Gardner Village

Gardner Village is a fun place to visit this time of year. Different silly witches spread throughout a small place to walk around and do some window shopping and try some yummy treats. It usually is a family affair but with the boys at work we decided to make it a girls day. We got there just in time for lunch we packed and sat at the picnic tables in the shade. The weather was perfect.

 Hallie was so excited about going and wanted to wear her costume to match all the other witches.

 After eating our lunch  Kimber bought donuts to share complete with fall sprinkles

 Gracie enjoyed it...alot if you couldn't tell(what a ham)

 Hallie was a little hesitant to sit next to the witches but her we are me and my girls

 Then there was the idea of putting all the kids together...that was fun...but really they did great

 The petting zoo was a first for us the kids had a great time petting the goats, horses, donkey, shetlan pony, ducks, lamas, cows, sheep, and rabbits which I think was the favorite.

 Hallie loved riding the horse swing...pretty clever indeed

Some pictures of my sweet witch. A big thanks to my mom for making her dress she has spent a lot of time in it over the last couple of weeks and was thrilled when I let her wear it all day today!

 By the time it was time to go we had two kids asleep and two kids ready to go to sleep but we did manage to get a group pic just know the two babies are in their carriers.

 We had a great time it is definitely something we look forward to every fall. We made it home just in time to get to swim lessons. Now only one more day of October to enjoy Hallie is so excited for the trunk or treat!

Bike Riding

Hallie loves to ride her bike and has been riding her bike in the garage a lot lately now that the weather has cooled off. Saturday once it warmed up we headed out for a walk just she and I. She has mastered the pedaling and now is just working on the breaking and pedaling. She did great keeping up and it was fun to see how proud she was of herself.

I think riding a bike is such a milestone for kids and so much fun but it makes me sad she is growing so fast.

Braids

This is what I would call my 1st pathetic attempt at braiding Hallie's hair. Its hard since her hair is still not full thickness and has a bunch of baby hair. She was very good to hold still so there is hope.

1st Snow of the Year

I love the look of wonder that kids get when they see the snow outside I remember as a child and still now the giddiness that comes with the snow and watching the white flakes falling from the sky. This last week was the first time I have had that feeling in a while. 

Last winter the only time we got enough snow to build a snowman was when I was in the hospital the day after having Gracie so Im really excited to get in some playing in the snow this year. Oh I love how kids help remind me of the magic in the simple things in life.

Gracie place at the table

Since Gracie started eating she has been sitting in her bumbo but she is getting a little to squirmy and wiggly for that so we decided it was time for her to have an official seat at the dinner table.

She quite enjoyed it although I think a lot more floor cleaning is now in the works for me. Oh our growing Gracie why don't you stop awhile.

Hallie's Heart Echo

When Hallie was born they heard a murmur but after seeing a pediatric cardiologist at a year they decided to wait and see if it would go away on its own(I guess 80% close in the 1st 5 years). When I took Hallie to her 3 yr check her pediatrician decided that it was time for an official dx and the way to do that was a heart echo. We went in on Thursday morning, we left Gracie with a babysitter so I wouldn't have to wake 2 of them up and ready. I woke Hallie up just in time to get to the hospital. For a couple days before I had been talking to her about it and we had played dr to show her what it would be like(I think in retrospect it helped ALOT). When we got there we were met by child life who gave her a doll, ball, and bubbles. 

 She got to draw a face on her dolly and get her dressed in the same kind of gown she had to wear for her echo.

 Then it was time for the echo...they put on her monitors and she watch Tangled with her blankie while they completed the test. She did great and never whined once. They had peds sedation there just in case but she was very cooperative so that made it easier.

 When we were done she got stickers and a color book. She was very proud of all of her prizes.

 Then we waited for the results so to kill sometime we watched a movie and ate cookies while Gracie had a rest.

 They called shortly after lunch and said the murmur that was almost so small they could hardly see it would be dx as an innocent murmur but could possible close itself by the age of five. It is a ASD(atrial septal defect) with a flap that was causing the murmur. It was quite a relief to know our sweet girl is a-ok

 That night before we put her to bed once I had taken her hair out it was crazy but she thought it was so cute...like princess hair.

That night I went to make sure she was tucked in before Matt and I went to bed to find her surrounded by her baby stuff. Cradle and stroller next to the bed, diaper bag by her side and the babies lined up next to her all tucked in for the night. She is at such a fun stage...but then again I think that about all of them!

Consistent FHE

 Truth be told we have never been good at doing official FHE. Matt and I grew up spending lots of time with our families but never having consistent FHE so needless to say it isn't something we have ever done consistently. We spend a lot of time doing things together but decided it was time to make the goal of doing official FHE. So we sat down over the weekend and set up lesson plans for the month and decided a date and time for us to do it each week. So yesterday was the day...we covered our responsibility chart and discussed savings jars which we will finish next week(short attention spans)

And of coarse everyone favorite part...treats(raspberry filled donuts)

Hallie has been really excited about her chart and savings jars so now we just have to keep up the consistency and hope she stays somewhat excited but here's to setting goals and taking steps to achieving them!

Hallie 3 yrs

 Hallie 3yrs

25lbs 13oz(6%)first time above 5% since birth whooo!!

