Halloween!

We love Halloween at our house! It is complete with the Elementary Halloween Parade, carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, a party for KayDee and Jenna (since I am a mean mom and told them they are too old to go trick-or-treating), the Chili cookoff, and best of all...COSTUMES!

Here are some pics of our eventful Halloween. First up...costumes!

I didn't dress Jackson up, but did buy him a cute little Frankenstein shirt and pants. I figured that was okay.

Next, the Halloween Party that my sisters Tiff and Lex  threw. The kids had a great time, Lex did all the games and Tiff helped with the food. Here are some pics of her amazing cupcake and brownie creations! She is so talented! I'm jealous!!

Lex had all kinds of little game stations and activities for the kids. They had so much fun!

Every year, our Elementary school does a Halloween parade for the kids to wear their costumes on a march through the school. Parents are invited to come and watch and this year David, Jack, and myself went to check out all the unique costumes! The pics are a little fuzzy, I was trying to get them while the kids were walking by.

Jack was anxiously awaiting the parade to start!

And last but certainly not least, the chili cookoff! Our ward does their Halloween/Chili Cookoff party every year. It is our most attended event! I took my AWESOME ;) chili and entered this year. Guess what?! I won first place!! Oh yeah!!!! Here was my amazing prize:

The night of Halloween I made KD and Jen and their friends numerous snacks and treats and they planted themselves down to watch Dark Shadows in my living room. Debra, Brit, Jennye and their kids as well as Madi, Andrew and I went trick-or-treating in my neighborhood. The kids got loaded up with candy and we all had a great time! Lucky for us it was a warm year, we are usually trick-or-treating in the snow! I had a wonderful time and love seeing the happiness and excitement on my children's faces.

Jackson

October was a very busy month! We are finally getting settled into having a two month old baby. It has been a new learning experience, kind of like riding a bike, but so many things I have forgotten about having a baby. Jack sleeps 3-4 hours at a time, even at night, and it has been a big relief to be able to get some consistent sleep. He is such a great baby! Here are some of the latest pics!

 Tummy Time! He doesn't necessarily like it so much but he doesn't scream his lungs out either. Little victories!

 Hanging out with Oma. I swear, Jackson looks like a sumo wrestler in this picture! So funny!

 He smiles all of the time! It melts my heart!! Jack is very partial about laying next to us, so we get him to sleep this way and then move him to his bassinet. He is so particular! If you do things how he wants them done he is very easy going, if not...

 Mommy's HANDSOME LITTLE GUY!

 He's starting to get that very curious look as he really starts to take in his surroundings. He loves to be right in the middle of the chaos of his four older siblings, and surprisingly sleeps really well through the noise. His swing is his favorite accessory! ;)

 Picture with Grandma Susan. She was talking to him so I couldn't get a good picture of her holding still!

 Laying on daddy's chest, staring at mommy.

 Watching football at Fong's after Jenna's orchestra concert. Like father like son!

 Sleeping in his UTES jammies! You can still see his jaundice in this pic. It took months to go away! Anyway, he knows who the winning football team is! GO UTES!!

 Madi trying to prepare him for our Thanksgiving trip to Grandma and Grandpa Legg's in Arizona. This pic is priceless! She was adamant that he could not have the sun in his eyes. So cute!

 Just catching our Sunday afternoon nap with dad. Right in between watching some football.

I could write a whole blog just about Jack! He lights up my life, and I cherish his innocence; especially when my older kids back talk or fight. Boy I wish they could stay little forever. David of course can't wait for them to grow so he can really play with them. We both enjoy different stages which makes our parenting sympatico. He is such a wonderful dad, and has been a tender and calm caregiver for Jackson. He can tell the difference in Jackson's cries, knows when he just needs a nap, and is so amazing. It has been hard going back to work with a baby, but I know that Jack is in the best possible hands.

