11 months

Our baby girl is almost a year old. I totally canNOT believe it.

Things I want to remember:

~She finally started waving. But it has to be on her terms~

~About 2 days ago she finally started clapping on her own, too~

~Her 4th tooth, top right, finally broke through on Nov. 17th~

~She's getting 2 more top teeth right now~

~She is the worst eater. I'm hoping it's because of the teeth, and she grows out of it~

~She'll stand all by herself for about 10 seconds, until she realizes noone is helping her, then she v.e.r.y.s.l.o.w.l.y lowers herself to the floor~

~She walks along things, and when someone is holding her hands~
~She points with all 4 long skinny fingers together~
~We are very slowly weaning from formula. I just bought 3 giant cans, we're down to 1 1/2 so we're taking our time.~
~I don't know how to get rid of the bottle. Or the bink. Not sure I'm ready to get rid of the bink. I know she's not!~

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Colby told me I couldn't put very many on here cause then you'd know what your Christmas card will look like. So here's a teeny tiny sneak peek.

Thanks Tiff!! We absolutely LOVE what we've seen tonight!! You're the best!

Oh, my! I can't wait to see the rest of them.

Go here or here to check out more of her amazing photos.

I think it's safe!!?

It's been about a month now, so I think it's pretty safe to say...

 Miracles really do Happen! Dreams really do come True!!

Cutler is potty trained!

Someone once told me that one day he would just start going all by himself. There was no way in the world, after all the time it was taking, I believed it. But...one day I was running some errands, and the kids were home with Colby. When I got back he told me that while he was doing whatever it was he was doing, Cutler left and he couldn't find him. He was looking all over, and he finally found him in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet. And he's never looked back! He still wears a pull-up at night, but we still let him have his sippy to go to sleep (super bad habit - don't ever do it!) He's only had 2 accidents.

I just can't believe it's finally happened. I thought the kid would go to Kindergarten in a diaper. Honestly. What I think has helped though is him being in school and watching the other kids go on their own. And, the day before Colby found him on the toilet I took Cutler to the dollar store and bought a package of beads. When we got home I got out 2 jars - one empty, one full of beads. I told him that each time he went pee in the toilet he could put a bead in the jar, and 2 beads for pooping. If he had an accident he had to take the same amount of beads out for whatever accident it was. Also, because he likes to watch so much t.v., I made it so that he had to pay for a show with a bead. If he had too many accidents and there weren't any beads, then there was no t.v. And once he got 20 beads he got a new toy, his choice.

I don't really know what actually did the trick, but whatever it was it worked!!

10 months + a week

In all our craziness this little beauty turned 10 months old. She seriously brings so much joy to us - all of us. The boys are still just as crazy about her as Colby & I are.

*She has her dad wrapped right around her little finger - bad!
*She is standing up to everything. Not taking steps, but lets go for just a second.
*On Nov. 2 (in the middle of the night) her 3rd tooth broke through. Top left.
*She won't wave, clap, or do any of those tricks. And she points with all of her fingers.
*She dances (bounces up and down) when she hears music.
*She's suffering from some separation anxiety right now. Whenever she sees me or Colby walk out of a room, she cries. Funny, sad, annoying - all together.
*She always sits like this when she's playing

I love it!!

*She hates being strapped in to things: car seat, stroller, high chair, etc...
*Besides the teething, and a little cold she's dealing with right now, she's still a fairly happy little girl.

We love you Lexie Lu!!

Colby's deer

Opening morning was the biggest joke ever! I've hunted most of my life, not always the rifle hunt, but still...I have never seen so many hunters in one place on the first day. I bet in just the little area we were in, there were at least 50 hunters that came through in the first 3 hours of the hunt. Unbelievable. No kill for any of us that morning. That night, Kent, Colby & I went to a different area and didn't see one deer. Colby, Kent and Dave went another night and that's when Colby got his.

I probably hunted more this year than almost any other year. It's hard when you're the mom, and there's kids at home. My mom was super helpful and watched the kids on opening day - morning & night. One night we took the kids, and I think Makayla took them one night. I can't even remember. Needless to say, I didn't get one. But, I wasn't going to shoot a spike, and that's all I saw. I told Colby I'm done for a few years, I need my kids to be a little older and not so dependant on others. So it's 'points only' for me for a while. We'll just let the men be the hunters.