What's up, Buck?

What's up, Buck? Just kidding. But I will tell you what we've been up to lately :)

I'll start with Caden. We are STILL trying to potty train. Everyone I've talked to just gives a knowing smile and says something to the effect of, "better you than me!" haha apparently boys are very stubborn and take a while to get things under control. My goal is to have him potty trained before kindergarten. (I'm kidding!)

Mister Caden is hilarious! Every single day that kid does or says something that makes me laugh. A couple days ago and I told Caden that we needed to get shoes on so we could leave. He responded by saying, "oh, yea, probably." I was dying. It's so funny what he picks up on! He loves to say, "you sure can!" He now tells me stories. The most recent story was about Jake (Jake and the Neverland Pirates), Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and Tick Tock Croc. He rambled on about them for several minutes and ended his story by jumping off the couch. 

He loves to play with Isla. He really is an amazing big brother to her. He has never hurt her (yet, haha) and he's just sweet and gentle with her. If she cries he says, "What's wrong with mines sister?" If Isla is taking a nap he'll ask me, "Where's mines Isla? I don't need see her. Isla baby, where are you?" He gets her toys out for her and when we're in the car he tells me to check on her. He's so sweet!! 

He loves to collect sticks and rocks and bring them in the house. His newest obsession is "piecorns", also known as pinecones. He loves to play outside, play with his friends, and watch Curious George. At night he's allowed to pick out a couple of books for us to read before bed. Every single night he picks out a book that his Grandma and Grandpa Buck sent him for Christmas last year, "The Three Little Ghosties". He adores that book and laughs every time! He likes to read that book to Isla too :) he melts my heart! 

Playing with play dough!

At the park! He has shoe stings in his hand. He calls them his lassos haha

I told him to pick out a hat. He chose his pilot's hat. I meant for him to grab a warm hat to go with the fleece jacket that he's not wearing. I adore the background of this picture! So patriotic :)

He told me that he made Christmas (as in a Christmas tree) 

He made her a little bed in the basket and pushed her around for a while

Making crafts!

Reading to Isla!! :)

Sigh. So cute. 

He was trying to talk me out of giving him a bath and kept making this face hahah

The kid loves oranges. I buy Cuties and he eats them like candy. Yay! 

Now on to Miss Isla :) 

Isla had her six month check up recently and was in the 98th percentile for everything! She's 21 pounds and 28 inches long. She's nice and fluffy, just the way I like em :) she is growing so quickly! I forgot how fast babies grow and change and learn new things. She'll be seven months old tomorrow!! She's been able to grab toys and hold them up for a while now. She'll basically bend over backwards to get something or to see someone. It's pretty adorable. She has the saddest cry face you've ever seen. It's so incredibly sad and hilarious at the same time. She can sit up on her own now! She does topple over easily so we sit right there with her, but she's doing awesome!

I haven't started her on any solids yet. She still just chugs milk all the day (and the night) long! I didn't do solids with Caden until almost nine months. I tried a couple times and he wasn't interested. He finally decided to like food right about nine months. I'm going to try solids with her very soon! She used to take a bottle from daddy or grandma but now she refuses to. It can be very frustrating because that means mommy never, ever gets a break. I never believed the women who said their babies wouldn't take a bottle until Isla showed me how picky she is haha 

She started babbling this week! She'll lay or sit there and yell "ba ba ba ba" forever! It's so cute!!! She makes the funniest faces while she's doing it too. 

That girl loves her big brother. She looks around for him if she can hear him but can't see him. She gets excited when he plays with her. She loves to lay in his bed with him while we say our nightly prayers. I just love my babies!!

She loves those toes

Mmmm yummy

Since she won't take a bottle Isla's pediatrician recommend trying a sippy cup. She seems to really like it!

Where's Isla?? haha notice her necklace? It's an amber teething necklace. It's not for babies to chew on!!! At all, ever. It's supposed to help with the pain of teething, or any pain, and I'm a believer! 

Laughing with grandma!

She loves her grandpa!

Playing cars and blocks with her favorite brother :)

This is how I grocery shop now :) 

Yes, my son is lying on a box of super healthy vanilla coke. But I made Isla's cart seat cover! So that makes up for my unhealthy habit right?! 

