4 months

4 months and she has changed a lot this month to me. She's just getting so big and her cheeks are getting bigger and I get giddy just thinking about kissing them, she's just so cute. I really am enjoying her and her sweetness. I told Mark that I feel like I can be a good mom to babies but then they grow up and I don't know what I'm doing! I think it's going to get harder the older they get in different ways and I'm not sure what I'm going to do, I think Mark probably gave me some pretty good advice tonight...lighten up! She really isn't doing too much differently but here are a couple things

At 4 months Leila

Isn't going as long at night anymore (6-8 hours for the last week or so, what's with that?)
weighs about 13 lbs.
Rolled over once, hasn't happened again
Is a little bit better on her tummy
Ate her first bowl of cereal.
Is doing better with a bottle.

I decided to start feeding Leila some cereal since she has regressed in the sleeping at night area. I was going to try and wait until 6 months to start her on solids but I think I'll sneak at least some oatmeal in earlier, we'll see how she sleeps tonight. The doctors keep changing things up with every kid so I'm starting to think I'll just do what I want...okay maybe not a great idea, all of you with newer babies, when did you start solids and what did you start with?

Good news is, she liked it...eventually!

Charlie and Kenya turned in their candy to a dentist and they each got $4 for their loot. They were pretty excited to take that money and put it towards a new toy. Kenya knew immediately what she wanted when we walked down the aisle, a Cinderella doll, no second guessing that one. Charlie however is a little more like me, mister undecisive. He kept going back and forth and I kept telling him to hurry, at one point he said "I just can't decide, there's too many things." Well he finally decided on a Kung Zhu pet. I'm not sure if this is a toy I should build on and he will actually play with it or if I should just leave it at the two that he now has, anyone's kids actually play with their zhu zhu pets?

I really don't know why I'm asking these questions, I think there's like 5 people that read this blog, or at least 5 that will occasionally comment.

Halloween

On Halloween we made it to my sister Cami's for our traditional chili and soup dinner with a little bit of trick or treating with the cousins after. It was beautiful when we got there and just as we were getting ready to set out the rain came. It didn't stop anybody though, they all went out at least for a little bit, some were soaked, others had strict rules to stay under the umbrella or else black would be all over their face and dress, which thankfully she obeyed. :)

All 12 cousins!

After Cami's we trick or treated in our neighborhood. The rain had stopped so Mark took them for a minute and then came home to watch the Utah game which means he was a zombie for the rest of the night, especially since it was a close game, thankfully they won. I took Charlie and Kenya out again and had fun doing it, they're so cute at this age trick or treating, I want to enjoy it while I still can. One guy in our neighborhood was dressed up in a gorilla costume and was sitting still on his front porch holding the bowl of candy. My kids were very scared as we walked up their steps. I said "don't worry, he's a nice gorilla, he's not going to scare you." They didn't believe me and Charlie kept asking me to take the candy. I finally gave in and after I took a couple pieces said "See he's nice" just then he reached out for Charlie with a "roar!" Oh man, Kenya started crying and Charlie totally screamed. The gorilla immediately took of his mask to show them that it was just him and that helped a bit but for the next 5 or so houses Kenya was telling everyone that answered the door about the "ungrilla" that scared them. Charlie said he "screamed like a man" when he retold it. Too funny. Another cute moment was when we went up to a house that was playing "monster mash" and Kenya stopped dead in her tracks and started shakin' her bum with her fingers pointing out. She has been dancing to that song in her dance class I think. It was cute.

I wish I got better pictures of Kenya, I thought she was such a cute Snow White. She was in heaven dressed up as a princess. I know she dresses up just about every day in her dress ups but she doesn't actually have any Disney princess dress ups, plus I borrowed the costume from Cami which is always a plus.

Happy Halloween!

We Made It...

Wow I am behind, that's what happens when I think "Oh, I don't need to bring my camera, Mark can take pics on his iphone." Yeah but then I can never get the pics off his iphone! Anyway, we've had a fun festive month. We made it to Frightmares a few times...

We made it to Pack's pumpkin patch...

We made a cute little witch...

