October-November 2015

                                             
                                               

                                               

                                               

These are just a few more from the early days with baby Josh.  Both older boys immediately loved him and wanted to hold him ALL of the time.  It was adorable to see them rush in to see him when he woke up.  They are still really loving him and want to help rock him to sleep and make him smile.  It's probably my favorite part of being a mother so far - seeing them love their little brother so much.  They also have become the BEST of buddies (Daniel and Spencer) over the past few months.  They play together all evening after Spencer gets home from school.  Daniel really loves to play legos now too, so they can sit and play for a long time together.  And they get along about 90% of the time!  ha. And Spencer really loves to teach Daniel.  This week, he taught Daniel the proper stance when you're throwing a ball.  They came in to get me, all excited for me to see him throwing like a big kid!  

Gordon took 2 weeks off of work after Josh was born.  Apple gives their employees up to 12 weeks now!  We are so spoiled and loving every minute we can grab with Daddy.  During those first few weeks, I needed lots of sleep and so did Josh.  So Dad took both boys out for lots of dates.  One evening, we let Spence stay up late and go golfing with Dad after Dan was in bed.  It was probably his favorite night ever.  :) 

During General Conference, I had some new craft projects for the boys.  I thought it would entertain them for quite a while, but ended up lasting about 20 minutes.  Ah well, they had fun.  

Spencer had a field trip to a local pumpkin patch during Gordon's first few weeks off.  Gordon volunteered to chaperone and I think they were both equally giddy about going that morning.  They had such a fun time.  Gordon is such a great daddy, he really loves spending time with the boys.  

Having three kids is definitely substantially busier, but brings me so much joy.  

After Gordon's first 2 weeks off, my parents came and stayed for a little over a week.  After their week was up, Gordon's parents overlapped just for a day (Sunday) so that we could bless Joshua.  It worked out perfectly and we felt so blessed to have both sets of Grandparents here for it!  Daniel was NOT having any part of these photos.  Getting him in the foreground was about as good as we could get.  

Dan got his first "big boy" haircut.  (aka not a buzz cut) shortly after Josh was born. He looks so handsome and much older to me.  

Some of these are out of order, but for Halloween, Spencer was Iron Man.  This is at his school parade.  They have all of the kids sit with their classes and each grade takes turns parading around for everyone to see their costumes.  While they're parading, the student council kids watch and give out certificates for "Silliest" "Most Creative" and "Spookiest" costumes.  The kids had a great time and I was so impressed with the student council president  - I think he speaks better in public than I do.  

The boys love to go to PetCo to see the animals.  They also found some dog houses that they could fit inside.  I should get some of these for the backyard, they would probably play out in them all of the time!

We took Spence out of school while G was off of work to go to the zoo as a family when it wasn't crazy and crowded.  But .... it rained.  So, we ventured up to the Jelly Belly factory.  The kids had a great time, and even little Daniel was fascinated by all of the machinery in the factory and the processing.  

Spencer's school had a free dress and "mustache" day in November.  He started with a mustache and then went for a goatee.  His teacher has a goatee and I think that was part of his decision process.  

Spencer and Daddy went to a BYU football game a few weeks ago.  They have such a great time going to games together.  I'm thinking starting next year Daniel might be ready to tag along with them.  

I take about a million pictures of them like this all together, but it still makes me so happy to see them all snuggled up together.  I love these boys!

                                               

One of Spencer's school buddies, Beau, had a birthday party at an ice skating rink earlier this year.  It was Spencer's first time ice skating and Gordon tagged along.  Gordon said he did great!  He started out cautious, but got the hang of it and eventually was skating on his own.  Spence is our little competitive spirit and I was afraid he might get discouraged and frustrated if he wasn't great from the get go, but Gordon said he just laughed it off every time he fell.  And apparently, he fell a lot!

Spence is getting so grown up looking.  He is really a mature little dude.  I love going out on one on one dates with him. Many times it's just a trip to Trader Joe's or Target, but he's just so fun to chat with and such a cool kid.  I'm his mom, so I'll always love him, but I really like him too.  He's just fun to be with.  

We've had some cold weather this year.  I mean, actual cold weather - 30 degrees in the mornings!  So, when we go out for walks in the morning, we bundle Josh up in this.  He looks a little scrunched, but every time I put it on (feels like velour) he just calms down and falls asleep so fast!  But when he wakes up, he is SOOO sweaty.  

