BIG NEWS

So, just when you are wondering if we are expecting another baby...... No.. Not yet : ) The big news is we found out today that Alan passed his Neurology Board Exams!!!!!!! We are so excited to have another hurdle over with. It is so funny that they sent a notice with it, telling you to be ready for your next one in 2018. Alan has worked so hard over the past 4 1/2 years and I am so pround of him. We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!!

And you think you are tired!!!

How cute are these....

The exersaucer can be exhausting

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Thanksgiving

This past Thanksgiving we had such a fun time. We were invited to go down to the Williamsburg area to spend the holiday with one of Alan's cousins. Along with this Alan has wanted to go down and see Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, and Kitty Hawk. Gordon, Amber, and Sophie were so kind to put up with all of us for the weekend. We were able to see colonial williamsburg, William and Mary college on Thanksgiving afternoon. The next day Amber and I did some black Friday shopping. So much fun : ) That afternoon we went to James town and York town. Saturday morning we went to Jamestown settlement and the children had such a good time. They were able to see how food was made, wear armor, see an indian village, and tour the ships. We then headed to Kitty Hawk and made there in just enough time to see the sun set on top of the hill where the monument is. We had such a good time together and wish for more family vacations in the future : )

This is Alan, Hadley and Cooper on one of the ships at the Jamestown settlement.

This picture was taken next to the monument in Kitty Hawk. You can see it was very windy!

The children wearing armor at Jamestown settlement

Hadley and I hanging out on the steps of the sunken garden at William and Mary.

Alan's cousins family and our little clan : ) We had such a good time!!!!!

Random Happenings in October

We have been working with Cooper on going to the potty. I couldn't resist this picture of him bringing his potty seat and step stool to the bathroom. Little boys in their big boy underpants, I don't know of many things as cute!

We decided to go and feed the ducks and geese at a lake near our house. It rained on and off during the trip, but that didn't stop the fun : ) Cooper and Hadley had a ball, I think Cooper ate more bread then he fed to the birds.

Halloween 2009.... Grant was a chicken this year, soooo cute! This is the same costume both Hadley and Cooper wore when they were his age. Cooper was a dragon.... he ran around roaring at anyone who would listen. Hadley was snow white this year. She was actually Cinderella at preschool, and picked snow white for trunk or treat. She loves dressing up!!

Goal Weight Goal Weight Who Met Their Goal Weight!!

Well, this morning I weighed myself ( just after waking up, after using the restroom, after feeding the baby) and I have met my goal weight. I won't tell what it is but Yeah!!!!! Does it matter that the last few pounds are gone due to a cold induced anorexia. I think not : ) While I sit here eating my Lofthouse sugar cookie I am enjoying my new/old weight. I am going to do my best to keep it off... May the force be with me.

Columbus Day Fun

Over Columbus Day weekend we took a trip to Great Falls State Park. The falls were gorgeous and it was so much fun to spend some much needed family time together!

We took this picture overlooking the Mather Gorge. There was a very high drop off just over the rocks we were sitting on . I must say I had a death grip on Cooper the entire time. : ) He is such a curious little boy...

The children had so much fun being able to run around in the open. Our only rule was we had to be able to see them. They are growing up fast.

My little curious climber!

Grant is just a growin!!!

I have had many people ask for an update and new pictures of Grant.  He is just a growin and a growin!!  We are starting to reach some really fun milestones and not reaching some  haha

I am only laughing because he isn't sleeping through the night yet.  Yuck...  Both Hadley and Cooper were sleeping through the night by 2-3 months old.  Well, Grant has thrown us for a loop.  The main issue seems to be not having a place to put him where he could cry it out at night if needed. We only have 2 bedrooms and we would put him in the living room, but Alan is there early in the morning and feels that would wake Grant up and wreck havoc on the entire household.  Well, this leaves us with the option of mom getting up with him at night to allow everyone else a good nights sleep.  Oh well,  I am taking one for the home team.  Oh,  I am open to any advice on getting him to sleep....