We made it to an extremely fun Halloween party Amazing Race style...I still think the Blue Werewolves would've won!

We made FHE into pumpkin carving night...

This was much more successful this year, last year was a flop but the kids enjoyed it this year, even though Kenya kept saying "ewww, yuck!" as she was pulling out the pumpkin seeds, she must have gotten used to it because later she was mashing all the guts and seeds down with her hands in the bowl just to feel it and couldn't get enough of it!

Charlie drew this face on a piece of paper and Mark helped his dream come true.

Kenya didn't really care about her face so I just carved something quick for her.

Kenya made it to the ball...

Okay so she was Snow White and Snow White doesn't go to a ball but Mark documented her phases of getting ready. First the hair (Which the first time we did it for the trunk or treat was a mess! Her face was black and her fingers from touching it all night and her hair is so blonde that the black kind of turned grey. I quickly learned for the next time to pin her hair back off her face and up off her neck which was better anyway because that's how Snow White's hair really looks and a little hair color 101-if coloring hair from blonde to black first spray it with orange to fill it and then the black, worked much better.

We made it to the ward Trunk or Treat...

But we were lucky enough to enjoy a free meal at Mark's cousins new Kneaders in Bountiful so we dropped off our Chili at the church, headed to Kneaders, stuffed our faces, and headed back to the church for the festivities.

See the yucky grey hair and dirty fingers and face? Not pretty.

We made it to Kenya's preschool program (with two extra kids in tow, that was a bit stressful)
Kenya sang her little heart out. In the middle of it I see her looking around and she looks at me and yells out "I see my gwandma and gwandpa!" Umm, no you don't, that's someone elses grandparents sweetie. Maybe her eyes really aren't working as well as we think. :)

Kenya with cousins Greta and Knox. We had Knox and his baby sister Emerson staying with us for a couple days, they were the two extra kids in tow.

We made it to Charlie's school carnival but for a very short time since we had 5 kids with us 5 and under and Mark left to go to his football game leaving me with the 5 kids to put to bed. He got his pay back though in the morning when I ran to the store and he got two babies with blow outs to clean up.

Phew! And we haven't even made it to Halloween yet!

3 Months

Little Lady Leila is 3 months old! Time is flying and I am absolutely LOVING this stage. She is such a fun good baby and so smiley! When anyone talks to her she just lights up, it is my favorite. Her cheeks and rolls are also my favorite. At 3 months Leila is

Sleeping 9-10 hours at night
Going 3-4 hours between feedings during the day
Smiling, giggling, making cute sounds
Loves sucking on her fists
Is holding her head up pretty good on her stomach
Only will lay on her stomach for a couple minutes before she is mad
Takes 2-3 naps a day
Doesn't want to take a bottle anymore (that's mostly my fault for not trying too hard, I need to get on that!)

Black Hawk Farms

Kenya had a little field trip to Black Hawk Farms in Syracuse, it was a fun pumpkin patch. I didn't get to go with Charlie when he went a couple years back so this was a new field trip for both of us. I thought it was going to be freezing since it was freezing and raining that morning but when we go there the sun came right out and we were all boiling! Especially carrying a baby on the front of you, it was like I was pregnant all over again. :)

They got to pick their pumpkin, she's pointing to hers.

Kenya and her cousin Knox.

This picture was all her idea.

She's very much an individual. She's so different from Charlie in that she is happy to play by herself. She just wandered to all of the different slides and things to do not needing a buddy to go with, part of it is the age but even at home she doesn't really ask me to play with friends, she loves to play with cousins and friends when they're around but I guess I'm just use to Charlie who has been knocking down people's doors since he was 18 months and always wanting a friend to play with. She's content to watch princess shows, color, and play with her toys all by herself.

A Name And A Blessing...

We blessed Leila on Sunday September 12. Mark gave her a beautiful blessing, I'm so grateful for him and the example he is to all around him. The spirit was felt strongly throughout the meeting and I feel so blessed to have one more beautiful, healthy child.

Leila wore the same dress that Kenya did, to me she is a perfect mix of Kenya and Charlie with her own little chubby cheeks.

Thank you family for all of your support and love for our sweet Lady Leila.