A little bit of catching up

August- We loved on Leah, Mike ran in the Hood to Coast for the first time, and Makayla took a 4 week gymnastics class which she loved.

Just a few days old.

Mike ran 3 legs each about 6-7 miles one of which was close to our house. We parked our car along the route to watch him pass and Levi jogged a few hundred feet with him to give him some encouragement. :)

Makayla loved gymnastics. I can see more classes in her near future.

September

We continued to bond with Leah. I think this picture makes Levi look like such a BIG brother. He adores Leah just as much as he adores Makayla and Parker. He truly is an amzing big brother. Even after this most recent addition he still would like more babies. Of course I tell him that his wife will have to have the rest when he is married. :)

We had a little surprise party for Mike with family and close friends.

And last but not least Parker knocked out his top front tooth while playing at the park one day. He was climbing on rock wall that he had climbed many times before. I was sitting on a blanket holding Leah and saw him fall out of the corner of my eye. He started to cry and walk towards me so I got up to check it out. He opened him mouth wide and said he hurt his lip. I noticed a little cut on his lip and there wasn't much blood so I brought him over to the blanket to sit by me. At this point he had already stopped crying and was asking for a drink and crackers. So as he sat and ate I got up and pushed Levi in the swing for a few minutes. When I came back to the blanket I laid Parker down to change his diaper and that is when I noticed he was MISSING A TOOTH! He had already been calm for a while at this point and was eating but I was freaking out a bit. I went over to where he fell and looked for the tooth which I never did find (I think he probably swallowed it) and there was another mom at the park that day who happened to be a dentist. She looked at it and said it seemed to look fine but recommended we go and get it x-rayed just to be sure the the whole root was out and that nothing else was injured. He is quite the bruiser and we have always said that he will be the first of our kids in need of an ER visit. Instead he decided to have an unplanned dentist visit. Everything turned out fin though. He didn't injure anything else but it will probably be a few years until that tooth comes back in. :(

October

 We traveled to Arizona for the wedding of one of our best friends. Mike was the best man and Levi and Makayla were the ring bearer and flower girl. Makayla was so excited that she got to dress up all fancy and that she got her own special bouquet. Levi was very proud to be in the wedding and stayed for the entire reception partying with Mike and I and the rest of the wedding party.

We also took our annual trip with my family to The Pumpkin Patch. I took so many pictures and there are some great comparison shots but here is one of ALL the grandkids.

 Parker turned 2 and we had a cricus themed party to celebrate him. He of course gashed his head wide open at church that morning almost resulting in stitched but instead we made due with some super glue and a butterfly bandaid.  Parker is such a FUN kid. He has quite the personality, talks up a storm, loves shoes (especially "hoop" shoes), is totally a bruiser, loves to be with his brother and sisters but is very independent, and makes us laugh every single day! We seriously are so in love with this little man!

 And what could make a mom happier than siblings who love each other like these two. :)

 And a happy baby like this!

Then we finish the month with a field trip to the pumpking patch and some good old fashion trick or treating. Leah and Mike and I had a handsome little cowboy, a brave supergirl and a laidback pirate to lead us around the neighborhood. We went with our usual group of friends although this year the kids were outnumbering the adults by quite a bit. The group picture is some of them beforehand at our house and the last one is of the stomping and yelling through the neighborhood. They travel in a little pack. It's pretty cute and at times a bit overwhelming but SO MUCH FUN!

November-

We didn't do anything peticularily special the beginning of November but these 4 little blessings filled my days with joy. Then at the end of the month we went to the beach with Mike's side of the family. See we are all happy and safe.

BUT how could Parker go to the beach without scaring us a little bit. Needless to say after these two pictures were taken we were next to a rock and a large wave quickly came around the rock and it got deep where we were FAST. Parker got knocked off his feet and went under. Luckily daddy was right there to grab him up and just as he did so Makayla started to lose her footing. I could do nothing because I had Leah in the pack so I watched helplessly as my husband and hero saved our children from the ocean. Parker was a bit shocked and freezing cold but we were all okay!

And then on the way home we stopped at the hospital to meet our new neice/cousin Klaycie Jean, born 11/23/11. It's amazing to me how much my kids LOVE babies.

And we ended the month with Thanksgiving at our house with my side of the family. Unfortunately I didn't any pictures of the whole group. We were all to excited about the new baby. I did get these ones of the cousins though. Leah and Klaycie are just over 3 months apart.

December, January and February coming soon :)