Big Brother

When I was younger I used to wish for a big brother. I used to think "what would it have been like?"

Lucas answered this question for me...

Lucas gave my "goose" a goose-egg! She was running into the bathroom and he thought it would be funny to slam it right as she was going in.  Corner of door into forehead.

It looks worse than these pictures show but my Bridgey has the Horn pain tolerance which means she let out a scream and then was totally fine.  An oreo cookie didn't hurt in the comforting process.

She was upset because it was blue and purple is her favorite color.  I assured her that it will change colors over the next few days and that seemed to help things along. :)

Oh and Lucas was in serious trouble. Ask my sister, she got to hear the whole thing! Luckily he isn't a mean boy and was very apologetic.

New Niece

Veronica had her baby yesterday.  I am so excited  and luckily Veronica knows what a crazy I am and let me take a bunch of pictures!  Here are my favs!

Her name is Sydney Jane Witte, she was 6lbs 8oz and lucky for her mom was only about 7 1/2 hours of work! :)  She is so sweet and looks a lot like her brother Noah to me.

Sydney was starting to get the hang of me and my flash and only allowed me to take one more picture before she decided to go to sleep. Here it is...

and of course it's my favorite! :) Welcome to the family Sydney. Bridget is the most excited. She told me so.

Colorado Love

We started our morning out with singing Happy Birthday to Auntie Steph. Calling Veronica to say good luck (she is being induced today) and then we packed lunches and headed out to Golden Gate State Park.

We stopped to rock climb for a bit...look at these views people it was beautiful and 56 and perfect.

I learned NEVER to tell the kids to say Colorado before taking a picture! Hahaha.

The kids had a fun time climbing all by themselves.

The kids collected pine cones and made some observations that they logged into their notebooks, and then we kept going on.

We stopped by a creek and let the kids play in the water. They totally loved this.

Oh yes, I was there too! haha. Look at the view just gorgeous!

There was some dunking too.

We played at the lake and then went into town for a picnic lunch.

It was a fun day full of nature and relaxation. The kids kept saying that they loved Colorado and the nature and I had to agree. I love that we don't have to spend any money or go and do something extravagant to have a good time with each other.  We like each other enough to just enjoy our own company. :)

Pre Halloween Fun

We love Halloween in our house.  Lucas asked why we dress up and I said something about just doing it for fun.  Lucas said that one day he wanted to dress like Grandpa Horn...then I had to help him figure it out.

Don't forget the DOT on his cheek!  No one will know it is him if I forget that!

He was wearing other shorts but remembered Grandpas special golfin shorts!

Its cute and weird all at the same time!

Happy Pre Halloween?
PS I love when Simon Cowell wigs go on sale! LOL

Gorgeous Day at the Zoo

We decided to meet up with friends at 10 but I knew I needed to get there at opening!

They had a list of the new babies:

So we grabbed maps and headed out to see as many as we could!

But the Lions were out so we needed to see those!

Scarlett was crazy excited calling every animal a chicken and then saying the correct sound for the actual animal. So cute.

This is them looking at the baby Tiger.

This is the only animal Scarlett knew correctly.  Raffles! (Giraffe)

There is the baby raffle!

A camel!

It was breezy 70 degrees and totally empty. The kids all walked, I didn't even need the stroller!

There was a lot of construction at the zoo because...

They are building a whole new Asian animal section at the zoo, I looked at the plans and it looks totally amazing!

This trip was fun for me because Scarlett was discovering and learning and excited to see everything.  She also was the perfect height to not have to be lifted!

We met up with friends about 10:15 and Scarlett liked seeing kids her size. That is Lucy by the way.

We chatted, we ate, then we rode the train...

and then it was time to go home.

Scarlett's 6 teeth look weird in this pic, but she LOVED the train.

We left at 12:45 and got home by 1pm everyones asleep and I am about to take a nap myself.

Thanks for the fun day ladies!

Sigh

I can't believe she is growing up.  I am sad to not have a baby anymore, but so glad she is on the move and independent.  She is handling all of the change really well with both of her siblings going to school and being with me. She is talking so much and truly just a fun person to be around.

I know I just wrote this huge long blog post about her being 18 months but I was looking back at older posts and saw this one...HERE about how one day your baby wakes up and is no longer a baby.  Its funny because Bridget was only 10 months in this post but it was so true then and now its true for Scar.

yes! Pigtails!

There is a long story with this one, all I can say is that when I texted this to my family there were two messages that went out:

1- Parents and Sister "Chocolate Donut - Its what's for Breakfast"

2- Nathan - "What were you thinking?"

