New Bikes!!

The last time we were down at Robbie's parents house his mom took us out to get the girls some new bikes. The girls love them!! Of course they are the Disney princess brand (they picked them out) but most things are now that they are getting interested in that kind of stuff. Here are some pics of them on their new bikes...so exciting!!

More Sleeping Issues

So I've posted before about the weird ways that Gwen sleeps (with underwear on her head...putting extra layers of cloths on in between being put to bed and being checked on again...etc.) and the different places we've found her sleeping (on the floor, in the closet, on our bed, in Grace's bed, etc.). Well she did it again this week. We put her to bed and went to take care of the other two and when Robbie went into our bedroom (all 5 of us share one room while living here at my parents) to put Grace in her bed he didn't see Gwen. Like I've said before, Gwen has issues with the dark. She hates it, and has tried moving her pillow and blanket over to the bedroom door so she can have more light as she sleeps. Anyways, he went looking for her and found her over by the closet door (and the reason there are things in front of the closet door in the picture is because it's stuff we use often and there is just no room in the closet for anything but our cloths). There is a nightlight over by the closet door because Georgia's crib is right by the closet door and it helps me see at night when she stirs or cries out in the night (and it also helps Gwen's fear of the dark). So here's the picture...crazy girl...

Photos

So I mentioned that we took the girls to the fair a couple weeks ago. We took them to the Essex fair first but since it was raining we only went to see the animals and didn't get to ride on any rides. The girls loved the animals and the biggest pumpkin contest and having their pictures taken. They also liked making a stop at the Maple House for some Maple Donuts, Ice Cream and Cotton Candy and enjoyed watching the Lion and Tiger show. The next week we took them to the Rutland fair while our friends Josh and Lacey Price were up from New Jersey visiting us with their daughter Sara. The girls rode on a bunch of rides and we again went to see all the animals. Grace kept telling us that the cows were stinky (while holding her nose) and since then any time she smells something stinky she plugs her nose and tells us that cows are stinky. We went to the Maple House at the Rutland Fair as well for some more Maple Cotton Candy and we went to the Dairy House for free chocolate milk, cheese and to get some yummy Vermont made Ice Cream. So here are the photos from the fair, and a few others from visiting Rob's parents in Rutland. Enjoy!!

Helping Mommy hold Gwen's umbrella at the Essex fair.

Posing for a photo at the Essex fair.

Riding the Merry Go Round at the Rutland Fair with Daddy and Grandma Congdon.

Driving a fire truck at the Rutland fair.

Riding the train at the Rutland fair.

In the bouncy house at the Rutland fair-Gwen kept doing summersaults and Grace tried too.

Riding in a dragon's belly with Daddy at the Rutland fair.

Getting a ride in the wagon with Daddy's cousin Carl's girlfriend and Great Uncle Ralph driving.

Feeding the goat that lives behind Great Nana's house with Daddy's cousin Carl's girlfriend.

Having a Saturday night bath so we can go to church at the Rutland Branch the next morning.

Modeling Mommy's sunglasses before bedtime at Grandpa & Grandma Congdon's.

Georgia playing with her favorite toy-shoes-at Grandpa & Grandma Congdon's.

Gwen and Grace's favorite place to play at Grandpa & Grandmas Congdon's-the computer desk chair.

Gwen and Grace sitting with their friend Sara Price (our friends daughter) at one of the homestead sites at the Joseph Smith Memorial.

Sick Sick Sick

I am so sick of being sick. I now have my third cold in a month's time. I know I should expect stuff like this with Gwen going to preschool now, but with all three of the girls sick and getting it myself each time (and all in a month's time) it's becoming a pain. I am just so sick of being sick!!!

Great News!!

Robbie has a job!! He will be working with an excavating company 15-20 minutes away from my parents house and doing work in our area and in other parts of Vermont. We are so excited to finally have something after all those months of applying and trying and hoping and let downs. We are not sure if this is what the Lord intends for Robbie to do for the next few years or if this is just something temporary that we are being blessed with until a job comes up in the place the Lord really wants us, but we are so thankful to the Lord for this opportunity and blessing and we are so thankful to this company for hiring Robbie and giving him a chance and a job.

Robbie will be working Monday-Friday from sun up to sun down (not sure what those hours are, and neither is he, but he was told to expect 10 hour days) and while the pay isn't what we expected we are happy to take what we can get. We will be eligable for benefits (insurance) after 60 days so we will have to pay for insurance out of pocket until that time but we are all right with that. To make things even better they are giving Robbie a company truck so we don't have to worry about switching the car seats around all the time so he can have the car and I can use one of my parents cars to go run errands or take Gwen to preschool or something like that.

The only problem with the job is they are only hiring him on a temporary basis until the end of the year. So, come the end of December, we don't know if we will be jobless again. Robbie is going to continue to apply for as many jobs as he can find, just as if he had never gotten a job and was still unemployed. So thanks to that we will not be getting our own place but this will give us the opportunity to save up for our own place and to pay off our car and school loans. We are definately being blessed and whether or not this is what the Lord intends for us to do for the next few years is up in the air but we will take what we can get with smiling faces and happy hearts that we finally have something to bring in some money. I am so very very greatful that the Lord has listened to and answered our prayers and that the stress we have been carrying around for so long now can finally be eased and our worries can lessen. Thanks to all of those who kept us in their thoughts and prayers and for all your love and support. Please continue to pray that we find something by the end of the year so we will not be jobless again. We continue to keep many of you in our thoughts and prayers and especially those of you in the same situation as us. Every now and then a hymn pops into my head as a reminder to have faith...I don't know what the hymn is called but it goes like this: Dearest children God is near you; Watching o'er you day and night; And delights to own and bless you; If you strive to do what's right; He will bless you; He will bless you; If you put your trust in him. What a test this time has been for our family, and it's not over yet. We will continue to let all know how this job goes and how well the continued job search goes.

8 Months Old

Georgia is 8 months old now!! How crazy!! She is getting so big!! She has lost some weight recently because of being sick, so she's only 17 pounds 8 ounces right now but she has grown another 1/2 inch, which brings her up to 27 1/2 inches long. She crawls so fast now, and is even using couches/other furniture to pull herself up into a standing position and play. She has taken a couple steps to walk along the couch but falls fast and hard and isn't really up for trying again for a while after that. She loves all her fruits and veggies (some only after feeding it to her over and over again) and is trying to get used to a sippy cup. She also got her second tooth this past Sunday and is teething again!! She is so happy and accepting of everyone (but needs mommy when she's tired and upset...she won't even go to Robbie if I am in the room). I miss how small she used to be but I love how big she is getting and how much she is learning. We are betting that she will be walking on her own by Thanksgiving...we will see. I lover her so much and I can't wait to see how much more she progresses by the end of the year...only 4 more months till she's a year old!!

A Sunday At The Memorial

This Labor Day weekend we spent down in Rutland with Robbie's parents and our friends Josh, Lacey and Sarah Price, who came up from New Jersey (where they are doing an internship) to spend the long weekend with us. We did a lot of fun things. One thing we did while down there was to take a trip to the Joseph Smith memorial in South Royalton, Vermont on Sunday afternoon after church. What a wonderful place to go!! Robbie and I have been there multiple times for church activities and even to talk about marriage (before getting engaged). My parents, while doing our family history work, found that we are related to Joseph's mother, Lucy Mack, so visiting the memorial is even more special to me. You can read a bit about the memorial at http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/location/0,10634,1813-1-1-1,00.html.

Besides the pillar that is located on a hill there to honor Joseph Smith, they also have the cornerstones of the home he was born in, the original hearthstone from his home and a rocking chair made by Joseph. Also located nearby are the foundations of the homes of Daniel Mack (Lucy Mack Smith's brother), Solomon Mack (Joseph's grandfather and Lucy's father) and an old stone bridge that they believe was there before Joseph Smith's family moved there. Every year they put lights up at Christmas and they used to do a live Nativity scene, which we were lucky to participate in one year while I was in high school. The visitors center is a wonderful place to learn more about the site and Joseph's life.

The memorial has such a wonderful spirit there and it was so needed. I have been struggling so much with us being unemployed and with what else we need to be doing in order to find a job. I want so badly to be able to move on with our lives and to do what we should be doing in order to progress and grow and to continue to let our family grow. All the stress and sadness over our situation has been taking its toll on me...mostly spiritually. To go to the memorial and feel the Spirit so very strongly was so wonderful and so needed. It's so peaceful there and I am so glad we had that opportunity.

