Fall Break!

Last week was fall break which meant NO SCHOOL for a week! Instead of sticking around we decided to hit the road. The only thing we knew we were doing for sure was visiting GG. So Monday we packed up and headed out. We decided right before leaving that we would head to Louisville, KY and stay in a hotel for the night then hit the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. So we did. What we discovered was Chloe is NOT much of a traveler and 4 hours is her limit...at least it was on the way there. (Photo above: P taking advantage of jumping on the hotel bed...love it!)

P and Babe Ruth. Btw, totally recommend visiting the Louisville Slugger museum!
The big bat and glove that the boys thought were pretty cool.
After leaving Louisville we headed to IN and stayed with the Croells for a couple days. Spent an afternoon in Chicago Wednesday. Took the kids to the childrens museum at Navy Pier which was super cool.
Not too bad of a picture taken from inside the van while moving with the window up!;)
The fun house mirrors were pretty neat. We got MANY laughs from seeing ourselves in them.

Of course, I have 3 boys that insisted I get a picture of this....a fire boat!
A visit with GG! Her place of choice to eat lunch... McDonalds! We did have 5 kiddos with us so they were excited. She is a pretty cool great grandma!

Left for the St.Louis area Friday morning to visit with the Grammys and Papas and stayed for a couple days. Headed home Sunday night. We had a blast "flying by the seat of our pants" as we kept saying but it was good to get home and get back to the daily grind.

Chloe

So we've had the Flip video for a few months now and I'm finally getting around to figuring out
how to post! Took this of Chloe last night! Of course, she quit talking as soon as I started taking the video but you can enjoy her smiles nonetheless!

My blessings!

I love this picture...totally them! I'm so lucky to have ALL of them in my life. And very PROUD to be called their wife and mommy!
So for the past few weeks I have been telling Bill that Chloe is totally HIM! He doesn't think so! I kept telling him I'm going to take pics of the two of you together and then maybe you'll see it! So today was the day. How can he say she doesn't look like him? I mean look....same ears, same face shape, same double chin, same eyes! All I have to say is thank goodness I have one child that looks like me! lol {wink} What do you think?

A few from the past week!

Little Miss is 10 weeks today! Cole wanted to put her in the Bumbo this morning and she did really well!

All ready for church!
"I workin," said Coley when I went out to check on him.

9 weeks!

Little Miss is 9 weeks today! It hardly seems possible some days. She makes us happy...very happy! Look at that sweet smiley face! Since my last post she has been smiling and cooing so much. She's even sharing with Daddy now too! Whew! At first it was only at Mommy! Speaking of Daddy don't you think she looks like him? I swear they are twins when he holds her. Really! She even shares his double chin...love it! She's a big girl now and is sleeping in her crib upstairs! It was hard on me the first night, but she does great! She goes down between 8-9 and sleeps til about 3-4 most nights. She is a wonderful sleeper and loves her crib much more than the pack n play. She loves baths and getting lotion...makes Mama happy...I see spa time together in the future ;). She also doesn't mind tummy time at all. She just lays there smiling and blowing bubbles and kicks her little legs. If she crawls as fast as she is moving those legs now we are in for trouble in a few months.

My girl...

is getting so big! Today she smiled and coo'd at me A LOT! I loved every minute of it and of course wanted to capture the smile. She is really quick with the really big smiles so this is
about as good as I could get today. And the funny one below...love it! I'm can totally picture her
doing this in about 2 years to her brothers. Can you? :)
Well I have to admit I feel defeated. My goal with her was to nurse her for a year just like I did the boys. I mean I had no problems except mastitis 3 times with Cole, but we managed somehow to keep on. I was good until I started my medicine almost 2 weeks ago. Everyday my milk supply is less and less. I've tried nursing on demand...which was getting to be every hour and a half. I tried pumping every 2 hours while giving her formula to try and boost my supply. Nothing I tell you has worked so on Sunday I bought *gasp* formula. As much as I feel like a failure for not being able to feed my child I know it's the right thing for her. She takes a bottle like a champ and has since we had to supplement in the hospital. She hasn't had a problem with formula at all either. So we decided that rather than me go off the medicine and be crazy mom/wife again. That a happy mom is better for all of us. Really it is! I cannot tell you how much better I feel. How much more I enjoy sitting and watching my children and hugging them rather than yelling at them for the littlest things. I've not been putting as much on my "to do" list as I was. Thank goodness...that was stressing me out. I'm now enjoying just holding Chloe and taking every ounce of her in...her long eyelashes, the heart on her forehead, her short fuzzy hair, her long toes. I know that it goes by so fast. I don't want to look back and have any regrets that I didn't enjoy my blessings when they were little. So now that I'm crying...

Fall is in the air...well in pictures at least!

Saturday we went to Christian Way Farm in KY! We went with a couple of our church families. It was a GREAT farm and fun was had by all...or most! ha The farm was equipped with farm animals that we fed, a corn maze, a corn truck, play grounds, and a pick your own pumpkin patch. That was by far the most awesome for me. I've never searched for just the right pumpkin and picked it right from the vine. I have to say this will probably be a yearly visit from now on. It was so much fun.
The humidity was HIGH...not so good for the hair! lol
How cute?! Let me tell you these piggies STINK! It was awful! It was the worst smell ever...one that almost made us lose our marbles. It was bad!

Cole feeding the "baby cow." Right after this picture he dropped all the corn he had. I'm thinking the cow's tongue on his hand freaked him out a bit. lol
Grinding up the corn to feed the animals.