Numerous November Gratitudes

I was looking in the section across the aisle and when I came back to get the girls I saw this.

I can't believe how different it feels when Daylight Saving Time ends. For the first couple weeks I thought it was time to start getting the kids ready for bed but I'd look at the clock to see 6pm! 

Some winter days are just so much easier in pajamas.

I found this on FB. We call our babe Taylor Sailor.

I'm a miserable failure at getting family pictures accomplished. I waited way too long to find an outdoor photographer so I decided against it because everyone I knew was booked for the season and I thought it would be too hard for my Florida kids in the cold. 

We decided to try a department store studio with a coupon. I scheduled an appointment online and called the night before to confirm prices. While on the phone I told the employee all the different poses I wanted and she said, "Great, see you tomorrow!" but what she failed to tell me is that their sessions only last 20 minutes and they can only fit 35 pictures on their camera per session. 

When she was taking our pictures I wanted to look at them on the computer after every pose so I could see how they were turning out in case we needed to redo them but she wouldn't allow it. 

I wanted her to adjust anything that was out of place and direct us toward the most flattering poses but she didn't.

I couldn't see any pictures until after the session was over and there were only two or three of each pose to choose from. I planned on about eight different poses including "school pictures" but none of them turned out so I only bought three images that did look alright. I think even these could have been a lot better but luckily my coupon was a really good deal so I wasn't out much money on this disappointing experience.

I had my first root canal which isn't something I strive for but I'm grateful to not have any sensitive or painful teeth anymore! It got to the point of not being able to sleep without taking pain medication.

Tea party with friend Annie. She and Jayda were born on the exact same day, are in nursery together at church AND the same preschool class. 

We went to Boise for our niece Aubree's baptism and drove there on Kallie's birthday so we celebrated that night with cousins and then Aubree was baptized the next day.  

Lots. of. cake.

I can't believe she's 8 years old! I remember seeing her as a teeny baby the first time I ever met Brad's family. 

Cousins

Cousin Ashley

Movie night

First snowfall

This is what happens when big sisters crash the crib party.

I've been counting down the days until I'm eligible to upgrade my phone because parts of my screen stopped working quite awhile ago so it's been hard to do basic tasks.

Two weeks before my upgrade I dropped my phone while getting in the car, it slid underneath and I proceeded to drive over it. 

I took it to Sprint and the employee put a box of phones on the counter. He said I could borrow one until I upgrade. Most of them were old "dumb" flip phones but there was one smart phone. It happened to be a newer version than my own and the screen worked properly so I was actually quite happy to use it for a couple weeks. 

Practicing moves on the bed before gymnastics

For Thanksgiving Brad's brother Tyler brought his family to join us. Kallie and Jayda were so excited to see their baby cousin Sawyer. 

Grandpa preparing the turkey.

Thanksgiving dinner

Crazy for pie

Every single time Taylor saw her cousin playing with something she was very good about crawling over to take it away. Ya know, to keep her safe and stuff. Taylor's two months older so she's gotta look out for her.

Taylor wants to pop the bubbles but she's stuck!

Playing with silly friend Tanner. He's right in between Kallie and Jayda age wise which means oddly he's in nursery with Jayda and preschool with Kallie. 

Constellations. If you look closely you can see Taylor's silhouette in the corner. 

It was fun to get out our bin of snow gear after four years! I forgot about all the stuff I had.

On Black Friday we bought anything else we needed for the whole fam to be ready to play outside.

Hot chocolate with pink cheeks and noses.

Kid Quotes:

I called our pediatrician's office with a billing question. As soon as I hung up Kallie said, "You forgot to tell the doctor I have a tummy ache."

Outrageous October...second try

One time at gymnastics I overheard this mom talking about her daughter with hip dysplasia. She said they didn't find out her daughter had it until she was two years old. By that time it was so advanced that she's had four surgeries, worn a cast from her chest down to her feet, and has two more surgeries scheduled (each six hours long). 

I couldn't believe it.

Taylor's pediatrician caught her hip dysplasia when she was two weeks old. All she had to do was wear a diaper cast for nine weeks and she was cured. 

Words can't express my gratitude for hearing about that woman's daughter so I can be even more grateful that Taylor recovered from hip dysplasia so fast. 

At church the primary kids had their sacrament program. Before it started Kallie's teacher told me she hadn't practiced her part yet in front of everyone (she went up to the podium but wouldn't say anything) so I figured she definitely won't do it in front of the entire congregation. 

