On Sunday night we got snow in Amarillo! Snow is always exciting, but this was our first storm since moving to Texas, so it was extra fun.
Just a few days before the storm we had temps in the mid 70s, which felt wonderful, and then throughout the week they started to drop. Over the weekend it got really cold and the winds blew in the storm clouds. The forecast called for 100% chance of snow, and they weren't wrong! It started falling around 8 pm and throughout the night I watched it go from a dusting on the lawn to full coverage. It was still snowing when I went to bed, and I thought school would be cancelled for sure on Monday.
Our front yard on Sunday evening
View of the backyard - our pine trees looked so wintry!
On Monday morning the kids woke up super excited because the ground was still bare when they had gone to bed, and now there were 4-5" on the ground! There were strong winds, however, so some areas had been blown clean, but then some of the drifts near our house were closer to a foot deep. I was shocked to hear that school had not been cancelled. Even through the roads weren't plowed, the sidewalks weren't shoveled, and no ice melt had been laid, school continued on normal schedule. Sophie was super bummed she couldn't stay home to play, but since the day was supposed to stay cold, I told her it would still be there to play in when she got home.
I took the boys out for a short time after she left. Davey was just a baby last time it snowed in Utah, so this was a whole new experience for him. He had fun, but fell over quite a few times and kept losing his gloves. He played with his trucks for a bit and helped me shovel the walk, but then decided he was done.
We Sophie returned from school, we bundled up again to play some more. With the bad weather, Dave decided not to commute down to Canyon so he was able to go out and play with them. They had snow ball fights, and he built them a little snow turtle. The snow was super dry and didn't pack well, so we'll have to try making a snowman at Christmas when were up in Washington. Afterward we came in for cookies and cocoa. It sure was a fun day!
Charlie is 8 months old now! He went through some big changes over the last couple weeks and is now army crawling all over the place, saying "mama," and going to bed at a reasonable hour. He also got his first teeth! Only one tooth came through on the top though, so he's got a cute little jack-o-lantern smile that was perfect for Halloween. We had hoped that he would also start eating this last month, but he still refuses spoon feeding. We've tried oatmeal, apples, carrots, avacado, banana, and even ice cream with no luck. He also hasn't figured out how to chew and swallow finger foods either, so I am still exclusively nursing this giant boy. Maybe this month we will have more progress.... we sure love him though!!
Charlie at 8 Months
I didn't measure him this month, but he's around 20 pounds and wearing 12-18 month clothes. We're also finishing up our box of size 3 diapers and then we'll move up to size 4.
He is on the move! He scoots all around the house and has enjoyed being able to explore. He has also learned to move from his stomach back to a sitting position, although it sometimes takes him a few tries.
Just like our other kids, he can be a very dramatic crier. He makes the most pathetic sad face and can produce huge, fat tears almost instantly. The things that most often make him sad are Davey, someone taking his toy, Davey, me walking by without acknowledging him, and Davey.
He has two teeth on the bottom and one on top. The other top tooth is close to breaking through to even out his smile.
In addition to saying "mama," he also learned to growl this month. The kids love to growl at him and then have him imitate it back.
Is starting to become attached to his blue dinosaur blanket. He loves to bury his face in it, and snuggle the furry side when he is tired.
Can escape from the bumbo seat, so that's no longer a safe option, and we also put away the bouncer and swing. This boy is growing up!
First time in the snow! It was windy and freezing cold, but he didn't seem to mind.
Crawling around, looking for crumbs in the rug
Sad that I won't let him eat marbles
Charlie loves bath time. In just a couple months he'll be ready to join the big kids, but for now he gets cleaned in the kitchen sink.
My mom came for a short visit at the end of October while my dad was on an out-of-state hunting trip. Her last trip to Amarillo was for Charlie's birth so we weren't the best hosts, but this time we had lots of fun things planned!
In our 4 days together we ate lunch with Sophie at school, carved pumpkins, trick-or-treated, shopped the Halloween clearance, went to the Discovery Center, enjoyed ice cream at Braums, swam at the WT pool, went birthday shopping for me, built helicopters at the kid's Home Depot workshop, read books, played games and more! She even helped me clean the house and take the kids to get flu shots (which went so much better than last year). We love Grandmari!!
Grandmari with the kids - Sophie (5), Davey (2) and Charlie (7 months)
Eating lunch with Sophie on Halloween. We brought donut holes as a special treat!
On Friday we checked Sophie out of school for a few hours so she could play with us at the Discovery Center. Texas has really strict attendance policies, but I think this "appointment" was worth it!
