Welcome Baby Lincoln!

 In November, we started off by rearranging our family room.  The furniture was covering the baseboard heaters, and with a baby on the way, we needed better heating in our house!  We also lowered the fireplace mantel in preparation for getting a flat screen TV to put there.

 Tiki tiki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip perri pembo!  She's reading it!

Last weekend out before having the baby!

 So creative!

 Her favorite toy of the month!

 Picked out her own clothes, like usual.

 9 months pregnant!

 6.5 hours of labor, no medication, less than 10 minutes of pushing, and it's a boy!

 Lincoln Richard Hardy

Born November 22 at 6:30 AM, 7 lbs 12 oz

 No problems with Lincoln, easiest recovery for Mom!  Success!

 Now I inundate you with tons of pictures of my newborn, just like he's my first kid!

 Going home!

 Dillan loves holding Lincoln and is very helpful.

Hazel was worn out from playing so much at Grandma's while we were at the hospital.  This is how she was returned to us!

 All my kids still fit on my lap!

 Grandma Hardy made this for Lincoln as a cocoon to take pictures in.  So we all participated!

 Our new TV!  Biggest, most expensive furniture we've ever bought.

 Santa happened to be outside in Downtown Gresham when we were eating dinner there!

Picture Perfect October

There are a few picture perfect things I didn't get pictures of!  Dillan, Hazel and I went to a Pumpkin Patch, for a preschool field trip.  There was a dark enclosed hay maze, pumpkins, a corn maze, and a hay ride.  Dillan's preschool also had a book fair, picture day, and a fireman come during Fire Safety Week (and that was all the same day!).  Hazel got to stay and see the fireman's presentation and his firetruck, what a lucky girl!  Once he got all his gear and oxygen mask on, she got pretty scared.  I am new to having a kid in school, so I'm not used to all these special days and pictures and stuff!

We have a friend in our ward who is starting a CSA (community supported agriculture) in their backyard.  Kyle has been spending a lot Saturday mornings getting the land and existing buildings in workable condition.  It's fun to go out there with the kids, walk in the mud, see animal bones and cow pies all over, and it's okay!

We went to one of Jonathon's (a cousin) water polo games.  It was the first one me and the kids had seen, always fun to do new things!

 Started the month off with General Conference.  We pulled the couch up real close to the computer and set up some activities for the kids to do on the piano bench.  They were so excited!  Conference Bingo was a hit, they got a small treat each time they got a new bingo row, that kept them focused and excited!  Kyle and I loved the spiritual uplift.

 Conference Weekend was also Kyle's birthday (he turned 30!).  We went up to Larch Mountain, about an hour drive, on Sunday evening and hiked about 1/4 mile by the light of our cell phone to the top of a paved trail (after getting lost twice).  Hazel is starting to be scared of the dark and Dillan had heard of Big Foot for the first time that day, so they were really brave to hike around (lost) in the blackness.  The view from the top was gorgeous!  We enjoyed the stars, city lights, Milky Way, and lots of tiny airplanes.  It was a peaceful simple beautiful family memory.
Hazel left her snuggle blanket there, so we went to the fabric store and let her pick out some new snuggle fabric and made a blanket out of that.  Her new one is just as special as the old one, and she likes to tell everyone she got it because her other one got left on the top of a mountain!

 Kyle's car won't pass DEQ, so it isn't registered anymore.  Man time!

Sleeping with her baby.

 Hazel has stopped taking naps.  We do Rest Time instead, where the kids play quietly in their rooms for an hour after lunch while Mommy gets to rest.  After Rest Time they need to clean up their rooms.  Hazel threw a fit and laid down on the ground crying.  We told her she could come out as soon as that little tool box in the background was put away, then we left her in there crying.  This was about 10 minutes later.

 School Book time!  It's real special when Daddy participates!

 Some neighborhood kids collected leaves from all over and made an awesome pile in our front yard.  Yay for Autumn!

 Family Home Evening Activity was pumpkin carving.  We're all a little nutty!

 Family pictures at a portrait studio!  Aren't we cute?

 I'm 8 months pregnant in this photo!

 They are dancing to Halloween music.

 This is a new past time of Hazel's, squishing herself into her little toy boxes.

 Dillan took this picture, and the next one.

 Snuggles!  Since Hazel won't nap anymore, she falls asleep in the car a lot.  Often, someone gets snuggle time out of it.

 She was excited for a whole month to be a pumpkin for Halloween.  When we went to her room to get her costume on for the Halloween Party at Dillan's preschool she changed her mind.  Buzz Lightyear!  She continued to be Buzz Lightyear for the 2 church parties we went to and Trick or Treating.

 Halloween Party at Dillan's school.  It involved a spotlight of each kid, a costume parade, some songs they'd learned, a dance party, throwing some "snowballs" at each other, and some parachute games.  So fun, so simple, no sugar needed.

 Hazel is putting "food" (legos) into grocery bags.

My first quilt, complete!  I began this 3 years ago when I was pregnant with Hazel.

Kyle's Birthday Breakfast

Just Dance on Wii

Halloween Dance Party!

Halloween Party Spotlight at preschool

Balancing Practice

This is a photo from last month's bike trip.  Since then Kyle's bike has been stolen!

 September started off with a fun boat outing with Grandma and Grandpa Hardy on Labor Day.  We were pretty lucky because they sold the boat right after!  The kids loved the whole adventure including loading the boat into the water, riding in it, watching Daddy wake board, and relaxing and eating snacks.

 This is as far as Dillan got on the knee board, but he was a champ to even get on!

 Hazel claimed she didn't want to get on the inner tube, but Grandpa threw her on anyway, and she loved it!   Look at that smile!

Dillan loved tubing so much he took 2 turns and maybe would have done it for hours.  Those kids are lucky to have a daddy that would take them out on the river!

The following weekend we helped a neighbor sponsor a neighborhood block party.  Ice cream social.  I hope that becomes a neighborhood tradition!

 Went to OMSI (science museum).  Kyle got free tickets from work and since Hazel was young enough to be free, Dillan got to bring a friend (Quincy).  They loved all the hands on science/physics exploration.

 Dillan's first day of preschool!  His school is 3 days a week and includes gymnastics/tumbling.  What could be better?  They also allow Hazel to participate in the welcome activities, lucky girl.  She is already excited to go when she is old enough.
Dillan also got to participate in the Primary Program.  He had his talk memorized, sang along a little and knew some of the hand actions.  We are proud of him for loving church and growing his own testimony.  Hazel was looking forward to being in it next year, but she will still be in nursery.  Poor girl!
On the Day of Service we participated in a food drive and then tried to volunteer at a neighborhood park  clean up, but never found it.  Had a fun morning at the park with the kids instead!

 Happy Birthday to me!  My special day included Kyle-style crepe breakfast (with sausage), swimming at a rec center, lunch at a cafe, followed by a mystery road trip.  We went down to Salem to have a party and visit some old friends, the Carmichaels.  Loved it!  Our kids played with their kids, we all ate party snacks, and then we got to play a fun board game.  We got to do some shopping at some stores in Salem that we love and miss and then got home way past the kids bedtime.  What a fun birthday!

September also included a family roller skating activity (Dillan is catching on), aerating and fertilizing the lawn, grandma taking the kids to the Children's Museum (I got a morning off), a stake temple chapel session, the General Relief Society Broadcast, and Dillan learning how to bike without training wheels.  Kyle first took off the pedals and training wheels, making it a "balance bike."  After a little practice with that he was ready to try it with the pedals, and he did great!

He's still got it!

Break Dancing!

A new use for Hazel's play kitchen.

This was his first day, once he got going he always did great.