An update...no pics :(

I thought I would put up a little update before Heidi wakes up! Heidi and I have been fighting off a stomach bug for almost a week now, so things are a little crazy now!

Heidi - She has been pulling herself up on everything and standing. She walks (more like stumbles) along the furniture and whatever she can get herself up on. She can push the little baby stroller and she walks like Frankenstein behind it. When she stands she gets so excited and squeals and giggles. She always cracks us up. She is VERY excitable and her whole body goes wild when she is excited. She can say hi, mama and dada. She LOVES food and does pretty well drinking from a sippy cup. She is now 8 months old! HOLY CRAP! She still isn't a very good sleeper but she is slowly getting better. I am still completely sleep deprived and cranky. She LOVES Raleigh and Audrey and LOVES being around them.

Audrey - She is doing a thousand times better at taking care of Heidi and being patient with Heidi. She has learned to say, "Mom, can you please get Heidi" instead of just pushing her over. She rarely bites, pinches, scratches, etc. BUT, there is still a ton of pushing between her and Raleigh. I'm not sure I will ever defeat that. She is WAY excited for Christmas, but I think it is overwhelming her. When Raleigh leaves her alone, she is an extremely happy, funny kid, but Raleigh likes to follow her around and boss her around which causes her to cry and scream so loud that I feel like my brain is shaking. She LOVES helping me cook and clean. And she likes being a "grandma" to her babies. Even she knows it is more fun to be Grandma! She can count to 10 easily and 15 sometimes and she knows most of her ABCs. She loves showing me how much she loves me and she is always up for cuddling on my lap.

Raleigh - Is such a smart kid! He is SO quick! Trevor will make a joke and Raleigh will get it! They are peas in a pod. He is obsessed with Taylor Swift. And he got his first kiss on his cheek from a little girl in his preschool class. He was so shy that he just stared off to the side and didn't say anything though. And he won't talk about it now. He knows how to play a song on the piano from a piece of sheet music he got a school. I can't wait to hear it! I think it may be the season, but he has turned into a bossy little guy and he hounds Audrey. He is always telling her what to do. It drives me crazy! He is AMAZING with Heidi though. He is so thoughtful, gentle, concerned and caring. He praises both girls for the things they do. He is a proud big bro.

I am very lucky to have 3 sweet kiddos and I am grateful to have such a wonderful husband to navigate our crazy life with. Trevor has been working really hard keeping us somewhat above water during this winter. It has been the busiest yet! Go Halgren Construction!

GO DUCKS!!!!

The Ducks are going to the BCS National Championship Game! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been a while!

I have very little time at night now, so my blogging is suffering. It is my outlet, so I am a bit more crazy when I don't get to do it! Here are some updates:

Raleigh - Had a blast at Thanksgiving until he realized we weren't going Trick or Treating after. Is still really shy around other people but is a non stop talker/singer at home. He loves to make up his own stories and songs. He falls, trips, crashes into things at least 20 times/day. Is extremely thoughtful and smart. He is very logical and I don't get much by him. He has inherited my dad's ability to guess presents without feeling them...it is driving me crazy!

Audrey - Just shocked me today by making it through a whole counting book and then showed me she can count all the way up to 14. Also shocked me the past few days by sharing with Heidi! Gwyn accidentally scratched Heidi and while Heidi was crying, Audrey brought over her blanket and Foofa toy to comfort Heidi. Those are her sacred things. She doesn't survive a day without having those by her side. I melted when she gave them to Heidi! We are making progress! She also tells me she loves me constantly and told me next Thanksgiving she wants to say she is thankful for mommy. BUT, on the other hand she has been a bit crazy the past couple of days. She was in timeout 5 times today! 2 days ago she emptied out my bathroom drawer...including dumping the whole box of Q-tips, and today she got my permanent markers and colored on our hallway wall.

Heidi - Is growing by leaps and bounds! She crawls, tries to pull herself up on things and LOVES to stand. My arms are exhausted from helping her stand! She can say Mama and Dada and talks constantly. She still only sleeps a max of 2 hours a night so I am still completely sleep deprived. But she is a happy baby. She eats ANYTHING, even the creepy mashed meat goo! She loves playing with the big kids. Her favorite game is Pat-A-Cake which made Audrey say "I don't like Pancake Game." Raleigh and I started calling Audrey an alien because only aliens don't like Pat-A-Cake, so she came back around and likes it again.

And that is the summary :)

Heidi's Crawling!!!

Yep, we have officially called it! Heidi is crawling! She can finally go forward and now we are in for it! She still prefers to roll everywhere but she definitely crawls when she wants to! It gives me a little (and I mean a little) more free time because she likes to practice her new skills, so I am happy! And her sleeping is slowly (and I mean slowly) improving. She is still my little bed buddy but I can get small breaks and leave the room without her freaking out.

We had her 6 month check up and she is a big one! She is in the 75th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight. She wears her rolls well though.

She can wave and says what sounds like Hi. She pretty much only does it to Trevor when he walks in though. Speaking of when he walks in, as soon as he comes in the door her arms and legs start wiggling uncontrollably and she giggles like crazy. She loves her daddy! If she wakes up at night and looks at him she starts smiling and giggling.

And she can ride in a shopping cart and sit in a high chair like a big girl! She has been extremely giggly and happy, and she even got used to my mom and sister really fast. I think she was surprised that they were gone! Maybe we will get over this separation anxiety fast!

Shopping Center Trick or Treating

We did our usual Trick or Treating at the shopping center which is always fun. It is amazing how much candy the kids get!!! And we get coupons!

