Here Comes the Bride

The recent wedding of my cousin had quite the impact on my children. Yesterday they decided to reenact it--all of it. Sierra was the bride, Myles the groom, and Mekinley the wedding planner. And boy what a wedding she planned! She recorded the Wedding March on the piano and had it playing in the background, she made a bouquet out of what flowers she could find that hadn't been killed by the frost, and she even made me and Rob get dressed up to watch. It was hilarious!! The best part was the wedding photos. I kind of knew what they were up to, but I honestly had no idea to what extent. Mekinley orchestrated these photos all by herself. And they are adorable! I think I have my work cut out for me when she gets married for real. And I have great blackmail pictures for Myles' and Sierra's weddings!

St. George Fun

With this summer being so crazy we never got to go on a family vacation so finally this fall we went to St. George. It was a child's paradise. The kids literally swam for three days straight and even then we had to drag them out of the water. It wasn't so bad on us parents either. With the kids completely entertained the guys and girls were able to sneak away for some grown-up fun as well. The weather was beautiful, the company was entertaining, and all went well. Can't wait for next year!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Picking out our pumpkins is one of our favorite fall traditions. It always amazes me how long it takes! We have to comb through the entire field before selections are made. And even then everyone changes their mind at least three times each. But I guess that's part of the fun.

Rylee's Wedding

My cousin got married a few weeks ago. It was an amazing wedding at an amazing location and offered some good kodak moments. And you know me....always wanting to show off my kids! Plus Kinley was in the posing mood, which is hard to get these days.

Sierra's Lost Teeth

Sierra finally lost a tooth, or should I say teeth. She lost her first and then less than a week later her second one came out too. She thought it would never happen! It was very exciting, and the tooth fairy was kept busy.

Halloween 2011

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, and this year was no exception. We partied hard and are still recuperating.

The Bell Clan--Quinn took home the prize for the best costume this year.

Myles LOVES the donut game. And he never cheats!

Sierra was impossible picking out her costume! She literally had five adorable choices but had a problem with each. "This is itchy!" "Why can't I wear a swimsuit?!" "The neck is too big!" "I look like a cat!" Ah!!! One day I sincerely hope she has a daughter who is as impossible as her. Until then...pray for me.

Parx's first Halloween!

I was so proud of us this year! I dusted off the leopard jumpsuit,

and Rob even dressed up, make-up and all.

Guess Who's Crawling!!

So my baby is crawling!! Parx has actually been crawling since Oct. 10th, but it's taken me this long to write about it. He is all over the place! I tell you, there's nothing like a crawling baby. They are so cute!! But also so hard to keep track of. He is everywhere. He really is like a little puppy dog, always at my heels. No matter where I'm at or how fast I move, he's right there sitting on my feet. Now he's even pulling himself up on everything so he'll pull himself up and hang onto my legs. It's so dang cute. I love it. It also makes it a little tricky. I can't just move around freely. I always have to be careful not to smoosh him. He also loves the vacuum. He chases it around and pounces on it when he gets the chance. Just this morning it was near impossible to get the vacuuming done. And he's so fast!

Parx is also such a mama's boy. Oh, yah. All of my kids have been snugglers (let's face it, they don't have a choice), but he takes the cake. Parx also loves to play peek-a-boo. Nothing gets him smiling and laughing like this. He even lifts the blanket up to cover his face and plops it down all on his own. He's also jabbering up a storm. It's amazing how much he can communicate without saying a real word.

Ah........if I could only freeze time. Parx is at such a cute age, and it's absolutely flying by. I'm so acutely aware of just how fast it's going that it's overwhelming. Everything he does makes my heart soar and ache at the same time. It's fun to see him reach these milestones, but then I know it's one step closer to him growing up. I know I'm being dramatic, but he's my baby!! It probably is a good thing that I don't have an option of having another baby. I'd probably be contemplating having another...okay maybe not.