Fall Party Time!

The boys had their Fall Parties at school this week. A fun part of their celebration is getting to dress up as a Bible character.

Rowan's decided that he wanted to be one of the three kings who visited the baby Jesus. Rowan specifically wanted to be the king who brought Jesus the gift of gold which is why he's carrying the little Tiffany's pouch. 

Rowan was super excited about decorating his crown and helping me put together his costume.

The pre-school classes do a little parade for the big kids. Rowan felt so special showing off. He was especially excited to see his 5th grade Chapel buddy!

Cruz, Cora and I snuck in to watch the end of the parade.

Cruz also dressed up as one of the three kings. He was slightly less excited about the costume with the exception of the crown.

He also refused to get his picture taken unless he was holding Rowan's hand.

Rowan, Cora and I went to watch the little parade today too. Cruz looked so cute. He walked with his hands behind his back the entire time. It was so precious.

Speaking of precious, here's Cora. I tried so hard to photograph a smile but it just wasn't happening. I seriously love dressing her up. She's like my own little doll. :)

Autumnfest & Grandma

We had an extra special week this week because Grandma came to visit! The boys had a lot of fun showing Grandma around town. The carnival was in town this weekend so we even got to go there with Grandma, which was so much fun. 

Everyone all decked out for Autumnfest. Cora was also in her Halloween gear but unfortunately she decided to poop up the back of it before we left. 

I love Cruz's concerned face regarding Cora's tears.

Cora enjoyed the carnival from her stroller and Grandma's arms.

I was voted to go on the spinning ride with Rowan. No one else wanted to risk vomiting. :)

I didn't get any pictures of Cruz on rides for some reason. The boys each chose the rides they wanted to use their tickets on and a lot of them weren't the same.

Miss you already, Grandma!!!

Its tough...

being 2!

Cora Grace: One Month

Oh, Cora, how did you get to be a month old already? Time is flying by.  

Cora is smiling quite a bit these days. She continues to be a cheery, happy little girl. Her daddy gets the biggest smiles right now although she smiles almost as much at her brothers.

Cora weighs 9 lbs 1 oz... exactly the same as Rowan at one month. 

Cora has really been enjoying her play gym in the past few days. She's rarely in it alone though. :)

Happy one month to our favorite little girl!

Big Game!

Our Little Leaguer had his first big game yesterday. Daddy had to go to an opening for one of the schools he built so he couldn't come with us. Cruz went with Daddy for some special one on one time. That just left me and Cora to cheer #10 on. #10 was Roger's Little League number when he was a kid too.

Rowan and his #2 fan.... no one can beat Mommy for #1. :)

I had to do a Google search on how to correctly put on his socks and pants. Even so, I didn't do it quite right. 

His smile melts my heart. He was so excited about his first game.

Miss Corabelle had to get a baseball bow to match the team colors. 

Even thought its t ball, the boys are practicing hitting the ball while their coach pitches. After three tries to hit they got to bat off the tee. Some of the kids on Rowan's team are 6 and are more ready for something like this than the younger kids. This picture makes me want to yell at Rowan to get his elbow up. :)

#10 is headed to first base! All the little boys are more interested in seeing how far their ball went then on looking straight ahead and hurrying to the base.

Rowan is the kid in the middle in "baseball ready" position.

Fielding a ball.

We are so proud of Rowan. He is working so hard. He was also so brave walking into the dugout on the first day of practice. He didn't know anyone else on his team but he marched in and got to work. I admire his courage. I know I wouldn't be at all comfortable doing that, even as an adult. :)

Cora in Action

These videos aren't very exciting but they're full of our precious little Corabelle (as she's known around here). 

Happy Friday!

Cora: 3 weeks

Cora Grace:

At 3 weeks, Miss Cora continues to be a sweet, tolerant, easy going little girl. 

I haven't really put her on a schedule at this point but she's been doing it a little bit on her own. She pretty much eats whenever she's hungry but I can count on her to snooze on and off all morning and then take a solid afternoon nap when her brothers do. Yay! She is up on and off all evening and gets swaddled and put to bed around 7:30 with the boys. Cora gives me a good, long stretch of sleep until about 12:30 am. Then she wakes up around 3:00 am and 5:30 am or so. She is so good about sleeping in until 7:15 am or so which gives me time to take a shower, feed the boys and get them ready for school. 

