8 months old

Our happy boy is already eight months old. It is so hard to believe. He is still just such a joy! We just love him. He is rolling all over the place and just recently started to do the army crawl. Everything goes in his mouth which means we are vacuuming constantly! He loves the Wiggles and Team Umizumi. We are so grateful for this little guy and look forward to our first Christmas as a complete family! We sure ended on the best note!

Temple Lights

When Luke and Harlee were little we had a tradition of going to see the lights at Temple Square. We made it a few years until the year I was pregnant with Gray. We went and tried but could not find a parking spot. We decided we would just enjoy the Thanksgiving Point lights in the car for a few years. Well yesterday the weather was still pretty warm for almost December and we decided to bravely make an attempt. We dressed all the kids in coats, hats, and gloves and we were on our way. We brought the double stroller for Nash and Gray and a single stroller for Tag. We were quite the group! We did not last too long but we all had a great time! As we were heading to the car Joey and I gave each other "knuckles" pleased that even with five kids we can do these fun things! Hopefully it will get easier and more enjoyable with each passing year... at least until Luke is a teenager and starts the griping on how lame the temple lights are!! So we will enjoy it for the next four years! *We took some pictures on my IPhone and they did not turn out as well as we hoped.

Goodbye Thanksgiving- Hello Christmas!

Wreath Before

After

For someone who is not a fan of decorations in the house, Joey is always so quick to get the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. He worked on the tree with the kids and I worked on some new wreaths for the door. It is beginning to feel like Christmas at the Childs. I need to really enjoy it because I know that on December 26th in the early morning hours it will all be put away!!

Black Friday

It has been a few years since I have attempted Black Friday but Marisa and I decided we would go to Target. This year it opened at 9pm. So we left around 7. When we arrived we were about 60 people back. Not bad. The weather was really nice for November and we passed the time chatting. It was so fun. By the time the doors were about to open there were hundreds of people there. Marisa and I each wanted a certain big item for Christmas. So we decided she would get the cart and I would run back and grab two. We were so quick to get in but by the time I got to the item there were only five left. I had one in my hands and the other between my feet. Luckily Marisa arrived quickly with the cart and within a minute they were gone. So lucky! We shopped a bit more in the craziness. Then we got in the long line. It was honestly a couple hours long. Thankfully we saw Jenna towards the front of the line. She invited us to come with her. Since we are twins that worked to our advantage and we only got a few dirty looks. We were out of Target a little after ten! We celebrated our success at IHOP! So grateful for a perfect friend to endure the craziness with!

Thanksgiving 2012

This year was a Childs year! We had everyone over to our house. Hard to get everything cleaned and ready but so nice to be able to put the little ones down for naps and enjoy the day! We started the meal with family pictures. We have not done family pictures on the Childs side since I was barely pregnant with Luke. It is about time since five new people have joined the family!! KC's friend Brenna took the pictures and then joined us for dinner. The food was amazing! Thanks so much to Grandma for all of her hard work! After dinner we played games and ate way too many treats! It was a great day! I am so grateful for all of the blessings that we get to enjoy. Heavenly Father has blessed us with such a wonderful family on both sides and we are so thankful! *Daryk is photoshopping the family pictures so I will post them later!

Our room is not our own...

Nash on our couch

Tag on our floor

Gray in our bed

I wish I could say that Joey and I always enjoy a quiet night's sleep alone in our room. But honestly I do not think that has been the case for many months. Gray is always in our bed. He falls asleep there, we move him, and usually around 1am he crawls back in our bed. Well when I woke up in the morning Nash was on our couch, I laid Tag on the floor after his bottle, and Gray was in our bed. Good thing I love these little guys! Someday I will miss this??

Sittin by himself!!

Due to the torticollis issue, it has been hard for Tag to sit. We have been practicing as part of his physical therapy and he is doing it! I love to watch him explore his world from a new perspective. He is working so hard and we are so proud of him!

Big Boy Crib

I have been trying to avoid this day since it is just one more fact to prove our Tag is growing up BUT it is time for him to move out of our room and into his crib. So Friday night was his first night in the big boy bed. He did really good and only woke up once. I wish I could say the same for his mom! I was up about 5 times to check on him and make sure he was still alright. I guess since he is almost eight months it is time for him give us our room back but it is so hard for me. I think knowing that Tag is our last baby makes me want to cherish every little moment. I need to just switch the focus and look forward to all the amazing things to come! Way to go Tag- you are getting so big!

Someone....

This morning when I was cleaning the bathroom Nash came up to me with his pull up in hand. He said "Mom, someone peed in my pull up! It was not me!" I was laughing so hard as I tried to explain to Nash that it was probably him who wet his pull up since he was the one wearing them. He was so adamant that it was not him but someone else. This cute boy makes me laugh!

