Halloween Stuff

Halloween is always fun because it is the beginning of the holidays and that is my favorite time of year. I found this sucker making kit and I knew the girls would love it and of course they did, Nellie very much enjoyed making her green ghost. Lizzy made herself a kitty and then they made some suckers for some of their friends. When they were done I let the girls have a few bites of theirs. Nellie gave me back hers, and then a few minutes later we couldn't find Nellie, she had hidden under the table and was nibbling on her green ghost. Lizzy wanted to take her sucker to bed to sleep with it, and when we said no she was all sad, she is always wanting to take things to bed with her, she is funny.

On Halloween we carved pumpkins, or Kevin and I carved while the girls watched. Kevy carved Lizzy's, it was a cat and really cute. It was a good thing that Kevin did hers because it was more complex than the ghost one that Nellie wanted, and Kevin has way more patience than I do with these sorts of things.

Nellie didn't want to get the guts out, but I made her at least try it. She wasn't all that fond of doing it and she made me do the rest.

The girls sure were proud of their pumpkins. You would have thought they carved them themselves.

The girls were so cute in their costumes. I made Nelle be little Bo Peep, because it is such a cute costume and I wanted to get good use out of it, plus the sheep costume fit Janie this year, so how could I not. I don't think Nellie was too thrilled but she was a good sport. I promised her next year I will make her whatever costume she wants. We went to a local trunk-or-treat and to a few friends houses. The girls had lots of fun, it was nice because it was a pretty warm night so the girls didn't freeze to death. I decided not to take a bucket for Jane because then I would just end up eating the candy myself and I really don't need anymore sweets then I already get.

Janie wasn't too happy at the time so we didn't get the best picture of her. She was quite happy once we went out trick or treating though and she kept her hat on the whole time.

Cute Little Bo Peep. I am going to make Janie wear this one too, it is just so cute.

Lizzy wanted to be a "Sheerleader" as she says. Of course it had to be out of the shiny fabric, I found the R and thought it would be good for Richeys. She is definitely the cheerleader type, this is just a preview I think for a few years down the road. I wish we would have taken more pictures because for some reason these last two turned out fuzzy. Oh well.

Pumpkin Patch

We had so much fun going to the Pumpkin Patch. I have been wanting to go every year for a while and we just never seemed to get around to it, so this year I made sure we did it before too many other activities got in the way. We were so glad that Kelli, Lance and their kids and Grammie and Papi could come with us too. The kids were super excited to go. Lizzy kept asking me all week if today was the day that we were going to go. Lizzy and Brinlee always love to get together and Nellie really loves Braxton and he is so sweet with her. My sweet baby Jane. She is such a good baby, she just hung out with us and didn't get too upset even though she missed her nap and was dead tired.

Me and Nellie on the slide. She wanted to keep going over and over, and Lizzy surprised me she was really brave and went by herself. It was really fun.

The kids getting ready to go find their pumpkins. The pumpkins were just way more than any of us wanted to spend so we let them get one of the tiny 50 cent ones. We all knew which one was Nellie's because it had quite a bit of green on it. Silly girl.

The girl were really cold so Papi wrapped his coat around them to keep them warm, it was really cute.

We got to go on a tram ride to see the buffalo, and if they were close at all it would have been cool, but they were really far off and the driver had diarrhea of the mouth and just kept talking and talking, it got a little old and everyone was just done by that time.

Lizzy hugging Brinlee, they have a lot of fun together.

Look at all those cute little faces.

Our little family. I love these people so much. It is so fun to have kids and take them places and see their excitement. I love my life.

Fall Fest

The annual Fall Fest in Concordia was the last Saturday in September. There is a small parade and then booths and different things for the kids to do. It is always a fun thing to take the kids to, since there isn't that much to do out here. Every year Lizzy has gotten to ride the float for Preschool and Nellie always wanted to. Well this year Nellie got to ride on the float too. She thought she was so big. They got to wear their sunglasses and wave to all the people. Nellie didn't care all that much about waving to people but wouldn't you know Lizzy was all about it. She had her beauty pageant wave down. She was waving to everyone, it was sooo Lizzy.

The girls got to perform on the street for their Dance class. Lizzy loves to dance and she had her dance down. She was practicing it while I was doing her hair that morning. She is such a performer.

I was surprised that Nellie danced at all, it was her first time in front of an audience and she did surprisingly well. I am not sure that it will be something she will stick with once she has more options on activities that she can do, but for now Lizzy does it, so Nellie wants to too.

Nellie jumping on the big tramp, she was a little nervous at first with all the other kids, but she had a lot of fun.

The girls riding on a pony, they seriously love to ride them, but I think most kids think it is pretty cool.

