October

     October was filled with lots of fun things. Life has been pretty busy and stressful lately with trying to finish this house and take care of a growing family but we have had several blessing along the way and we have enjoyed lots of fun and happiness during all of the crazy times. We started the month by watching general conference which is always a good uplifting way to start the month. We had lots of fun celebrating Halloween and we went to Jakobee's soccer game one day and we spent another day playing at his house. The kids are good at finding things to do so really there is never a dull moment around here.

     The girls had a few play dates with friends and I babysat a few different kids several different times this week. The kids love having friends over, especially Brynlee. I have been watching two little boys every other week for a mom in our ward so that she can volunteer at the school with her older kids and then she watches my kids for me when I need her too. Her kids were sick last week so she wasn't able to watch them but the first time my kids both had a blast over there. I was really worried that Kyla would cry the whole time I was gone but she didn't really cry at all. Thank goodness. Her kids have been pretty good for me but she forgot her babies binky and so he cried a lot last time.

     The girls and I have been playing outside a lot. The leaves have all fallen off the tree and the kids had a blast playing in all those leaves. They didn't cooperate for a picture and it keeps raining so the leaves are all wet and soggy right now.

     The kids and I went Jabbers with a friend and the kids had a blast playing there. My sister Heather happened to be there at the same time so that was a nice surprise. Kyla really wanted to go down that big slide and she had no fear. The big kids on it didn't bother her one bit. She likes to climb so that was right up her alley. My sister Alesha is still in China and we have talked to her a few times, it sounds like she is having a great time. We went as a family to Idaho Pizza for lunch one day and we got there as the same time as my sister Heather. What are the odds? My kids love eating there so that was a fun time to spend with dad. Brynlee's school had an art night that we went to.

     Bryn is still absolutely loving school. She likes to come home and teach Anna everything she learns. She sings us all the songs she learns, makes us do all the movements and stuff with her, and she is constantly writing words and letters to people. I am completely amazed at how much she has learned. She seems to be picking everything up super quickly and she loves to learn. She is starting to read a few words and she has learned how to write pretty much all of her letters. I am so glad that she loves school. I got to go with Brynlee to her class field trip to Linder Farms and I really enjoyed it. It made me really miss teaching. Brynlee got to pick out her own pumpkin while we were there and we went through a corn maze, went on a hay ride, we got to pet some animals, and then the kids played on the little park they have. It was a fun trip. I even got to ride on the bus with Brynlee. We also had parent teacher conference with Brynlee's teacher and she is pretty pleased with how well Brynlee is doing. The friend she plays with the most at school are these three little boys but she seems to get along with everyone.

     Miss Annalyn has been obsessed with somersaults. That girl rolls everywhere she goes all around the whole house. She keeps running into things though and for a while she had so many little bruises on her back. She rolls over all the toys and whatever is on the floor. It is kind of funny. She is playing with Kyla a lot more and has been quite stubborn lately but for the most part she is just happy to play with her toys. She likes to do things with me and I try to spend a little alone time doing things with her when Kyla is sleeping. She loves when she gets all my attention. She has been kind of whiney lately and she gets upset over the silliest things. She was mad at grandma Hirtle for several days because she took the light out of her bathroom at the new house. She cried about it for hours. She has also been asking all kinds of questions lately. She likes to point at people (with her middle finger) and she will ask me things like, "what is that girl doing? Why is she doing that. Why is she wearing that?"

     Kyla got two more teeth on the bottom of her mouth this month and she is talking lots more. She has started saying a few phrases as well. My favorite is when she does something good she will lift up her arms and shout "ta da!" She likes to get her finger and toes painted and she loves to show people her feet and say "toe." She says "Cheese" whenever I get out the camera and she likes to share her food by putting it close to your mouth and saying "bite?" She says "tae tou" for thank you, she can make several animal sounds, and she will tell me when she is poopy by patting her bum and saying "poo poo." She hate those pajamas that zip up because she has gotten in the habit of rubbing her belly while she sucks on her thumb. She gets really mad when she can't rub her belly.