When I saw her in line I expected her teacher to go up and help but Kallie walked right up and recited her part from memory. Brad and I instantly looked at each other with a huge smile on both our faces. I was so happy for her! Stage fright is a personal weakness of mine that I'm afraid my kids will inherit. 

When General Conference comes around I get really excited for it and then on the day it starts I internally grumble a bit because I have little kids and that makes it hard to pay attention. They usually nap during one of the sessions but when they're awake I miss a lot of parts. 

This year I realized that when the kids are sleeping during a session, I fall asleep. Even if I particularly like the speaker or it's really interesting I can't just sit there and watch or I will fall asleep no matter what. 

So either I miss it because I'm taking care of the kids or I miss it because I can't stay awake. Great. 

Before next conference I need to figure out something to do that helps me stay awake and listen. Be it coloring like the kids, taking notes or eating cheese balls I'll figure it out.

The girls and I went to the nature park with Grandma to feed the ducks. There was a steep drop down to the water so we stayed up on the edge. The second we started throwing bread an ARMY of all kinds of birds came out of the pond, waddled right up and surrounded us. 

Of course Kallie and Jayda freaked out immediately so we backed up and put them on a bench but this bird gang was on our tails and got seriously aggressive and scary. It was like the paparazzi but they were trying to eat us. Not just eat our bread but eat US. Some of them were HUGE (like taller than Kallie) and they wouldn't stop. All three girls were screaming bloody murder. 

We finally had to chuck the entire collection of bread and flee for our lives in the other direction. It took a solid ten minutes for the kids to stop crying. 

We call Taylor our raptor baby because most of the time the sound coming from her mouth is a loud high pitched velociraptor screech. We absolutely LOVE it as you can imagine.

But then if she's handed anything (especially a snack) she'll look straight into the giver's eyes with a ginormous smile on her face before she eats it. And if the snack is something like gold fish crackers she'll do it every single time she gets a bite.

I took Kallie and Jayda to the dentist again. In the past Kallie has screamed the entire time and then Jayda does the same thing. But they finally both did great! It made me so happy.

Sadly Kallie got her first cavity so I had to bring her back to get it filled but I was surprised she didn't need a shot for pain or anything. Just numbing gel and laughing gas.

I had to get a picture of Taylor joining the rest of the kids at the snack table in nursery.

She's learning how to make hats out of pancakes.

We went to Salt Lake for the wedding reception of my sweet friend and college roommate, Valerie. It was so fun to see her gorgeous self and her new hubby, although I sure wish it could have been longer than 10 seconds.  I would have loved a picture with both of them but we had to leave and couldn't find him so we kidnapped Valerie from a group of people and took the quickest selfie ever.

A huge bonus was that we saw other friends I didn't know would be there! I saw our other roommate Staci and she made sure to video chat with two more of our roommates, Amie and Arica.  Why didn't we take pictures?! Oh my heck.

Talking to all of them, if only for a short time made me realize how much I miss them and it's been WAY too long since we've really talked. So guys, be prepared: I'm gonna video call you one of these days because I miss your faces. 

Don't you love Brad's selfie faces?

We also saw Sister Heslington, one of our favorite missionaries from our ward in Florida and found out she lives in Rexburg as well!

Our last bonus to the trip is that we stayed with the Fraileys and enjoyed another short but sweet visit. And they babysat our kids so ya know, I guess it was worth it. 

I shopped around for a baby gate and this looked the fanciest so we went with it.

Lindsay Stirling concert at Byu-Idaho. It was really entertaining. She's talented at many different things and uses them all in her performances.  Once again we were reminded how old we're getting because it was SOOO loud. Our ears were ringing after we left.

Brad has gotten into editing fun videos of our family adventures

Brad's dad took his agriculture students to a nearby dairy and we joined the group:

And of course we bought some raw milk before we left! It was my first time drinking it. I'd love to buy it all the time but this dairy is too far away to get it that often.

We couldn't find the tube Debi usually uses for juicing and stuff so we used the one from my breast pump :)

We visited my sister Hayley's family in Logan, UT for Halloween and had a blast!

Brad napping with our niece Jessa

Kid Quotes:

I went to Jayda's room to wake her up from a nap. I opened the door to see her standing by the bed.

Jayda: Only girls open doors.

Mom: I'm a girl.

Jayda: You're a big girl. Only little girls open doors. *slowly closes the door in my face*.

Jayda:      Lasterday

 (I think she got this from her friend Sam)

Tomollow