Out of the mouths of babes--October

Here are some tricks and treats from our family this month.

10/1--Sometimes Brandon says the most random things. Like this, "I like smelling. It's one of my hobbies. I like to smell things like fish...and salty things." Huh.

10/1--I'm not sure exactly where this thought came from, either. We were getting out of the van....which is usually really messy. Whit said, "I wish I could eat trash like a goat." Oh my gosh. Did she want to be helpful and eat all the trash lying around the van? I'm not sure.

10/4--My children are ingenious! They've invented a new game:

BUMBO BOXING!

I think it could sweep the nation,
what do you think?
Yea, it's lots of fun until the crying starts...
in approximately 27 seconds.

10/7--Today I heard Whitney say something I NEVER thought I'd hear from a four year old. "Mom, can I have some more lima beans?" Seriously. That's what she was eating for lunch. At her request. Who is this child? We read a book called "A Serious Case of Stripes" and the girl in the story liked lima beans, so Whit wanted to try them. I figured it would be a good experiment, but never dreamed Whit would actually enjoy eating them enough to ask for more! What's next? Sushi?

10/10--When I put on C's headband this morning, Whit said, "She looks like an ice cream man."

"Ice cream! Get your ice cream here!"
I don't see it. Do you?

10/12--Caroline was babbling tonight and Brandon said it sounded like she was talking in Morse code. I'm not sure how he knows what that sound like. "Wouldn't that be cool if Caroline and I could speak in Morse code when we were born? We'd be the most famous babies in the world!"

dot dash dot dot dash
[sidenote: click to see Caroline's cute little teeth!]

10/13--Whit came in bed to snuggle with me for a minute this morning after the boys were gone to work and school. She looked at my arm and said, "You're skinny." Girl, you know how to make a mom feel good in the morning. "You're, like, as skinny as sand." Hmmm...I think that was still a compliment.

10/13--Whit spilled her milk all over the floor this morning. There was no crying involved, but being the "wicked" mother that I am, I had her clean it up herself. As she was on the floor scrubbing, she honestly said, "You're treating me like Cinderella!" The drama!

10/16--What is that on my chandelier?

We better go in for a closer look.

That's what I was afraid of.
Whitney's unmentionables.
Long story.
Laundry sorting gone awry.

10/17--Whit was holding her ice pack as we got her lunch ready to take to school this morning. Her hands got really cold and she giggled and said, "Mom, I'm one of those vampires from your book!" Wow--didn't realize she could pick up that much about the Twilight series from us.

Little Renesmee's?

10/19--Brandon has a lot of strengths. He's smart. He's funny. He's athletic. But one thing he's not so good at: helping without being asked. I think a lot of kids are that way. Today, when we got back from church, I was unloading all of our churchy paraphernalia and both older kids had gone in the house. Brandon came back out into the garage and asked, "Can I help you with anything?" It was so sweet and doesn't happen often.

Remind me: I can't say Brandon NEVER
offers to help around the house.

10/21--Our conversation over morning snack:
W: Mom, do you know about Bo-Anks?
Me: Boinks?
W: No, Bo-Anks.
Me: No, what is it?
W: It's a place where children can go to learn enthusiastics.
Me: Enthusiastics?
W: Yes, children can prepare for the future. It says that before Sid the Science kid. And it also talks about different foundations: The Rose Hill Foundation, The David Foundation...I can't remember the other foundations.

But advertising doesn't have ANY influence on kids, right?

10/22--Whit was the calendar helper at school today. When that's her job, I always quiz her on the date. She thought hard about what today's date was and then said, "October tooty-two. Two two. Is that tooty two?" Pretty close, babe.

10/27--Whit's latest fad: Books on CD. She checks them out from the library and listens to them over and over again. It has really increased her vocabulary, but sometimes she doesn't know what the words mean. Today, at different times, she asked, "What's 'billowing'?" "What does 'weary' mean?" and "What's a marsupial?" Sometimes I have to remind myself that this girl is only FOUR YEARS OLD.

Bonus pic:
Caroline in one of my favorite outfits.
Doesn't she look like a little lady?
If you click, you can see her eye color.
Still kind of hanging out in the gray range.

Pilot Mountain

I feel like we got away with something. The kids had Monday off of school for a Teacher Workday. Andrew took a vacation day. And we had the funnest little family outing. And it wasn't even a holiday. Woo hoo!

We drove to Pilot Mountain, NC. It was gorgeous! The leaves are breathtaking. And you get to drive all the way up to the top. It's not much of a mountain compared to the ones we're used to out west, but it definitely stands out in this rolling landscape. There aren't many opportunities to see the horizon in NC. Up there, you can see it all. And I just wanted to drink it all in.

Here's a pic of the mountain in the distance.
And the trees on the sides of the road.
And the top of Brandon's noggin.

Here are some of the views from the top:

It was FREEZING when we first got there.
We even saw a few snow flurries.
We packed a picnic lunch, but ate in the van.