      It seems like I spent a lot of time this month cleaning up messes. Annalyn peed on the bathroom floor a little bit one morning and I was cleaning the floor when I came into the kitchen and found that Anna had poured some Apple juice and spilled some on the kitchen floor. Then I walked into the living room and discovered that Kyla spilled the cup of juice that Anna poured her all over the couch. It just seems like there were a lot of things that happened like that. The last night of the month Annalyn snuck into our bed, she hardly ever does, and she peed all over our bed. It was pretty bad. Joel slept on one little corner of the bed and I slept out on the couch. It was not a comfortable nights sleep for either of us. We have also had so many mice in our house and the flies have been really bad. So far we have killed 12 mice in the house and there are lots more. So gross. That makes me really want to more. My brother Brian and Heather came and got my girls for me one day and they took them to the dog park and to the dollar store which was so nice for me, plus the kids had a blast. It was really the break I needed for a few hours. Kyla took a nap and I got a lot done. My mom also came and got them for a few hours one day. I was so grateful for that.

     Bryn is still doing Tavaci once a week. The kids spend lot of time playing together. We got to church together on Sundays and we are enjoying life. Joel got sick one Sunday so I had to take the kids to church by myself. The van wouldn't start so I ended up waking Joel up to come help me jump start the van and we were a little late thanks to that. Then I lost part of my lesson for primary, and ended the day by losing my van keys. It turns out they were really in my bag the whole time. Luckily we made if home and I am grateful that my mom was there to help me get through the day. The kids and I play outside a lot and Brynlee has gotten really creative with building things. She followed the directions on that thing and built it all on her own.

     As for the house, we made lots of progress this month. We got all the insulation put in. We even got it all blown in the attic. Since the drywall guy would not be ready for three weeks Joel's parents volunteered to help us do the drywall. In order to start on the drywall we needed to get the insulation inspected. We were almost done but some of the insulation was put on backorder and not in yet. Luckily the inspector was nice and let us start on the drywall. All of the drywall is hung and we are just about done with all of the taping and mudding. Joel mom did almost all of the taping and texturing on her own. Both his parents were there most of the day while Joel was at work. We can't thank them enough for all of their help. That was a huge job. Next they will start the texturing. We had someone else come in and put up the shingles on our roof and put the concrete in our garage. It is really all coming together and starting to look and feel like a real house. The kids still love playing around the house and they like to help out when they can. Now we have the cabinets ordered, the rock for the front is ordered, and the trim is ordered. We got the fixtures put in the tub and the garage door should be put up any day now. (This picture was taken on Nov. 6th, right after the garage doors were put in. It was too dark to take a picture when I tried to take one.)

     Yes, life has been pretty crazy lately but we are pretty happy and overall we are really enjoying life. 

Baby # 4

     We are all excited to announce that there will soon be another little Hirtle baby born into this world. Baby number four is due May 1, 2016 and we couldn't be more excited. Right now I am 15 weeks along and I am finally starting to feel normal again.

     The original plan was to wait until we finished our house until we got pregnant again but for some reason I kept feeling like we shouldn't wait that long. I was determined that we would not have another June baby so we decided to try once and then if it didn't happen we would wait a while before trying again. We only had to try once before I got pregnant.

     The day I found out I was pregnant was on a Sunday. I kind of suspected I might be pregnant while I was at church because I wasn't feeling that well. Then after church Brynlee's primary teacher came up and asked me if I was pregnant. I looked at her all confused and shook my head while declaring "no." Apparently Brynlee told her primary class that she was going to have another baby at her house and we were hoping for a boy. Another mom came up to me a few minutes later and she also asked me if I was pregnant. I again declared that I wasn't. I guess she was pregnant and her little girl announced their news during class that day which is probably why Brynlee said that. She didn't want to be left out. Joel also heard the rumor from Brynlee's primary teacher and he asked Brynlee why she told everyone that. "I am just really excited about the baby and I can't wait to have another baby at our house," she said. We tried to explain that she couldn't tell people that we were having a baby until we were actually having a baby and she said, "Oh, well I just can't wait until we have a baby." I was joking with Joel about how funny it would be if I were really pregnant. When we got home from Joel's parent's house I took a pregnancy test and lo and behold, Brynlee was right. I guess sometime kids just know these things.