Miss Pretty in her new car seat! She outgrew her infant carrier like 10 pounds ago haha I'm going to do a little PSA here: I know the weather is getting colder but please, please, please do not put your children in their car seats with winter coats on. It's extremely unsafe. (Yea, I know, Caden is forward facing when he could, technically, still be rear facing. Some would say that him sitting like that is just as unsafe as wearing a winter coat in the car but many would not. As long as your child meets the state requirements I think the rest is up to the parents.) Here's a link about the winter coats: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2012/12/winter-coats-and-car-seats-keeping-your-child-safe-and-warm/index.htm

Cuties!

I love the smile with the eyes closed. So adorable!

Sitting up!

She found her reflection in a serving platter at Hobby Lobby! Sooooo cute!

So that's all about the babies! A little bit about Nathaniel and me (yes, that's proper grammar, it just looks funny! haha). We're doing great! We just celebrated nine whole years of putting up with each other! Uh, wait...I meant being together and loving each other haha NINE YEARS! I can't believe it's been that long! Nathaniel's been busy with work and school, he's just two classes away from his Master's degree! I'm so proud of him! I've been staying busy with taking care of the kids and the house, going to play dates, making Christmas crafts, working on Christmas gifts. I'm so excited for Christmas! But let's get through Thanksgiving first :) Christmas comes AFTER Thanksgiving!!!!! haha my aunt came to visit and we made some crafts together and just had a good time. We've seen my grandparents several times and I am so thankful for them!!! They give me a break when I need it! My grandpa, the Vietnam veteran and retired police chief, told me that he thought being a stay at home mom was the most important jobs I could have ever picked. Do you have any idea how much that lifted my spirits? I love my grandparents :) 

We recently moved around all the furniture in our living room and dining room. I love it!! 

Tomorrow begins the start of my Thanksgiving baking before we head out of town! I'm so excited!

And that's all the Bucks have been up to!! :) 

Halloween!

The Bucks don't usually participate in Halloween but this year we did. We dress up and pass out candy but we don't typically trick or treat or anything. I helped plan and host a cute little Halloween party for the kids in Nathaniel's unit. It was so cute! The kids had a blast! My friend and I made a couple of games, decorated her house, and made adorable treats for the kids. We had a witches hat ring toss, pin the eye on the monster, mummy wrap (in toilet paper!), pumpkin bean bag toss, and a cupcake walk. Half of the games were played for a few minutes and then abandoned for food or the swing set outside. On Pinterest you see thirty toddlers all in a perfect line, patiently waiting their turn for the bean bag toss...that's not real life hahaha our party was chaotic but so so fun!! Toddlers (big kids were there too but they're the easy ones!) are a ton of work but they are hilarious to watch. Overall, our party was success :) 

We made mummy hot dogs and mummy pizzas! There are pumpkin cupcakes and an adorable pumpkin patch dessert. It was sooooo yummy!! 

We had a caramel apple bar! 

Some of the older boys playing with the witches hat ring toss. They really liked it! 

Toilet paper mummy!! 

The aftermath of the mummy game hahah

Pin the eye on the monster

We took all the kids trick or treating after the party. We had never taken Caden but decided to take him this year. I don't know how I feel about trick or treating. I never did it as a kid; we always had cute little harvest parties. I don't know what we'll do on future Halloweens with our kids, maybe we'll trick or treat but maybe we'll do harvest parties/fall festivals instead, I'm not sure yet! 

That's some of our candy hungry horde.

Caden, the race car driver, really loved running around with all his friends and asking strangers for candy (see, that's another reason not to trick or treat...we tell our kids NEVER talk to strangers and never take anything from a stranger. But on Halloween it's totally fine. I'm torn on what to do.). 

Isla looks like she's dressed up as a bear but she was actually Cinderella :) 

Fly away Isla! Her Cinderella costume was a little small. Just a little...as in, I could not get the snaps to even touch hahaha she's just too chunky!

Even though I have my reservations about Halloween we all had a great time. The kids at the Halloween party were so good and had fun. We all had fun walking around the base and watching our children's excitement and I know I REALLY enjoyed the sugar high the next day. Actually, I didn't. But whatever, it was just once! (And it will never happen again!!!) haha