No GUTS No Glory!

So, for our family night activity we "gutted" our pumpkins to carve them. The kids were super excited, especially Haleigh. THEN I actually cut off the tops to do the gutting and Haleigh did NOT think it was very cool anymore. In fact she wouldn't go near her pumpkin after that. She went around the house the whole night saying "gross" and "disgusting!" So, I got to do the honors. Even the boys weren't too hip on it - and they are my boys who love to get all gross and dirty/muddy in the summer! Unfortunately, it took us so long just to clean them out that we didn't have time to carve them and the boys were super disappointed! So here are some pictures of the gutting - the finished products are to come...

Bats in my bellfry

So the other day Gabe got out the Batman cape and mask. Haleigh, being the "tag-a-long" that she is with her brother, now that baby occupies my time, wanted to be Batman too. (but she is still very girly which I love) She really is getting to be quite the little shadow to "the brothers" which she lovingly calls them. She mimics almost everything they say and do - good AND bad. I mostly have to laugh, she is growing up too fast!!! Such a personality! In fact, as you will notice in the pictures she wouldn"t let me adjust the mask and it was totally smashing into her eye! She is the funnest thing about my day a lot of times because she is such a whip. She is always going to be my little girl and she is such a crack up - she reminds me to laugh cause I don't do it often enough these days... I am sure when Max is her age it will be the same, I'm just enjoying her while it lasts. Before we know it she'll be an emotional teenager - then I'll be grateful for 3 boys, so I've heard. :) P.S. I just typed this whole thing one - handed while holding Max! I feel pretty proud I got it done without typos, I think!

A smile

So, Max is finally starting to smile for us. He is so close to cooing and making those cute little baby noises too - instead of just crying or fussing when wet or hungry. It is amazing how much that makes the newborn stage worth all the struggles. I swear I have been through it with this postpartum nonsense. I started with a rash from the tape they used for my epidural. Unfortunately I got an anethesiologist with a notion for A LOT of tape, so it was all over my back. I then proceeded into some sort of allergic reaction to it. It lasted at least 3 weeks. Finally after days of lotions, benedryl and 2 rounds of steriods my back cleared, then I got hives. Not just a few. A LOT! All over my body. When those cleared it spread to my hands. It was sooo itchy that I would wake in the night and want to cry because they would be on fire. So, again I got some cortizone with a kick called in from the doc. It finally has gone away and let an aweful dryness all over my hands. I don't know quite what to do now except A LOT of lotion. It seems to help, but not enough. In the middle of this somewhere I also got a bladder infection - NOT fun. Now, I have strep throat! Yep, it doesn't end. I went into the instacare last night with a sore throat and a fever and I just knew since I felt so crummy yesterday. I am sure I got it due to my immune system going crazy and just DONE popping pills, since no one else in my family got it (and I hope they don't). The point of my complaint is that I don't think of it much now that it has mostly subsided, especially when Max smiles at me. Or when he is just laying in his bouncy chair being content. Amazing what a smile can do... We have yet to catch the cute little smile on camera, but here is a darling picture I took of him anyways.

Family Night Sleepover

So, I digress. I didn't prepare a "real" family night. So, I let the kids pull out their sleeping bags that Grandma Martell made for them and just chill and snuggle in them while I read a story from the children's friend. I have to say it was one of the better lessons I could've given, so all in all a success. Just thought I'd share some pictures of my FOUR rugrats! Happy family night to all and to all a good night.

MAXWELL JAMES

Can you say Cheeks!
Our sleeping "Cougar cub" on game day
Bath time!
Almost a smile :)

Since I blogged/bragged about my princess I decided I better take turns and do a little blogging about Max, since he is the newest addition to our family. He is getting into a pretty good routine these days. Nights are still tough for me, but I am someone who needs my sleep and I hate to get up in the morning - a bad combination I admit. But he only wakes up a couple of times a night and I have the feeding routine down to the hour, so we are getting there. He is a pretty content little guy, but I think he is starting to want to be held and have a little more attention these days - which is normal. He is getting bigger, which is kind of sad in a way. I love to hold little babies against me with their little feet tucked up under them and just snuggle. That is my favorite part of the newborn stage. He is one month old (yesterday)! Time truly flies. I am so looking forward to him starting to coo and respond and smile at us. It makes baby time so much fun! So, here are just a few of my most recent pics of Max to make you smile. I have been so out of it for a month that my blogging is very sparatic and I have tons of different pics to share, so I will try to catch up this month. Note that I said TRY. :)

Our Princess

So, I love girly stuff! Haleigh has totally gotten into princesses and such over the past couple of months and I love to listen to her sing her princess songs all over the house ALL the time. She is such a girly girl and I love it. Today my mom and I took her to Costco to pick out a Christmas dress before they are all picked over. We tried a couple of them on her and she would twirl and twirl with a huge grin on her face, therefore winning over all the people watching(especially Grandma and mom!) I thought I would post just a few fun pictures of our Haleigh Ann, our Princess forever!