Forget Me Not

With Ella in preschool, Jonathan in 4th grade, Cubscouts, learning archery, trumpet and now having Audrey with us, it seems like Leia was a little left behind once her b-day came and went. Not so!!! I just have not updated much on her.

Might as well do it now since when I planned to write, a few months ago, never happened.

Back in August Ryan sent out an e-mail and then set up some job interviews in Arizona. He ended up flying out there and brought back a treat for the kids... a scorpion sucker. Leia was the only one brave enough to try it. Her love of suckers overcame the fact that a dead scorpion was at the center. She sat on her daddy's lap licking away and then would stop and exclaim, "that's disgusting" but would continue to eat the lollipop. She did get to the scorpion, tried a piece of it and then it really did taste bad... Ryan said like dirt.

Leia also loves to sing. She sings along to this year's primary songs while they play in the car. She knows a good amount of songs from kid shows on tv and will even even sing along to songs she does not know. I captured her singing part of twinkle twinkle little star but she was distracted by the camera and never finished.

She makes me and Ryan laugh with some of the things she says... or just hearing her talk in her little two year old voice. At Michaels today she wanted to wear a hat and declared to be an "abonible snowman". She is also into pretending, climbing and has become a little Houdini. Her small frame  makes it easy to get out of grocery cart seat belts and even part of her car seat. She finally hit the 18 month-2 year old stage where she doesn't want to stay put so Life has become more worrisome.

5 -1/2 months

Taking care of 4 kids pretty much alone since Ryan is super busy finishing up residency has left me with very little time to do anything else. Hence the reason why I never posted for her at 5 months. I finally got a clue and realized I better post now while I have the time because let's face it, if I wait until 6 months, I'll forget and then will be 2 months behind. Sigh.

Audrey is a full fledged thumb sucker and will touch her head or ear with the other hand. It amazes me how quickly she calms down once her thumb finds it's way into her mouth. (She is the only thumb sucker out of the kids.) Teething has caused some minor modifications, switching from a couple fingers then to her thumb. Her first two teeth broke through this past week. Super exciting but it has made her a little grouchy. We'll see if the new teeth and cold weather break her habit or if she'll just end up with a cold, chapped hand.

 Audrey has more control over her body and can roll from her back to chest. She finally was able to move her body past the arm that kept getting in the way. She doesn't really like to move from her chest to back though.

She also likes to grab things. On black Friday I had some sparkly red ribbon next to her feet and she spent the whole time moving it around, trying desperately to get it close enough to her hands so she could grab it. She can hold on to some of her toys and will even start the music on her piggie toy by kicking it or grabbing the handle and pulling down. It's been hard giving her tummy time away from the crazies but when she has it, most of the time it is enjoyable.

 I am behind on the feeding game but I finally dug out the high chair, cleaned it up and gave Audrey her first taste of rice cereal. The verdict...

... at first wondered what I was doing and then gave me a "gross mom" look. We'll keep trying little one and see what happens.

Last but not least, she LOVES to babble. Yet another talker in the family. Yikes. What have I got myself into. She squeals at who ever she wants to look at her and has giggle spells when one of us makes silly faces or does a crazy dance in front of her. It is THE BEST noise to hear... puts a smile on all our faces.

The day after Halloween

Ella's school had a Halloween party planned on Halloween but since the power was out at school it was postponed until Tuesday. This was great for us because Ryan was off  making him able to see the little program done after the kids did a mini Halloween parade. We have been extremely blessed with him being able to be there for the kids major events. Some thing we thought would not happen during residency.
Here is just a part of the singing...

Ella sang this song everyday for about 2 weeks before Halloween. She loved the sneaking around part... which is not surprising.

If you were not able to find Ella, look closely, she was in the back.

snow

On Saturday, October 29th  I thought I would wake up to snow, but no, it was not there. I only saw some rain.  The weather report was wrong. Ha! Well, the "ha" was on me because 2 hours later it began to snow, and snow AND snow. It snowed constantly for almost the whole day... once it started. I was waiting for it to die down before taking the kids out but it never did and it was beginning to get dark out. I made a deal with myself. If I could fit into my snow pants, I would take them. I actually fit into them, barely, so off I was, sweating in my snow gear while trying to get 4 kids in theirs. It was a work out and eventually we got out the door with only one kid in mismatched gloves.

When everyone was almost fitted, Ella mentioned she wanted to try out her snowboard. Yes, daddy bought her one, but that is another story. Her excitement got Ryan off his bum so everyone went out... in 6 or 8 inches of snow.... which comes up rather high on a 2 year old and made it very difficult for her to walk around, for kids to go sledding and for Ella to go down the "hill" on her board. We still had fun but after awhile the 2 youngest Southworths had some issues and break downs were happening so I went inside with them while everyone else stayed out.

