Ward Halloween Party

Sorry some of these turned out blurry... I was in such a hurry trying to take them so that I could get my babies in bed. These were some of our favorite costumes:

Temple Worker

3 Musketeers (the third was their dog)

Aly made her Elastigirl costume herself! Pretty impressive!

10 points goes to whoever can guess who Ben is. He's not the Pillsbury Dough Boy.... think movies.....

We had a family theme this year and won a prize for one of the best dressed. I'll post more after Halloween since we weren't able to get a full family pic on Tuesday.

The Best Cupcakes in the World!!!!!!

This is what happens when you're too excited for a cupcake contest that you forget to add the flour. :D

Baby Noises

I'm posting these videos of Sky because I just went back and watched the movies of Lily when she was this age and remembered how dang cute she was making noises and laughing! So I want to have the memories of Sky doing it, too. He's the cutest little guy EVER!!!!! And he's soooo much happier now than he used to be! It's been so amazing to feel his love for us!

So I once wrote about how Lily likes us to kiss her finger/hand. She's now trying to get Sky to kiss her finger (which makes me laugh every time) and strangely doesn't get frustrated when he doesn't do it. Another funny/gross thing is that the other day I was holding her when she wanted me to kiss her finger. I didn't think anything of it until I realized my lips were gooey and then I realized that she had just stuck her finger up her nose before I kissed it..... eeeewwww.......

Lily's also becoming really sweet. She has some major sass sometimes, but she's calming down her little toddler attitude and has actually been helping me with chores. She pulls dishes out of the dishwasher and holds them up for me so I can put them away. She's really getting into sweeping, too. And she's always loved helping me pull the laundry out of the dryer. But my favorite new thing is that when Sky does tummy time she sits right next to him and pats his back and rubs his head. It's the CUTEST thing in the world!!! GGGAAAA!!! I love my kids!!! I really wish I could have seen this coming so that 2 months ago I would have realized that there really is hope!

Good News and Bad News

I think I'll start with the good news. Sky is close to three months old now and I can say that I'm pretty sure he and Lily are finally starting to bond. Yes, it's taken a while, but what can you expect from a little girl whose favorite game is still peekaboo? Although her "acts of kindness" may not come across as sweet, I really think that she has good intentions when she does the following:

• Tries to feed Sky by putting crunched up Nilla Wafers in his ears.
• Shares her toys with him by dropping them in his pack'n'play which may or may not land on him (ouch).
• Tries to color with him by poking him with a colored pencil while he's swinging (don't worry, those quickly went back into storage. There are only crayons now).
• Throws his diapers away for me sometime (OK so that one's really for me, but I think it's awesome anyway!)
• Rubs his head when I'm holding him which may or may not lead to her pulling his hair.... and they say it's awesome that my babies are practically chia pets......
• But my favorite one of all is when Lily rubs her head against his stomach. Don't ask me why but when Lily really loves someone or something she'll rub her head against them/it. So that's quite the compliment to Sky.

Sure some of these might also sound like assassination attempts but I truly think that Lily's starting to love her little brother. And I've noticed that Sky already has a bond with Lily. He just beams whenever she gives him attention. I have waited for this. I think it's really going to be a great experience to watch their relationship grow.

Random: Here's Sky (2.5 months), Eden (2 months), and Noah (1 month).

Sky at the park

We gave Lily her own piece. As she was running around Porter Park she quickly added her own topping: dirt. Yay.

The bad news for now is that Ben was just diagnosed with Swine Flu. Yay again. He is currently quarantined in our room so that hopefully the babies don't get this. I don't know that there's much hope for us but I've become quite the Nazi with disinfecting everything and making Ben constantly wash his hands and wear a mask!!! PLEASE DON'T LET THE BABIES GET IT!

The Dance

Forgive our living room for being messy. Lily likes to conquer and destroy our home. Other than that enjoy our little dancer! I love it when she catches Ben filming her and she gets embarrassed and runs off!

P.S. Thanks, Lizzie, for the Halloween music on your blogs. We have had many family dance offs with it! It has also given Ben and me inspiration for our Halloween costumes this year. Stay tuned for that one! And, no, I did not dye my hair! Everyone has been asking me that!

Heather's New Halloween Costume

So this is my first post in a long while, but I just needed to get on and let you see how wonderful my wife is! Before you go on let me explain. Lily can be quite the little pill and many times we have to get her excited to do things. Well, we have done some interesting things. Today, after Lily's bath we had to make her happy, sooooooo Heather decided to try one Lily's tu tu. Let me tell you, she looked HOT!!!!! and to make it even better she pulled out her attitude with Lily's blanket. What kind of husband would I be if I didn't show the world how amazing my wife is?!

Wife, I love you soooo much. I hope you realize how much you really do mean to me. And for all of you who are reading this she is amazing. Our house feels like home, our family is happy (well, when the kids aren't screaming their lungs out), and I am still well fed (which affects the happy part). She does more than I can ever imagine getting done myself.

Skyler's Baby Blessing and Family

This last month has been a little crazy and so we've been trying to coordinate 5 billion things for when we could bless Sky. Well Sky's two months old now so when we found out that Ben's dad was going to drive up to Canada to see Ben's mum we just decided, "hey we'll just do it tomorrow, then!" So that's what we did. Here's a picture of our cute little family. Sorry it's so bright. There was another picture that looks a lot better except for the fact that I look like I weigh 200 lbs. So, needless to say, I wasn't posting that one! (Isn't it amazing that you can stand in the same pose for a few pictures and they all look totally different?!?! I wasn't aware that you could gain 100 lbs. in two seconds.....) Anyway the blessing went well and we're grateful to have little Sky in our family. I can't even begin to express my love for this little guy. He was just sitting in my lap during relief society, sleeping away, drooling all over me and all I could do was smile. :)

Two of the handsomest guys I know!!! Sky's wearing the same tux Ben wore when he was blessed. Check out his awesome cheeks!

Three generations....

Our sweet home teacher gave us a pie at the blessing and Lily had an awesome time trying to "drink" the whipped cream....

Our sister-in-law, Eve, came up for the weekend. As it is her birthday on Monday we made a cake for her. (Thanks, Eve, for letting me take this picture a few times!) We went to Paul Mitchell and pampered ourselves by getting new haircuts. I decided I wanted a huge change so I'll post pictures of my new style another time.

Here's a picture of Noah and Sky next to each other. They're a month and a half apart in age. This is what the difference between 8 and 14 lbs. looks like!

I just love being able to spend time together as a family. I just love those little moments you can treasure. Tonight Lily and Skyler both had a serious case of the grumps and so Ben and I each held one and we sang Primary songs together. I know it sounds ridiculous but it was such a wonderful memory that I want to remember. Just watching them calm down and cuddle with us just reminds me how much I love having a family of my own. You know, it's far from easy, but it is soooooo worth it!

P.S. Sky's continued to do well with his sleeping! Yay, Bud!