Maisy - 2 months

Maisy is 2 months old and changing like crazy!  She is smiling and talking more and more.  I had forgotten how much this warms my heart.  She weighed 11 pounds, 4 ounces and is in the 50th percentile for weight and height  The other two kids weren't off the charts for height until after they turned 1, so we'll have to wait and see if she'll follow in their footsteps. 

She has slept through the night 3 times in the last week.  Hopefully this pattern continues!

 Big brother loves to play tractors with her.  Sometimes the tractors get a bit too close.

Mara is just thrilled when she smiles and talks back to her.  She gets so excited when she thinks she hears her say a real word.  It's super hard for a big sister to patiently wait for her little sister to join her in play time activities.

Oh Maisy Marie, we just LOVE you to pieces!  No one can seem to get enough of you around here.  I love to watch you grow and change right in front of me every single day.  I am so blessed to be your Momma!

My Birthday

My birthday ended up to be MUCH better than Lance's.  Lance and the kids cooked up this delicious breakfast for me along with a gift card for a massage.  It was thoughtful and just perfect.

We headed to a park in the afternoon.  Growing up we visited this park at least once a year.  It's beautiful in the fall. 

 Lance packed our picnic supper.  The kids helped him make me birthday cupcakes which we enjoyed on our picnic. 

 The kids were quite entertained with nature for a couple hours.  Skipping rocks is pretty fun.

 Watching Daddy show off is even more fun!

 Maisy and I couldn't keep up.

 They couldn't convince him to jump.

The kids didn't want to leave.  You can see that it was getting pretty dark! 

Thanks, family, for a very special birthday!

Harvest

Our kids love the farm.  There's just something about wide open space.  Their boundaries are so big that they don't even know they have them.  Micah has become increasingly interested in tractors the last few months.  He will easily entertain himself for an hour putting around with his toy machinery.  He was struggling to stay in the nursery at church for a couple weeks until we let him take a couple tractors in with him.  Pretty easy fix.

 A few weeks ago, Grandpa was working on a tractor when we arrived.  These two immediately hopped right in.

 Harvest has begun, so we made a trip to participate in the action.  I didn't get very good pictures as it was a bit hard trying to get the older two ready to ride while holding Maisy.  They got to ride in the tractor with the auger cart with Great Grandpa Mel. 

 And then a ride in the combine with Grandpa Alan.  Mara was ready to get out after one round, and Micah would have been content to stay all day.  However, the field was too wet to continue.  We'll hopefully make it up there again for another ride. 

Grandpa sent some machinery magazines home with Micah.  He of course loves them!  Daddy does too.  It's fun to listen to Micah look through the magazine.  "Does Grandpa have a red or green wagon?  I like red wagons and green combines.  Does Grandpa Mel drive the red tractor?  I have a baler like that one.  Grandpa needs a tractors with tires likes that!"  My little farm boy.  Maybe someday we'll live in the country and own a small piece of farm ground.  We'll have a tractor that he'll be able to ride in with his daddy.  Maybe, just maybe.  But for now, we have the closest thing to it.  So thankful our kids get to experience a bit of the farm life. 

Fall Exploring

Tuesdays are our completely free day, so we decided to do some fall exploring at a park we didn't get to this summer. 

 We checked out the bison and elk.

 And then spent some time at the nature playscape.

 We found a secluded area out of the wind and enjoyed some lunch.

 It was a beautiful day!

Of course we couldn't leave without a few souvenirs!

Pumpkins

We hit up Grandpa and Grandma's patch for some pumpkins!  The kids enjoyed decorating a couple with some glow in the dark stickers.  We hot glued them, so hopefully they last for awhile. 

All Caught Up

I think I'm all caught up and up to date with the happenings in our family.  So, here are some recent random pictures mostly of the newest addition.

 Maisy has started to enjoy the swing a bit more although she isn't as dependent on it as her older sister was.  Maybe I should say we aren't as dependent on it!  She tends to have the 5:00 fussies, but they usually start after supper which is nice.  Sometimes the swing will help her relax enough to sleep when we can't seem to do it. 

 She still has to be swaddled to sleep whenever she's in her crib otherwise she's restless and startles herself awake.  If she falls asleep anywhere else, she takes full advantage of the freedom!

 I've been trying to give her as much tummy time as possible, but there always seems to be too much help whenever she's on the floor!  They are so just ready for her to be big enough to engage with them. 

 These 3 make my heart overflow.  So, so blessed.

Middle Child

Don't tell my sister, but I am really learning how much it stinks to be the middle child.  When Big Sister is gone, I really notice a big difference in Micah.  He's much  more vocal.  He knows lots of things, has lots of ideas and actually gets to voice his opinion for once.  Sometimes I think he just doesn't have an opinion.  But I think he just doesn't ever get to voice it when Mara is around.  He loves to play with her and rarely complains that she's being bossy or won't let him have his way when they're playing - even when she is.  I guess that's what the middle child does to survive. 

 

We got to go on a mommy-son (plus baby) date the other night.  He picked the restaurant - Mexican food of course!  He reminded me as we were walking in that he CAN have wheat and cow's milk.  It made me a bit sad to know that he's very much aware of Mara's diet restrictions.  These sometimes affect him because it also breaks my heart when any of us eat food in front of her that she can't have but used to love.  He chowed down on his flour shell quesadilla with cheese and enjoyed every last bite.  We hit a few stores, and he was pretty pumped about being able to pick out something for himself at the dollar store.  We had a great time, and I hope we can do it again soon!

I've been doing my best at giving him my full attention for as long as possible when Mara is at preschool.  The problem is that's his nap time, and I'm usually having to wake him up to go pick her up.  I know how much he enjoys playing and reading books with just me even if it is just for 30 minutes. 

He also enjoys soaking up his baby all by himself.  He promised me he will always watch out for his little sis.  And I know he will.  He has such a tender heart, and she's definitely already found a permanent place in it!