Gordon has been looking into buying a new car.  His car has slowly been dying.  It's from 1999 and has about 210,000 miles on it.  It's been a great car.  But it's slowly going ... the front seat no longer locks in place, so when you accelerate or slow down, it rocks back and forth ... the turn signals just randomly stopped working ... things like that.  The other day, on his drive home, a lady just pulled right into the back of his car from the side of the street where she was parked.  Usually not a good thing, but no one was hurt, it was her fault and we will get a settlement from the insurance company and have a free rental car for a month while we wait for his new car to arrive.  He's so excited.  And so am I!!!

Grandma Dix came for a long weekend visit for Spencer's birthday party.  He was so thrilled to have her here!  She brought along a game called "Pie Face'.  It's hilarious.  You put your face inside a little cut out and slowly turn a knob waiting for a plastic hand to throw whipped cream at your face!  We had some fun with that.  :)

Spence chose to have just a few school friends and his best bud, Maddy, for his birthday party this year.  We told him he could have a big group at our house for a backyard party or a few friends at a fun place.  He chose Chuck E Cheese and loved every minute of it.  I love that I didn't have to plan, cook or clean up!  The kids were all great and had so much fun.  And Spencer was given SO many extra tickets from our nice hostess.  I think he ended the day with about 1,800.  Holy moly.  

These were out of order, but from when my parents came to visit when Josh was tiny.  The one above is me and Josh in our BYU attire!  Uncle Steve and Aunt Kim sent him a tiny Cougars outfit.  It's adorable.  

More from Josh's blessing day.  He wore the outfit that both of my older brothers were blessed in.  It was really special.  

Grandma Dix brought a "make your own straw" kit when Josh was born.  The boys loved making their own straw design and drinking the orange soda she bought for it.  I think they may have loved the soda even more than the straws.  haha.  

Spencer received the "scientist of the month" award in October.  It was so fun to go to his assembly and cheer for him.  He gets so shy at school and will just give us a little head nod when he makes eye contact.  He's already too cool for us!  

In October, I broke down and bought a double stroller.  It was a big purchase and I went back and forth on it, but it was worth EVERY penny.  We use it daily and Daniel loves to snuggle in and Josh's carseat snaps right in.  (This was before I received the attachment of this carseat).  I've been walking them everyday, but recently started jogging again.  I'm definitely way out of shape, but it feels good to get out!

The boys picked out pumpkins for everyone at Trader Joe's and we came home and made Pumpkin face pizzas.  It was a great night!  They picked out a crazy gourd for me which we turned into an alien head.  Spencer's idea ... my carving.  We won an award at the Ward Halloween party for "spookiest pumpkin".  

I've been trying to make sure we still get out and do fun things for Daniel, and baby Josh has been such an amazing baby, and we've been able to keep up our schedule.  Also, SO gratefully, my balance and vertigo has been continuing to improve and I've been feeling great and able to do fun things!  One day we walked to the library and down to the donut store afterward.  He was a little excited about that sprinkle donut ... 

Daniel didn't want to dress up, so he wore his Spiderman jammies for Halloween.  Our ward had a party the afternoon of Halloween that the primary was in charge of.  It was a great party (thanks to my awesome counselors - I was still recovering from having little Josh during the planning time!) and then we went trick or treating with a huge group of local friends.  Couldn't have asked for a more fun evening.  Josh was a little mummy, but peed thru his outfit at the party - bummer.  

Spence and I went to pick up dinner for the family at Boudin one night and sent Gordon about 30 silly selfies.  We are a little goofy sometimes ... 

 On Memorial Day, the kids didn't have school but all the daddy's had to work, so Angie had the genius idea to get together!  She and her kids drove down and stayed all morning and took off in the early afternoon.  We chatted and let the kids play outside and then all went out for pizza.  Gordon was able to meet us at the restaurant and spoiled the kids by letting them play on the game machines at the pizza place.  They all had a great time! 

My good friend, Natasha, from Missouri came out to Sacramento to visit a friend of hers who recently moved here from Virginia (where Tasha lives).  She drove down one evening for dinner and stayed to play and chat.  It was so great to catch up - felt like no time had gone by! 

Ooh, that baby Josh has an amazing smile!  He's been our smiliest and most mellow baby.  He's such a joy.  

And the finale --- I got some new boots for $20.  Such a score and I just love wearing them.  It's the little things.  :) 

Merry Christmas!!!!