Fall Break

Last week was Fall Break for TPS so Cadence was off Thursday and Friday. I took those days off too so we could spend sometime together. Here is an overview of our 4 day weekend:
Wednesday night
My little sis came over to spend the night with us and also to get her belly button pierced. I went with her and mom to do that. I don't think she expected it to hurt so much!
Thursday
Cadence and I had eye doctor appointments in the morning. KK's school had done a screening and suggested she have her eyes checked. Sure enough she has an astigmatism and is near sighted. I was kinda bummed she needed glasses at such a young age and also that she has my bad eye sight. The doctor said her nearsightedness will only get worse with age, as mine has done. However, I am thankful to get the glasses now instead of in having problems learning to read. She loves her glasses and looks great in them. It really looks like she was always meant to have glasses, like her face was waiting on them! After about an hour, she took them off for a minute and was having to squint to see, so I know they must be helping her. After the eye doctor, we went and got Henry and Liv and met Ben at McAllisters for lunch. Then Liv, KK, Henry, and I went to my favorite thrift store and found 15 items for the kids, 8 books, and one toy for $46! We then drove Liv back to C-more for a football game, stopped by mom's store to see her and headed back to Tulsa. As soon as we got back to town, I got the kids ready and picked up Ben and we all headed out to Oktoberfest.
Friday
I actually slept in a little bit, which was amazing! My goals for the day were to clean house, do laundry, and grocery shop. We decided to meet Ben for lunch, but he got caught up and after wasting two hours, we finally ate chinese at home. I spent the rest of the day cleaning and laundry (no groceries :( ). As soon as Ben got off, he headed out to Oktoberfest to work. I enjoyed the quiet and put the kids to bed early and relaxed.
Saturday
The kids and I joined Katie and her family at the Carmicheal's pumpkin patch. This was a really great one; KK and will got to ride a camel! That evening the 4 of us went to a friend's house for a birthday party.
Sunday
Our family along with mom and Liv went out to Oktoberfest for the last time. Mom and Liv had never been and they both had a lot of fun.

Today I am headed out of town for a women's retreat with my sis and mother in law. I am very excited for the retreat. I have not been out of town without both of the kids or without Ben since Henry was born. I can't wait to fellowship, nap, and just relax. And not cook!

Infancy

Its amazing how fast a baby changes in the first year, especially that last half of the first year. Henry is now 7 months old. He started crawling not 3 weeks ago and as of today he can crawl VERY fast, sit up by himself, get himself into sitting position, and pull up to a standing position. These are all great and fun things to watch and experience but they all come with a price. My floor has to be much cleaner than before, which means that I have to clean my floors once a day. If KK is being extra messy, or Henry is spitting up alot, or one of the dogs spent alot of time inside, then I have to mop once a day also. Pretty soon I will have to figure out how I am going to corral Henry. When KK was little, our living room was the perfect set up and shape. I had two baby gates on the entrances leaving the living room. The enterntainment center had lower shelves that I filled with toys for her. Now my living room has three entry ways to other rooms and one of those would require an extra large baby gate. We have a different entertainment center with no room for toys. But I do now have KK. She is a life saver because I can have her check on him, or tell me if he is getting into things. She is not too keen on entertaining him though, because tv is much cooler than her baby brother for more than 5 minutes.
Pulling up to standing is actually one of my least liked periods of infancy. Don't get me wrong, this is such a great and exciting time and I know this is part of the process. But during this time, babies fall. ALOT. Henry already has a huge bruise on his forehead that I don't think will ever go away because he keeps falling. Also, he has learned to stand up in his crib, but hates to get down. Last week he did not even know how to get down. Now he knows, but that requires him to fall, which he is not too keen on. Ben walked at 9.5 months, and I have a feeling Henry will do the same. He is going through these all a lot faster than KK did. He does not yet have any teeth though, although the doctor said he could see some "buds" so it will probably be any day now. He is getting so big and growing so fast. He lookds nothing like he did as an infant and as of today is only 2 lbs lighter than KK was on her 1st birthday! He really is not a chubby baby, in pictures she actually was chubbier, so he may just not gain any more weight. We will see. Let's just pray for now more bruises this week!