Riding on the train with me. Kevy went home so Janie could nap, so I took the girls and went on some rides and got a snow cone and other stuff, it was fun. Nellie just had to have a green snow cone and what they had was sour apple, it tasted so gross but Nellie just loved it.

Butch

A few weeks back Nellie decided that she needed a haircut. She found some nail scissors (I have no idea where) and she hacked off all of her bangs. Because her hair is really blond these pictures do no do justcie to how bad it was. I did however just pull down more hair and cut it into bangs. It still is noticeable, but not too bad. Kevy keeps calling her Butch because of it, and now Nellie keeps saying, "I'm Butch."

All About Nellie

How do I describe my sweet Nellie. Nellie is by far one of the most stubborn people I have ever met. This can be a bad thing, or a good thing. I like to think that later on in life I won't have to worry as much about my Nellie because she won't let anyone lead her astray. This past year has been a bit tough for our little Nellie. She was the baby and she loved to be the baby. She wasn't ready to share her attention with Jane when she came along. She has struggled a lot, but lately she has started to pull out of it. She is really enjoying going to school, I think it is something that is just hers and she really likes that.

Nellie has always been such a tough little girl, but she has one of the kindest hearts. She gives the best hugs, she always has. Lately her big thing is to say "You're my best friend" She says it to everyone, Daddy, Lizzy, me, Jane, and don't worry inanimate objects as well, her stuffed animals, her doggie blankie, other stuff too. I took her to the nursing home to visit the people and she was sooo sweet, she put her little hand out and shook all of their hands and talked to them, even though some of them looked a little bit scary to a 3 year old. She always is willing to share her stuff too. If she has a treat left and Lizzy's is all gone she always gives Lizzy some of hers too. She is always giving her stuffed animals to Jane to try and make her happy. She really can be the sweetest girl.

Nellie's favorite color is surprise, green, She loves Diego of course. She is definitely not your typical girl. Lizzy and Nellie are very opposite in many ways, but they are the best of friends. Nellie lets Lizzy boss her around quite a bit until she pushes too far and then Nellie has had it.

Nelie started dance class, I think she wanted to be like Lizzy, Sometimes she tells me she doesn't like green anymore she likes pink and purple instead (Lizzy's favorites) but then a little while later she is back to green. I think she wants to be like Lizzy in some ways.

Nellie says some funny things too. One day she was talking about boobies, I know nice huh and I said they were private and we don't talk about them. So almost everyday she says to me "Mom, we don't talk about boobies, just our legs and bellies." I also told her that Dad doesn't have boobs, they are called pecs, and she says to Kevin all the time "girls have boobies and Daddies have pickles." I guess she thought I said pickles and not pecs. I should probably correct her but it is funny.

Nellie is not a very good eater, but I will admit when I tell her she can't have anything else until she eats her meal, she usually eats it so she can have a treat. She has a major sweet tooth. But being my daughter, she didn't have much of a chance. She does really like fruit though, I have to save it for after she eats everything else because she will want to eat just that. One of her favorites is "honeydude", probably because it is green. She really loves her milk too and will not go to bed until she has had her drink of milk.

Trying to bribe Nellie to do anything does not work. We have a chore chart and the girls get a quarter for every thing they do. Well Nellie could make a quarter everyday she makes her bed, but most days I can't get her to do it. I tell her I am going to make it and then she will get a bad check mark and she will have to pay me the money, she just says "It's okay if I get a bad check mark." She just doesn't care. Only Nellie can motivate Nellie, but we are still working on it.

She really loves her name too. Sometimes I will call her my princess or cutie or something else and she will say "I'm not a princess I'm Nellie!" There is one thing for sure our life would not be the same without our Nellie. We are so glad she is in our family she adds so much spunk and energy to our lives. We love you Nellie Belle!

Our Life

Here are a few pictures of the last couple months. I can't believe that summer is over and school started already. Didn't summer just start? We went to the county fair, but just like last year we went at the wrong time and there was nothing going on, so we went and looked at the animals got some ice cream and went home, really exciting!

Don't worry this is permanent marker, but don't worry this wasn't the worst, she colored all over our couches with it first. Good thing I found out baking soda takes out permanent marker, so Nellie got to live.

The girlies like to have drinks before bed and this picture was just way too cute. I love little Janie holding her bottle.

Nellie and Lizzy have not been going to bed very well so we have been having to lock them in, and they have been getting in to bed together and falling asleep. It is too cute. I just wish they would go to bed better.

Janie has started taking baths with her sisters and she LOVES it. She thinks she is so big and she loves playing with them.

Nellie on her first day of school. She did SO good, I thought she might be a little scared but she wasn't, and she looks forward to going. I think it is going to be really good for her to have something that is just hers.

The girls really love popsicles, and we went through quite a few of them this summer. We love hanging out outside in the evening.