36.3in(32%)

What a special little girl our Hallie Mae is she has developed quite the little personality over the last 3 years. She is very polite and always the 1st to offer to help someone. She has really enjoyed joy school and is still very much ahead of most kids her age. We have started doing more reading and writing full words with her. She love to be outside and to play with friends. She loves the trampoline, sandbox, and swingset with slide.  She is great at helping us to remember to say prayer and read our scriptures. She is very mature for her age. She loves music some of her favorite songs include Payphone, Call me maybe, Thousand years, and Wide Awake. She loves guacamole with chips and eats everything we do. She is very good at trying things at least once to see if she likes them. She is very much into princesses and loves to dress up and dance. She has developed quite the imagination and I quite frequently find her talking or teaching her dolls something I had said or taught to her. We just started her with an allowance and some "responsibilities" so we will see how that goes. She loves to watch tv and play electronics of any kind and sometimes I think she know better how to run them than I do. She is very good at listening and rarely gets put in time out. She is great at sharing with Gracie but at times has a hard time sharing with other kids. One of her favorite things this summer has been to pick raspberries off our raspberry bushes and eat them by the handfuls...I don't think I will ever get to do anything with them we eat them to quick. She has loved helping the the garden, mostly picking the fruits and veggies. 

 Today after we finished the yard work she asked if we could wash her car like we wash our car.(She just got this car from a friend last week and it was pretty dirty). So we pulled out the soap, sponges, and rags and gave her car a good wash. After we got it cleaned she said that's much better now it looks loved and taken care of(we have been talking about how we treat and take care of things) it made me smile and my heart happy.

 She is so sweet and thoughtful of Gracie. Yesterday while in Walmart on the  shaving isle she informed me she needed a picture with Gracie. I thought it was so cute and is just one example of what a sweet little girl she is. She wants to make sure everyone is included and happy.

Where have the last 3 years gone? Matt and I feel so lucky to have such an amazing little girl that helps teach/remind us to be better everyday.

Gracie 9 months

Gracie 9 months 

17lbs 8oz(28%)

27.2in(41%)

What can I say about one of the sweetest, happiest, laid back babies you will ever meet. She is growing and changing a lot faster than I would like her to. She is wearing size 9-12 month clothes and size 2 diapers. She sleeps all night and takes 3-4 naps during the day that range from 45min to 3 hrs. She is a late sleeper and sleeps til anywhere from 8-9am which I love(I think there is a lot of truth to if you train the 1st one right it trickles down). She started crawling on Sept 26(Hallie B-day). She started out with the army crawl and resorts back to that when she is in a hurry but has now also mastered the "real" crawling. About a week before she started crawling she started pulling herself up on furniture and walking holding on to it. To be honest I really wondered if she would skip crawling but I was wrong. I remember with Hallie wanting her to do all these milestones so I knew that she was developing correctly and with Gracie I would like her to stay unmobile(probably not a word) as long as she wants which has already passed. She still has no teeth but doesn't let that stop her from eating anything. She loves snacks and would eat the whole container if you'd let her. She has the smile that lights up not only her face but the room. She started drinking out of a straw on Oct 15 when Hallie shared her icee with her. She loves to feed herself and is very independent. Below she fed herself a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie my sister gave her and managed to enjoy it this much....I think she liked it.

A bout a month ago when she started pulling herself up on furniture we decided that we better move her crib down a bit and just as we suspected it was only a matter of time and just today after nap I went in to find her standing in her crib.

This is her army crawl

Love you Gracie Goo what a sweet blessing you are in our lives!

Kids can sleep anywhere

Our girls have always been really good sleepers...something I have always been grateful for. Gracie is much better than Hallie about sleeping where ever and whenever she is tired which I think is mostly me because with Hallie I always made sure I was home for naps and now with 2 if I did that I would never get anything done. But while we were out the other day usually Gracie will kinda fuss til I give her her binki, bundle, and cover her before she goes to sleep but not this day I looked in the rear view mirror in between stores and she was out. I love how sweet they look when they sleep.

 The arm you can see under the curtain is Hallie's. We have been spending sometime at Kim & Ez's since Luke arrived and have taken multiple naps there. Hallie loves Kim's prego body pillow and asks to sleep in it every time we go. On this day we had gotten the pillow out and tucked her in. About 20 minutes after we laid her down Kimber went to change her clothes and couldn't fins Hallie after a second of panic she noticed her arm sticking out from under the curtain and sure enough she was totally asleep and slept there for almost 2 hours!

Oh silly kids and the places they find to sleep

Singing in Conference

Although it probably isn't a surprise to see this title equated with the Brower name but you may be surprised to know that it was actually Matt that sang in the Priesthood session of conference this time.

It took a lot of time a dedication on all of our parts and Im kinda glad its over. Im so glad Matt had this opportunity and t I know he enjoyed it but I was glad to hear him say that he also thought it was a lot of work and probably a once in a lifetime thing.

CMT Tailgate

 After Matt graduated from WSU Construction Management program he has been on the alumni presidency as well as teaching as a adjunct. After getting his current job at Wadman he was put on a board help be the go between between them and the ABC board so needless to say he has stayed very involved and it has given our little family many opportunities to be involved in fun things. On this occasion it was the WSU tailgate. We ate, played on the bounce houses, and then got awesome suite box for the game.

 It was a pretty chilly day so we were excited to get to our heated suite with lots more yummy treats and food.

They handed out coloring/activity books for the kids(all 4 of them) to keep them entertained so the rest of us could watch the game.

Although they all seemed to like half time and the marching band

 I love this picture. Gracie was content to hang out on one of our laps.

 Our little heated suite box and of coarse a tv to watch other important games

 We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go again soon...go wildcats!