This is Halloween

Wow, what a whirlwind fun day!  We started out this morning with our co-op preschool at our house--something I have been doing with a couple other ladies in the ward once a week.  I have actually been really looking forward to hosting it today; I will take any excuse to throw a Halloween party!

The Crew

It was a happy coincidence that our letter of the day happened to be "H!"  We decorated "H" pages and Haunted Houses, and the kids went a little crazy with the stickers.  So fun!

Another beautiful coincidence was the fact that Annie slept from 9 last night-11AM today!  So by the time she was awake, preschool was over, meaning I didn't have to split my time between baby and preschoolers.  Kind of awesome how that worked out!

Here she is when she finally did wake up, just watching her brothers eat lunch.

In the afternoon, I put McKay down for a nap (it's times like this I'm so thankful to have Matt around!), and Annie and I went to help out in Ty's class for his Halloween party.  

I brought, and was in charge of, the bean bag toss.  Adam made the jack-o'-lantern bean bag toss for  a party we had a couple years ago, and it has been used at eight events since then.  Guess we got our money's worth out of that one! ;-)

And Annie hung out in her car seat for nearly the entire duration of the party (an hour and a half).  She is seriously the sweetest, most mellow baby ever!!

After a dinner of mummy dogs, we costumed up for our evening adventures.

Captain America

Thor

Brothers and Best Buddies

We went trick-or-treating just around our neighborhood.  McKay didn't get quite as much candy as his big brother, due to an emergency run back home for a bathroom break, but both boys fared well on the candy scene this year.

The post-trick-or-treating loot

"Holy moly!"

Annie slept in her daddy's arms as we made the rounds.  I was excited to take a picture of her snoozing in her little kitty costume.  But wouldn't you know it, she woke up right before we got home.

And this might be my favorite picture of the day!

Isn't she just the cutest little pink kitty on the planet?!

After many, many failed attempts ("McKay, I said 'Look at me!' Not, 'Lick at me!!'"), this was the best I could do of all three kiddos together.

Happy Halloween from the Marchants!

Teething Relief...

...Sometimes looks like this at our house.  And you can judge me if you will on my mothering, but it worked like a charm!  At least it was one of those whole fruit popsicles, so even though it was still loaded with sugar I'm sure, there was probably some sort of nutritional value in there!

4 Months

Here are some pictures of Annie taken over the last six weeks or so.  She is such a sweet-natured little dolly.  I can't tell you how many times a day I look at her and think, "She is so perfect," or, "She is so beautiful."  I honestly thought we would probably only have boys, and I honestly thought I was 100% ok with that.  I didn't realize how much I would absolutely love having a daughter.  It's the best!! 

The 4-Month White Onesie Picture

9/12/12--Her First Chilly Fall Day

Snuggling with Daddy after church

She's definitely our baldest baby yet!  But mostly I took this picture because I thought she looked so much like McKay !

See?  He is a year old in this one, as compared to her four months, but the resemblance is striking to me.  The bigger Annie gets, the more I think she looks like McKay.

I am really enjoying this stage with Annie.  I definitely think the worst is behind us--at least until she turns thirteen.  ;-)

Her 4-months stats:

Height:  25" (69%)

Weight:  11 lb. 15 oz. (9%)

Head:  15.9" (45%)

So, she's still sort of a little peanut.  In fact, both boys weighed more at 2 months old than she does at 4!

I'm Back

You may or may not have noticed that my blogging has been sporadic at best lately.  Let's just say I have had a rough few months.  I have debated how much I should share, but as we all know, life is not always rainbows and sunshine.  So I won't go too deeply into this, but I will say that I have had a real struggle with post-partum depression over the past several months.  I'm on the up-and-up now, and I feel like I'm starting to get a grip on life again, but the past four months have been some of the most difficult I have ever faced.  And though having three children is a far cry from the large family Adam and I imagined for ourselves when we were first married (we wanted 5 or 6 initially), we just might have to be done.  I don't think I can ever willingly put myself through that again.  And I will just leave it at that.

In light of all this, my blog has suffered.  And I am not sorry for that, except that I feel like I have failed to record some important family things.  Like the boys swim lessons, McKay's gymnastics, and Ty's baseball.  Like our visit from Elder Holland, our basement bedroom addition, Annie's recent growth, Adam's new job, and the countless hilarious things my kids say.  I will do my best to record that as I can.  For now, I will start out with last week, which was our fall break.  We made a much-needed trip to Utah.  And it was glorious!

Matt and Ty hanging out during a quick stop to feed Annie on the drive to Utah.

My friend, Kami got married and I was able to attend her reception Friday night after I got into town.  This is 5 of the 6 of us that I lived with freshmen year at BYU.  It was so, so fun to see them all!  It's been ten years, and they all look so great!

My boys, totally tuckered after the long drive.

We went up to Salt Lake to spend some time with the Marchants for the weekend.  Even though I didn't grow up there, I always have the feeling of coming home whenever I pull up at the Marchant's home.

Grandpa read stories to the boys on his iPad.

Annie and Sara

Baby Girl got loved on by all sorts of cousins.  

All 18 Marchant grandkids--and there's one more on the way!  Aren't they the cutest?!

Back in Provo, my mom had the idea of taking the kids to Blickenstaff's, a cute toy store down in the Riverwoods Mall.  They enjoyed the free pony rides and gumballs from one of the hugest gumball machines ever!

And then we went up the canyon to Vivian Park to enjoy the beautiful fall colors and let the boys run around.

Matt climbed this huge tree

Annie and Alexsi--future BFF's!  They are 4 months and 1 day apart.

The next day we went bowling--it's so much cheaper in Utah than it is here!

McKay would not stop kissing his bowling ball--so nasty!

The trip to Utah was the perfect antidote to our crazy, stressful, over-scheduled lives.  It was exactly what I needed.  We got home Thursday night, and Adam took the day off work Friday to spend with us before Matt and Ty headed back to school this week.  We made a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's together, played games, and otherwise just enjoyed each other's company.  It was really a perfect week.