You will notice that there is a picture of him holding a bottle, starting to eat solids, and skyping with the family.  Grant has held out for a while and did not want to drink from a bottle for a looooong time after coming back to Maryland.  Now he will take one if he gets to help hold it himself.  So cute!  We started solid foods over the past week and Grant isn't really crazy about food.  His facial expressions are priceless when we give him cereal or the latest peas.  

I also slipped in a picture of Grant Skyping with his grandparents.  It is never too young to start with a computer I suppose : )  Being able to Skype is so much fun.

 

First day of school

This is coming a few weeks late, but here is Hadley on her first day of school.  We decided to enroll Hadley in a formal co-op preschool this year, and she is loving it!  She goes on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 0900 to 1130.  I will go and be the co-op parent about every 4 to 6 weeks.  This allows me to enjoy helping in her class, but not a lot of commitment on a day to day basis.  It has been a huge blessing!!  We actually went on her first fieldtrip today to a local farm to go on a hay ride and to a pumpkin patch.  What a treat to spend time with just Hadley.  I feel so blessed to be her mother.  While in the car on the way this morning I was able to ask her a series of questions...

What do you want to be when you grown up:  princess

What is your favorite color:  pink

What is your favorite song:  baba black sheep

What do you want to be for halloween:  "maybe I will be (pause pause pause) a witch or a princess... maybe I will be (pause pause pause) snow white"

So much fun to watch her grow. The only sad thing on the first day of school was to see Cooper tear up when we were pulling away saying "Hadley, Hadley, Hadley".  They are really best friends : )

Craigslist the good the bad and the ugly

Today I went to pick up an exersaucer I found on craigslist.  Our old one was used and done.  So, I thought it was time to get a new used one.  You use them for such a short period of time, and lets face it I love a bargain.  Anyway,  we drove to Rockville, MD ( about 45 minutes to pick it up) today.  I was initially impressed with the condition of the toy.  Upon getting it home I realized it was wet with dog spit. GROSS!!!!!  I immediatley took all the toys that were fabric off and the seat and stuck it in the washer on hot.  Next time I will ask about pets and not just about smoking in the home.  Oh, well live and learn : )  On the bright side this will be uber clean when I am done with it and it only cost $ 20.  A bargain when new this was $80.  

New Glasses

Hadley got her first glasses this past week.  She has been really good about wearing them. We only has a few come aparts the first day.  She told me that she couldn't wear her glasses with her cinderella dress because cinderella doesn't wear glasses.  The next day she informed me that princesses do in fact wear glasses and she could be cinderella again.  Yeah : )  I love our little sugars so much.  She has been such a trooper through this new adjustment.

Daddy and Hadley having a nap!  I couldn't resist the picture of both of their glasses on the night stand.

These are just some of the pictures of Hadley in her new glasses.

Long Weekend of fun! - Saturday the new bed!

Well,  it has come time for a real bed! The stars have aligned, Cooper can climb in and out of his crib, we have good friends that could use his crib, and Costco had a twin with trundle bed at a discounted price!  I love a good deal.  We used part of Saturday getting the bed together.  It has a trundle that Cooper is going to sleep in and Hadley will be on top.  Later when Grant is big enough he will share the bed with Cooper. At least this is our plan.  As you can see below they have already had fun reading stories in the bed with Daddy : )

Long weekend of fun!

Alan had a short business trip to Columbus, GA this week.  He arrived  back on Friday afternoon and it was the beginning of a great weekend together!! We didn't do anything but spend time together.... Yeah!!!

Friday!!

Cooper has taken to taking all of his trains out of their storage container and hanging out in it.  In the afternoon they are able to watch a short show.  I walked into the room on Friday afternoon and found him like this  : )  

 We got this seat out of the attic for Grant.  He is all smiles when he can be close to the action. Most people say he looks just like Cooper, but I can see a mix of Hadley and Cooper in him.

Here are my blue eyed boys.  Cooper always wants to play with Grant.  Here he is with Grant and his favorite book.  He calls it the Ding Ding book.  We also live next to the Banneker Fire Station and we see the trucks everyday and he smiles, points, and yells ding ding at the fire trucks.

Nap Time in the Larsen House

I love how beautiful the children are during nap time.  I haven't yet been able to coordinate Grant's nap with theirs but I have hope yet. 