Caroline didn't mind the cold a bit.
She was SO happy the whole time we were up there.

They have hiking trails, some of which
are perfect for little families.
Even when one of your family members is
being grumpy and complaining and whining
and doesn't want to hike.
But I won't name any names.

Don't these two look cute together?
(Yes, this was totally staged and they
are rarely this lovey-dovey with each other.)

We took a trail that was labeled as 8/10 of a mile.
Sounds short and easy, right? At least I thought so.
It took a lot longer than I expected.
I had flashes of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" going through
my mind. I could just see the headlines:
Family of five survives for three days while trapped
on the sheer cliffs of Pilot Mountain.
Thankfully, our hike was uneventful.

Our trail went all around this pinnacle
that you can see in the background.

Andrew wants to make this a yearly
tradition. I'm SO on board with that.

We took some family pics.
I think these are the first ones of all of us
together since Caroline's birth pics.
I found myself thinking, "Are all of those OUR kids?"

(thanks, Destiny, for the photoshop job!)

It's just about impossible to get a five month old
to look at a camera that's sitting on a tripod.
But at least she isn't screaming, sleep, or sticking
her tongue out. We'll take it.

I realized that even though I take all three kids all over town with me, we haven't done many fun things as a whole family since C was born. Both Brandon and Whit have mentioned this little day trip in their prayers. "Thank thee that we could go up to the mountains." "Please bless that we can go back to Pilot Mountain." So sweet.

Random Assortment of Costumes

Ya know, I like Halloween. It's fun to dress up. And even though I don't sew, I like putting together costumes for the kids every year. Well, this year, our church Trunk or Treat was LAST weekend, which totally snuck up on me. All of a sudden, it was two days away and nobody except Caroline had a costume!

She got to wear the hand-me-down

PUMPKIN costume that both
Brandon and Whitney wore for
their first Halloweens.

I LOVE it. It's the cutest thing!

The rest of us were kinda scrambling
to put something together.
I saw a pic in a magazine of a
RECYCLED COSTUME,
where you just put together
an assortment of pieces from past
costumes and call it good.

That's what I ended up doing.
Not gonna be winning any contests
with this get up.

When Andrew was supposed to be
making his movie last year for his blog,
he bought a couple of different costumes.
One of them was Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite
(which he wore for Halloween last year)
and the other was Albert Einstein.
Voila.
I couldn't stop laughing at his wig.
It kept me happy the whole evening.
The funniest part was the packaging.
It said, "Albert Einstein Instant Disguise Kit."
Yep. He could just blend in anywhere with
this wig on. You'd never notice him. :)

Brandon couldn't come up with a new
costume idea, so he told me he would
just wear his Jeff Gordon costume from
last year. BUT, in the same bag with the
Instant Disguise Kit, we found some
police man gear. So, he decided to give
a shout out to Grandpa Sweat and dress
up as a detective. Here's the good cop.

But, don't mess with him, because he can turn into

BAD COP in a heartbeat!

And to round out the random collection
of costumes, a friend let Whitney borrow this

Ariel costume.
She LOVED the outfit, but was a little bummed
that she had orange hair instead of red.
"Because the REAL Ariel had RED hair, Mom."
I thought this was close enough. Sheesh.

Drive for the Cure

It looks like the BMW people have already covered the West Coast and Midwest parts of the country, but if you're in our neck of the woods, or up in New England, and would like to participate in their Ultimate Drive for the cure, you can click here to reserve a car or find out when they'll be in your area. It's free to participate and they donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for every mile that you drive.

I already reserved this roadster.
Sweet.

Potty Humor

If you believe that potty humor is completely inappropriate and disgusting, please ignore this post. If you think it's funny, like me and my kids, read on.

I was trying to make another video of sweet little Caroline doing her little babble thing. I didn't catch that on tape, but here's what I got:

I don't know what's up with my ridiculous laugh at the end.

But HER big ol' smile cracks me up.

The results?

Major blowout!
Ewwwww.

Why didn't I think of that sooner?

I figured out a way to work the system. Whit can have great looking patches and I don't have to spend as much time drawing them. What's my secret?

I find images on the web and print them out!
How cool is that?

Here we have an assortment of princesses.

Super Why

Darby from "My Friends Tigger and Pooh"

Tink, Tigger, and Pooh

It still takes some time to print out a sample page, tape the patches to it, run it through the printer a second time, and color them. But it's still less time consuming than drawing them myself. Too bad I have such a low quality printer, or I could just print them out in color. I guess that could get expensive, though. We go back to see Dr. Buckley at the end of this month. Maybe we can be done with this patching business for a while. *fingers crossed*

Forty Questions

Nothing else too exciting going on around here, so I'm posting one of these fun survey things. I'd love to hear your responses if you're up to playing along.

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? No. I'm afraid to try it.

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No. I need every single brain cell that I've got.

3. Do you own a gun? Only the water type.

4. What's your favorite drink at star bucks? I've never been. Do they serve smoothies? If so, I bet that would be my favorite.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Not my own.

