October already?

I know I am way behind and there is no use in trying to catch up. This summer was great... a lot of traveling and socializing. During the month of September, I headed down to Richfield 3 times! RyLee and Sara had their baby, KayLee (she is a DOLL!), so I try to sneak down there as often as I can to visit them. Plus, our best friends, Elle and Devin, live down there, too, so it's hard to stay away! Now I am sick, so I am home bound for a while and thought this is a great opportunity to blog!

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the circus. It was amazing! I didn't know animals could act that way, or that people could bend that way! My batteries died 5 minutes in...

...so this was the only picture we got as a family. Makes me laugh!

Before I start about the kids, I have to write about something very important to me. I finished reading the Book of Mormon. This time I really studied it out and tried to understand what I was reading. I used four different books to gain the most insight: Scriptures on the IPod (there aren't any footnotes, or chapter headings); The Book of Mormon; The Book of Mormon for Latter-Day Saint Families; and Book of Mormon Stories. Reading it this way, I felt I gained more understanding and was able to follow the stories and retain the information really well. I LOVED it! I find it so crazy that all those generations preserved and protected the records so our generation could read it and gain knowledge to help guide us through these difficult times. For any of you who haven't read it, I encourage you to study it out and pray for understanding. It'll change your life.

Anyway... The kids:

Mack:

• He just finished fall soccer. I think he was too young to play. The first 5 minutes of each game, he chased the ball, but then twirled around the field and watched his shadow.
• After working on his letters for over a year, he is finally starting to read and figure out how words come together. We play "I Spy" and one of the clues I give him is the word spelled out. He has figured out how to sound them out and guess the object.
• Addie and Lydia adore him! He came make them laugh at the drop of a hat. Especially Addie. She just looks at him and starts to laugh sometimes. He really likes "the pink baby," too.

The Team

Mack and Mia. The kid cracks me up, as does Mia's skirt!

Lydia:

• She is crawling! And she crawls everywhere. I have to keep the bathroom door shut, because that seems to be her favorite room. She takes it very seriously and tries to be super fast.
• With crawling, she is trying to pull herself up on furniture. She is one tough chic, because she falls a lot and barely cries. She even fell off my bed one day and hit her head on the wall and barely shed a tear. Crazy girl!
• Her first tooth should be coming through any day.
• Personality: She is very busy and can't hold still. She is even busier than Mack! When she cries, she tries really hard to find something to laugh about. She doesn't like to cuddle and talks to herself until she falls asleep at night. She is such a silly baby and pulls the funniest faces. I have said from the day she was born that she cracks me up!
  
• She prefers to say "dada" and even called Mack "dada" the other day. Of course, he died laughing!

Addie:

• She is my little sweetheart! She is so tender and loving. When she wakes up in the morning, she lays her head on my shoulder and gives kisses.
  
• I swear she looks straight into your soul with those huge blue eyes.
• Her first tooth broke through about a week ago. She likes to rub it with her tongue ( and Lydia tries to stick her finger in Addie's mouth to feel it, too) and rubbed a little sore on it last week. She also bit her tongue and had blood around her little lips when I got her out of the car. She didn't even complain, or cry about it once.
• She is behind on her gross motor skills, because she is just so content to sit or lay down for long periods of time. Plus, she stays plenty entertained with Mack and Lydia around, so she doesn't seem to find any reason to move.
• Her favorite word is Mom and she even uses it when she really needs me.

Just so sweet!

First curler.

I wish Addie wasn't so blurry. I could kiss these faces all day!

Some typical sleeping arrangements: