I Love This Girl

There is a moment in time when every child stops speaking in single words and suddenly is telling you everything around her. It is one of my favorite times, watching as Stella realized that she could tell us everything she was thinking. Seeing the world through a child's eyes can be amazing. And boy do I love this girl!

Halloween

 Spencer was really good about helping the kids choose a costume this year. Sawyer is getting to the age where he isn't so into mom making his costume, I actually really like doing them so luckily for me the girls were all about homemade-

 Sawyer spotted this Ninja costume while we were shopping at Walmart. We let him think about it for a while to make sure that he was sure it was the one he really wanted. He looked great and had a ton of fun both trick-or-treating and in the Spook Alley at the Ward party.

 Sophia was all about Captain America but not just any costume, she was certain she needed to be a Girl Captain America. We spent some time in search of the perfect items because Sophia wanted to be involved in every step. It was fun to work together on a project and I think she looked great!

Stella's favorite movie is Despicable Me hands down. Spencer chose the perfect costume for her. It was pretty simple for the most part, we tried a few things as a headpiece and settled on this mask. She left her entire costume on all night and had a lot of fun.

Something Different-

 Sawyer decided to try something new and play soccer this fall. He enjoyed it a lot and did really well. He wasn't afraid to go after the ball and ended up being one of the high scorers.

 Spencer was able to help coach and Sawyer loved that. It was a great learning experience for us all since we haven't ever played much soccer.

 Sawyer's buddy Carsen was on his team and they were a great team. By the end of the season they were working the ball up the field in no time with one anothers help.

Family Pictures 2012

We scheduled family pictures on the fly this summer with an amazing photographer in our ward right as she was moving to Denver. Short notice and questionable weather made for the perfect combination of an anxiety free experience leading up to that evening. And now we have this great new family picture hanging up on our wall!

Baby Rolls

My favorite type of rolls are showing up all over the place...on Stella that is. I have had a hard time convincing some of you, yes she was tiny when she was born I know but she isn't anymore. She is now tipping the scales at 14 pounds and has rolls all over her. Spencer and I can't believe how much we think she looks like Sawyer now since she looked so much like Sophia to begin with.

Favorites-

Stella

Stella arrived on December 11, 2010 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane.
She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 21 inches long.
Some of you may recall how ready I was for her to be born, we started the night before eating dinner at Azteca. The waiter kindly made the spiciest dish on the menu even spicier for me, I was ready to try anything. I don't mind spicy but this was the first time my food has actually made me sweat. Sawyer had basketball practice after dinner so my mom and I took Sophia to TJ Maxx for some walking. One would think that since this is my third child I would know when my water broke but I had my water broken at the hospital with Sawyer and I was taking a shower when my water broke with Sophia. So when my water broke in TJ Maxx it was unexpected but humorous, and I was glad to have my mom with me. By the time we got to the hospital and then we were finally checked in I was ready to change clothes, they don't really speed up the process even if you are soaked from your waist to your ankles. After that it was pretty uneventful until she was born early the next morning. All three of our kids arrived with a funny birth story, it must happen more often than I thought. I was just happy not be delivering a baby on the side of Division Street or in the back of my Tahoe, it's roomy but not that big.





The hospital has a photographer that takes these pictures the day after birth in lieu of the traditional photos taken right after birth. They turned out great and she is probably the only one of our kids who might actually like the photos taken by the hospital. Some of you may remember Sophia's photo, that I will not post (she'll thank me later), in which she was sucking her upper lip and it looked like she was born with cleft lip. Not exactly something she'll be showing off in high school to her friends, I'm sure.

Of course, 3 weeks later she doesn't look a lot like this. She's figured out how to eat, thanks to Dr. Husein for correcting her tongue tie, so she has put on a few pounds literally. She now has "cheeks on both ends" as her pediatrician put it, and at this age that is a good thing.