A day in the life - a few random things

Yesterday the children and I went to Costco to pick up some pictures and enjoy some lunch. While sitting down for a yummy lunch of a pizza and hot dogs two different women came over to talk to us.  Both wanted to comment on how busy I must be, I looked too young to be the mother of three children, and wanted to know if I wanted more children.  One of them actually asked me if I got a lot of comments on how unusual Hadley looks.  I have to laugh at the comments of others.  I did love the comment about how young I looked : )  

So, we headed out to the car after having lunch to a very hot car.  I let the windows down in the back and low and behold the back left window wouldn't go back up.  This leads me to the top 5 reasons we need a new van.

1.  the windows don't work

2.  the door locks don't work - well they work but I have to lock each of the 4 doors seperately.

3.  the entire trunk is taken up by my double stroller, single stroller, and baby carrier.

4.  I really don't have to strap the carseats in the back seat because they are so tight : ) Don't worry I still have them strapped down.

5.  I get excited when the air conditioning works ( thank goodness we don't live in Texas)

This leads me to things that have changed since becoming a mother.

1.  I am really excited about my new nursing bra coming in the mail.  Who gets excited about that...

2.  I am excited about the possibility of getting a van.  I always thought I was one of those people who would never drive one.

3.  When given the opportunity to shop for items for myself or my children I choose the children everytime.

4.  I never thought I would look forward to going to bed early.  I am a night owl.

Just a few random thoughts......

Temple trip

After church today we decided to go to the Washington Temple as a family.  We go together as a couple , but don't take the children very often.  After a quick stop at home to make some sandwiches for lunch we headed out on our adventure.  Hadley was so excited as she saw the temple as we drove around the beltway.  On the grounds they were able to run around and have fun, have a picnic lunch, and go to the visitors center.  We even saw a deer just 15 feet away on the grounds.  Hadley and Cooper now believe Bambi lives at the temple.  This was such a wonderful experience and we plan to do this more often.

This is what Grant did during our trip to the temple

As for me in my house

Yesterday Hadley wanted to put this hoop skirt under her dress.  Well no problem, as for me in my house hoop skirts are appropriate under any dress.  Even by themselves if you want to : )  We tried it all different ways all day long.  This is the hoop skirt that goes under her Cinderella dress ( she wouldn't even put this hoop skirt on when she first wore the Cinderella dress).

Fish Fish and more Fish!!!

We had a delicious meal of rockfish last week.  This was the fish that Kimball, Bryce, and Alan caught over the weekend of the 4th.  It was very yummy.  Cooper ate an entire piece all on his own.  While we were at the grocery Alan noticed that Rockfish was about $16/lb. Wow, no wonder it is so expensive with a 2 fish per person limit.We were eating good that night and we still have enough for another big meal.  Yeah!! We are a family who loves fish....

Is this costume too small????

Just yesterday Hadley wanted to get the costumes out and try all of them out.  She picked out the chicken (that she wore when she was 8 months old) and ran around the house making chicken noises.  I tried to tell her that it would be too small, but she wouldn't change her mind.  I just love the confidence she has : )  Cooper had to get in on the fun as a monkey.  So, for about 30 minutes I had a monkey chasing a chicken around the house.  I know our neighbors below us enjoyed listening in on that one...

Grandma's Candy Shop

Every childs and lets face it adults dream has become reality in Grandma's candy store.  Hadley and Cooper had so much fun this summer collecting trash, laundry, and pine cones to earn pennies for candy.  I love this idea to learn about paying tithing and how to work for what we want.  Hadley usually wanted a candy necklace and blue lollipop.  Cooper isn't seduced by candy like Hadley, but does love a good starburst!  This is a picture of Hadley venturing from normal choice of candy into pixie sticks and other forms of straight sugar.  I am thinking of starting this at home to teach them about work, tithing, saving, etc...  Grandma you are the best!!!!

July 4th Fun

For the fourth we went to a ward pancake breakfast and parade. Hadley, Cooper, and I decorated the wagon, and Uncle Bennett was nice enough to pull it in the parade.  

Just a growin!!!

Here is our little Grant about 2 weeks ago.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of his crying : )