Brody's Crawling!

Brody started crawling last Wednesday. He's doing it more than he's commando crawling now and seems quite proud of himself! I've also added several posts below that I back-dated.

Email - Check!

I didn't have access to DSL for a couple of days and was already behind in emails. I just successfully checked, read, and responded to about 60 legitimate emails. I also fed my kids, did school, unloaded the dishwasher, folded a load of laundry, AND called AT&T about the DSL. Now I need to go get dressed. :)

Halloween

October 31st flew by. We started the day with rushed baths then rushed to Sterling House (a nursing home) to trick-or-treat with the residents. Abby and Sydney had fun; Brody was missing his morning nap. :(

We then drove through Chick-Fil-A to get our free nuggets and fed Brody when we got home. While Brody napped, we carved a pumpkin. I've never done it before so I was so excited. We then changed back into costumes and rushed to ScanSource for their trick-or-treating event! We fought the traffic back home to a quick bowl of crockpot chili . Chili is always a battle! We changed back into costumes AGAIN, meeting at the Taylors for a neighborhood trick-or-treating event. In a neighborhood that has traditionally been senior citizens I think we surprised everyone with our 9 kids and 10 adults! I had to come home early with Brody because he was D-O-N-E.

We finished the day with a fun visit from my in-laws and organized our candy. Abby and Sydney loved the organizing part. :) Can't say I mind.

Trunk-Or-Treat

Our community group decided to have an athletic theme for our Trunk-Or-Treat "booth" at the church building. Stephen was a Harlem Globe Trotter and manned the basketball goal.

I was a cheerleader but ended up walking my kids around most of the night.

We also had a bowling alley, a stationary kids bike and adult bike, a golf game and a soccer net. We all had a great time.

It was also our friend, Sabrina's birthday so we finished the evening with cookie cake! (It does have an orange tiger paw. It's for Sabrina, and I still do not like orange, but she is worth it).

Abby's 3rd Tooth Fairy Experience

One would think that once Abby had two lost teeth under her belt she would be comfortable with the whole losing-baby-teeth idea. She is still not. She does not want to loose her teeth, whether they grow back or not. Everytime it has been somewhat traumatic. I think it's because she is the first of her 5-year old friends to lose teeth.

She begrudgingly allowed me to take these pictures. I was trying to make it a big deal.

The worst part is that the tooth fairy forgot to come. :) We told her she'd gotten up too early and that if she went back to sleep maybe tooth fairy would come. Stephen went to room to "sleep", too. So the tooth fairy must not be a morning person, either.

Brody Turns One

I cannot believe it has been a year since Brody was born. It feels like yesterday that I was running around trying to get car seats installed at the fire department. He was so cute in his little glow-worm outfits (bili blanket). I still think of Brody as a little baby, but he is certainly growing quickly. Since we've started table food, he's been astonishing us with how much food he can put down. He eats more than both Abby and Sydney put together, most meals. When picking his
name we imagined him being a quarterback, but he's eating more like a linebacker!

Brody is so much fun right now. He laughs at just about everything. Stephen loves playing rough with him.

When I walk out of the room he doesn't like it so he'll crawl on his belly as fast as he can to try to catch me. It is so heart warming to see him "sprinting" for Mama! He always prefers me to hold him. It's so sweet. He is also very cuddly. He's been putting his head on my shoulder (as if he's hugging me) before I put him down for naps and when he wakes up. He also does that to act shy when people smile at him.

He smiles at everyone. We cannot walk into a store without him catching eyes with somebody. I am so grateful for him. The girls are, too! Sydney calls him "Boo Boo" and "Buddy" and she takes toys to him wherever he is in the house. Abby tries to read books to him and is constantly wanting to find clothes to put on him. They both talk to him with really high pitched voices and are so sweet and gentle with him, now. Sydney loves sitting next to Brody in the car. She still keeps him from crying by singing, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" but she can also make him cackle, just by making silly sounds and faces. Every time Abby walks up to Brody he smiles and points at her. I just love watching them all interact.


To celebrate Brody's 1st Birthday, we had family over Saturday for breakfast and cake. Brody really liked his cake. He had two servings of breakfast casserole and then ate almost all of his cake. He would have finished it but we took it away from him when only a fourth of it was left. Here's a video and some pictures:

Introducing the cake:

Digging In:

With Daddy and Mama then Mimi, Pop, Abby and Sydney:

Playing with Nana, Posing with Aunt Martha and Aunt Betsy:

Brody is one, Gran is ninety-one! Gran gets a mouthful:

Brody with his sisters - pure jubilation:

Brody's First Haircut

Brody had his first haircut at Jelly Beans tonight. He was so distracted with the Sesame Street toy he probably wouldn't have noticed Tracy was cutting his hair - until it was time to have his bangs cut. He didn't like it a bit. She had to hold his face really tight to get him to be still enough to have them cut. He didn't like that, either. But, Tracy the hairstylist won the battle and now you can see his ears AND his eyes!


Here are some pictures: