Halloween

It is no secret that I love Halloween.

I love to dress up and find it particularly entertaining when the whole family can dress in a theme.

This may be overkill for some.

I am sure that at some point our children will rebel...

But for now it makes me endlessly happy.

Introducing the Candyland Characters:

Queen Frostine

Mr. Mint

Gingerbread ManLord Licoriceand Princess Lolly

I'd Rather Be the Hare

Gavin and Laney had their Halloween parties today at school.

I would post pictures but lets face it I am waiting for the big costume reveal.
They had cookies in Laney's preschool room and mini donuts. I love mini donuts...actually anything that is miniaturized is fun. My question is what do they do with the mini donut holes? I think they are missing a marketing niche here.
Back to the point. If there is one.
I didn't eat a donut or even a cookie. Not because I don't find all sweet things delicious, because I do, but because I knew that if one of those went into my mouth it would be followed by another. I have willpower but only to a certain extent.
The problem is Penny. Not actually Penny but the process through which she got here.
Pregnancy.
Pregnancy is not so bad. You can eat what you want, you can let your gut hang over your pants and it is completely accepted. No. The real problem is the after math.
I am aware that everyone says to be patient. "It took nine months to put the weight on...Blah Blah Blah". Well, lets face it friends, I am not patient.
Drastic times Drastic measures.
Alright, alright.
Mediocre measures.
I have recently been using a web site called Lose It! It is quiet helpful but also a little frustrating. It tells you how many calories you can have in a day in order to lose how many pounds you want in a week. Then it keeps track of your calories and exercise for you. It really is quite nifty. I have been doing it for almost 3 weeks and so far have lost 5 pounds.
The problem is those darn pesky mini donuts.
I know that it is slow and steady like the tortoise but lets face it people. We all want to be the Hare.

Tres

Penny is now 3 months.

For the most part she is a very easy baby.

Not much makes her upset.

She loves to have her diaper changed and loves to be held.

Any amount of acknowledgement normally gives this desired effect:

I think we'll keep her.

I Shall Call This "I Can Totally Make That"

Sometimes while I am messing around on the Internet I find pictures that I love.

Most are of things that I want to make.

Some are of things I want to replicate.

Then there are a few that fall into the category of "If we ever own a house again this is a swell idea."

I save the picture (because I would never be able to find it again, if I wanted to) in a file called Home.

There are a few things I have made already from these saved pictures.

Then there are some that I will do someday...
or maybe not at all.
But I like the pictures none the less.

The Hazards Of Being 5

I must say that our kids are not the most graceful.

Are any kids graceful actually?

On most days each one of our kids gets injured multiple times.

That makes for a lot of crying, kisses, and requests for band aids.

Every once in a while there are injuries that hurt more than others.

On Sunday when Gavin and Laney were playing in our room Gavin somehow "fell" (he says Laney pushed him...) and whacked his nose on our bed.
He now has a nicely forming black eye and a swollen nose.
He kind of reminds me of that weird cat lady.

But why not add injury to injury?

Yesterday while I was out running errands I got a call from Blake saying that Gavin had "fallen" (he says someone pushed him...) on the play ground and that he had cut open his head and that I needed to go get him in the nurses office.

Since I was about 20 minutes from the school a friend of mine went and picked him up for me.

When I got to her house to pick up Gavin I asked if I could see his cut.

I removed the band aid that was on it to see if he was going to need stitches.

A quick glance and I knew this was nothing that could be fixed with superglue. You could see his scull. No lie.

One trip to the Instant Care later, Gavin had 10 blue stitches in his head. Five inside the cut and five on top.

This must not be his week.

This One is For You Lindsey

The cooking blog is up and running again.

After a 2 month hiatus I figured it was time.

Eat up!

They Say It's Your Birthday...It's My Birthday Too

4

How did that happen?

For Laney's Birthday this year we decided to have a little party for her the same day as Penny's blessing. Family was going to be in town so it made for an easy guest list.
She wanted a wonder woman cake so I employed a lady in our ward to make it.

Grandma Jackie's Birthday was the same day as the actual baby blessing so we deemed it appropriate to have a joint party. I think all parties involved were OK with the birthday party merger.

Grandma Jackie got Laney a Tinkerbell costume.

It was a hit.
With Laney and Gavin.
I would be lying if I said that she didn't wear it for 3 days straight.
I told her that she had to wear a shirt and leggings underneath it if she wanted to leave the house.
I also had to tell her that the costume was not Preschool appropriate.
There may have been some scowling and general wining when all of these conversations took place.
Just saying.

Her birthday dinner was also held at Red Robin.

It was good for Dad and Mom because Grandpa decided to pay.

It was good for Laney because one of her requests for her birthday was that Grandpa come to her birthday party.

I am fairly certain all of her birthday wishes came true.
She has requested Mac and Cheese for dinner and purple cupcakes.
I am going to oblige.
I like to keep the birthday wishes alive.

The Case Of Mistaken Identity

We blessed Penny on Sunday.

When the bishop of our ward announced that we were going to be blessing our baby he said that her name was "Penny Adler Unguren."

I don't expect anyone to get any of our names right, so no offense was taken. It did however make me think about Penny's name. For the first 2 days of Penny's life she was known as Clover.

We liked the name, and well, she came early so we really hadn't solidified our decision.

OK. I take that back.
We had solidified it enough that I had made onesies for her and had already thought up how we would do her birth announcements. So with her four leaf clover shirt on, we were going to make people guess what her name was.

Then came the problem.

We could not call her Clover. We would call her "Baby" or "Her" but the only time we referred to her as Clover was when someone would ask what her name was.

Decisions had to be made, steps taken, people told, birth certificates crossed out and rewritten.

I could not stand the fact that her initials would be P. U.

So we added a middle name to soften the blow. Penny Adlee Unguren. P. A. U.

Better.

Adlee is my Dad's middle name and he got it from a mixture of his Grandpa and Grandma's names. (Adam and Loleta)

Think Brangelina but better because it was done before that ever became the thing to do. My Grandparents were evidently ahead of their time.

Blake did a great job with the blessing and was kind enough to not change her name again.

Family came from all over. Some were close...some not so much. One family member even drove 3 hours only to go to the wrong church, turn around and drive home again. (So sad)

She looked so lovely in her dress even if it was short lived.

And truth be told I was quite proud of her little headband that I made to match the vintage dress she wore.

I can't really express the pure joy that I feel knowing that this little girl is mine and that our family loves us that much that they come just to hear her be blessed.
Pure. Happiness.

Movin On Up

I took Penny to the doctor for her 2 month check up.

So, here are some little factoids about our girl:

She now weighs 7lbs. 7oz. (Round of applause.)

She has grown two inches in length. (4" from birth)

She is starting to smile but she is a little stingy with them.

She looks just like all of our other kids.

For reference:
New bornOne monthToday
(Yes I realize that she is wearing the same outfit. This was not done intentionally. She just doesn't have a big ol' slew of clothes to choose from.)

Any Takers?

About a week ago I got a package in the mail. Imagine my surprise when I open it to find this cute necklace.
I called Blake to ask if it was from him to which he responded with a "Why would I buy you a necklace?" My response should of been along the lines of "Because you love me, I have had 4 of your children, I clean the house cook you dinner and keep our kids in one piece..." but I digress, It was not from him.
So the necklace giver remains a mystery.
I do know that it came from someone that knows us. I mean, they spelled all of our names correctly. (Canon is quiet frequently spelled Cannon.)
So my friends/family...anyone want to claim this gift?I really would like to give a proper "Thank you."