Lee Farms

I had to take my mom and sister to get some Pumpkin Donuts and Apple Cider at Lee Farms...YUM! And we checked out lots of the animals.

Old Town Trick or Treating

We went to the Old Town Sherwood Trick or Treating on Friday night, and even though we missed most of it, we still had fun! And the kids got lots of candy anyway! Moooooo!

Here's the crew! We met up with our buddies, Kyle, Kane and Erin.

Cris let us borrow her angel wings so we could get in the spirit. She held the camera and dressed up as a TMZ Paparazzi reporter. :)

Grandma Angel!

Preschool Halloween Party

Raleigh had a Halloween Party at his school and me and the girls tagged along.

Here they are eating donuts off of strings... And here they were doing circle time...

Here's the whole gang! They were short 1 boy.

Here are my cute little Halloweenies!

The mom's got recruited to work. My hands were full so I took pictures. Here they are digging for eyeballs in the spaghetti...

This is what Audrey did. She played, which is what she tries to do every morning when we drop Raleigh off. She finally got her chance!

Here they are making ghosts out of shaving cream and glue.

Here is Ben 10 sharing a snack with Scooby

Raleigh wasn't messing around. He chased his donut around in circles until he finally got it!

Spunkmeister

Audrey can be a little Spunkmeister, especially when Raleigh is at preschool. Here are some of her faces after we dropped Raleigh off at PJ day for school...

Pumpkins #1

Here are the 1st pumpkins that the kids did. These are the sticker ones. Raleigh did a pirate and Audrey did a princess. They were OBSESSED with these and it kept them entertained every time I had to load Heidi up in the car.

The kids also carved pumpkins but I don't have any pics of them! Raleigh did a spider and Audrey and Heidi did Jack-o-Lanterns. They were really cute!

Kooky Glasses

The kids got glasses from Sonic and they loved them, so I had to take a pic! Raleigh was being Mr. Cool and Audrey's were upside down. Crazy kids!

Preschool Field Trip

We went to Lee Farms for Raleigh's Preschool Field Trip again and the kids loved it!

Here they are anxiously waiting to start our tour and get our pumpkins...

All the kids were climbing on the pumpkin displays so Raleigh had to join in!

Here they are looking at the bunnies... And here's my sweet cow and piggy!

Audrey actually picked up the corn and tried to feed the goat. Raleigh was still freaked out, so we stood back and watched.

Here are the kids getting ready to watch the pumpkin demonstration.

Here is Hannah, Savannah, Raleigh and Audrey watching how Apple Cider used to be made.

This little one is why my back, legs and arms ached for 2 days after the field trip. She did really well and didn't fuss the whole 2 hours she was stuck in this thing!

Audrey's 1st Boyfriend

Uh Oh! Audrey got caught... Holding hands with Raleigh's best friend! While Raleigh's away, Audrey will play!

Serenade

Here is Trevor serenading Heidi. She loved it!

Batbaby

Here is Batbaby and her trusty dog to the rescue!

The Haps

Well, Heidi is 5 months old and sometimes I feel like it has flown by while other times it seems like she should be older! I think because we have so many long nights together that it has lengthened these 5 months. I am grateful for the bonding time but ready for her to sleep through the night on her own!

She can pretty much sit on her own, but she falls over when she tries to reach something or look at something. She loves toys and grabbing things. She is even trying to help me type right now! She is very excitable and her whole body shakes. She likes to pat her hands up and down and kick her legs. We stll go through TONS of diapers, but at least I know she's healthy! She likes to do rasberries and she makes tons of gurgling sounds. Raleigh and Heidi will go back and forth all day making gurgling sounds!

Both Raleigh and Audrey love holding and playing with Heidi. They are so good with her! Since she sits so well now, they can sit her on their laps easily. And Raleigh can carry her, although I limit that because I am so paranoid!

Audrey is still a little character. Every day she is someone new. Yesterday she was Tinkerbell and today she was Barbie. You have to call her by that too. She has a sort of "catch phrase." She always says, "Yeah Bubu" or "Hey Bubu!" She loves the cats and dog. She pretends to take care of them, puts lipstick on them, and talks to them. They are her babies. Right before bed Trigger had put his paw on her hand and she was so amazed. She is ready for preschool already and when we drop Raleigh off she says, "miss you Raw-wee!" She is so supportive of Raleigh and is his little cheerleader. She even shares like a pro with him. Her bed is full of snugglies that she kisses every night and on top of her normal nighttime songs, I always have to sing her Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Raleigh is loving school and he is such a smartie! He can do some addition, spelling, phonics and he tries to read everything. He is full of questions! His imagination is now his reality. When he pretends to be a superhero, he really is that superhero! He still has been having regular poo accidents, so we started a new deal where he gets superpowers if he can keep his undies clean all day. It has been working better than anything else we've tried. He still loves to cook and helped me make some homemade applesauce today.

Trevor's been busy and we are hoping it lasts into the cold seasons. He now has his lead paint certification and he was way into the class. He came home sharing all sorts of info! We still are flying by the seats of our pants and sometimes we realize we are in over our heads but we recover. We are like ducks...calm on the surface but kicking like crazy to stay afloat.

Just Some Pics

Here we are trying to take a pic of ourselves! Finally, Trevor took the picture but Heidi still wasn't amused!

Cute little bugs...

Video of Heidi's 1st Solid Food

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Lovin' On Heidi

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Bottle Time

We were practicing giving Heidi a bottle...but this is the only time she ever took one!

This is How We Roll!

Yep, that's my posse!

Just Hangin' Out

This is how Heidi used to like to sit in her Exersaucer. Now she is big enough to reach all of the toys so she stands in it.