with more leaves to fall.

Welcome to the Club Avery!

With great joy and anticipation we welcome little Avery Mae! Avery was born to our friends Dan and Laura on Thursday morning and is doing great. Their other three kids got to spend the night at our house and most of Thursday---Six kids was crazy--but aren't they so cute and best of buds.

Trouble

Suddenly my perfect little Carter is turning into a lot of work! He loves climbing the stairs, splashing in the toilet, biting the girls, throwing remotes, and turning off the TV. I used to love taking him grocery shopping, just to bond, me and him, but now he is climbing out of the cart. I can just see me needing to fill out one of those incident reports at Super Target so that I don't sue them.

Showing off my teeth

I heard this aweful sound while I was empting the dish washer yesterday and there was Carter moving his jaw back and forth grinding his teeth together. Congratulations Carter they finally popped through!
The other big news is that I nursed Carter for the final time Sunday morning. I knew that things were coming to an end and Sunday evening he finally sucked down a bottle of warm whole milk. I know that it is a bit early for whole milk, but the poor kid hasn't really taken in any fluid for weeks (other than the small amount that he was getting from nursing.) Good job Carter.

A Pumpkin Party

We went with a family theme this year. Thanks to Mike, he kept everything under control with his whistle and play calling.

I must tell you what Hailey said to us this morning in bed. I asked her if she was going to be a Mom some day and her response was "I am going to work in a temple and be a church lady." Wow, we must be doing something right.
Our future line backer
Yes, it was as crazy as it looks.
Caleb and Bennet were Lowe's workers and by the end of the night had a permanent goggle mark imprinted on their faces.
Hailey had some sprinkles with a little bit of cookie.

Taylor vs. the Magazine Rack

Taylor was screaming "WATCH MOM, WATCH MOM!" I stepped out of the bathroom and watched.....as she ran to the bean bag, jumped, missed the bean bag, and went face first into the magazine rack. Ouch. I was expecting blood, stitches, missing teeth, but we were able to come away with a swollen nose, a black eye, and a three hour nap. Poor Taylor.

Bike Marathon

Hailey participated in her first school fund-raiser this past Saturday and biked 4 miles. Her little legs were so tired. She is pictured with two of her friends from school. Taylor didn't really bike, but really wanted to pretend that she was part of the action
Carter was there to cheer Hailey on despite the cold temps and it being nap time.

Carter loves to eat!

I tried and tried to rotate this, but couldn't. Just turn your head. He is the nicest boy.

In the Groove

I would say that it is October 2nd and we are finally in the groove of things. What I mean is that it is finally feeling normal to be in a house, to have Hailey at kindergarten, to have only the two little ones at home. I like it. Hailey comes home very happy from school. Small things seem to make her day like having different seats, being chosen to go to the library, and telling me who got a "red light" that day at school. Her only complaint is hot lunch. She especially likes it if Michelle (Julia's Mom) takes her home from school.
Taylor is changing fast right before my eyes. I feel that she is suddenly not a toddler any more, but instead a little girl. She says funny things and has taken after me with loving organization (Yeah). She is getting to know all of her letters, colors, and her favorite games are: Hungry Hippo and Hide the block in the back yard. Those games are the standard "while Carter is napping" games. Taylor is occasionally able to go without naps and therefore is very easy to put to bed at night. Having the girls in the basement is still going outstanding.
Carter is into everything. He is pulling himself up to things and continuing to put everything that he touches in his mouth. He loves to gnaw on people; their feet, arms, legs, whatever--he is getting lots of teeth right now. He says "mamamamam" lots and also prefers to sleep between mom and dad after 2am--my position in the matter is: if we are all sleeping, who cares! His father feels otherwise.

It's very different with Hailey at school.

We purchase a fire pit for the backyard! It was pretty smokey when we first started it and the smoke tended to follow Taylor. She finally shouted in frustration " The storm is getting me!"
Last week we had a picnic with a bunch of church friends and my battery ran out after just one picture.