october at our home

 quinn smiles a lot now. She also does this little fake laugh where her mouth doesn't really move and she kind of laugh-grunts.

 This is as far as she's been able to move her body.

 emery hard at work doing math. We've taken lots and lots of field trips with this awesome weather. Once winter shows up, she'll have nothing to do but dictation and fractions.

 I gave emery my very first digital camera. She thinks she's so cool and has taken some funny pictures of the house, herself and her sisters and brother. The kids do some pretty funky stuff when I'm not around watching.

 I was shocked to find a huge chunk cut out of emery's hair on Friday. She cares a lot about how long her hair is and what it looks like. Also, I knew she'd be having a cow if campbell or griffin had done it so I scratched my head all morning trying to figure out what had happened. Well, a few hours later, campbell snuck over to me and whispered in my ear "emery really cut her own hair last night in bed- she wanted it for her collection". I guess emery thought she had so much hair I wouldn't notice (which is probably true had it not been from the very top of her head at her part).
Now she's mortified whenever she looks in the mirror and sees this little unicorn spout sticking up out of her head.

 emery says the funniest things in her prayers recently.  A few times she said "Bless quinn that she'll survive the winter". She also said "We thank Thee for Daddy's job and that he makes money so we don't lose our house". My favorite is when she says "Bless Uncle Jeff that he'll have fun on his mission" like he's on vacation or at a party.

 Baby girl gets to stay up with Spencer and I until she gets cranky- usually around 8:30. Then she gets wrapped up tightly and plunked in bed.

 Little griff hides with his blankie on the floor hoping we'll forget to put him to bed.

 Around 4 in the morning I start to hear some rustling in the little bed next to me and then the little hungry-whiny-sounds start. quinn used to fall right back to sleep after eating but recently she's decided that she's had enough sleep and wants to play. I let her roll around in our bed for about half an hour and then the cuteness wears off and I swaddle her up and put her to bed.  She's looking at a lamp in this picture--- I wish it were sunlight streaming through the window.

 Also, to add to my early-morning horrors, griffin has been hurdling out of his crib a few times each night to check out the house. I can hear him land on the floor and go racing from room to room checking to see if anyone's awake. He usually tromps right back to his crib and heaves himself back in. Sometimes he doesn't believe my fake sleeping and I hear "mommy?" tap tap tap... "mommy... you 'wake??"

Then, a few hours later the sun comes up and I turn my head to see this... the sweetest little thing ever.