Updates

Troy

4 1/2: Loves to color lately. I am a big fan of a sitting activity. He loves to draw shapes and then scribble over them with another color and laugh. He likes to write letters, his name, and copy drawings of his bots that I draw (very poorly. Drawing is not a talent of mine.) Troy likes to tease Liam to get a reaction and has a hard time stopping. But he loves to make Katelyn laugh and does a good job of it. He likes to watch Daniel Tigers neighborhood (THE best show ever in my humble opinion.) He sings the songs all day long. His rescue bot toys are his friends that he talks to and puts in time out. Haha. Liam saw it and now copies Troy. But Liam gives them a kiss after they say sorry :) So cute to me. Troy likes to do things right the first time, he gets embarrassed if you correct him, but Daniel Tiger has a song about trying again that has helped. He also wants to parent Liam. Sometimes good, sometimes not. Liam has a really loud scream. 

I am really grateful for Troy's desire to do right and to please us. He is a sweetheart and we are so grateful for his influence. 

Katelyn

9 months: She is SO good and smiley. Everyone gasps at how light she is. She is really light. Especially compared to Mr Liam. People used to gasp at how deceivingly heavy Liam was. Kate is almost crawling, she loves to get up on her knees and lunge forward. Katelyn will not be rocked to sleep, which is awesome at home but a little hard at church. Still wakes up once at night and naps twice. She loves food and her hands shake before the first bite. She gets so excited when Ben gets home. She has to be held if you make eye contact with her. Liam loves to get a reaction out of her, but it ends up scaring her, so I hold her a lot anyways. I can not believe what a peace Katelyn brings to our family. What a sweet little personality and beautiful smile and laugh. We love our Katerbug. 

Liam

2 3/4: Always in motion, which is why I don't have many pictures of him. We usually end up taking video. He loves to run, jump, and spin in circles. He loves to be with his family and gets very concerned if someone naps for too long and almost wakes them up if I don't catch him. He is so energetic but also thinks of others a lot. If I give him crackers, he gives some to Troy and even Katelyn sometimes. He always asks Troy, "You wan some too?" Liam honestly cannot sit for more than 20 seconds. We have tried everything. He will watch Daniel Tiger for about 10 minutes but then gets distracted. Sacrament meeting is a really big patience tester. We are in the hallway a lot. Not because he is crying, but because he is yelling for no reason about someones owie (cast) or someone's toy or snack. If we let him hold a toy for too long, he chucks it. Breast feeding Katelyn is the best part of church nowadays. It's the only time I get to just listen to the speaker. 

But Liam can melt your heart faster than anyone and I am so excited for his sweetness to bond our kids together. 

Ben is learning a lot at work and getting up to speed. Change is always challenging, but he is doing great I think. There are great people at his office and this last week they went in really early to fill up a coworkers office with balloons. Hundreds of balloons. 

I am finding joy in each day. Some days I can't see how such trivial tasks could make one happy, but then I think about being a mom and not a maid/cook. Prayer and study are big factors on my mood. I also think a lot about schools and areas to live, but I am reminded to focus on the most important things by the Spirit. I love the friends we have made already and I really look forward to chatting with them at church and at play group. I am adjusting to our new family schedule. I feel grateful for so much. We get to see the Kitchens for Thanksgiving and some of my family this weekend. We are SO excited for both of those visits. I love the holidays! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Houston

We are starting to really like Houston. There are some things to get used to, the water, the traffic, and of course the summer we havn't experienced. But right now the weather is beautiful. The trees are everywhere. The people are SO nice and everyone goes to church. Ben loves his job and the people there. His work even sent me a welcome packet with a voucher for dinner with another couple in the company. 

Having one car is an adjustment that we are still working out until we buy a house. But there is a moms group that I go to and I love it. The last one was at the mall and the malls here are crazy. There was an ice rink inside it and the playground was like a Dr. Seuss land. 

Traffic is everywhere and awful, but we are learning how to avoid it. Houses appear to be cheaper until they tell you about property taxes. But I still love the houses here. 

Most of all, we are grateful for each other. 

I'm excited for our experiences together!

Halloween

I got the kids ready before daddy got home, so that we could rush over to our new friends in the ward for chili and breadsticks.

It's hard to take pictures by myself with 3 kids. Haha. 

Troy is a rescue bot: Heat Wave (transformers for 3-5 year olds) 

Liam is Yoda. So fitting, since that is what the young men nick named him in our Provo ward!

Katelyn is Cinderella. Such a princess!

We had such a good time at our friends, even after Liam was very busy. He had a close call with the chili, but only a little damage done to his costume. They had homemade root beer too!!

We went trick or treating after by ourselves because the other couples only had babies. 

We made it 6 houses and they just wanted to eat their candy and they were done.