I was taking a shower and Nathan gave the kids breakfast and left for work. When I came down I saw this. She needed a FULL bath before I got her dressed! If it were me I would have cut hers up into pieces because well....she is a mess! LOL

1000 Words

Sometimes pictures don't have a description.  Sometimes pictures are worth 1000 words. Sometimes you get that great feeling where you are proud to say "Yep, that's my dad!"

In this case I showed this picture of my father's golfing team to my family and my son shouts "Oh man my grandpa is so awesome, and dark and the tallest one on the team...I can't wait to be just like him."

I had to break the news to him that he would never be that dark but he could be just as tall and perhaps just as awesome. He left the room with a HUGE smile on his face and then looked at Nathan and I could see in his face that he realized at that moment...it was his father's fault he would never be that Dark.  Thanks a lot dad! :P Hahaha.

Of course when Bridget saw it she said "Grandpa's shorts are cute and I know why he isn't wearing a hat...he didn't want to mess up his hair!" Another true statement. Also another thing my kids won't get...a great head of hair! Hahaha.

Thursday with nothing to do

I wanted to go to the zoo, I wanted to go somewhere but everyone was busy so I decided to take the kids to Monkey Business.  I had a pass for 6 kids for free but took my 3 and they extended it for one more visit since I only had 3 kids.

It is like a giant fun house for kids.  My kids had a great time.

Scarlett was in heaven because she could run free where ever she wanted and I wasn't telling her to stop at anything! :)

We were there for 3 hours, and the kids had the opportunity to climb, jump, play and swing all in one room.

I think this will be a great place to go in the winter when the ground is covered in snow!

Yes, she is totally checking herself out in the mirror.

The fun didn't stop there!  They even had an art room to color, draw, paint, stamp you name it!

It was such a fun day and if anyone wants to go with me I would love to go again! 

A day of FIRSTS

Today was Bridget's first day of TotSchool. It is a 3 year old co-op playgroup/preschool with a few kids in the ward. There are 6 total and Bridget is the oldest (by a week) but really needed to do something fun and so I am kind of leading it, but we are all friends and are all working together on it and so far the first day was GREAT!
So MW for 1.5 hours the kids will get some playtime, a little lesson and do a project.  They all did a great job and the next class is F then we will go back to the MW format.

Then we ate lunch, and got ready for PreSchool. Lucas is going to a local PreSchool with a bunch of friends from the ward and wouldn't you have guessed it he and Robert are in the same class.  His teacher is Mrs. McDonald and the first thing Lucas said to her was "I really love your food" (McDonalds) LOL Then he told her that he was a fire expert and that he already knows the emergency exits. Hahaha.
He told me when I picked him up that he was good the whole time and that he should skip PreSchool and go straight to Kindergarten. He told us all about it and what he learned and told me he really wants to learn how to spell and write his middle name... (Brendan) because then he would be the best in the class.

(I stole this pic from Rachel)

Kaitlin, Anna, Lucas and Robert

I didn't cry, but Bridget totally did. She was screaming in the car "I don't want Lucas to grow up, I just want him to stay little and be at home forever." Then I told her when she was 4 she could go to preschool too and she said she never wants to be 4. Crazy Kids. :)

18 months

Finally!  I have been waiting for this day for a long time. Not because of Nursery but because every time someone was impressed with her speech or her behavior I could only say 15 months or 16 months but now I can say 1 and a HALF!

I have said so many things about Scarlett already but here are a few more.  She loves shoes, princess shoes, Lucas's shoes and right now she loves my boot.  She doesn't really like dresses but the shoes are a must.  She is the happiest baby most of the time and we are so impressed with how smart she is. She can say 40 words and and really started saying what she means...like "I don't like that."

She has 6 teeth and that doesn't stop her from eating her favorite foods like carrots and salad.  She is such a fun girl to be around and does NOT like to be left alone.

Scarlett is her Father's Daughter. In fact when we are both in the room I might as well be invisible because no one else matters.  She also favors Lucas over Bridget and I think its because he is so kind and helpful and always includes her.  She has been great in nursery (no surprise there since I have never had a kid who has had a hard time in there)

I am so glad she is a part of our family, she is sweet and kind and LOUD, but really a perfect piece to our Witte puzzle.  She is a great sleeper still and loves when we tell her its bedtime.  She is very attached to her Bebe and we haven't hit the tantrum or screaming side of her yet which is a good thing. :)

I do love this picture of her, she is worried and sad and concerned all in one face. Ah, what a sweetie! :)

Her stats...

18 months

29 pounds 9 oz

33 1/2 inches

We love ya Scarrrrr!