HALLOWEEN FUN IN UTAH

We decided to take a fairly spontaneous trip to Utah in October to visit Grandma and Grandpa Geddes, and all of our extended family. The kids haven't seen their cousins in over 3 years so it was definitely time for a catch up.
It was a quick, and busy 1 week trip which involved LOOONNG flights with a busy and fussy Eden, but we enjoyed our time with family.
The kids warmed up to their cousins immediately and had an absolute blast playing with them.
It was a great catch up.
We all spent Halloween together, which was chaos, lol.. but so fun. 24 adults and children all trick or treating TOGETHER... can you imagine the sight when we rang a door bell? lol.

KATE TURNS 4

Our sweet little Kate turned 4 on September 16th. (This blog is VERY LATE. lol)

We had a fun little girls 'Frozen' themed party. 

Our Kate is such a sweetheart.
She loves all things girly... dress ups, princesses, nail polish and lip gloss.
She has started to draw a lot more recently and loves to draw adorable 'stick figure' pictures of her family. I love this early learner, drawing stage. The pictures are always so fun to see.
Kate started the 3+ preschool class in September and she seems to be thriving. She loves it.
She is working on learning to write, and is doing a great job practicing writing her name.

Shortly before her birthday, she had a well visit appointment with her pediatrician.
Her 'almost' 4yr old stats were:

Weight: 30 lbs/13.6kg (13th percentile)
Height: 38 inches/96.5cm (10th percentile)

She remains a petite little girl.
We love our sweet, sassy and funny Kate

Presents from Mom and Dad in the morning

LUKE TURNED 6

I've been pretty bad at keeping my blog updated lately. Facebook makes it so easy to just upload pictures with a quick description or status update and call it good. A blog is definitely a lot more work.
SOOO, this is Luke's birthday blog post... 2 months late.

My handsome big boy, turned SIX on May 6 this year.
Where has the time gone.
He is such a great boy. Luke is my kind, gentle and sweet child (though Kate does tend to bring out the less sweet version of him sometimes. lol. Sibling love)
He is still a doting big brother over Eden and watches out for her so well.
He has just finished up his Kindergarten year and I am so proud of him. I compared his first report card to his 4th report card that came at the end of the school year and I cannot believe how far he came and what a total sponge he was throughout his kindergarten year. It's amazing just how much those little brains can learn in just 9 short months.
He is great at reading. His handwriting is so very neat and well written and he has excelled at learning his first bit of basic math. He mostly enjoyed school, but the long days did catch up on him. Going to school from 9am-4pm when you're only 5 is such a long day.

For Luke's Birthday we invited a couple of his friends over and had a small party at the park over the road from our house. It's definitely handy having that park so close. It makes for an easy, inexpensive and 'entertainment provided' party location :)

One of our goals for this summer was to teach Luke how to ride his bike without the training wheels. I am happy to report that just 17 days after he turned 6, he had it down. Now I watch him ride up and down the side walk with his friend from over the road and I am so amazed at how quickly he caught on. I see him riding, standing up, attempting to do 'tricks' like letting go of the handlebars and clapping his hands together while pedaling, lol and other 'dangerous' boy things. He's also toughened up so much since learning to ride his bike. When we first suggested taking his training wheels off, he wasn't interested because he was afraid he'd fall off and get hurt. It took 2 Saturdays for him to get more courageous about it. The first Saturday we tried without his training wheels he was scared and not really willing to try very hard. I'm not sure what changed, but the next time we tried he just got on and took off... he fell a couple times, (and still occasionally falls off because he's usually monkeying about), but  instead of tears, he just got back up, scraped and bruised legs and carried on riding his bike. Now, his poor legs are permanently beaten up, but he's learned to brush it off and keep playing. I'm so proud of him.

We love our Luke so much.

EDEN TURNED 1

The first year is already over.
Miss Eden turned 1 on June 9th. The first year always seems to go by so quickly. It's a whirlwind of sleep deprivation, family adjustments, baby milestones, chaos and fun. It always amazes me how much a baby grows in their first year. From this tiny, pink little newborn to a cruising, crawling or walking 'toddler' with a feisty personality and a lot of sass...all in just a year.

