30 Days Hath September (And they were all fun, too.)

September brought with it Mother Nature's mood swings, so we had mixed days of sun and rain and chill. But we still managed to do a lot of fun things like the Ren. Fair, a baby shower, Apple Bucking, and more. 

Fischer has this habit of stealing all of our shoes. He usually wears Rhyla's; I'm not sure if it's that they're sparkly or the closest to his size, but this day, he managed to get a pair of my heels. I thought he might break an ankle but he actually got around with falling over! Still wasn't tall enough to reach whatever it was that he wanted though. 

Rhyla's last First Day of school. (She's excited to start homeschooling next year!)

She's so darling. I even curled her hair for the occasion!

Besties. 

I wonder sometimes if these two wanted to be twins and Heavenly Father was like, "Hey, your parents are newlyweds. Cut them some slack!" So we got them 19 months apart instead, lol. 

Miss Wild Hairs. (They maybe should have rethought the wording on this shirt, because if I glance at it too closely, I see something that SHOULD NOT be on a child's t-shirt. ie sexhaust, lol. What would that smell like?)

Ren. Fair time! Again, Craig only got to be there for a bit, but we sure had fun with Grandma.

Man-powered swings. The guy even gave them a longer ride because he thought I was a trooper for taking them despite being so pregnant. 

Waiting for the juggling act to begin.

Getting bored with said juggling act and collecting rocks instead. 

Glitter tats. Rhyla chose a fairy.

Vash went for this Gaelic knot. He really wanted something awesome. Mission accomplished.

I love the face he makes when he's enjoying something but thinking he's getting too big for it. What am I going to do with such a big boy? *Debates finding Neverland...*

Rhyla wouldn't look at the camera but Fischer was happy to smile big enough for them both.

Archery next. Of course, we call it being Merida. 

This guy actually got a bull's eye. Sure it was on the kiddie target but my man has potential!

Rhyla even landed a couple on the target which she was super excited about. I'm so tempted to put them in archery classes when they're older. That's a skill you can take straight to the Apocalypse, lol! 

This poor little guy got maimed during nursery. There were 15 little kids (aged 18 months thru 3 years) and because it was so packed and there were only two helpers, no one saw who did it. I wasn't upset but those scratches bled and it resulted in tons of apologies. He seemed ok, and honestly, I was like, "Chicks dig scars." 

Brother Meyer was going through his things and gifted us with this giant bean bag. The kids live on it. Fischer takes his naps on it and they read story after story slumped into it. Best gift ever? I think so.

This is the face of a boy who is very upset that I won't let him have the dog toy I knitted for the baby's Christmas present. "Mine, mine!" Sorry, buddy. ( I think he'll forgive me when Christmas rolls around and he sees what he got.)

Tired much? I've been debating making cushions for this swing, because my says they're uncomfortable. But now I'm thinking I don't need to. 

Rhyla likes to use an umbrella when it rains.

 Whereas Fischer...

...wears a rain coat like a cape. "I'm Batman."

Showing off her pretty new nightgown. (Got to love those Grandmother smothers.)

And just because. Turtle Pajamas.

And because everyone else had their picture taken. (What you can't see from this angle is that these pajamas are way short on him. I'm talking belly shirt and short shorts. Cue the growth spurt shopping trip.)

 Vash killing it on the soccer field. 

And would you know Craig got to come with us to a game!

Chilly, but happy to be out and about.

The game even happened to be the same day as the Hempfield community days, so we got to attend that as a family. We played on swings.

Vash tried his hand at mini golf.

They got to eat candy as we walked around the booths.

And I treated myself to a Navajo taco. The lady was nice enough to make three tiny sweet fry breads for the kiddos too.  Nothing like having a pregnancy craving and getting EXACTLY what you want.

 

At 36 weeks, the doctors didn't want me farther than 20 minutes away from the hospital, seeing as how my labors go quickly. So we sneaked out to go apple bucking when I was 35 weeks 6 days! First stop was the petting zoo.

Grandma bought the kids corn so the animals would stop running away from us. 

Fischer wanted to pet the animals more than feed them, so he waited until you had one distracted with food and ran up to snuggle it. 