Gray's Mural

I know I have previously posted about Gray's artistic creativity all over our walls. You would think that telling him not to do that might make him think twice before taking a pen/crayon to the wall. Not the case with our Gray. When I came home from dance on Thursday night Joey told me I should go see the mural that Gray did for me in the hall. This picture only displays one section. The mural spanned the whole hallway wall. Thank goodness for magic erasers and thank goodness it was crayon. Within a few minutes I was able to clean off the artwork and the wall was back to normal. I would like to say this will be the last post like this but I am not that optimistic!!

Mom is another year older!

Yesterday was my 36th birthday. It is crazy because I do not feel older than 20 but I am afraid I look it! It was a good birthday. Most of the day was spent do the normal routine but the kids were extra good and helpful. We had Kristine come and babysit and Joey took me out to dinner. He took me to this Italian restuarant in Sandy. It was quite the romantic place. He even called ahead to have them put a candle on the table! The food was not our favorite but I loved the company! We do not get one on one time very often and I just cherish those times. We talked all through dinner and enjoyed being together. On the way home we stopped for shakes at JCWs. When we got home the kids had made birthday signs- such a sweet surprise. Then Joey and the kids spoiled me with presents. It was such a nice birthday surrounded by the ones I love most!

The family keeps growing...

Yesterday my side of the family came over for our birthday dinner. We had all of the siblings with kids come a little early. We decided that for Christmas we would get a picture of all the grandkids on a canvas for Mimi and GP. It is so hard to get 14 kids to all smile and look at the camera at the same time. Thankfully we had one that turned out good. It is not perfect but I love it. So fun for our kids to be able to grow up around all their cousins. I just know they will love this picture!!

Birthday Breakfast

I cannot believe it is already this time of year again. Jenna and I just went to our annual birthday breakfast with our Dad. We went to One Man Band in Lehi and enjoyed breakfast together. I asked my Dad how many years we had been doing this and he could not remember. I think it has been at least ten years! Crazy how quickly the time goes. I am grateful for these special times we get to spend together. If only we were turning 26 instead of 36!!

Halloween 2012

The Scary Skeleton (Luke)

The Cute Cheerleader (Harlee)

Black Spiderman (Nash)

Lightening McQueen (Gray)

Our Stinky Skunk (Tag)

Is it wrong for a mom to admit that she is not a fan of Halloween? It is just that it is such a busy day! The morning started at Luke's parade with all of the Traverse Mountain and four cranky kids. That left me super excited to go to Harlee's parade at 1:45pm, but at least I only had three kids to watch at hers! I then checked Luke and Harlee out of school and we made our way to Joey's work. The kids trick or treated and got too much candy. We came home and had jackolantern pizza before heading out to trick or treat the neighborhood. We took the whole family up and back down our street. Then I came home with Gray and Tag to pass out candy while Joey took the big kids out to fill their pillowcases. They all had so much fun. Gray loved passing out the candy. With every doorbell ring he would run and get the bowl. Then when the kids took the candy he would say "Thank you!" So cute and I was so grateful that he did not mind missing out on trick or treating with the big kids.

Luke's Field Trip

Luke was lucky to go with the rest of the third graders to the Sclera Theater in Orem for their field trip. He was really excited to go. As soon as I picked him up that day I asked him how his field trip was. He said "Mom, I have to tell you something.". I was thinking, great what did he do? He went on to say that the play was the only good part of the field trip. Before the play started they got to play on the playground. He was going on the slide and on the slide was written really bad words like the "F" word and S-E-X. He was so upset. I assured him that he was not in trouble and that he knows never to say those words. I told him I appreciated him telling me. I love how honest and upfront Luke is. I pray he always stays this open with me. Love my Luke and his wonderful conscious!

Family Night

Dad's Pumpkin

Mom's Pumpkin

Luke's Pumpkin

Harlee's Pumpkin

Nash's Pumpkin

Gray helping Dad

Call it laziness disguised as creativity, but this year I had the brilliant idea to paint our pumpkins. I really do not like cleaning all the junk out of the pumpkins to carve them so I thought painting would be great. The kids LOVED it! Everyone got to paint their own pumpkin and then Gray insisted on helping Joey finish his. It was so fun to do this together and I have to admit that we have some artists in the family. And I will openly admit that they did not get that talent from me!!

Tag's 6 month checkup

Since we went to St. George we had to postpone Tag's doctor appointment. So he just had his 6 month checkup when he is actually 7 months old. He is one big boy! Here are his stats: Weight: 19 lbs 11 oz - 75% Height: 28 3/4 in- 90% I do not remember the head measurements but he is off the charts! Not too surprised. The doctor recognized that he was tilting which has been by fear for awhile. He recommended that I take him to physical therapy. We started that this last week. He does indeed have left-torticollis. He will go to physical therapy once a week. The good news is that it can be fixed. It is also positive that he will roll to both sides and pushed up evenly on his tummy. Other than the torticollis he is doing great. The doctor referred to him as the Gentle Giant. I could not think of a more fitting nickname. We love you Tag!