Valley West Express

We braved the crowds tonight at the mall for the Santa parade and free trains rides. We stood in line for 45 minutes to save $1 (the regular cost of the train ride). Isaac and Kyler LOVED riding the train and I'm sure we'll be back to the mall several times this holiday season to ride the Valley West Express.

We did sticker snowmen while we waited.

Elmo and Cookie Monster made a quick appearance.

And Leah looking lovely as we waited.

Almost moving

Just for the sake of keeping a record, Leah pushed up onto her knees today AND rolled back to belly. While we were at the library. On the floor-on her own blanket. I will venture to say that by Christmas this little lady will be an official mover. :)

Piggy Tails

Leah's hair is growing, though I am anxious for it to get long enough to really do something with. This day I actually managed to get pig tails in...unfortunately they lasted all of 15 seconds after I took these pictures. Oh well...someday she'll have lots of hair to play with!

Leaves are Falling All Around

Although only about 5% of the leaves have fallen from our GIANT tree in the front yard, I raked a few up so the kids could have a photo-op. Enjoy!

And how does Isaac feel about being outside in November? See for yourself...

Halloween

Leah was a bear and Isaac was a train conductor. We borrowed the bows from Leah's Build-a-Bear to make it clear she was a girl. Despite Isaac's incredible sadness in this picture, he had a great night. (It's the only picture I have of him, my parents and Jake's parents have more, but I have yet to get them). We went to my parents' house for dinner and then to Jake's parents' house for pictures and treats. We didn't do any door-to-door trick-or-treating (there's a lot of hyphens in this post!!) since Isaac is still so young and shy. We still ended up with plenty of candy! We weren't able to go to trunk or treat at the church because it was the same night as our beggars night. Maybe next year!
P.S.-thanks to the Breits for letting us borrow the train hat!

9 Months

Today Leah is 9 months old. Wow! She is such a blessing in our lives, and we can't imagine life without her. Here's a few pictures from our attempted photo shoot....

Leah is SO close to crawling-she certainly wants to, just hasn't quite figured it out yet. However, she can now move from one side of the room the other through a combined effort of scooting and rolling from her belly to her back-she isn't rolling back to belly yet. If she sees something she wants, she will attempt to get it.
She has 6 teeth-no new ones this month.
She loves to smile for the camera (usually...).
She can wave and play peek-a-boo.
Mommy is her favorite, but she will usually be happy being held or entertained by about anyone; she is very friendly and rarely shy.
Food is her friend-she'll eat just about anything, though she prefers to feed herself instead of being spoonfed. Leah can also drink from a sippy cup and enjoys water and juice of all flavors.
Sleep is not her friend-at least not for long periods of time. If she sleeps for more than 5 hours straight it's a good night. She also has been putting herself to sleep about half the time lately-she fusses/cries for 5-10 minutes and she's out. This isn't my choosing, but sometimes she doesn't want to be nursed or rocked to sleep.
She refuses to wear headbands, bows, etc. on her head. If you see her with one on or in a picture, it's a rarity.
She has the chunkiest thighs in the history of fat baby legs.
Leah is quite the talker and says dadadadadadadadada all day long.
She is our peanut and we LOVE her!

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans and those currently serving our country! Both my dad and Jake's dad served in the military-thanks, Dads!

Love This!

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