Eleven, Eleven

So today is the 11th and Maddex is 11 months old!  Ironic since her birthday is actually 11/11...this time next month she'll be turning the big ONE!  I should start party planning right away.  First I gotta get a Halloween Party under my belt and THEN I can focus.

Take a look at those pearly whites.  How is it possible that she still only has 2 teeth??

Moving right along...I can finally giver her credit for saying her first word!  She's can say 'uh-oh'.  Exciting, right?  Mostly she hums it, but she'll let it out occasionally.  She's got a few approximations too...all done, bath and diaper.  I have yet to get 'diaper' on film.  I harassed her at lunchtime trying to get her to perform.  And what a difference a week makes in her walking progress!  I'm not calling her a walker just yet (she still crawls most of the time) but I've stopped counting steps.  If she really puts her mind and her feet in the right place, she can get where she wants to go.

  

Ten Out of Ten

This is really getting more and more challenging.  Getting this girl to stay in the bean bag was my biggest accomplishment for the day.  She found it much more entertaining to roll around in it and make herself fall out.  Glad she was having fun and that she was nice enough to give me one picture I could work with!

And on an unrelated note, I found my long lost brown eyed girl!

Nah, just kidding.  It's Maddex:)  I snapped this of her this morning.  And that's not a booger in her nose, it's cheese.  Although, her finger placement does make me feel like she's picking her nose.  Either way, I don't know why, but I like this picture!

Summer Vacation

This has been our first official summer vacation.  It doesn't really count when your kids aren't in school because let's face it, when you stay home with your kids and your husband is working full time (with VERY little time off) every day, every season, pretty much seems the same.

I felt a little guilty not planning a better summer vacation (can I just call it SV?) for Ella, but we moved right smack in the middle of it.  So the first half was packing, and the last part has been unpacking.  But we managed to squeeze in a little fun in between.

So you know how when you start back to school your first homework assignment is to write a paper entitled 'How I Spent My Summer Vacation'?  Well, here's mine.

We kicked off the summer with our one and only family get away by taking Brian to the beach for Father's Day.

I had a hard time choosing what pictures to post (this one of Maddex is my favorite), so I made a video instead.  Our beach trip was short and sweet, but just what the doctor ordered.  Brian realllllllly needed the break.

  

I blocked out the two weeks prior to us moving and assigned which room was getting packed on each day.  It wasn't so bad, and the kids were more than willing to help.

'Moo'ving right along into July.  Pun intended.  In the cow way and the moving way.  This was the day we got the keys to the new house and we got free food (twice) on Cow Appreciation Day at Chic-fil-a.  If you missed it this year, mark your calendars for July 15, 2014!

We also got to see this almost perfectly arched rainbow hanging out over the Toyota dealership.

And the next day, WE MOVED!

The kids love the new house, especially because of the swanky neighborhood pool.  We go several times a week.  And they learned how to swim too!

 A few other summer highlights...

Ella grew up.

I stayed up waaaaaaaay too late.

Maddex learned to drive.

Aiden earned 'cool brother points'.  After the girls helped him clean up his room one day he stayed upstairs and came down with these flowers he made for each of the girls.  He handed them each one and said "Thank you for helping me clean up my room, I made you this flower."  It was so sweet, I couldn't help but document his kind gesture.

Maddex got her first tooth!!  The second one came a week later.

Riley grew up too. 

I've kept Brian busy on the weekends helping me with several building projects.  He'll be relieved when it's all over.  I'll post them in their entirety later...

Oh, and I almost forgot.  Maddex turned 9 months!

Ella and Aiden start school on Tuesday.  Just a few days of SV left!  They are debating right now about going to the zoo, the park or staying in and making cookies.  Either way, looks like my free time is over for the day!