Sedona

Last Saturday we went to Sedona for the wedding reception of Brady and Elysse.  It was a great time even though Chris and I were EXHAUSTED because the previous night we were up basically all night with Amelia who had a terrible cough.  The kids had a blast running around with their cousins.

They did a little dancing

Liam cracks me up in the background on this one, He basically jumped up and down.

This little lady was tired and sick but still had a smile on her face.

Family photo attempt

The hubby and me

The next morning we took the kids swimming because they were dying to go.  The pool did not open until 9:00am and we had to check out by 10:00 so it was a limited amount of time but they enjoyed it.

Boys jumping in with Amelia

She loved having her daddy toss her

On our way back to Flagstaff we made a couple stops in Oak Creek Canyon.

Our first stop was to look down in the canyon

The boys looking down at the water

Baby girl and me

Checking out the canyon from another angle

Liam pointing out that he sees more water

Liam took this for Chris and me

Sweet boy

Rock eater

There was a little trail and Liam was ready to go on a full on hike.  We explained to him that we were not prepared for a hiking trip so he settled for going a little ways.

Amelia slowly followed

I let the boys go along the trail to a rock stump and told them that was where we were going to turn around.  Colin then said "I found the All Spark" once we arrived to the stump.  I about died laughing clearly there are too many Transformers books circulating this house.  Then the boys talked about transformers and the all spark on our way back. Ha!

We traveled to find another stop so the kids could play by the water. 

Amelia crashed at this point so she slept in the stroller.

Liam enjoyed climbing rock to rock

This is Colin checking out a caterpillar, ha!

Eventually, it crawled right on to him.

The boys found some cocoons.

They thought it was pretty cool.

Chris was hanging out with them when they found the cocoons so when it was time to go, the boys came running back to tell me all about them.  It was such a good little trip.  I told Chris we should consider a yearly trip to slide rock for Father's Day.  I think the kids would LOVE it!

Outdoor Fun

This is how Amelia watches Liam at soccer practice.

She is a cute little gal

Last weekend Chris and I went to see Wicked with some dear friends.  It was a great time and it was nice having a 24 hour period to just hang out with the hubby.

Our picture attempt take two!

The show was great and I loved it.  So glad we went.  Afterwards we made a stop at Ikea and had a little fun. 

We were going to head home but decided we were tired and it was late so Shane and Jenna were kind enough to take us in.  We ended up playing a game called Cards against Humanity.  It was ridiculous and we had a lot of laughs.

Chris and I had made a stop at Barnes and Noble and bought the kids some Halloween books which resulted in me busting out all our Halloween books.  We had a good time reading them.

This past week we also busted out fall and Halloween decor.  The boys enjoyed decorating this little tree.

We also had a good time playing outside.  It was cloudy and cool and perfect outside.

I love watching the kids play and especially listening to their imaginations.

Amelia joined in on the climbing

My loves

Baby girl

This little guy has become a little dare devil and has began jumping from things

Happy guy

Silly girl

I LOVE them all so very much

Angels

Love

Brandi and I took the kids to library time last Wednesday and Amelia was really getting into the shaky egg song.

So were these ones.

But she thought she was pretty cool!

Then we all headed to the park since the weather was still pretty amazing,

The boys and Neely climbed a lot while Brandi and I chased/followed Reed and Amelia.

Overall we have had a pretty good week!

11 Months!

I can't believe I am getting ready to plan a birthday party for a little lady who will turn one in a month.  My precious time with Amelia has gone so fast and I am tearing up in shock that she is eleven months!  I really don't know how it happened.  What I do know is we all love this little lady.

Amelia is weighing in at 19.8lbs and is 29 1/4 inches long.

Amelia continues to be a VERY active baby.  She is EVERYWHERE, cupboards, closets, drawers, toilets (yes the boys are learning they need to flush the toilet and put the lid down), and climbs on anything and everything she can.  We have had the step ladder out for painting purposes and she thinks she needs to climb right up it.  The funny part is when she does climb on a chair or the step ladder and realizes she can't get down she belts out a scream for help.  It is very different from her other screams and I can't describe it but I always know she needs help.

I did the pictures at the last minute in the dark.  She was semi cooperative.

Amelia is very stubborn and determined, which are great traits at times.  She will not back down from most anything.

She is also super sweet and loves to cuddle and play.  She especially loves to wrestle like her brothers.  Anytime someone is laying on the floor she will run over and fall on them.  

She continues to be a momma's girl and I love it but sometimes she follows me everywhere and I can't accomplish a thing unless I am holding our sweet little angel.  Here she is resting her head on the play set.

Amelia continues to be a great eater.  She will eat just about anything we give her.  She loves fruit, veggies, noodles, and dino chicken just like Colin does.  She continues to be a water baby and loves swimming in the pool with her brothers.  I had to recruit Liam to help me with the pictures so I could get a smile out out her.  That's why she is looking off to the side.

She loves her brothers but she has something special with Liam at this point, maybe because he is a little more tolerant and understanding of her.  Colin loves giving her hugs but she tends to pull his hair and that doesn't sit too well with him. Ha!  Anyway, she can say her own version of both boys' names right now.  She will holler out and while looking for Liam (or shall I say "Um" which is how she says Liam) some days .  Colin's name is "Un" but she really does know the difference which is cool.

Happy little lady

Looking for Liam

Playing peek-a-boo

I love watching my kids play together.

So sweet

This girl is also quick.  She runs around like crazy.

She is so happy to run.  She has recently decided she is okay with wearing shoes, before she would just stand in one spot and take them off.  I am glad she is willing now because I feel better about letting her down at places like the park, in the backyard she is allowed to roam freely though.

Here are what most of the pictures I took look like...

She takes off before I can get a clear shot or they turn out blurry because she is quick.

I leave you with a few videos.

Peek-A-Boo

Laughing Girl

Showing her determined/stubborn attitude.  She was wanting to climb up the slide just like her big brothers.

We LOVE this gal and can't wait to watch her personality continue to blossom.