Punkin Carving

Last year we were lame and didn't carve pumpkins, so we decided to make up for is this year.

It turns out Addie is a major girly girl and wasn't interested at all in the pumpkin carving process.

Love this pic!
She was so disgusted and Bennett just watched her be a drama queen.

I made her take out at least one handful of guts, but I wasn't able to convince her to do anymore.

Bennett was just happy to be awake during a fun family event!

I had to put his binky in so he wouldn't shove the guts in his mouth.

He's getting pretty good at getting it in himself though!

Addie's design.  She of course wouldn't touch it, but she was full of ideas for Dad to carve.
It's her "Kinda scary pumpkin!"

We also went to our favorite place, Chick Fil A!

They had a family pumpkin decorating night.

Addie got to pick her own pumpkin and decorate it to her heart's content.

This was much more down her alley!

Halloween!

Our Halloween festivities began weeks ago!  Not sure why I waited 'til now to blog about them.  This year, I tried asking Addie what she wanted to be for Halloween.  She didn't understand the concept of getting to choose something to be so she'd always say, "Aunt Sadie!"  While her Aunt Sadie does have red hair and we could feasibly pull that one off I tried to get her to pick something with a little more imagination.  In my mind I knew that Jessie would be the absolute perfect costume for Addie because 1) She has red hair! and 2) She is obsessed with Jessie.  She loves Jessie almost as much as she loves Belle, but not quite.  I was hesitant to mention this costume idea to her because I really didn't want the hassle of making the whole Jessie get up.  Finally I decided I was brave enough to go for it.  I asked her if she'd like to be Jessie, and her entire face lit up!  She was thrilled at the idea!  I had definitely struck a gold mine.  So it seemed only fitting to have our little Bennett be Mr. Potato Head.

 Whenever the kids were in costume Addie would giggle constantly.  She'd say, "Mom, Jessie is coming down the stairs!" and narrate everything that Jessie was doing at the moment.  Or she'd say, "Mom, Mr. Uh-tato Head is getting a little bit sad right now."

 Our first Halloween outing was to the Zoo Boo.  There were a ton of carnival games, which Addie knew just how to rig so that she could win.

Showing off just one of her many rings she collected that day.

It's not very hard to win when you're 1/2 an inch away.

Such intense concentration.

If Addie sees a camera, this is the face you get, with a loud, "CHEESE!"

Mr. Uh-tato Head woke up from his nap just in time to watch pumpkin decorating.

She was very nervous about saying Trick or Treat to strangers, until she realized she got candy out of it.

Oh yeah, we did see a few animals.
This chimp loved Addie!

We think he was so drawn to her because of her bright yellow outfit.
He was trying to hold her hand.  Precious.

Making My Day

We went on a walk this morning. I looked down to see this precious sight. Bennett boy had reached over and grabbed Addie's hand and she lovingly accepted his sweet gesture. They kept holding hands for a few minutes. Talk about melting a Momma's heart!

Dinner!

Our little Bennett, well, he's never been little, and he's really not little anymore!

Our Bennett is growing right up!

I was pretty adamant about waiting until he's 6 months to start him on cereal or anything else.  But it turns out, that when your 4 month old is 18 lbs (yes, he had his check up and he's a whopping 18 lbs and 27 inches long!) that you have a hard time keeping his belly full without throwing in some food.  He was waking up 2 times a night to eat a full meal.  Some people think this is fine for 4 month old to be doing, but Addie was sleeping through the night at 2 months and she set a standard that all of our other kids are going to have to follow.  By 4 months, I had decided that I was ready to get some sleep and the only way to not have to feed him in the night was to start the cereal, so start we did!

Right before his first bite.
He's not sure what's about to happen.

"What in the world is that stuff?!"
Notice Addie is hovering in almost every picture. She was so proud of her Bennett Boy being big enough to eat cereal like her.

"Well, maybe that's not so bad."

Best Picture Ever.  Future blackmail.

Presneeze.  It made a mess.

Look at those rolls!

I'm so glad we started him on cereal.  He has been so happy to have a full belly!  He loves his dinner every night.  If he's in his high chair during our meal he starts grunting and getting really fussy until he gets his dinner.  He has learned what dinner time is all about and he's ready to join in on the fun.  I love that he's so social about his dinner.  And, if you're wondering, the cereal has helped him sooooo much with his sleeping!  He only wakes up about once a night around 5 am (going to bed at 6:30 pm) because he's rolled onto his stomach and he's completely panicked because he's forgotten that he knows how to roll back over.  What a champ.  We sure love him!

Like Father, Like Son

When Scott was a baby his mom made him an adorable little outfit with ducks embroidered on it.  She also made his dad a matching shirt! While we were in Utah, she dug up Scott's old outfit for Bennett to wear.  Unfortunately she couldn't find the Dad shirt, but the little romper sure is cute on Bennett!

Scott around 9 months?

Bennett at 4 months

With his favorite toy, a rattle ducky!
How appropriate to match his outfit!

Bennett's 4 month check up is next week so I don't have his stats yet, but here's what he's like:

-Loves to be entertained. Luckily he doesn't require a song and dance, just a simple little toy or his sister close by to watch

-Still a very chill baby.  He goes with the flow really well and is not very demanding at all.
-He's a momma's boy.  Sorry Scott.  Addie was a daddy's girl, so now it's my turn!
-Every night before bed he's a major cuddle bug.  He loves to be sung to.  While I'm cuddling him he just stares at me with his big blue eyes while Addie and I sing primary songs to him.  He loves our singing.
-He's still a stinker with his sleeping.  We're working on this one at the moment.
-He's a giggler.  He giggled for the first time about 2 weeks ago when my friend was playing with him and he's giggled a couple time a day since then.
-He's a roller.  A few days ago I laid him on the rug in the living room with a toy while I got Addie breakfast and did some chores in the kitchen.  I came out and found him on his belly flopping around like a fish out of water!  I was so sad I missed it.  The whole day I tried to get him to do it again by cheering him on or strategically placing toys so he'd tried to reach for them, but no dice.  Later that night Scott and I were in the kitchen getting dinner ready and Addie comes running in, "Mom!  He did it again!" She was so proud of him.

We just love our Bennett Boy and are so glad that he's in our family!

Impromptu Photo Shoot

Because you can never have too many pictures of your kids, we had a photo shoot!

Bennett gazing on very thoughtfully.

Flashing his gummy grin!

His more timid smile.

Addie trying and failing at getting Bennett to smile.

 No photo shoot would be complete without big sis getting in on the action!

I'm now in the "How on earth do you get more than one kid to cooperate for a picture!" club.

Addie cheesing like usual, but Bennett couldn't care less that a pic was being taken.

Hey, they're both looking at the camera!
Smiles are only optional.

Addie definitely got whapped in the face on more than one occasion.

Both being goofballs!