Eden is such a little cutie. Since her 9 month post, she has progressed to a one legged crawl, and is really fast getting around like that, cruising along furniture and as of the last couple days, very brief moments of letting go and standing for a couple seconds unsupported. She's not walking yet, but I don't think it'll be too much longer. Luke and Kate both walked before a year, but Eden has been very much following her own path and doing everything differently to her siblings. She already has 8 teeth.. 4 top and 4 on the bottom. Neither of her siblings had even close to 8 teeth at a year either. lol.
She unfortunately likes to bite as well as pull hair.. so we're working on those things, but it's pretty hard trying to get through to a just barely turned 1 year old.

She is still a total mommy's girl. Some days I LOVE it, and some days I would love a break from my little 'cling-on'. lol
We're still not 100% sure on the final color of her hair, but right now it's still looking auburn which I am so excited about :)

She had her 12 month pediatrician check up this week, and she is still such a petite little thing.
Her stats are:
Weight: 15lbs 11.5oz (7.13kg) - less than 3rd percentile
Height: 28.25 inches (71.8cm) - 18th percentile
Head: 17.25 inches - 18th percentile

For Eden's birthday we invited 2 sets of friends over, had a delicious grilled chicken dinner and enjoyed opening some gifts and eating cake with Eden. It was a small and simple birthday celebration, but good :)

I don't remember life before Eden anymore. She's the perfect addition to our family and we just love her so much. Her siblings love her too. Luke is completely besotted with her and Kate loves her but prefers things from a distance. lol. Kate isn't at a very good sharing age yet, and she doesn't like it when Eden touches or gets near her things, which if they're in reach is ALWAYS. Luke is patient and understanding with her and very sweet to her. I'm so proud of the big brother he is. 

 

 

9 MONTHS OLD

9 MONTHS OLD

 Our sweet baby girl is 9 months old.
In just a few short months she'll be celebrating that big 1st birthday. Crazy talk.
The first year really is the fastest. It's amazing how much they grow, change and develop in just 12 months. AMAZING STUFF!

Miss Eden had her 9 month appointment today.
Weight: 14lb 9oz (6.6kg) - 1.7 % (not officially even on the charts)
Height: 26.5 inches - 17%
Head: 17 inches - 27%

She's as petite as can be, but healthy.
Since 6 months, she has reached a few new milestones.
She cut her first tooth right at 6 months, but then didn't get any more teeth until 8.5 months, where she suddenly cut 3 in just over a week. She is currently working on tooth #5
She has 3 on the bottom, 1 on top and a second on top almost there.
She learned to sit unsupported at 7 months.
She started saying "mama" around 8 months. I was so excited for this. Luke didn't speak until well into toddler years so we missed out on that, and Kate's first word was "Dada", so it was a big deal to me that Eden said Mama first and she actually means it for what it is... she calls to me when she wants me :D Sweet girl melts my heart.
She's trying desperately to crawl, but just not quite there yet.
She goes from a sitting position, down onto 2 hands and ONE knee, but that second leg just stays 'sitting', and as soon as she manages to pull it forward too, she goes into a belly flop and just lands on her tummy. lol. Silly girl doesn't seem to have figured out how to get up on those knees yet. Hopefully she'll get it right soon, because she's getting frustrated by her inability to move.
She is still a super sweet baby. When she isn't sick or cutting teeth, she still goes to bed easily and without fussing, as long as she's tired and ready for bed.
The other day I put her down for a nap, and as I tucked her in with her blanket, she wriggled into a comfortable position and let out a giggle of delight. It was the cutest thing. I hope she continues to love her bed and her sleep... Luke is the same way.
She still wakes up during the night, but given her small size, I guess that's to be expected.
She is a pretty big mommy's girl. She will usually choose me over anyone else. (Also a new experience. Luke didn't care which parent he was with as a baby, and Kate has always been a daddy's girl), unfortunately she is also BIG into the separation anxiety stage, so she cries and screams anytime I need to leave her with someone. A friend/babysitter etc. It does make going places without her a bit challenging, but sometimes when I have appointments with older kids, date night with Jake etc, it can't be avoided.
We do love our little Eden. She is the perfect fit to our family and such a little gem.
I'm trying to remember these baby months as well as I can, because they're almost over. Soon she'll be a toddler.

Here is a pic of Eden at 7 months

7 MONTHS OLD

9 MONTHS OLD

7 YEARS

On December 21st, Jake and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary

Our 7 years in summary:
2 States
5 homes
3 Jobs
3 kids
1 minivan
(plus a few other cars but the minivan was the big deal moment. lol)

Exciting, huh? lol

On to the next 7 years :)
Love you Jacob Geddes... it's a been a good 7 years.