Quatro

For the last time in my life, I can say I'm pregnant. Baby #4, who we're lovingly referring to as Mac (because Jax said it looks like a macaroni noodle) will join our family in mid-late September. Thus far, as with all my pregnancies, it's been easy going. I'm a little more tired than normal, but I think having three other kids has something to do with that :) Ava and Jax are thrilled to have another sibling on the way. Ava desperately wants another sister and Jax says he'll be happy either way. Eden has no idea what's going on, she just giggles when I tell her there's a baby in Mommy's belly. Andy is hoping for a boy, about as hard as Ava is wishing for a girl, although I know he'll be happy either way. I really don't have strong opinions. On one hand, thus far, we're the only ones to produce girls and I just love and adore my girls. But, if there's any chance I could have another little boy as awesome as Jax, I'll take it. Not to mention, I'd love for him to have a brother. It's a win-win. To be honest, I'm feeling pretty strongly it's a boy, and I've never been wrong about one of my kids' gender.

Either way, our family is so excited to welcome a new little bundle of awesomeness into the world!

 15 weeks (about two weeks ago)

Birthday Number 7

Our Ava Grace is a big seven year old! She's growing like a weed and getting more beautiful each day. She's bright and excited about learning and constantly has her nose in a book. She loves gymnastics, putting on shows with her brother (she is always the star AND director), piano and sings all the live-long day. She is thoughtful of others and seeks out opportunities to serve at school and in the community. She's quite the chatterbox, a wonderful artist and can do amazing things with the simplest of tools/resources. She still tells me I'm her best friend (I'll ride that as long as I can), although she has two BFFs at school (Marah and Ava N.). She still prefers dresses to pants, although a tunic and leggings will suffice. She loves to do her own hair, wearing headbands and accessorizing. She's lost seven teeth, is 4' tall and wears a size 13 shoes (same as her little brother). Her favorite color is still pink, she still likes Barbie and her favorite song is "Call Me Maybe." Her favorite subject at school is art, she's the monkey-bar queen (forward, backward, sideways, skipping), she's hoping to get the part of the Morpho Butterfly in the 1st grade "Rainforest" play and she likes to get to school early each morning to check a new chapter book out from the library.

As always, Ava's birthday celebration lasted an entire week. Birthday morning she was up early and immediately wanted to open presents (which, for Daddy meant waking up at 6:15 on a Sunday morning). At church that day, all the Primary kids sang to Ava and later that day Grandma, Grandpa, G-Ma and G-Pa joined us for a celebration, where we enjoyed homemade tostadas (Ava's choice) and a pink/chocolate zebra-striped birthday cake (although I forgot to take a pic of the inside).

 The following weekend we were overrun with first-grade girls for Ava's mermaid-themed party. I had lots of activities and games planned, but when you turn seven, playing on the trampoline and singing on the karaoke machine is all a birthday party needs. Ava had a blast and was so happy to spend the day with some of her favorite girlies.

 

 The two Avas

We love our girl more and more each day and can't believe she's growing as fast as she is. I with I could bottle up moments and put them in my pocket because these days with Ava are so precious. She's an amazing girl and I feel so blessed to be her mom and watch her develop talents and figure out who she is and wants to be. But right now, I'm happy with her just being my sweet girl.

Real Farmers

I was born and raised a city girl. I didn't like camping or working or getting dirty and the idea of gardening or raising animals did not appeal to me. How in the world I ever snagged my husband with that kind of attitude is beyond me. But, over 10 years I've grown up a bit. I love my garden. I work hard in all aspects of my life. I love living out in the "boonies" with our dirt and trees and now, our critters.

We are now the proud owners of 13 chickens. We got them as chicks (the first batch was just a day old, the second batch was a week old) and have had fun taking care of them, raising them and now moving them out to their permanent home in the chicken coop. The kids have especially loved the idea of having our own hens and can't wait to collect eggs in the fall. They definitely enjoyed the chicks more when they were new and little, now that they're getting bigger and more "chicken-y" they're not as fun to play with, although Jax does enjoy chasing them around the chicken run. And, above all, he loves that now we're "real farmers."