While there Robbie took some wonderful pictures of the girls. He really does a wonderful job getting some good shots of the girls. It was a wonderful way to end our time there.

Standing Up Is So Hard To Do

Georgia has been trying and trying to pull herself up into a standing postion using anything she can find (tables, chairs, couches, etc.) but hasn't been getting very far. She has just mastered how to crawl and I guess decided to move onto something else. So she's been grabbing onto the edge of things (mainly couches) and pulling herself up onto her knees but can never figure out how to get further than that. Well this afternoon while I was unpacking all our stuff from our trip to Robbie's parents this weekend, I had left our suitcase laying on the floor of our little "family room" in my parents basement, and went into the bedroom to unpack a backpack. When I came out less than a minute later to put something in our bathroom Georgia had used the suitcase to stand up!! Yes, she finally did it!! She pulled herself into a standing position for the first time today!! It won't be long now...she may turn out to be just like her sisters and learn to walk by 10 months. We shall see...I am so proud of my baby!!

Gwenyth's First Day Of Preschool

So Gwen's first day of preschool was last Thursday the 3rd. I am such a slacker for not posting about this sooner, but this weekend was a busy one and lots of things have been happening. Gwen has so been looking forward to preschoo. After we had our meet and greet with her teachers preschool is all she has talked about.

Gwen goes to the Town of Essex Parks and Recreation Preschool. It is a certified preschool that works closely with the local school district and combines outdoor/nature exploration with hands on and curriculum learning. Gwen goes every Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30 am to 5 pm (it's open till 5:30 but pick up begins at 5). It's a long day but she does very very well with it. She has so much fun with all of her new friends and loves all of her new teachers (she has 4). So far I have heard so much about all the fun stuff that she does and you can tell she loves it. She gets so excited every morning to go and while she gets excited to see me when I pick her up she still gets sad that she's leaving.

And speaking of sad, I almost cried on her first day multiple times. I really missed her a lot. I didn't know what to do with myself all day, especially when Grace and Georgia took their afternoon nap at the same time. Gracie missed her a lot too. She kept asking me where her Gwen was. It's getting better though and I'm sure it will get easier as time goes on.

So here's some pictures of her first day. The first is how she looked for most of the pictures-very unhappy because she did not want to waste any more time...she just wanted to go to preschool. The second is her fake smile...what a goober. My baby is so big!!

Happy Birthday Aidan!!

My nephew Aidan turned 6 on the 4th and had his birthday party this past Saturday. Unfortunately we were not able to be here for it so I wanted to say Happy Birthday Aidan. We love you very much and we are so glad we are close by now and able to see you often. Hopefully we can make up our abscense at your party when you come down to Nana and Papa's this weekend. You're turning into such a smart and loving little gentleman and we are so glad we are part of your life!! Love you buddy!!

First Fruits, Veggies and Tooth!!

I decided to stop slacking yesterday and finally start feeding Georgia fruits and veggies. We started off with Applesauce. Boy did she love it. She still gets gassy when eating so it's hard to feed her more than one small container of food at a time without her building up a huge gas bubble but she really enjoyed it. We also tried Peas yesterday. She really liked them as well. It was kind of like she was ready to start eating these things but I had been such a slacker that I just didn't get around to it and liked the convenience of feeding her a bottle all the time. Well that will not happen any more. She gets baby cereal, juice, fruits and veggies along with bottles for meals now. She seems really happy with that. Hopefully she'll be just like her sisters and like everything that we feed her.

Another first is her first tooth. We noticed that she was sleeping a lot more yesterday than usual, and she was chewing on everything!! I didn't really think to look in her mouth though to see if a tooth had popped through because the last time she teethed like this the tooth moved up in the gums but stopped before it broke through. However, while she was crying last night before bed I caught a glimpse of white on her bottom gums and I thought that it was just her gums all swollen and white and thought I would check to see how bad it was. Instead I found a tooth!! So she now has her bottom right tooth...hooray!!

Other firsts have been a regular crawl instead of army crawling all the time and her first visit to see animals at the fair. She's getting so big!!

Oh, and Robbie heard about that ski resort job and he didn't get it...the job search continues...