Spelling Sophie's name on the giant Lite Brite
All aboard the life raft!
Trying out the helicopter simulator (they crashed)
Charlie all bundled up after our swim at the WT pool
Dinner and ice cream shakes at Braum's
This is the new clock my mom bought me for my birthday, which is also the first thing we hung on the wall, even though we've lived here for more than a year now.
Our friends were also at the Home Depot workshop and my mom helped Sophie's friend assemble her helicopter. It was nice having an extra set of hands!
October was busy, busy, busy. I love this time of year, but the beginning of the holiday season also means we never seem to have a "normal" week with nothing going on. Our calendar has been pretty full! We had out of town guests twice this month, which was wonderful. One of my biggest hesitations about moving out to Amarillo was that we would feel isolated, but so far we've been lucky enough to have visitors every few months who are either just passing through, or who come to stay awhile. I have also started to make some good friends and normally meet up with people a few times a week so the kids can play while the moms chat.
Here are some October memories:
The kids had dentist appointments. We changed dentists because I didn't like the last one, and everything went well this time. Davey watched Sophie, who did awesome, and then he did very well during his turn. He was nervous, but we brought Yellow and I was able to sit on the chair with him and hold his hand.
Davey is growing up and starting to fight naps more. He still needs them most days, even if he insists otherwise. It's amazing how fast he can go from crazy to sleeping if you can just get him to hold still for a few minutes. Luckily I've also gotten really good at transferring from his car seat to his crib since he often falls asleep in the car.
Charlie and daddy sleeping in
Fall weather is perfect for morning walks. Davey wanted a turn to push and ended up going a few blocks with the stroller before turning it back over to me.
Both boys had cold at the beginning of the month, and then again at the end of the month. It's definitely the start of sick season, but I hope things will get better for us instead of worse.
Davey colored himself at the library while I was picking out books. The librarian came and found me to tell me that he had stopped coloring his paper and had moved on to his face.
Davey wanted me to make a pumpkin on the lite brite. I tried my best and it turned out recognizable!
One day our garage didn't raise all the way and I hit it with the top of the van while I was backing out to go get Sophie. Luckily I was able to push it up manually to get the car out and get to the school, and then we had a repairman come the next morning. He was able to just switch out the bottom panel that was damaged instead of the whole door - phew!
Third times the charm! We got another new rug. Our first rug was very nice, but shed everywhere and was too small. The next rug was too thin, hard to keep clean, and was already starting to look worn (it was cheap). I put a lot of research into our last rug (since Dave wouldn't let me order a fourth) and it is AMAZING! It's super plush and comfortable, doesn't show dirt, and looks great in our room. I love it!!
More Discovery Center fun. Can you tell we come here a lot? The employees all know us by now.
Someone got a little turned around in bed during nap time
Davey loves to help me check out at Sam's Club with the scanner gun. He knows how to look for the "zebras" (barcodes) and then "beep" them.
One day I came out of my room to this scene. He totally thought the pillow would hide the fact that he was eating a carton of strawberries on the couch.
Freddy's had 30 cent custard for their anniversary. We went over for bed time snack, and you should be able to tell from their faces how they enjoyed it :)
Charlie even let us sneak in a few bites before he realized what was going on and rejected the spoon
My friend and I signed up for a play group at the library in Canyon. It was on Fridays and they just had a big room of toys where you could play with your kids. Davey loved making "blue trains" but every time one of the cars would tip over he would stop the whole thing and put them up straight again. He's a bit of a neat freak like his mom :)
After library play time we would stop by to visit daddy on campus since we were in Canyon
Someone in the neighborhood decorated the fire hydrant in their yard for Halloween. We thought it was clever and the kids always like to keep their eye out for it when we were driving around.
My gym is about a 15 minute walk from our house. One morning I decided to take the boys over in the stroller for my workout instead of the car. It was a nice walk over, but I was sooo tired for the walk home. Next time we went back to driving.
Davey scattered the box of 200 hair ties while I was feeding Charlie. It's lucky he also likes to clean up.
Sophie drew this picture for Davey to hang in his room. It's all of his favorite things. I don't know what all the objects are, but I thought the robot and dinosaur were cute. Sometimes she can be such a sweet sister.
Sophie's kindergarten class went on a field trip to the pumpkin farm at the end of October and Dave was able to go with her as a chaperone.
On the last Sunday before daylight savings ended, we went on a family walk to soak up the sun, since this time next week it will be dark.