Eden put on ear muffs because the "chickies too loud"

Stuck

Jax has a uniform. Every day he wears a monster truck shirt (he has about 30) although he'll sometimes throw in a Spiderman or snake shirt, and soft pants. Soft pants are any pants with an elastic waistband. On occasion I can convince him to wear a pair of blue jeans (not just jeans, BLUE jeans, he's sure to tell me) but not often. On Sundays, he's been known to wear his uniform until five minutes before we leave for church at which time he'll quick change into his church clothes, he then brings his uniform along in the car and changes in the church parking lot after church.

Jax has this one pair of uniform pants that I would prefer he reserved just for sleeping, but alas, there's no point in trying to convince a four-year-old that some part of his uniform isn't really "day attire" because it makes it that much more appealing. Anyway, this one pair of pants is a bit long on him, the bottom isn't hemmed. They're gray and dirty looking and just plain blah. But Jax loves them. They're comfy, which makes them the perfect outdoor play pants. However, they are NOT good bike riding pants. As I was inside making dinner one night Jax was out in the carport riding his bike, suddenly I hear him yelling, "Mom! Help me! Mom! I need you!" I quickly ran outside and found this:

Those darn too-long, unhemmed uniform pants got stuck in the bike chain and came right off my little man exposing his adorable little hind parts to the quite-cold carport concrete.

But, judging by the look on his face, he doesn't seem to mind. Other than the great photo, the great thing that emerged from the incident is a tear in the bottom of the pants... so now Jax will only wear them to bed.

Ava's Accomplishments

It's been quite the school year for our Ava, and we're only halfway through it. Already, she has won an essay contest, an art contest (and will next compete at the state level), she tested into the gifted program at her school (99th percentile across the board), she's testing at a sixth grade reading level, she's played soccer, had two piano recitals, a first grade performance and organized a bake sale that raised $713 for the Newtown Memorial Fund. We're so proud of our girl, her accomplishments, her kind heart, her talents and how hard she works at achieving her goals!

 Fall piano recital

 Christmas piano recital at the mall

1st grade performance of "Stone Soup"

 Showing us her classroom after the performance

 I thought this was too sweet to not share

 Family photo by Ava

 Actual family photo

 Check out that loaded table at the bake sale

It was freezing outside, but Ava and her friend Lindsay toughed it out and held signs for the bake sale

We Went to San Diego...

Back in October we took a little family vacay to California. Andy's sweet cousin Dawn was getting hitched, we originally considered leaving the kids with grandparents while Andy and I got away for a weekend (which, in our nearly seven years of being parents we have never done) but then decided to tack a few days on to the trip and bring the kids along.

 Pretending to be cobras with their neck pillows

 
My dear friend, who also happened to be my mentor early in the news business, now works in PR at the San Diego Zoo and hooked us up with free tickets (thanks, Jenn!). How sweet is that?! So, we zoo'ed it up. We did some reconnaissance work in advance, and checked out the exhibits online so we could map out exactly where we wanted to go during our visit, and which animals we just had to see. We kinda lost Jax once we told him the zoo had a cobra snake. After that, he had a one-track mind and had little interest in anything else. The Zoo has a great reptile/amphibian area where Jax got to see every kind of snake, lizard and turtle imaginable. He was jumping-out-of-his-skin excited. When we found the first of the two cobras, he seemed to have springs in his shoes because he couldn't stop jumping and excitedly yelling to Andy and I to come look. He just kept saying, "I can't believe I'm seeing a real-life cobra!"

 

The look on Ava's face pretty much sums up how she felt about the reptile area

 This is a terrible picture, but it's a cobra.

Ava's major request was the panda exhibit, she was hoping the baby panda would be on display, but unfortunately, he wasn't. However, we did get to see this three-year-old panda who gave us quite a show.  To commemorate the event, Ava chose a baby panda stuffed animal, who she named Lily, as her Zoo souvenir.

 
Eden went along for the ride, making monkey sounds when appropriate, growling at the bears, hissing at the snakes and barking at all animals whose sound she didn't know. She wasn't too keen on the stroller and wanted to walk like the big kids, which wore her out... so she was tired... but she didn't want to be in the stroller... so we carried her part of the way... until she finally gave up and let me put her in the stroller where she took a little snooze.

 

 

 Totally his father's son!

 

 All tuckered out. That snake is Jax's souvenir. It's freakishly real.

