Birthdays and Thanksgiving

November is quite busy around here.  It's also our favorite time of year.  The kids especially love to decorate for the holidays.

First, we celebrated my birthday.  Grandma Cleys made a delicious chocolate cake and the kids helped me blow out my candles.

Chris took Josh to Jewel to buy a card and other grocery items.  Josh suggested he buy me some flowers.  Daddy told him to keep it a secret.  As soon as Josh walked in the door, he proceeded to tell me that he bought me a surprise.  I then told him not to tell me what it was, but Josh went ahead and told me anyway.  So funny!

 We usually have Thanksgiving at my aunt's house, but since she was out of town and Cousin Caroline was having a baby, Thanksgiving was moved to my house.  And the day before was spent crazy cleaning!

Everything turned out great and we are so happy to welcome my cousin's baby, Elise, to the family.  So happy that Brooke will have a playmate who is the same age!

To finish off the month, we celebrated Chris's birthday.  He wasn't home to celebrate, but Grandma Cleys made him a delicious cake when he came home.

We are busy getting ready for Christmas!

Brooke's (New and Improved) Schedule

I am super glad that we took the advice of our pediatrician and moved Brooke's crib to her room.  This has pushed us to change her nap routine as well.

Here's what our day looks like:

6:00-7:00am    wake-up  -depends on when the big kids get up and
                             how much noise is made
8:00 am             oatmeal   -prior to this, Brooke plays in the
                            Jumperoo while I pump
9:00am              morning nap
10:30-11:00am  wake-up
12:00pm            fruit
1:00pm              afternoon nap -prior to this, Brooke is playing
2:00-3:00pm   wake-up -this nap is usually shorter and
                             her wake up is different everyday
4:30pm               vegetable
6:30pm               bed time

She eats a bottle about half an hour after her meals and then another one before going to sleep.  She also wakes around 9pm for another feeding.  I usually breastfeed her then.  Around 2 or 3 am, she wakes up and cries, and we just change her diaper and she falls asleep.  Then around 4 or 5am she wakes up to eat again.  I know that we can cut that night feeding out, but she really is hungry then and I am not complaining!  She used to wake up every hour or two hours to eat.  I love that she can sleep 5 hours straight now!  Some times she doesn't wake for the 9pm feeding till around 1am.  Every night is different.  I am really enjoying more sleep!

The best thing about this whole schedule: SHE DOESN'T CRY ANYMORE GOING TO SLEEP!!!  This is huge!  I was trying the whole cry it out method when the crib was still in our room and it just wasn't working.  She would end up crying for half and hour and that would be daily.  Now, I lay her down, she rolls to her side, and she goes to sleep!

We used to have her nap in a swing.  I know, super bad.  Now, she naps in her crib and goes to sleep.  Sometimes she protests the naps, but mostly she falls right asleep.

The only thing that hasn't changed is that she is still a very happy baby!

It's finally here...Halloween!

After all the parades and parties, Halloween was finally here!  The kids were set to go from the time they woke up.  They had to constantly be reminded that trick-or-treating didn't start until the big kids came home from school.

What's more difficult than dressing 3 kids???  Dressing 4 kids!  Here they are: Jack as Buzz Lightyear, Abby as Snow White, Josh as Winnie the Pooh, and Brooke as Piglet.  I can't even tell you how special this picture is to me.  I cannot believe that all these beautiful, healthy, and amazing children are mine!

I had to get some pics of Pooh and his sidekick:

 Our traditional Lanpher porch pics

Hey, Dude!

Brrrr...it was so cold!

Brooke was all bundled up.  Thankfully, the Piglet costume was warm.

This year was so different from last year.  The kids actually went up to the doors by themselves.  It was nice to actually walk and talk with our friends and just watch the kids run from house to house.  Speaking of running, this year they kept up with the big kids.

 And this kid, he was a trooper and wanted to keep going.  Josh was done half way through.

After about an hour, the kids were ready to go home.  They really enjoyed handing out candy this year, too.  I know the kids who came to our door enjoyed the giant handfuls of candy ;)

 Jack's stash

 Hey, I'm a nice guy...

just don't touch my candy!