Is It Fall Yet?

It. Is. So. Hot.

Like, hotter than Summer. When is it going to Fall? Can I wear pants and a sweater ever again?!?! What about cool days and candles? Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Summer and sun and all things hot. But, I'm looking forward to not sweating every time I step outside. Or walk up the stairs. Or go grocery shopping.... And sleep with blankets.

In the meantime we are beating the heat with splash time!

And air conditioning....

I love these snuggly babies. They love to climb all over me and squeeze in. You can tell where I've been in the house if you follow the trail of toys and books that Ray brings to be throughout the day. Her new thing is setting up her stool next to the stink or stove (whether I'm cooking or doing dishes) and "helping" me. She's just the best.

Jack turned 5 months old on September 15th. He sleeps all 12 hours at night and it's fun to watch him sleep on the new video baby monitor. Tanner bought one at Costco that we can spy on Jack using an app on our phones! One time Tanner was creeping on us while he was at work! I was in Jack's room with the babies going through his old clothes and all of a sudden I heard Tanner's voice! It sounded like a little elf under the bed! It scared me to death! Apparently you can also "talk" to your baby. He was at work but using the app he could see us! Kinda cool. Kinda creepy. ;-)

I rock Jack to sleep for naps and at night (sometimes he just wants to roll around and get comfy before falling asleep). But for the most part, I sing to him our lullabies (Somewhere Over the Rainbow, You Are My Sunshine, When You Wish Upon a Star, Hush Little Baby, and a plethora of primary songs). It's a great way for me to take a few minutes to calm down too. I steady my breathing (and breath more deeply) when I sing to him, it's quiet and cool in his room, and we connect on such a deep level. I cry all the time as I look into his face and wonder how I got so lucky. He likes to rest his hand on my face as he's falling asleep. It's just heaven. I'm so thankful for my baby boy!

Who taught him that?!?!?!?

Jack's favorite thing is Rayleigh. She is super sweet and tender with him but honestly, she doesn't pay too much attention to him. He, on the other hand, is mesmerized by her and watches her every move. He will laugh hysterically at her and she has no clue! I tell her, "Look at Jack! Say hi to him!!! He's laughing at you! He loves you!" And she just goes about her business as if I said nothing. ha ha

I feel like I'm accomplishing major endeavors as a Mom if I take my children to the park. Since Jack has been sleeping through the night it's been easier to have the energy to take them places. Our routine lately has been to get up at 7 (we ALL do and it's nice to have family prayers before Tanner goes to work. Sometimes we even eat breakfast together!) Sometimes I work out but usually I clean up and get everyone dressed and then we drive Parker to school. From there I take the babies to the park for about a half an hour. They LOVE it and it's been so nice to get out in the morning before it gets too hot. It's still HOT but not unbearable. Then we come home, turn on Mickey Mouse, and eat breakfast. It's a fantastic way to start the day!

Jack likes to grab my face and suck on it! ha ha Mom life.

For some reason I feel more validated if I document each and every park day. ha ha Now that we are pretty much going every day I'm not so weird about taking pictures of the back of Ray's head and blurry selfies of me and Jack.

So, this girl.... she gets around. I've been into decorating a little bit for Fall and she loves to follow me around. Oh! And she loves her fancy dress up shoes and tiara. She climbs up on the dining room table like 100 times a day. She was getting into the sand in our little candle holder thing. And she found these Halloween ornaments that my mom gave me and chucked them off the table thinking they were balls. So THAT was a fun mess to clean up. Glass and sand. But she's just so darn cute and who could blame her for wanting to touch all the pretty, shiny, sparkly things?

Parker dad minimum days the whole last week of school before he went off track. It was hard trying to keep her awake until 12:30.....

When she woke up she just wanted to be cuddled. And who am I to turn down a good baby snuggle?! Both babies wanted lap space. Better lose that belly fat to make room for children!

I think this was pre "high chair nap". I probably sent this to Tanner asking when he was going to be home. ha ha The she fell asleep and I was fine, I'm sure. ;-)

She always looks for the puddle that seems to be there most mornings. 

She loves to hang on the bar like Bebo. Jack for some reason thinks this is hilarious and laughs so hard when she's hanging there!

Saturday was busy! Tanner took Parker golfing and then straight to his soccer game (I hung out with the babies at home/the park. When they got home the babies woke up from their naps and we headed to the temple. Tanner and I did a trade off and each went in while the other stayed outside with the kids. Before the temple we all got a late lunch at Panera Bread. I love the temple!

Rayleigh desperately wanted to get IN the fountains. I couldn't blame her. It was HOT! I let her splash around. I'm not gonna deny my princess the chance to cool her pretty little toes! 

That evening we crashed my Lizzie Beanpole's wedding! Jami's last daughter, Elizabeth, was married to a sweet, handsome boy! Technically we didn't receive an invitation but Robyn said Sophie could babysit and I really did want to see my sweet Liz and say congrats. I started piano lessons with Jami when Liz was just 3 years old. She was spunky then and she's spunky now. I used to love to baby sit those girls and loved playing with them while our mom's has choir practice. I spent time with her multiple times a week while waiting for Josi to finish her piano lesson or at church or babysitting on  a Friday night. She's grown up to be a beautiful, talented, impressive young woman and I'm so glad I was able to see her on her special day! The wedding was at the Renaissance Club in Aliso Viejo (where the golf course used to be/where I worked before Tanner and I got married) and it was absolutely beautiful and perfect! We had a great dinner, sat with my parents, Mont and Robyn and saw lots of friends!

I had to take a picture of Rayleigh wearing her Minnie dress up shoes to church. Even though we only last about 20 minutes it's still fun to get all dressed up for church!

Jack was laughing at his crazy big brother and big sister.

Ray is a basket case at church. She is sooooo tired and just goes bizerk until I get her back in the car and on her way home for a nap. 11:30 church is rough!!!

Decorating for Fall! I can't help it, ok?!?!?

We practiced making magical fruit wands for Rayleigh's princess birthday party! They were so easy and so cute!

My kids are all so happy! I just love them so much!!! I am so blessed. I know I always say that but you know, I went 6 years fasting and praying, crying, wishing on every star/ every coin toss into a fountain, hoping that I would have more children and here they are. By the hand of God they are here and I'm NOT taking any of these blessing for granted!!!!