 Audrey's first snow suit was a little too big... he, he ,he.

 Can you tell Leia is excited to play in the snow... joy is overloading this little girl.

 Awww, that's a better fit for Audrey.

Ryan patiently making sure Ella's gear is on right. He was one proud papa. In case you were wondering, her board has unicorns and a rainbow on it. Whoever designed it knew what four year old girls love.

Not the best video but at least I captured her first snowboarding experience. We officially have 2 kids counting down until the season begins... and one daddy.

I must admit it was really weird to see the first snow in October BEFORE "Halloween". Strange. Not to mention the wet snow broke many branches and a good amount of our friends were powerless for a few days. Luckily we never lost power, but the beautiful weeping willow behind out house list a good sized branch. Boy did it make a loud noise when it came down. That's when I realized I should tell the kids to stay away from the trees.

TRunk or Treat & Jack o Lanterns

Last Tuesday was our ward Trunk or Treat. The girls had a theme this year: Audrey was a bee, Leia a flower and Ella the butterfly.

Jonathan approached me saying he wanted to be Link from the Legend of Zelda. All I had to work from was a picture off a comic book. I wasn't sure if I would even get the outfit sewn on time but surprisingly I finished early. The enjoyable part for me was making the boots. It was fun to watch him transform into Link and once in the full outfit, I could tell he felt like Link... and off he went into the imaginary world Link is from... where ever that is.

However, I did warn him that most people would think he was Robin Hood.

The girls had a blast hanging out with their friends and getting candy. The cutest moment for me was when Leia's friend was trying to get her attention and said something like, "Come here ya little flower." It was adorable.

On Thursday we made Jack o Lanterns. The last couple of years it has been just me and the kids. For some reason the pumpkins don't last long once carved so we made them the night before "Halloween".

Leia's original pumpkin fell and then started to rot. This was her back up. I found the smallest spoon we had so she could try and scoop out the seeds. As I carved the face she just watched and then began to giggle once I was done. I put in some glow bracelets and wah la... her own Jack o Lantern. She brought it over to her candy bucket which she began calling the mommy Jack o Lantern and the small pumpkin became the baby. Soooo cute.

I kind of left Jonathan to himself since I was helping two little girls. He did good until when he needed to clean out the pumpkin. At that point I was carving Ella's pumpkin. He just stopped, starting commenting about how hard it was to clean all the seeds out and then began shooting the breeze with Ella. The twit was waiting for me to finish carving and once I was done asked me to finish hollowing out HIS pumpkin. Fortunately it only took me a few minutes BUT he did know to wait and ask instead if asking while I was in the middle of doing something else.

Leia with her pumpkin.

Ella wanted a Vampire Hello Kitty carved into her pumpkin. Luckily I found a template online which made it a lot easier. I also had Hello Kitty as a witch but that was carved the next day while the kids were eating dinner.

Jonathan with his masterpiece... the sword of Link.

Halloween... Allentown style...

Yes People, Halloween is done early in our township. We have already moved on to preparing for the next holiday. Target even has stuff on clearance. Crazy.

With that said, the kids went trick or treating on Friday. Right as we were walking out the door, our neighbors on both sides of us were out taking pictures so we were able to get a picture with all the kids... and me. Some one had to help Audrey get in there. I like how Leia is off to the side, just plopped down on the ground, like the little flower she is.

This year went much smoother than last year... thank goodness. I made sure all the kids ate a decent amount of food. I had to tell Ella if she did not eat more of her dinner she would be staying home with me. She made a good decision and ate more of her dinner. I told her Daddy was not going to deal with melt downs this year.

Since the weather was calling for snow late Friday night to early Saturday morning I made sure the kids were warm... parts of the girls' outfits were made out of fleece. Also, the three older kids had on a winter hat and a few layers of clothing under their costumes. They were all comfortable walking around and Ryan even said it was a perfect evening. No complaining, just enjoying a wonderful night of trick or treating.
Miracles still happen.

PS- I laughed when I heard snow would be coming. Really? Come on, this early? HA! Boy did it come but luckily after "Halloween".

Audrey @ 4 months

On October 13th Audrey turned 4 months old. Nothing much has changed except she now flashes Ella the whole face smile. Babies have the best smiles. Audrey also rolled from her stomach to back, but that has only happened a handful of times.

Length-25-1/2"
Weight 13bs. 13-1/2 oz.
Head Circ. 15-3/4"

Her check up was a few days later and I scheduled hers back to back with Jonathan's 9 year well check up. I also had the other 2 kids because they were getting the flu shot. Ryan was on call that day so I was alone with 4 kids knowing that the doctor's visit was going to be .... interesting... involving some screaming and crying .

