What does the Faux say?

We've been looking forward to hearing what Dr. Faux would say about Ethan's clubbed foot.  I've been anxious as I've seen him tuck his foot in such a way when he kneels and little things.  Ethan was surprisingly not interested in going for the appt.  He was hiding in the corner while I took a photo of my masterpiece--Sydney's hair for Gretel (Sound of Music).  

In an attempt to keep Syd occupied, she took photos on my phone.  Guess what I was doing while we waited for the doctor.  :-)

The doctor said it's totally normal because his range of motion isn't as good in that foot.  He said he looked great and said to come back in 18 months!  Woot woot!!

Sweet LITTLE lady

Lyla will smile all day long.  She is one happy baby.  She has had her fair share of stomach issues though.  I realized that she has the same burping issues and upset tummy that Ethan and Sydney had so I had some allergy testing done.  So far, I have cut tomatoes, chocolate, soy, dairy, onions (mostly), and spicy foods out of my diet.  The allergy testing came up with gluten and I was completely disappointed.  I have since done my best to eliminate gluten and have seen an improvement, but don't know how much longer I can last without all these types of foods.  I thought I would breastfeed for a year, but that may be shortened for my sanity!

She is growing up so fast and is now 5 months old today.  She is so, so little though.  Still just barely over 11 lbs.  She's up at least once each night to eat and usually twice ever since she was 3 months old. It's a big stress for me trying to make my babies gain weight.  I think I might just have small babies--but there is that nagging doubt that makes me a crazy lady and keep trying everything to get her to gain weight.

Homeowners? Really?

We have a house under contract!  It needs a lot of work.  The yard is a mess and the inside pretty nasty.  It was rented out for the past 2+ years and the last tenant was a pastor for a Spanish congregation who seemed to let several families move in.  The neighbors speculated that it was 4 families living there.  We'll be renovating before we move in as there is mold in the basement bathroom.  

We got permission from the seller to work on the yard cleanup before we closed as the home is vacant and we'd only be helping her anyway!  She lives in Hawaii and must not have hired a property manager to help take care of the home.  My sister watched the kids today so we could weed, prune, and trim.  We have to pull out a few trees growing too close to the house.  It's quite the project.  We've had lots of help from family and feel like it will be beautiful once we're in there!

Lyla came along for the afternoon.  I did't dare let her sleep inside with the mold, and it was a warm enough day to have her outside.  I was working on trimming the bushes (a.k.a. trees) against the fence.  I was done with 2 of the 3 when I took this photo.

Halloween Monster

A good friend shared this gem with us before we had kids.  She is a health-foodie like me and detests Halloween candy as much as I do.  She has the Halloween Ghost come and trade her kids' candy for a toy or present.  Her kids love it and look forward to turning in their candy.  She lets them have a few pieces before bed and then they set out their candy.  

I thought I would build the anticipation a little by having them write a note--just like they wrote a letter to Santa.  *Yes, we've already done that.  That was Doug's doing.  Much too early because I keep hearing "when's Christmas?"

They were so excited to drop it in the mailbox.

Silly kids

I left Doug with the kids for a lunch date with a good friend.  It was amazing how easy it was to just get myself ready, in and out of the car, and enjoy my meal!  I went to a new cafe closeby that offers food I can eat!  Yummy, healthy, dairy-free food.  Delicious.  

I came home to a few notes.  I haven't left them much with Doug since he started working again after graduation.  Their notes melted my heart.  Although I don't like keeping a bunch of pictures, drawings, paintings, and notes--I had to take a photo of these to remember the moment.

To make breakfast, I told them that we needed this banana to thaw.  They were very frustrated at how long it was taking and so I thought I'd give them something to do to pass the time.  I told them to try to blow hot air on it with their mouths.  I was laughing so hard...on the inside.  They were diligent in their efforts, although they weren't sure how to blow warm air versus regular blowing on their food.  So funny.

They have a neighbor friend, Tess.  She is 10, I think.  They adore her--especially Ethan.  They get goofy and silly when she's around.  It's been a really bummer that she's in school these days.  Ethan will go over and knock and ask if she can play.  This particular day Tess' mom said she had to do her chores first.  Ethan ran home to tell me and then said, "what is chores?"  I explained and then suggested that we do chores like Tess.  :-)

Her chores took longer than anticipated and Ethan was beside himself wondering when she would ever come.  It was adorable.  He must have asked me every 5 minutes or less when Tess would be coming over.  "She's taking sooo long!"

Ethan has been wanting to hold Lyla just about every day.  I give him the Boppy pillow so I feel better about her safety.  He is such a good big brother.  Sydney isn't nearly as interested in holding her, but they both love to kiss her goodnight before bed.

I laughed so hard when I went to pull Lyla out of her carseat and found her like this.  I sometimes roll this blanket so she can lean against it when she's sleeping.  She is so funny.

They watched Snow White at Grandma's house.  I was sitting feeding Lyla while they played and then started 'tuning in' to what they were doing.  They were taking turns being the princess that receives the kiss and then 'wakes up'.

We played Annie for Mommy Time today.  They insisted that I dress up as Grace.  I thought I could just pretend, but Ethan would not go for that.  I grabbed a long skirt from my closet and Ethan was Mr. Warbucks.  If I ever hope to get him out of her dresses, I really should buy him a suit to me Mr. Warbucks or something...

Swim party

I felt like a stalker when I heard that my sister, Katie, might be in town for General Conference weekend.  I think I called her 6 times and then invited us to their hotel to swim during Priesthood Session.  We had a great time chatting and Lyla had lots of attention from her cousins.  :-)

Syd was ecstatic to see Shelly and Ethan to see Natalie.  They were grinning from ear to ear.

Lyla was fairly tolerant of being held by any non-mom people.  She is pretty picky these days.  Doug won't even be able to hold her a lot.  Shelly was so happy to hold her.