I get a little nervous before Whit sees her boyfriend.

Always hoping for good news and fearing the worst.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Can't stomach them. My kids are probably the only kids who never eat them because I refuse to buy them.

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? OJ....mmmmm

8. Can you do push ups? Yes! Billy Blanks kicks my butt and makes me do 32 in a row.

I usually can make it through the first 24....the last 8 are a joke.

9. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Ooooh. That's a tough one. I have two

chunky stone necklaces I got from Charmed Designs that I love
(Ignore my face in that pic, notice the necklace!)

and some big ol' red earrings I bought at the beach.

10. Favorite hobby?

Does Singstar count?

11. Do you have A.D.D.? No.

12. What's one trait that you love about yourself? I like to laugh.

13. Middle name? Gerber

14. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: Will Caroline sleep more than 3 hours? How can I arrange the furniture in the girls' bedroom? That rocky road ice cream was sure good.

15. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, milk, orange juice. (Boring!)

16. Current worry right now? Is Brandon going to be rich so that he can support us when we get old? Because our 401K is not looking so hot right now.

17. Current inspiration right now? LDS General Conference from earlier this month

18. 3 Favorite Places to eat? Saigon Restaurant, Printworks Bistro, P.F. Chang's (I don't know if those are really true. They're just the first ones that came to mind.)

19. How did you bring in the New Year? Moping over the fact that we couldn't participate in Nicolle and Greg's Amazing Race because Andrew's back was hurting. I'm still bitter.

20. Where would you like to go if you could go anywhere? New Zealand

21. Name three people who will complete this test? I have no response to that.

22. Do you own slippers? Yes. Two pairs. A bright orange pair I bought on clearance. Andrew says I could wear them hunting. And a nice green pair my friend gave me to wear to the hospital when I had Caroline. How sweet.

23. What color shirt are you wearing? Light blue.

24. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I don't think I've ever tried it.

25. Can you whistle? Yes. I think I do a mean rendition of Scorpion's "Wind of Change" whistle.

26. Favorite color? Silver cars and jewelry, black clothes, brown and blue home decor.

27. Would you be a pirate? What kind of question is that? No.

28. Favorite girl's name? Ellery Refuge

29. Favorite boy's name? Brandon Trey

30. What's in your pockets right now? An empty sandwich baggie from some trail mix I was snacking on earlier.

31. Last thing that made you laugh? Brandon was making silly faces at Caroline while I was holding her in the baby bjorn and she was CRACKING UP. It was contagious. Whit and I were giggling, too, along with several people in Target who overheard.

32. Best bed sheets as a child? I don't remember any fun ones. But I DO remember getting an electric blanket for Christmas and I loved that thing.

33. How many TVs do you have in your house? Only one that works. I've yet to throw away the 15 year old one that's up in our bedroom. It was a trusty companion but passed away this summer.

34. Who is your loudest friend? Marianne

35. How many pets do you have? Zero

36. Does someone have a crush on you? Yes. He's tall, dark, and very handsome. The feeling is mutual

and he's stuck with me for eternity.

37. What is your favorite book? That's a hard one. I'm going to say "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom

38. Do you like your hair? It has taken me YEARS to be able to say this, but yes. Yes, I do. Andrew and I describe it as

wild

and unruly, but it's fun and easy to do and I enjoy it.

39. What kind of car do you want? It is completely impractical for us right now, but I've always wanted a Ford F-150.

40. Who is your oldest friend? I'm assuming this means the friend that I've had the longest? It's a three way tie between Marianne, Monika, and Misty. I guess I only liked girls with "M" names when I was 9.

What do I do with this thing?

Upside: Lots of baby girl outfits come with cute little matching hats.

Downside: I can't figure out how this one is supposed to be worn.

Helmet with a bow in front?

A little too much like the flying nun?

A Southern Belle?

Or a bonnet?

What do you think?

Caroline at four months

Here's the lowdown on our baby girl:

*Weighed in at 13 lbs 2 oz,
right around the 50th percentile

*Is a total mama's girl.
Cries almost every time leave her,
even with her daddy.
(This is a first for us and I'm
hoping it's a short-lived phase!)

*Is still very drooly and almost always
has something in her mouth.
Turns out that's because she
cut her first TWO teeth this week.
(B and W didn't get teeth until 8 and 9 months.
I might need to wean C early.)

*Can roll from tummy to back fairly easily.
Has gone from back to tummy a couple of times, too.

*Is still waking up every 3-4 hours ALL NIGHT LONG.
I think I've gotten used to life as a walking zombie.
My friends don't even notice the bags under my eyes anymore!
She's getting on more of a schedule during the day
and will take longer, less frequent naps.
That part has been nice.

*Did NOT enjoy her first experience with rice cereal.
We'll keep trying and hope she catches on soon.

*When she's with me, fed, and not sleepy,
she is SUCH a happy baby.
She loves to smile and giggle and
has started this cute little babble, too.
(Mom, I tried to catch it on video just for you.)