Halloween and Updates

So, Alexa decided she wanted to be a witch this year for Halloween. Sounded good to me, so I made an executive decision that everyone would be a witch this year... really, they were happy with it- I wasn't being mean. It meant no princess costumes, no curly hair, no makeup, no shoes they can't walk in. I'm so sick of all that stuff. This was the easiest Halloween ever and I loved it. Everyone knows I'm much more of a Fall/Harvest person than a Halloween person. I'm always glad to see Halloween pass. Yes, you may call me the Scrooge of Halloween and I'm completely fine with accepting the title. So, here are my three little witches and my little Penguin. This may be the only time the little penguin was awake in his costume. I must have bad timing because everytime the costume went on, his eyes closed. Silly kid. The girls trick or treated in our neighborhood with some of their cousins. It was perfect outside. I had on flip flops and a short sleeved shirt and was fine till we went inside. It's one of the things I love best about St George- I love being able to enjoy the fall colors by actually being in them- not just looking at them through my window. Anyway, the girls had a great time.
My cute little guy. He's so much fun to have around.
Alexa insisted that her had be crooked for the picture... still not sure why. Leah's hair had been in two braids all day, which is why it looks so funky. I figured it was appropriate for a witch to have out of control hair.
Quinten is constantly sticking his tongue out.

Quinten is just over 5 months old now. I can hardly believe it has been that long! A month ago he weighed in at 13 lb. We're happy with it because it's over twice his birth weight. He is finally starting to feel a little like a boy. He grunts a lot more than the girls did and he feels thicker- not so dainty. We started him on solid foods a few weeks ago. He's still not sold on the idea, but we're getting there. He's been rolling around for awhile too. He hates his stomach, so when he rolls to it, he cries. It's quite funny. He is FINALLY sleeping better. I'm only up once or maybe twice during the night now. It was awful for awhile- he hated his bed and loved mine, and since I refuse to have kids sleep in my bed, we were awake sometimes two or three times an hour a few times every night. I think I was so tired everyday that we literally ran on autopilot at our house. My poor kids watched a lot of movies. Quinten has had his haircut again and again. Is this what I have to look forward to with a boy?? I'm already tired of his ever growing hair. And, everyone still comments on his full head. He's like a little ChiaBoy. It has gotten lighter with every haircut. And, the jury is still out on his eye color. I go back and forth from blue to brown. It's still just a muddy mess of color most days. Aside from being a lousy sleeper, he really is the best baby. He's happy and so smiley to anyone who will look his way. We just think he's the best!
This is Leah dressing herself for the day... we stayed home on this particular day. Leah drives me crazy. I love her to death and she can be so incredibly sweet, but she still drives me absolutely crazy. The child spends more time out on our back porch than she does inside our house...OK, it may be a slight exaggeration. (Her timeouts are outside because she screams so loud, hits me, wakes up Quinten, etc... you get the idea.) Am I a mean mom? Probably. Do I feel bad about that? Not so much. I try to remind myself that it's a phase. Isn't it?? She does manage to make me laugh on a daily basis. She was drawing a few days ago and said, "Look, I drew a vampire." I had to think really hard as to where she would have heard about vampires. It took me a couple days, but it was from the Max and Ruby Halloween special. No, I don't read the Twilight books to my kids... which I know went through ALL of your heads when you read the vampire thing. What kind of Mom do you think I am??? We were in the car yesterday listening to the radio and the new Hannah Montana song came on (you know the one- Party in the USA, yada, yada... I don't really know the rest of the words yet.) Anyway, Leah says to me, "Is this Hannah Montana?" How did she know?? I am guessing she actually pays attention to her older sisters even when I don't think she does.
This is Callie during her preschool Halloween program. She loves school so much. I've helped in her class a couple times since the beginning of the year and it's been fun to see how much she has changed in that short amount of time. She makes friends easily and seems to get along with everyone. She has become my helper on the days she is home, now that Alexa is gone all day. And, she makes me laugh. I was getting ready to leave to get my hair done last week and she says to me, "You don't need to get your hair done. Just stick it in a bun and throw it in the oven!" Where do they come up with this stuff?? We had a bit of an allergy scare with Callie a couple weeks ago. She managed to get a small Snickers bar from the Primary program practice and ate it before she got home and I could check it. She came up to me and told me her chest hurt. Alexa then informed me that she had eaten a Snickers. HELLO ALEXA!!! You could have stopped her! Anyway, I got out her Epi-pen, thinking I would have to use it and rush to the hospital. She threw up over and over and over, but her breathing seemed OK. Her lips were a little swollen for awhile and I got up every hour through the night to check on her, but she was OK. I hope it means the allergy is getting to be less potent. We'll have her tested again soon to see what's really going on. Callie still sings and dances every chance she gets. Andrew and I love watching her. She really is entertaining!


The big girls recently got haircuts. They are so happy with shorter hair! I am glad only because it's less to wash, dry, and brush. Alexa's big news is she lost another tooth a couple weeks ago. She also has four more that are loose. She loves talking about her loose teeth and about who has loose teeth in her class... we are quite sick of it. She's doing great in school and still loves it, of course. She loves to read and will sit down and completely zone everything else out just to read a book. It's great! Her best friend will be moving the end of December, so we've been trying to prep her. Alexa is still quite shy around people she doesn't know well. We can always tell because she folds her arms, looks down, and has a scowl on her face. She looks like she has an attitude, but really it's her nerves getting the best of her. I'm constantly telling her to keep her arms at her sides, chin up, and smile! She hates hearing it. :) The other day I had her and Leah in the bathtub and I was leaning over the edge to wash Leah's hair. Alexa says to me (with a laugh), " Mom, your stomach looks like you're going to have another baby!" Thank you, Alexa... thank you.

That's about all for us these days. This was a long post... phew.