Cora rarely cries unless she needs something. She is so sweet about tolerating her brothers all up in her face. She is a bit of a celebrity at the boys' school. Cora's umbilical cord fell off a week or so ago so she's been enjoying tub baths with her brothers. They adore helping me wash and rinse her in the tub. Cora is so close to outgrowing her newborn clothes, which makes me a little bit sad.

Happy 3 weeks, sweet girl! Don't grow too fast. 

The Park

Its getting cooler outside!! Woo hoo!!! It was a gorgeous weekend here in AZ so we spent a lot of time outside. On Sunday, we made a family trip to the park. This was Cora's first trip to the park and she loved it! :)

Sister, in her big pink bow, had a fun time relaxing and snoozing in her car seat. Cora is wearing a dress that Roger and I picked out when we told that Rowan was a girl over four years ago. We are so thrilled to have a little daughter to put in it!

Cora didn't actually go down the slide but this was too cute of an opportunity to get a picture of her and her biggest brother.

Our three kids! 

Rowan

Cruz

There are some HUGE tunnel slides at our park and up until now, Cruz hasn't been brave enough to go down them by himself. He'll go in Roger or Rowan's lap but something about being INSIDE the slide alone was scary to him. Yesterday though, he did it all by himself. He went down several of the slides and was so proud. Yay, Cruz!

I am so thankful for these kids. They are more than I could have ever asked for. God is good.

Us Update

Our little 2 week old made her debut at Bible Study this morning decked out in her very first dress. Cora continues to be a sweet little baby who only cries when she's hungry or getting a bath. She is sleeping great at night. We swaddle her and put her "to bed" around 7:30 when the boys go to bed. She usually wakes up around 11:30 and then again around 4 or so. At 2 weeks, Cora weights 7 pounds 6 ounces and is 21 inches long.

The boys continue to adore her. I haven't been the best about getting pictures lately but I've been treasuring the sweet moments. Rowan loves on Cora all the time. He holds her hand in the car and helps me "guess" why she is fussing. Rowan cried yesterday at Cora's doctor's check up when she got her heel pricked. He hates to see his sister upset or hurting.

Cruz gets very concerned when Cora cries too and wants to hold her constantly. He shares his toys and prized stuffed monkey with her. Each time we go to school or church he asks people, "wanna see my baby sister??" He's just so proud.

I feel like I'm truly cherishing Cora's newborn-ness. I don't mind being up with her at night or snuggling her during the day. I know this season of her life is so short and I want to enjoy every minute of it. I can't believe she's two weeks old already. 

Pumpkin Patch 2012

We braved the 90 minute drive to Chino Valley, AZ with our backseat loaded with kids. One tough part of having the three of them back there is that there isn't any room for me to sit back there to comfort a fussy baby. Thankfully, Cora did great and Rowan, who sits next to her, is an amazing helper!

In the words of Cruz, "We SUPER excited 'bout the punkin patch!"

Our annual sign photo with an added adorable little babe.

I love this picture. These brothers are the best of friends. Cruz draws so much comfort and confidence from being with Rowan and Rowan delights in watching over his little brother.

The boys were so excited about their spider shirts.

My biggest baby thought the Merry Go Round was "boring" this year. He's growing up way too fast for my liking.

The boys were more interested in being silly in the petting zoo than petting the animals.

Roger stayed outside the petting zoo with a sleeping Cora. I'm not sure what this face is for. Perhaps he is upset about missing the gross goats nipping at his clothes. :)

I didn't get any photos of the actual pumpkin picking seeing as I was in the car feeding Miss Cora. Flexibility was the name of our game yesterday. I do know that the boys came back to the car with a GIANT pumpkin, a medium sized pumpkin and two little tiny ones. 

I would say that our first big outing as a family of five was a success. 

T Ball With Daddy

This morning Roger took the boys to Dick's Sporting Goods to get Rowan some t-ball equipment. I stayed behind with Cora and snuggled and read a book. SO relaxing.

When they got back, we headed to a field near our house to try it out. Cruz wanted to play too. He was in charge of fielding the balls that Rowan hit.

Roger did some major work with Rowan on his batting stance and swing. He looks a lot better now. I was sitting on the sidelines nursing Cora so some of these photos are not the best. Holding my heavy camera with one hand is tough! :)

Cruz was done after a little bit so he came to sit with me and Cora....

...which OF COURSE led to Cruz wanting to hold her. The boys want to hold her constantly.

The boys worked on catching and throwing. Rowan wanted to hit a few more balls before we left but he ended up hitting himself in the head with the bat so we headed out. He's okay. :)

Daddy and Cora