     Life has been pretty crazy lately with Brynlee starting school and the busy craziness of building this house so I really didn't have a lot of time to process the fact that we were having another baby. I just kept on with life. Brynlee started school the day after I found out I was pregnant. So far this has been a pretty normal pregnancy for me. I have been super tired, a little bit nauseous feeling and I am super sensitive to bad smells. Not to mention I have been extra emotional and very forgetful. The only time I have thrown up has been while trying to do the dishes. taking out the trash, or when I am feeding the chickens. Joel really needs to clean out their coup but he hasn't had time. Normally Joel is around to do more of these jobs for me. He at least feeds the chickens and takes out the trash but he is just too busy right now.

     We didn't tell anyone our news until I was 8 weeks along and then we told the girls. They both jumped for joy. Annalyn squealed with delight. She has been super excited. We told them to keep it a surprise but they didn't even wait one day before they were telling people. Annalyn told my sister-in-law first. We waited a few days and then I let them tell my parents and a few people. My dad told several people after that so I went ahead and let the rest of my family know. We were going to tell Joel's family but my dad told them first so we didn't get to tell them. It was sooner than I wanted to tell everyone our news but it was really only family that we told. Annalyn did tell a few select random people but I don't think the word is really out to everyone yet. I guess Anna was just too excited to wait. And that is why you shouldn't tell your kids until you want everyone to know. I am glad we at least waited a few weeks before we told them our news.

     For this baby I decided I wanted to have a hospital birth. I loved having Kyla at the birthing center but it just didn't feel right this time. Plus we have really good insurance now and they just built a brand new hospital with a new maternity center that I have heard is really nice. I had no idea what doctor to go to. I had to go to that specific hospital so I spent a long time looking at all of the pictures and reading about all of the different doctors that delivered there and then I picked one that I liked. I waited to call until I was almost 10 weeks along and found out it would be almost five weeks until I could see the doctor. I could see the male doctor in only three weeks but I decided I wanted to wait for a female doctor. I kept second guessing my decision all that time. I finally went to the doctor when I was 14 weeks and three day along. Everything looks great and I really like my doctor. She was actually happy to hear that I had my last baby at a birthing center because she said that is more similar to her approach. She doesn't like to intervene unless it is absolutely necessary. I am glad I waited to see her. I did have to do a full physical which reminded me why I have always hated going to the doctor but she made is not so awkward and then she did an ultrasound. There is just something so neat about seeing that little baby move around on the screen. It is crazy to think that in just a few short months I will get to hold that little baby in my arms. I have felt the baby move once or twice but I can't wait until I can feel the baby move all the time.  I love being a mom and I can't wait for this next little baby to join our family. Hopefully we will be well settled into our new house by then.

Halloween 2015

     We started off our Halloween celebration by decorating the house and painting pumpkins back in September. We painted some Halloween coloring pages with water colors, watched a Halloween movie, and went to a Halloween party at Katianna's house. I was babysitting some of the neighbor kids, a two year old and a five month old baby boy so I brought them along for the party. I had a little craft for the kids, we made skeletons out of Q-tips, I read them a book and we talked about the bones in our body. The kids played a few games, including one where they wrapped each other up like a mummy. I helped Anna Wrap Kyla up. Then the kids played outside and we finished with a Halloween lunch of mummy pizza and Halloween cupcakes made by Kati's mom. The kids had a blast.

     The next week we went to the Halloween party at Brynlee's school. It was on the Wednesday before Halloween because there was no school for the rest of the week due to parent teacher conferences. I was going to leave Annalyn and Kyla with my grandma but I dropped Brynlee off at school that morning and her teacher, Mrs. Hubbard told Anna she could come to the party. Anna was a little bit nervous about going and almost opted to stay with grandma but in the end she dressed up as Rapunzel and we went to school for Bryn's party. Kyla took a nap at grandma's house while we were gone. I have been helping the room mom out with a few things so I got to help make phone calls and get things organized for the party. Brynlee wore this pretty pink dress to her party and went as a "pink princess." The class did a little parade around part of the school. Anna started to join everyone but then she opted out and stayed with me. All of the kids in Bryn's class kept looking at her and asking, "is she in our class? Who is that girl?" It was kind of funny. She did fit right in and was almost as tall as some of those kids. The kids played a few games and then ate a few snacks and then we went home. Bryn looked at me after the party and was like, "that was it." She had fun I guess she just expected more. Haha.