I look at my "Little" family and realize how truly blessed I am. David and I are truly grateful for all of the tender mercies in our lives. I have a good job, great benefits, a very kind and understanding boss who gives me ultimate flexibility with my hours. We have healthy, strong children who are smart and love life. Sometimes it gets overwhelming but in the end, this is our life, and we love our controlled chaos!

A birthday, a baptism, and a baby blessing!

September was a busy month with all of the kids in school, David and I both back to school, and having a newborn baby. On top of that, it was little Miss Madisen's birthday! This was the big number 8, and she was soooo excited. She didn't get to have a birthday party due to the recent birth of Jack, but she was okay with it.

 Here is our adorable little lady! She has the attitude to match that stance. We are so proud of the young woman she is growing into, and look forward to all of our future years with such a spunky, happy, bright girl!

Since she didn't get a party, we took her to Jump-On-It with her cousin Mia. They had a blast! This is her and Andrew. I like to call these pictures "PROOF." Proof that she really does love her brother and has a great time playing with him when they are not picking on each other!

 She is fearless and quite the natural gymnast!

She is such a unique little girl! She always keeps us on our toes!

Madisen can never do anything the easy way, so for her birthday she wanted this delicious white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Not just the kind out of a box, but the kind that took me an hour to put together, 90 minutes to cook in a "water bath" and hours of cool down/refrigeration time! Since I love her so much, I did this without any hesitation. It was soooo good! I made it while she was at school and she was so surprised when she got home!

 Madi wanted all LaLa Loopsy's for her birthday. Wish granted!

This little surprise came for Madi on her birthday, from her "favorite uncle." She loved them, especially when she found out they were from Uncle Luke! What a sweetheart he is to her!

Since it was Madisen's 8th birthday, in our religion she can get baptized and become a member of our church. Madi went back and forth about whether or not she was going to get baptized. This was simply due to her nerves, not to do with becoming a member. I am the kind of parent that lets my children make their own decisions, therefore I told her if she didn't want to, she didn't have to. I got a little flack for that from family members, but we knew in the end Madisen would decide what was best for her and if we tried to push her into a decision she would just get upset. In the end, she did go through with it! 

Since Madi planned to be baptized in October, we decided to go ahead and do Jackson's baby blessing at home on the same day. Madi was so excited to share her special day with her favorite sibling, and it was truly memorable. Madi helped me design invitations to send out. Here it is:

 Here she is in her baptism dress. Its special and was worn by both KayDee and Jenna when they were baptized. She looked like an angel.

Here is Jackson in his blessing suit. Brought back fond memories of when Andrew wore it.

 These two truly are best buddies! She is just like a mini mom to Jack and her face just lights up when she sees him. Jack is quite fond of her too!

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time! I was so happy I was able to snap this shot, with everyone looking at the camera and smiling! I love these three handsome men!

Of course I had to get a single pic of this strapping young boy! Doesn't he look so handsome?!

This is the cake that KayDee and Oma made for Madi's baptism. They did such an amazing job, and even though the cake didn't taste very good it looked awesome! KayDee sure does love her sister!

In the end, after all of the planning, food preparation, and countless hours of getting everything ready. The day was a huge success and I could not be happier for the events that took place that day. I especially loved Jackson's baby blessing. It spoke of his grandfather Michael (David's dad) and the council that Jack had received from him in the preexistence. It is comforting to know that Grandpa Awtrey was watching out for our boy, has a special connection, and will continue to lead and guide Jackson through this life.It is very humbling to hear the words that our Heavenly Father has in store for the little ones that come into our life. I know that Jackson is part of our family for a very special reason, and I am thankful that Heavenly Father entrusted him with us. We have 5 special spirits that are in our charge, and I look forward to every minute with all of them!

Now of course I can't leave off a few updated pictures of Jack. He is growing so fast and had almost doubled in weight at his 2 month checkup! Our pediatrician joked that I just needed to give birth to Jackson so that he could really start growing. I like to think its all that yummy, creamy milk I am making for him! ;)