Baby Food Round 3

Lincoln started eating solids soon after he turned 7 months.  I'm not really big on purees, I prefer for the kids to learn to eat little bits of food so that they learn to chew and not just swallow, but I do start them with a little bit of purees to get their pallets used to new tastes.  

This go around, I had the bigs participate!  Logan and Brody diced and sliced some soft fruits (with plastic knives), helped throw some veggies in to steam and then chopped them up with our food processor.

It took a better part of the afternoon and we had so much fun!!

His favorite was our avocado, banana and pineapple combination.

During nap time, Logan helped split the purees up into ice cube trays.  It's been so fun this time around to have extra help.

This was about the only big food making experience we had.  After about a month Linc switched and just started eating whatever we were eating cut up into small pieces.  

Toothless

At the end of May, the kids and I went strawberry picking with our MOPS group.  This is an annual event and we look forward to the fresh strawberries all year long!  It was an unusually warm day, but we had a fantastic time.

Brody probably enjoyed more strawberries in the field than he did at home.  We are thankful for the great family owned farm we pick at because they don't mind that we have little ones who eat as we go.

Lincoln hung out in the ergo.  

We got home, and Logan and I washed these pretties up.  She took one bite.....

.....and out popped her first little tooth!  She was so excited, but it was hard for me.  It really changed her little girl smile quite a bit.

Logan knows that the tooth fairy isn't real, but asked if we could pretend.  We're all about pretending and had a great time coming up with fun ways to surprise her!  She got a tooth certificate, a tooth chart and a sparkly dollar in exchange for her first tooth.  A month later, to the date, she lost her second.

The next day her brothers and I took her out for a special toothless treat!

Papa's Reception

We went up to Ohio in early November to surprise Papa so we could attend his wedding reception!  We were really excited to get to spend some extra time with him and to get to know his new wife, Deb a little better.  It was such a great time!!  Lincoln even took a couple of steps while we were there.

The reception was so much fun.  We got to spend time with cousins, and dance, and enjoy being together.  These boys really bonded well this trip!

Logan, of course, had a fantastic time talking to people and dancing for everyone.

And this boy, he was just so precious.

It was so nice to get away and enjoy time with family.

Twinsies

We were looking through some old baby pictures and have noticed that a certain little someone bears some resemblance to his momma!

Halloween 2014

We knew Mike would be drilling the weekend of Halloween so I got us all in the car and we headed up to John's house so I wouldn't have to brave it alone.  It was fun to have adult interaction over the weekend, regardless, and we had a great time watching all of the kids together!

I went back and forth and back and forth about whether or not to dress up.  But, in the end, I had to remind myself that the kids are only little once.  In a few years, it may embarrass them if I try and I know it's something Logan will remember for a long time!  She wanted an Anna for her Elsa and so we made it work.

Brody was not in on the Frozen party and decided being a Ninja Turtle was the way to go.  He made a pretty cute one, too.

Caleb and John went as Breaking Bad characters.  I toted my wagon along with us and it made for a nice little carriage for the babies.  

The night wore us all out, but it was fun memory making for all of us!

Responsibility

In October, the theme for Logan's small group at church was "responsibility."  I'm not going to lie....when she brought home a cup with soil and grass seeds and said she was going to keep it alive, I was skeptical.  I do NOT have a green thumb.  I kill most plants I come in contact with, unfortunately.  It does not bode well for the garden I want to plant in the spring, but I think I'll still try.  

However, she watered and cared for those little seeds every day.  And after a month, the grass was bulging out of the cup and needed to be transplanted!  So, we got out the shovel, she and her brother dug a nice hole and we planted her little patch of grass.  We are thrilled that she was able to see it through and she certainly learned how to be responsible!

Costumes 2014

Logan knew after seeing Frozen last year that she would be Elsa for Halloween.  I had to hold back because all I wanted to do was show her all kinds of different costume ideas and convince her to try something different.  I knew that every other little girl would be Elsa...but you know what?  She wanted to be Elsa, and she's almost 6, and I want her to remember being able to make decisions like that on her own.  But I still itched to get my hands on some fabric and sew costumes.  So, Lincoln got to be Olaf.  Then I itched to have them all in a group photo with some sort of theme.  This was a problem, because Brody wanted to be a Ninja Turtle.  So, I convinced him to be Kristoff for a little picture taking, but he hasn't since touched the costume.  Thankfully, the fabric was mostly clearance and so his costume cost less than $3 to make.  

I had to title this "Costumes 2014" because, as you'll see in the Halloween post, Brody did not wear his homemade costume to go out.  

It's crazy to think that Halloween last year, we were anxiously awaiting that guy in the middle!  Now we can't imagine life without him.  Or what it's like to easily get everyone to look at the camera.  

That's better!

Until next year....