What we've been up to...

I hate that I keep getting so far behind on our blog. This is why I was never very good at keeping a journal. I just get so overwhelmed with everything. But luckily I do take pictures so I can remember the things that I wanted to blog.

A lot has happened in our lives since Eliza's birthday. The most exciting news is that Addie started walking. She took her first steps on September 21st. Here is some video of her about a week later cruising around.


We bought a play set from some friends that were moving and we finally got it up in late September (We got it from our friends in August). It is so fun to have and I think it looks great in our backyard. We had to clear some of the trees and then we bought some mulch and covered the whole first part of our woods so it looks really great. The girls of course love it and I love that I can send them out back to play and they stay entertained for hours.

For playgroup one day Lillie and Eliza got to go ride horses at a nearby park. They both loved it and really had a hard time getting off the horse.

Whit participated in his first bike race on September 9th. This was the last one of the season and Duane convinced him to try it out. Whit really enjoyed it and I am sure next season we will be busy watching bike races. Luckily this one was a small one so it wasn't as dangerous as they can be.

In September we were supposed to have our ward camp out, but it got rained out so Dad being the great Dad he is put the tent up on the girls bed for them to sleep in. I think they slept in there for over a week.

The weather stayed nice for so long. On October 6th the girls came home from school and it was so hot that we decided to get out the sprinkler. They had a great time. I really love North Carolina.


On October 15th Adeline turned 1. I can't believe a whole year has gone by since she was born. I don't know where the time goes. I just absolutely love this stage with my kids and Addie is no exception, except that she is the best baby I have had so I am enjoying this time even more. She is discovering so much including her voice. She loves to "talk" and growl at me and she loves playing with her sisters. Lillie is the best at playing with her. Lillie can get her laughing so hard-it is the cutest thing. I am so grateful for her sweet and calming spirit in our home. We celebrated Adeline's birthday a few days late, because I am such a great mother and I couldn't get my act together and get a cake made and when I finally did it wasn't much to look at, but she devoured it so I guess it really didn't matter what it looked like. Happy Birthday Adeline!! We all love you so much!

Jaynie got involved in Brownie Girls Scouts this year and is loving it. She goes every Tuesday for two hours and I only had to pay $20 for the entire year. That is my kind of extra curricular activity. I also am one of three assistant leaders, so I get to go and help every third week. I am really impressed with the program and can't wait until February when we get cookies:). She had a pinning ceremony on October 21st that welcomed her into Brownies. She has also earned two try it's, which are the badges they earn. At the ceremony they also put on a little play about how Browines came to be. It was really cute. Here she is getting her pins and playing her part in the play.

Jaynie also had another big change in October. She started riding the bus home from school. I am still a little nervous about it, but she rides with our neighbor and we have told them to sit together up front so hopefully the big kids won't have too much of an influence on them. I tried to get a picture of them with the bus, but I think you can only see our neighbor and not Jaynie, but here it is anyway.

Whit and I have been crazy busy making signs. We had craft shows every Saturday in October. We are glad to have a little break before our two shows in November. We still have some custom stuff to do, but at least the pressure is off for a while. We got pretty sick of going to bed at midnight.

Another project Whit and I have been working on is the girls room. We have been in desperate need of bunk beds for a while, but haven't had the funds. But in October Whit got a side job we called the bunk bed job. So since we had the money we had to get the beds. I always thought that I wanted a twin over full with a trundle so that all four girls could sleep in the same room, but as I thought more about it I decided that someday they may each need their own bed so we started looking at getting two sets of twin bunk beds. This of course was going to be way too expensive, but we did some research and found a place in a nearby town that sells damaged and new furniture and is dirt cheap. I called them and they had a set of white bunk beds for $300 so we packed up the kids one day after work and went to check them out. I had gotten a brand name from them and looked at them on line so we were excited to get them so cheap, but when we got there they weren't the brand or bed that we expected (you had to order the other brand), but we made a really quick decision and bought the ones they had in stock. After we got home we found the same bed on line and found that we still got a killer deal. Anyway long story short we now have two sets of bunk beds and a crib in the girls room. It is a little crowded, but I think it looks cute and we are very happy with the beds. Whit also repainted the floor and I painted their dresser so now everything looks nice and new. I still have some decorating to do, but at least my girls have a place to sleep. The saddest part is that now I don't have the wall space for their blessing dresses, so I guess I will hang them in my room:(

Obviously our busy life has taken it's toll on my babies. Here is Eliza when she fell asleep while watching her sisters play Nick Jr.

Lillie fell asleep on the bathroom counter. We aren't quite sure how that one happened. She got up around 9:00 p.m. and went to the bathroom and then she came out to see us and we told her to go wash her hands and we thought she had gone back to bed, but when Whit went to turn out the lights this is what he found.