I was painting some frames and stepped away for a few minutes and Nellie decided to give herself a little body art. Gotta love it.

Lizzy had been begging me to do her hair "way curly" and I had never done the foam curlers, so for a Sunday I decide to do it. It really didn't work out that well, because I didn't know which sizes to use, and I had to end up curling their hair with a curling iron the next day and it took forever, but next time I have a better idea of how to do it. It did turn out really cute though.

Nellie with her hair all done, it was curlier, but I didn't get a picture until after church.

Lizzy was thrilled to have her hair all curly, she is so girly it is funny how opposite her and Nellie can be at times.

Nellie's Birthday

Nelle Belle is 3! How can my tiny baby be 3 already? She was so excited to have a birthday, she felt so special! It was really cute. She kept talking about how it was her birthday all day. I love when they get to the stage where they understand that sort of thing. She got a Diego backpack from Grandma and Grandpa. She was thrilled and wore it around the rest of the evening. She was so excited to wear it to school. I just love how she is her own person. There is no telling her what she should like. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

She got a cool baseball toy from Grammie and Papi. Both girls have been practicing their batting skills with it. Thanks Grammie and Papi!

Kelli and Lance gave her a fun Mr. Potato Head toy and Sandy gave her a cute little fur real doggie. She loved all her presents. Thanks everyone!

Nellie really wanted a Diego birthday cake and how could I not make her one. It took over three hours because there were 15 different colors. That is what took so long was just tinting the frosting and making sure the color was right. I think I am only going to make these really fancy cakes for a couple of birthdays, I love to do it, but man it takes forever. But she was SO thrilled when she saw the cake it was worth all the time spent.

It sure was fun to have her cousins at her party! If you look you can see that the cake is green. How could I not make a green cake for her when she loves that color so much.

7 Months

My Sweet Janie girl is seven months old! Time really goes too fast. I can't believe how fast my babies grow. How can some days go by so slow, but yet the years just fly by. I was going to do this post for her six month, but she is now seven. I know I am slow at getting my posts done. She is the sweetest, best baby! I just want to eat her all up, she is so cute! We all love her so much and are so glad that we had another cute little girl. She sleeps SO good at night, it is so nice. She goes down around seven and sleeps about 12-13 or sometimes more hours at night! I know I am totally lucky. I think Heavenly Father knew that after Nellie I needed a good baby so that I would have more, because if Jane was like Nellie was we would probably be done with three.

Jane weighed 13 lbs. 9 oz. at her 6 month checkup (10th percentile) right on track with my kids. She had gained almost three pounds in two months after only gaining 1 lb. in the previous two months. I think it is because I quit nursing. I was sad, but the poor baby was getting nothing and I tried everything to help my supply. Oh well. I would have to admit that there are some really nice things about not nursing anymore.

Nellie and Lizzy just love her to pieces. Lizzy especially loves her and wants to drag her around the house and I have to constantly tell her to not pick her up without me around. Lizzy thinks that now that Janie is sitting up it is time for another baby. I told her that was a little ways away and Lizzy said "like when Janie is walking?" I told her yes so then when we went to church she told everyone as soon as Jane is walking we are having another baby. Kids are so funny.
If you look closely you can see her cute little unibrow. She is going to hate that later in life if it doesn't go away, but I think it is cute right now.

She is enjoying hanging out in her seat and eating baby food. Although she just wants to feed herself and doesn't especially like the food I have to feed her.

She is sitting up now. She is very content to just sit there and play with her toys. She doesn't seem to have much desire to start moving around, which is fine by me. I already have two busy butts I really doesn't need another. She is so much like her Daddy it is so cute, she just is quiet and likes to observe.

I just love love love her cute little chipmunk cheeks. Oh what a little sweetheart.

One of her favorite toys is a toothbrush, don't worry it was new. She will just chew on it forever.

I have never seen a baby that loves the water as much as she does. She has never cried while she is in the water. She will splash herself and keep getting water in her eyes and she doesn't make a peep. I just love her big blue eyes! It is funny though when I get her dressed she cries and whines like she is being abused. It is the only thing that I can think of that she doesn't seem to like.

She is so funny she rarely will fall asleep anywhere but her crib, even if she is dead tired, I don't know why, it is so weird, even in her car seat she doesn't usually fall asleep, but if I lay her in her crib, she doesn't make a sound and goes right to sleep. I really don't know how long of naps she really takes because she will just hang out in her crib for a while after she wakes up. I go in there and she is just smiling away. She was REALLY tired that she fell asleep with dad. She is a total mama's girl, but what babies her age aren't. I just enjoy it because as soon as the next one comes they seem to want only Dad.

We are so glad that Heavenly Father know best because we have this beautiful baby girl that is such a blessing to our family. I LOVE having three little girls.