A Very Thankful Thanksgiving!

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with all the Perines, Ryans and Livesays.   It was one of the few times that we've had everyone together for more than a day or two.   I had totally prepared for a very chaotic Thanksgiving with lots of crying babies and sparring toddlers, but luckily all the kids and babies were so good!  It was an amazingly relaxing and fun time.  We have so much to be thankful for this year, especially the addition of the 4 baby girls, Emma, Janet, Dana and Estelle!    

We did have some snow on the day before Thanksgiving so we took advantage and got in a little sledding on the driveway.  The rest of the weekend turned out to be warmer and quite nice, so we got in more outdoor time. 

The girls (Alice, Eva and Isabel), had a great time playing together.  They got along very well and had lots of fun.  So great to have everyone together!  

Who knew playing in a pantry could be so fun?  

Bathtime with all 4 older kids.  Eva was the back scrubber!  

Playground! 

A nice stop at the Waybury pub for some beer and apps after a fun time at the playground

We had a photo shoot the morning after Thanksgiving.  Cooper insisted on having a "boys picture".  And since he's been a little overrun with girl cousins of late, we decided to indulge him! 

Play time with Emma and Janet.  Sorry Janet, Emma's going through a grabbing phase!  

I think that's a smile from Janet under there! 

Gumma wanted to do a photo shoot since the whole family was together.  She assigned each family a color to dress in with khakis.  With a little effort on everyone's part, we pulled it off!  

I cannot get enough of this little munchkin.  She's so lovable!  

Baby Estelle, Eva's little sister.  SO CUTE!  And so quiet, I don't think I heard her cry once during their 4 day stay!  

Cooper has taken up a sudden interest in planets and stars.  This is Cooper and Gogo looking at a constellation book.  One of my favorite childhood memories is looking at the constellations with Dad while he recited many of the myths behind them.  It was really fun to see Cooper get so excited about this (I think Gogo enjoyed it just as much as well)!  

And last, but certainly not least, a picture of Dana and her big sister!  Yes, Dana's cheeks give Emma's a run for her money!  

Great Weekend

We were so happy to have Aunt Casey come and visit us this weekend!  It's been such a crazy few weeks for us, and her visit was a great escape for us!  We had a nice, low key weekend which was greatly needed.  The kids had a blast with Casey, as did we!  

Fun play

Emma is loving her standing toy.  She is actually getting the hang of bouncy in it too.  

Sweet Big Sister Isabel!  

Sisters! 

Emma and Mommy preparing for Emma's first meal of cereal!  

Not quite sure about this.  She really didn't take to it as well as Cooper and Isabel did.  I think she was too distracted by her siblings to really even know what was going on.  

Emma has this funny habit of covering her eyes when she takes a bottle or nurses.  Very funny.  

Emma was a happy girl with her Aunt Casey! 

This was the second trial of cereal.  Didn't get much more down that time.  We're able to get some down at this point, but she doesn't really seem to enjoy it.  We will probably move on to some squash soon and see how she does with that! 

Emma absolutely LOVES her sister Isabel, and especially her brother Cooper.  I swear, Cooper can make Emma smile at the drop of a hat.  He is pretty wonderful with her too.  Very sweet and gentle. Here are some adorable interactions between the two...

Emma is doing great overall.  She's in very good health and the doctor's don't even feel the need to see her again.  She's finally getting more comfortable at daycare.  She had a rough transition (the hardest of the three by far), but she's also been the most attached to me as well.  I can't say that doesn't excite me though.  I'm totally coddling her (sorry Pat!) as she's very likely our last little baby!!!!   Trying to soak in every moment!   

Halloween Part 2

We had an INCREDIBLY busy and very fun Halloween this year.  It started the week before with pumpkin carving in our kitchen.  The kids started by drawing the faces on the pumpkins then Daddy helped to carve.  The next day, much to my surprise, the three kids actually sat through a mini photo shoot with the pumpkins and their Halloween shirts.  Then Friday night they got dressed up with cousin Alice (and her little sister Dana too) and we all went to a Jack O'Lantern exhibit at the nursing home.  It was so cool.  Hundreds of very well carved pumpkins both inside and outside.  The kids had a blast looking at all of them.  Then on Saturday we got dressed up again and headed downtown to the annual Spooktacular event.  Cousin Alice was with us again and Cooper brought along his buddy Camden.  We had a lot of fun playing games then heading down Main St to trick or treat at the store fronts.  Sunday we had a much needed day off, then came the actual Halloween day!  (Pictures from that are on the previous post).  We were so happy to still have Alice here with us, and we had cousin Janet too.  We started off trick or treating at Momere's house, then Gramma Net's house, then went to Gramma Ali's who lives on a busy street, perfect for trick or treating! Alice, Cooper and Isabel (and Emma in the front pack) all went out door to door for treats.  They were having a blast until unfortunately Isabel got a little traumatized by some adults dressed up as zombies, so she and I headed back while Cooper and Alice and Aunt Kate hit up a few more houses.  Then the kids had a blast handing out candy to all the kids from Gramma Ali's front door.  I have never really liked Halloween, but I must say we had a GREAT weekend!  

First night of dress up!

The Jack O'Lanterns at the nursing home.  So well done!   

Cooper and buddy Camden at Spooktacular

Isabel and Alice (we missed you Eva!)

Then Cooper saw his buddy Luke...

...with whom he is always wrestling with!  (Usually at high school football games)!

Cooper and Camden doing the sack race!