     I already wrote about our pumpkin decorating night. The day before Halloween, Friday, the girls and I went with most of my family to the ward trunk of treat party at the church and got some candy. Brynlee dressed up as a cute little witch. Annalyn insisted on wearing this barbie dress so she could be a barbie and Kyla wore Remi's little strawberry outfit that Remi didn't use. Remi went as a cute little kitty cat instead and Kyla made a pretty cute little strawberry. For the event I pushed Kyla along in her stroller and the girls followed me along on the sidewalk. My brother Brian and his wife passed out our candy for us. We quickly made it through all of the cars and ended up with a good amount of candy. Most people were pretty generous with how much they gave us. For Brynlee's homework she had to sort her candy three different ways and count how many pieces she got. She counted up to 98.

     On Halloween Joel wanted to got trick or treating with us and the girls were more than willing to go again so I drove to our new house and Joel walked with us to some houses. This time Brynlee dressed as Cinderella, Annalyn was Rapunzel, and Kyla was a strawberry again. (Brynlee insisted on holding up a clump of mud for her picture. That dirt is for her dirt collection.) I made my girls wear shirts on under their dresses and they were not happy with me. Annalyn insisted on wearing her black Halloween shirt so I just let her. I figured I would rather have her be warm. At least the pants she was wearing were purple so they matched. Brynlee put on a blue short sleeved shirt despite me trying to convince her that she needed long sleeves. She promised not to complain about being cold and luckily it wasn't super cold. She never complained. There are not many houses built in our subdivision so we mainly went to the subdivision across the street. The kids had a blast. They loved looking at all of the decorations, looking at the dogs that would come to the door, and getting all that candy. Kyla would not say a word to anyone. She just walked up to the door, held out her little bucket, and waited for the candy. I think she had a sucker in her mouth the whole night and a big smile on her face. There was one house where they had this scary skeleton thing that popped up at the girls. Kyla was standing right next to it and it freaked her out so much. We were almost done but she made Joel carry her most of the rest of the night. My other girls were a little freaked out too. They would not get very close to the door that had the skeleton, they just reached their bags up as far as the could and let the lady put candy in their bags. Annalyn got tired towards the end and rode in the stroller. She would usually inspect the candy she got after each house and gasp, exclaiming her love and excitement about getting that particular candy. She just loves candy. Brynlee was a trooper and walked the whole night. She would have went longer if we would have let her. We stopped by grandma Verna's house on the way home so we could trick or treat at her house and then we went home. Once again the kids had to count all of their candy. Brynlee added all of her candy from the day before but she ate lots of it (Joel ate lots too) during the day. She counted 157 pieces of candy. Dad helped Annalyn count her candy but I am nut sure how much she got.

     While I got the kids ready for bed, Joel ran outside to set some more mice traps and to put some more poison out in the garage since the mice have been really bad this year. The girls and I saw a mouse running across our living room during the day so I made Joel buy some while he was in town. While he was gone we got a knock on our door. Bryn looked at me all confused. I told her it was probably trick or treaters and to go get the candy. She ran to the door, opened it really quickly and then slammed it shut really fast. "It is trick or treaters!" She exclaimed. She gave the kids some candy out of her candy basket, they were all kids from church and once she left she said, "I hope I didn't give them some of the candy I like. This is not a trick or treater house. I wonder why they came to our house." That was the first time we have ever had trick or treaters come to our house and Brynlee just didn't know how to react.

     The kids have been eating candy all day. I had to hide everyone's candy though because they kept giving Kyla suckers and then I would find suckers stuck to all kinds of things. Not to mention, Kyla would be a sticky mess. I am glad they like to share with her. It was a fun Halloween season. I wasn't feeling super great on Halloween night so I am glad Joel went with me. I sure do love it when I get to do things with my family. Happy Halloween.