Rachel
After all that school shopping together and she only wants to wear the same three outfits to school - geez! I can't win - she changes her mind about "her style" in about a millisecond. She'll have to ask Santa for some more maxi skirts and "cool shirts".
We've been seeing an asthma/allergy doctor to see if we can figure out what her body needs to fight off colds. It usually turns into croup, so she has been taking a small dosage steroid to help prevent her from getting croup for the last few school years. This season, we are dropping the daily medicine to see how she does without it. So far, no major croup fits, but we will see.
She loves taking gymnastics at Desert Devils (she loves the variety compared to Flips which was just tumbling), and has also been in an art class once a week. She loves playing with her friends or Andrew & Kendall (although they do not always enjoy playing with her - she's a bit bossy sometimes! and they just aren't used to having her around).
Andrew
Apparently, we forgot how miserable spring soccer was and so we thought it would be a good idea to sign up for fall soccer. The league also needed Brandon to be the coach for Andrew's team. And to our surprise, this season is going pretty great (other than Brandon having a terrible team) - Andrew has made a huge turn around! He is actually trying, and has scored 1 goal so far.
Andrew is doing great in preschool and learning to write his name all by himself. Going into preschool, he was comfortable with identifying all the letters, most of the sounds, knows the basic shapes, etc. I was a mean mom, and never let him cut with scissors, so we are working on that skill right now. He is learning lots of songs, and is having a great time being a preschooler. They have field trips at least once a month, and I took him and his buddies to the aquarium. They practically ran through the exhibits, but we kept track of everyone!
Kendall
She is just so pleasant and delightful. She seems to be saying new words everyday and has developed quite the vocabulary. She has a few sentences, and I just love her sweet, little voice. She sings some of the ABC's, Frozen songs, I am a Child of God, I Love to See the Temple. I love this stage where they fill in words if you stop while reading books and singing songs.
She is definitely my pickiest eater, but we are making some progress. She still refuses to eat any type of bread, and we've switched entirely to almond milk for drinking, since I am still suspicious about how her body digests milk products. If she doesn't eat what is offered to her, then I try and offer her one more acceptable option. If she doesn't want the second option, then we are done at the table and will just wait until the next meal or snack. It has worked well for us.
Kendall is also rockin' the pigtails now. And when her hair is down, she is rocking some sort of weird mullet. It's awesome. Her hair is so much thinner than Rachel's was at her age.
Brandon & Whitney
Brandon has been SO BUSY at work this month!! We also had a few work events on the weekend - one was the annual video game night at Shane's house, and the other was a dinner hosted by Scott. We really enjoy hanging out with Brandon's co-workers. And it gives Brandon a chance to wear ugly clothes - like his gold sequin shirt that he sewed himself. Brandon is not shy at these events and seems to be the life of the party. I know that he is well respected at work and is a super hard worker, but his co-workers don't take him too seriously outside of work, and they all like to tease each other.
I have seriously bad memory and can't remember half of the things that went on last month. :) I remember taking care of sick kids and we were stuck at home for a couple weeks on and off. Hand/foot/mouth and a handful of other contagions would not leave us alone! BOO!
I keep hearing that it is "Fall", but there are very few indicators that point to anything Autumn-like. It is still hot, although it is finally cooling down at night (to about 65-70 degrees). On the plus side, that means I can open up my windows briefly in the mornings, which is one fall-ish thing (then it's back up to the 90's in the afternoon). This month, the weather has given us a little bit of variety and it has even rained a few times, which is very very exciting to us desert folk! Football started and is now constantly on the television, but that doesn't help my fall-radar. We always buy Utah peaches down here, and eat an entire box or two. That is one Arizona fall cue for me. But October is just around the corner and it is my favorite month of the year here! Bring on the perfect weather - we are ready for it! And I have totally schemed on getting Andrew's and Kendall's birthday gifts - I am asking that everyone give them outside toys. I am ready for these kids to get out of the house and play outside!!
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| Good thing we had "Frozen" or we might not have made it through this two hour doctor visit! |
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| They always sit over by Kendall on her side - they all squish together even though the bar is pretty large. Shirts optional, especially when we are having soup for lunch! |
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| Work party - Shane, Sharad, Joe & Brandon all playing Rock Band |
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| Macy & Rachel headed into gymnastics at Desert Devils |
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| "Ready" to go to school with Rachel |
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| We finally turned her carseat around to face the front - 20 months - go us! |
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| Rachel's art class drawing |
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| Kendall loves the Utah peaches - good girl! |
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| Preschool Field Trip to the Aquarium with Maddox & Fisher |
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| Soccer is here again! (Andrew is #7) |
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| Kendall's first day pig tails + ready for church! |