And after a quick picnic lunch we headed out to the orchard. 

Rhyla was sad that there weren't more bright red apples in her reach. 

Vash was excited to find a whole tree with his favorite yellow apples. 

Fischer amused himself by picking up the fallen apples and chucking them over a nearby hill. (We tried to save the good ones, but most had worms from sitting on the ground for so long.)

Tiny enough to sit in the only shady spot. 

Next we spent a few hours in the corn pit. 

Fischer didn't remember it from last year and took his time deciding if he wanted to jump into the suspicious pit or not.

Curiosity won out over trepidation. 

They build a second one, but it had much less corn and no cobs to help fill the pit with. I'd been looking forward to shucking kernels, but alas....

That's right. Give in, Peanut. 

And when we got home Rhyla and I did our nails. She calls these her Elsa nails because they have tiny snowflakes on them.

For the record: 36 weeks, 1 day, baby #4. 

So many play doughs, too few hands. 

Helping Mommy make chocolate waffle cookies for dinner. (I gave them fresh apple slices too, so don't look at me like that.)

We attended a fundraiser for our bishop's daughter too. She's qualified to be trained for the Olympics as a gymnast, so we went to the gym for food and fun. (The money will help get her to Texas where the intensive training begins.)

Grandma got Fischer a lamb stuffy and he hugged it for a good half hour before deciding if he was ready to join the fun on the equipment. Vash immediately ran off and took turn after turn on the rope swing, and then jumped off a type of diving board into the pit as well. Rhyla found a group of little girls and pretended to do routines on the mats. I was just too pregnant to chase them so, I took pictures when one of them ran past slowly enough for me to do so,(Which was almost never.) and ate hot dogs and cookies. 

Watching kids swing off the rope into a foam pit.

Loving the stretch of trampolines along the wall. 

Vash is waiting his turn for the trampoline that lets you jump "the highest."

Fischer finally got into everything once a little girl from our ward started to hold his hand and climb around after him. (Thank you, Molly!) She told me when she's older, she'd love to babysit for us. I was like, DEAL!

Peeling our apples to make applesauce for apple donuts!

Hmm. Applesauce. 

Playing while they wait for the donuts to cook. Not gonna lie, I need a doughnut pan. I tried to fry the darn things, but by the time they were cooked through they were a little too toasty on the outside. Poor Fischer cried when I took his away after realizing it had a gooey center. But I made it up to them with better executed treats another day. (Chocolate fixes everything.)

Helping mix up the batter. We even tried baking them like cookies. Apparently they were good, because they got eaten, but I am determined to make yummy donuts one day.

Wearing all her new dress up pretties at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

Rocking chair bliss. Vash always disappears into the basement to build with Grandpa so I can't get pictures of him at their house anymore.

Elsa at the dentist. The hygienist always get such a kick out of my kids. I'm happy to provide some laughs. Having worked in a dental office myself, back in the day, I'd say they could use a good laugh.

Fischer waiting for all the guests to arrive for the baby shower I threw my friend. (I know, I'm at addict. But I love shower food and fun games, and she needed a shower!)

The spread. Craig took the kids to The Chuck, because he thought they'd enjoy that better than the shower. 

Balloons galore. I somehow didn't get a picture with everyone there, but we had a great turnout. About 15 ladies came and the games were so popular that people were asking me to write them down so they could use them in the future. And I was stoked to have leftovers for days after. 

Vash sleeping like a turtle because Fischer stole his place in bed.

Fischer really wanted a cupcake from the shower. But he HATES getting sticky hands. Solution?

Slam face into plate and just eat it. "Look Ma, no hands!" (Well, maybe a little hands.)

September was busy but fun. I had several lash clients just about every week, as the countdown for baby boy drew near. I got my hospital bag packed, the crib set up, the clothes cleaned and put away, and finished most of the Christmas gifts so that I wouldn't have as much to do in November. We made the most of the sunny days and scratched about half of the things off my To-Do list. (Yes, it's just really long and breeds while I sleep.) 

Here comes October and the countdown to baby! (Spoiler: he get's here safe and sound, just before his due date.)