A Fall Review

Our fall weather couldn't have been nicer, and we ate outside almost every night until probably the end of October. We also swam well into the end of it; only Sophie starting school really slowed us down. This is why we pay the big bucks to live in SoCal. :) Here's a photolog of a little of our fall 2011.

Joseph put up the hammock he got on his mission in Brazil and there is almost constantly someone out in it, usually one of the kids. They love being swung until they can touch the patio roof. It's nice to have something to swing in since we still don't have a play set of any kind in our yard. The debate over whether to get a play structure or a trampoline for the back yard wages on.

I miss these chunky legs! Once Will got mobile the fat fell right off him. I loved having a baby with rolls! It just means more of him to love!

Sophie and Avery love to put on my clothes and clip clop around the house in my high heels. They're highly entertaining and keep me smiling!

Sophie has grown up so much this past year. I bet I'll write that sentence every year until she's 18, but I just can't get over how fast these kids change! Sometimes I'm grateful for the changes when they're going through a particularly frustrating phase, for example, but usually I find myself wishing I could freeze them as they are. Sophie's imagination has taken off and she not only uses it in her play but she can now translate it to paper. She has become quite the creative artist (where before it was a chore for her to scribble on paper) and draws pictures of rainbows, mermaids, flowers, and especially all of us as stick figures all day long. She loves writing all our names all over everything she draws, too. She sets a great example for her younger brother and sister and we're so lucky to have her be our #1.

Avery has always loved to draw but is also getting more creative with it since seeing her sister's latest ideas. She's not as destructive as she's been in the past, it's more that she's clumsy and a disaster-magnet so she still makes messes everywhere she goes, it's just more unintentional than it's been before. She loves to play games and is really good at Go Fish, Matching, and Crazy 8's, as well as putting together puzzles. She's got a great smile she loves to flash and the mischievous twinkle in her eye hasn't dimmed at all, which I actually love. While I no longer use her nickname "Peanut" very often (much to Joseph's delight), she still is our skinny little Peanut and we sure love this "middle child."

Now that Sophie's gone to school every morning I get to spend a lot of one on one time with Avery which I love. Will naps and Avery and I play games and read books together. But she's also really good at playing by herself which is nice so that I can also get things done that I need to do. She loves it when I let her have play dates and loves her friend Shea who will play dress up and do all sorts of other crazy things with her.

William started crawling right before the 9 month mark, and he's never turning back. He loves the independence it gives him and that instead of staying in one place whining for me, he can actually come get me now.

This is a view I look at dozens of times every day. He wants to be held all day long and is constantly crawling up me or holding onto my legs until I give in and pick him up. I'm sad I can literally see him changing into a toddler almost over night and am already mourning the loss of his babyhood, but 9 months is also one of my favorite stages ever so I won't complain too loud.

Sophie loves to be in the garden and picked me this bouquet of flowers all by herself one day while working outside with Joseph.

Sophie and I go head-to-head on a lot of things because we're so alike, but she can also be so sweet and lovable, too. It's a good thing or I might have sold her off to the gypsies years ago! (I jest, Mom, I jest!)

Will thinks he's one of the big kids and tries to do the things he sees them do. Sometimes this results in a few goose eggs on the head and such, but usually he's either able to actually do them (always surprising to me) or he realizes he's way in over his head and backs down. Wait a year, Buddy, and you'll be in there with the champs!