8 Months

• Had a go in a swing, didn't mind going up but wasn't a fan of going down. It seemed to hurt her tummy. 

• She's learning to make all kinds of different sounds. She went through a stage where she would hiss through her gums. She smacks her lips, blows raspberries and makes the cutest little shrieks when she wants someone's attention. She has also mastered her "huh?" and it always makes us giggle.
• She's sitting up like a champ now but prefers to be on her belly or back and often curls up into a ball and rolls from sitting to her back. She's rolling all over the place and gets up into the crawl position and can even move into a seated position. 

• She got her first tooth and I got very little sleep this month. So begins the teething. 
• She really doesn't like to be fed. But if we put things on her tray she's happy to make a mess and eat a little. 

• Gus takes his title of floor cleaner very seriously when Vivi is eating. 

• She has started to notice Gus and he is learning to give her a wide berth after she gave his tail a good yank. 
• Vivi had a freak accident when she face planted on a straw. It gave her a pretty good cut but it's been healing up nicely. 

• She is still our little social butterfly. The other day she lunged into a friend's arms so she could grab onto his beard. She gets so excited to see her siblings; No one can make her laugh like her brothers and sisters can. She especially thinks it's hilarious when Eliza is throwing a tantrum, which usually results in Eliza laughing, which makes us all a lot happier. 

• Tanner is still her favorite and she gets so sad if he doesn't give her attention. 
• She's been sick this last week and it's so hard to see her sad. Lots of whimpers and little puckered lips. But the snuggles have been so wonderful; the one positive of a sick baby. 

Oh Halloween

Presenting Gimli, Frodo, Gollum, Arwen and Gandalf

Mariah always gets excited about costumes and feels there should be a theme. One day she was with Tanner and they began brainstorming ideas of what she could be. She had just finished reading a book about Lafayette and thought it would be cool to be a French aristocrat of that era, big wig, dress, the whole shebang. She also was considering being Arwen from Lord of the Rings and because that seemed a lot more doable, I found a dress on Amazon and she was all for it. Phew...dodged that bullet. 

I then asked Chet what he wanted to be and he said he wanted to be Harry Potter for the third year in a row. I was thrilled with that but Mariah was not. She suggested he be Gandalf and then they got really excited about all the kids going as LOTR characters. We had been listening to the trilogy on the drives to soccer three times a week and the kids have loved it. So we started our planning. After borrowing a few things from a friend, and way more crafting than I ever want to do...we had our costumes. 

I was so pleasantly surprised with how Eliza's outfit turned out. I bought an old curtain, that I made into a cloak, and vest from Goodwill. I spray painted Tanner's silicone ring gold and made a leaf clasp out of felt. I also made hairy feet to go on her shoes but I actually loved her bare feet best. We put bantu buns in her hair the night before and she had the cutest curls. 

I used the wig Austin wore last year as Hagrid for a beard. I sewed it to a mask (thank you COVID) and Austin wore it long enough for these pictures...so I ended up using some face paint to draw a beard on him and he was happy with that. His helmet was just a beanie with some felt strips. Easy Peasy. 

Mariah felt like the bees knees, as you can see by the pictures. She was in character and loving it. A friend let her borrow her elf ears and it really completed the look. 

I bought an old sheet from Goodwill for Chet's cape and hat. His gave me the most anxiety because I actually had to use my brain a little cutting out the pattern. I feel like I'm a pretty intelligent person...until I get ready to sew something. Why is it so hard for me to wrap my mind around measurements and visualizing the end goal? But I persevered and it only took me three hours to do the simple cape. I also sewed it with white thread because I didn't want to spend the time to trade out the thread and bobbin, sorry mom. Tanner made his hat out of poster board, left over fabric from the cape, and lots of burned fingers from the hot glue gun. Chet's staff was the walking stick Tanner got from AT Still when he graduated from medical school...knew that would come in handy some day.  

Chet had to ditch his hat when we were on the square because it was so windy and someone asked if he was Moses...so here's hoping we can convince him of that next year. Ha!

I also made a little cape for Vivienne so she could be Sam, but I liked her best as Gollum. She was bundled up in a blanket and hoody for trick or treating and probably just wondered why we were out in the cold the whole time. 

I took the kids trick or treating on the square on Friday and we finished up right as Tanner got off work. I picked him up and we headed to Mariah and Chet's soccer party. While they were at the party we went with the younger three and ate dinner in the car. The kids ate candy the whole drive home and woke up in the morning to eat more. 

Our church Trunk or Treat was on Saturday and the kids got even more candy. Mariah had traded most of her candy in the day before for a book and Chet and Austin decided to do the same Saturday night. Mariah felt she should get something more for trading in Saturday's candy and I felt like she had a good argument so I told her and Eliza they could get clip on earrings if they traded in the rest of their candy and they did it happily. So now I have a big bag of candy that I have to try not to eat...

Earlier in the week we carved pumpkins. This year Tanner and I helped clean out a few pumpkins but the kids did the rest themselves. Mariah even carved Eliza's pumpkin for her...there are some real positives to your kids getting older. 

Jack O' Lantern, Scary Kitty, Vampire, and Bat and Moon. They were all so proud of their creations. 

We decided Gus should get into the Halloween spirit, but he wasn't a big fan...