The following day, we headed to the beach where the kids were supposed to JUST put their feet in. It was pretty chilly so I kept the swimsuits in the suitcase. I should have known better. The beach is Ava's happy place. She's always loved it.

Jax was a little hesitant at first but quickly followed his sister's lead.

Eden, however, was not having any of it. She tried it out for a few minutes before deciding she absolutely hated it. She cried, she told us no when we asked if she wanted to play, she was just miserable which surprised me because she loves the sandbox at home. In her defense, she started getting sick the night before and by the time we got home she had full-blown croup, so that could have had something to do with her attitude toward the beach.

On a side note, Jax chose a very realistic rattlesnake as his zoo souvenir. He brought it along to the beach, setting it in the sand with our things. I wish that snake came with a hidden camera to capture the frightened look on beachgoers' faces when they spotted what appeared to be a live rattlesnake on the peaceful beach, or the double-takes we received as Eden walked down the pier carrying the thing. If we're being honest, I hate that darn snake. Much like the beachgoers, it has scared the tar out of me just laying on the floor in the living room or Jax's bedroom.

 

 

 This is my favorite picture of the girls! Eden rarely looks at the camera, so this is extra-special. They're so beautiful!

That evening, we headed over to Dawn's wedding. Actually, Andy did. It was a no-kids shindig, so Andy went to the ceremony then came back and got me for the reception while Grandma and Grandpa stayed with the kids in the hotel. Not only did we get a date night, but we got to spend some time with "the girls" -- Andy's three girl cousins with whom he spent many childhood summers playing, and who I just happen to adore. We spent most of our time talking about their childhoods together, and our kids, and laughing at it all.

I'm grateful our little family had the chance to enjoy some special time together. We spent all summer finishing the remodel on the house and then moving into the house which, while exciting, didn't make for the most eventful summer break for the kids. So, we made up for it, and made some great memories in the process!

So Much Halloween

My kids are pretty good about telling me what they want to be for Halloween months ahead of the actual event. Yet it seems that each year, despite a fair warning, I find myself frantically sewing just days before October 31. It just sneaks up on me. Or maybe I'm a procrastinator. Probably the latter.

Ava, since November 1, 2011, had been set on being Rainbow Brite for Halloween. I was a little surprised by the choice since Rainbow Brite is a character from my generation and not so relevant these days. But, I agreed. However, just a few months before Halloween, I introduced Ava to "Jem and the Holograms," another show from my childhood (and quite possibly my favorite). It didn't take long for Ava to change her costume. I knew most people wouldn't know who Ava was supposed to be (unless they were children of the 80's), so she just called herself a "rockstar." Oh, but she knew who she really was. 

Jax, didn't waver one bit on his costume, despite my best efforts. He, without a doubt, wanted to be a cobra snake, or a "flathead cobra" as he calls them. I went back and forth with how exactly to make said costume and came up with this. Not too shabby, although far too many people called him a dinosaur or lizard, for his liking. 

I was so excited to make Eden a unicorn costume until, just weeks before Halloween, she developed a serious aversion to all headgear. Hats, headbands, clippies, hoodies. She rips them off her head either with a resounding, "Uh-uh!" and a head shake, or she coyly removes them and then hides them so I can't replace them on her noggin. So, I had to change my plans. Jax and I saw a cute little octopus costume online that would have been easy to recreate, but because of my aforementioned procrastination problem, I never got around to it. So, at the last minute, I made a little ghost costume. 

We had a quite the extended Halloween, first going to Andy's brother's town the weekend before for a town-wide shindig. Then, on actual Halloween, we joined cousins for trunk-or-treat at their church building, then "real trick-or-treating" (as Ava calls it) in this awesome neighborhood where residents set up movies outside their homes, offer popcorn, hot apple cider and even NBA basketball on a large TV. 

Jax, Nathan, Bracken and Ava at Trunk-or-Treat

Most importantly, the kids got quite the haul. One nice lady at trunk-or-treat even gave them all her leftover Dum-Dums (about 40 total), which just happen to be Jax's favorite treat in the whole world. Seriously, he'll take a Dum-Dum over any dessert. 

 We had a great time and, of course, the kids are already planning next year's costumes. Maybe I'll get a head start this time around. Probably not, though.