Their doctor is awesome and made everything run a lot smoother than I anticipated. Like Jonathan was able to get part of his physical in another room so the girly girls did not have to see him in his gown. That the staff occupied Ella and Leia outside of the room while the other two got shots so they would not freak out. Then took Audrey out so I could hold Leia while she got her shot. Amazing people.

Ella still had a freak out moment when she saw Leia get her shot and then asked if she was getting one too. I said yes, she slowly crept towards the door while I quickly soothed Leia and set her down on the chair so I could quickly catch Ella right as she began her momentum to bolt out of the room. Luckily she did not get far but began screaming as an assistant and I held her arms down so she would be still enough to get the shot. Then the crying began but subsided by the time we went out to pay for the visit. I keep telling the kids it only really hurts for a few seconds and when they actually hear me say that through the cries and quiet down a moment to really judge how much pain they are in, usually the crying stops.

 Sigh. Just something else I will miss.  Not the crying, but the level of great medical care out here. 

The Great Pumpkin Patch 2011

I can't believe this is our last year out here in PA. As we go through this year at the back of my mind I keep thinking we won't be doing this next year. I get sad but at the same time excited for what the future holds.

With that said, we went to our usual pumpkin patch place... for the last time. Sniff. Sniff.

 A REAL pumpkin patch. Not the grocery store or a stand where they have been shipped in but a REAL farm... that is a tad commercialized. It's great to be supporting our local farms :)

Leia lost it on the tractor hay ride out to the patch but I used Mommy magic to calm her down. She also had a cold so she looks a little out of it in the pictures.

Ella picked out a pumpkin she could not carry. I was not about to carry it around since I already had Audrey to carry.  I told Ella she could only pick a pumpkin she could carry. Jonathan had pity on her and helped her out. He kept saying she would keep her pumpkin even if it meant Jonathan could not get one because he was hauling hers around. This pick was the team work it took to get hers home. Side note: every time I say team work I have the Wonder Pets song go through my head.

A fellow pumpkin picker saw me trying to take pics of the family and volunteered to take one of the whole family. Such nice folks out here. Notice how daddy now has Ella's pumpkin and Jonathan is straining a bit to carry his own.

Ride back to the main farm. I LOVE taking hay ride pictures... family looking out the wagon, hair blowing in the wind (it was extremely windy that day) and a beautiful PA sky. Sigh. I will miss these moments...

... then there was poor Audrey. Confined to her car seat. Her only view was of hay. Sorry girly. I completely understand why you looked so bored in this picture.

I took the girls to see the barn animals while Ryan took Jonathan through the haunted house. This was Jonathan's first year going through and surprisingly was not terribly frightened.

As for the barn, Leia was excited to see the cow. The cow nipped at Ella which made her think twice about petting it again. Especially since the cow was a bit drooley.

We moved on to visit the piggies. Ella wanted to run around with them and was disappointed when I told her they could not come out and she could not go in.

Also set up on the farm is a little hay maze for the kiddos. Leia was old enough to go in this year. She had a blast. She went through the maze at least three times. Ella enjoyed it as well. The expression on her face sums it up.

The last thing I took pictures of were the pony rides. Every little girl's dream, right? Ella spent the whole time leaning forward so she could pet the pony. This was Leia's first time and she did really well at sitting and just enjoying the ride.

I left for the car to feed Audrey while the kids went on some rides. Of course we could not leave without Ryan getting his fried Oreo fix. I have a feeling when we move and have some extra money, Ryan will be buying a deep fryer to make Oreo treats of his own... and then will experiment on frying other things.

#9

Today is Jonathan's b-day!!!! He has been waiting sooo long for it to come.... it seemed like a year :0).

Thursday night we stayed up late making cupcakes so he could bring them to school the next day. We stole daddy's Star Wars cupcake kit he received for his b-day. We went old school and even added a Rolo inside the cupcake and one on the outside... none of his classmates claimed to have eaten a Rolo before.
What a shame.

I think Yoda would say something like this, "Rolo tasted you have not? Try one you must."

Saturday was the big day. He requested pancakes with white chocolate chips inside. They were quite tasty. I then attempted to get all the kids out the door by taking them to Chuck E Cheese while daddy slept. Later in the day Jonathan and Ryan took off to meet up with two of his friends to play a friendly game of laser tag. All he wanted to do for his b-day is play with some friends so that is what he got.

Once home we ate pizza, he opened some presents, devoured the cake and then he played a couple of hours with one of his friends. It was a great day.

We love you Jonathan!!!!
You are an awesome big bother, incredibly smart, inventive, thoughtful and the best "only son" ever!!!!