October

I feel like it has been far too long since I last posted. So much has happened in a few short months. Brianna is well into her third year of life. She is speaking in five and six word sentences, exerting her opinion on how she spends her time, and showing affection for those she cares about most. Yesterday, our good friends George and Sarah Carlson picked her up for an afternoon of ice cream and fun at the park. It was such a beautiful day out too.

I have picked up a couple of hobbys, which I am excited to talk about. I was not counting on getting to pursue any hobbys until after the kids were older, so it's pretty great. The first one is crocheting. I am not very good yet, but I am learning! I am working on a little blanket for bed. He is so rough on them, grabbing them, and spitting up on them- so I figure if it's ugly it doesnt matter. The second hobby is DIYing. So far I have made a Do-It-Yourself air freshener. Next I am planning on making homemade laundry detergent. I will be making everyone's Christmas present again this year too. I have some great ideas from Pinterest that I am excited to try.

Matt spends most of his free time doing school work and watching his latest "show". He has also done some things to get the house ready for winter. He has also started to get back into cooking. In the last few weeks he has made ham, pork chops with rootbeer glaze, and pork chops with potatos and veggies. We have been eating good! Of course at least once a week we enjoy Matt's famous spaghetti as well. It is definitely our family favorite.

Speaking of food, we have to get even more creative now that I can no longer have any dairy products. We have discovered that Ben has a very real sensitivity/allergy to them, in addition to brocolli, cauliflower, garlic, and caffeine. Since he is nursing, if I avoid all of these, he is a very happy kid. It is super easy to slip up though, especially with the milk products. This weekend we went to a family birthday party where there were all things cheese: mozzarella sticks, pizza rolls, cream cheese roll-ups, queso dip, etc. It looked amazing but I skipped all of it, even the chocolate cake! I decided to have jello instead. The next day Ben was a wreck, screaming, not napping, and arching his back all day long. Only then did I discover that the Jello I had eaten had three cups of milk in it! Who knew?

In the last few weeks Ben has been smiling so much more. He rolled over from back to front for the first time, and has been very vocal and snuggly. I am enjoying his baby-days as much as I can because I know they won't last long.