Snow in the Living Room...

My kids really have been missing the snow since our first little storm (NOT ME)! So, being the little monsters they are, they decided to get into my batting I was using to fill some pillows and make their own snow to play in. I was in feeding Piper and when I hear hysterical laughter from the next room I know something is up. Note to self- don't leave kids alone for more than 5-minutes and don't leave my stuff down!

At least I have 1 good kid of the 3...Here is cute little Piper taking her bath. She LOVES bath time :)

ps. I know Kylin is 1/2 naked in all these pictures and looks totally WILD ,but she had just gotten out of the tub. We aren't total white trash...just mostly. hehe. so sorry for the partial nudity! :)

Last of the festivities...

I know I am a little late in posting these, but I want to remember this stuff and plus I think some of the pictures are pretty funny. Like I said before...I LOVE HALLOWEEN :)

Halloween day we carved Pumpkins...My kids LOVE LOVE doing it. Except the gutting part...and we made Mckay gut some of his pumpkin...while we laughed at him! And man HE DIDNT LIKE IT! What nice parents we are huh? :)

Ky didn't much like it either, but she was more ok with it that Mckay.

His favorite part was actually carving the pumpkin with his daddy. After Craig finished gutting it of course :) He told him exactly how he wanted it to look and made Craig draw it first.

Look how cute they all are :) My kids were so proud of their pumpkins.

Ok- funny story...or NOT so funny story about this picture. We went in the garage so it would be dark to see what our pumpkins looked like all lit up. Weelllll I told Craig to come out and look and he pulled the garage door closed after himself, and we have a door that you can open from the inside but is actaully locked from the outside. so, WE WERE LOCKED OUT OF OUR HOUSE! And, of course I am half naked from feeding Piper with no Bra on and PIPER IS LOCKED IN THE HOUSE.

We had made a spare key about 2 weeks earlier which we found out didn't work. After about 2-minutes of being out there Piper starts crying. Craig goes over to the neighbor to borrow their phone so he can call a locksmith and I am hiding in the garage cause I have barely any clothes on. The neighbors try to come and pop or sliding back door off with no luck, while I am trying to help (they probably think I am white trash now becuase of how I looked). Well, the locksmith says he is going to be an hour. I am crying and freaking out cause Piper is now in there SCREAMING! So the locksmith trys to tell Craig how to break in with e credit card...which NEVER works. But, we both said a prayer and it ACTUALLY WORKED! Poor little Piper's lip was quivering she had been crying so hard for about 20 minutes. But, I am so grateful that it worked and we were able to get in there to her...plus not have to pay the locksmith $80. But, at least we got to see out pumpkins all lit up right? hehe.

This was Halloween night. We went to a Truck-r-treat with my brothers and sisters and their kids. Then we went door to door trick-r-treating too. My kiddos LOVE their cousins :) They all got way too much candy! Hope you all had a fun day too...

Happy Halloween!

This is my favorite holiday besides Christmas...I hope you all have a AWESOME FUN DAY :)

Fun Stuff...

Yep, there has been some fun stuff going on here :) We are enjoying fall, which now I think is just about over since it SNOWED today! Blah, I really HATE snow! But I think I am the only one cause the kids LOVED it! Here are a few things that we have been up to lately...

THE PUMPKIN WALK:

Logan has a pumpkin walk that was kinda fun...AND FREE! You get to walk around and look at some cool pumpkins that people have carved or painted and created some interesting stuff.

Mckay's favorite part was all the pumpkins kids had made and they were all lit up.

There we some cool pumpkin scenes...I really liked this Michael Jackson one and there was a PC & Mac one that was pretty funny :)

I think the kids favorite thing was riding the shuttle bus to and from the event....they couldn't hold still and were laughing the whole time.

We only stayed about 45 minutes cause it started getting cold and afterwards we went to Village Inn for some yummy hot cocoa!

FIRST SNOW:

Today, the kiddos ran outside in the their jammies to go play in the snow. They were so excited and wanted to build a snowman...THANK GOODNESS there was not enough snow for that.

CRAZY KYLIN:

This is about 6 seconds of Kylin mood swings. She really cracks me up with her different multiple personalities...I can't keep up :

ONE- MONTH OLD ALREADY!

I can't believe a month has already gone by! She wasn't gaining weight at first and had a little trouble getting rid of her jaundice, but after substituting a little high calorie formula into her diet she got better. She still wakes up every 2-hours to eat and I am EXHAUSTED. But, we love her sooo much! She has been having LOTS more awake time now, and I am starting to get into a groove and figuring out how to take care of 3-kids :)

So, that is what us Howe's were up to these past 2-weeks or so...Lots of fun Halloween stuff coming soon. Now I just need to finish Mckay's costume!!!

I LOVE fall....

Fall is my FAVORITE season...I just wish it lasted longer here in Utah. I love cozy sweaters, colorful leaves, the crisp smell in the air, pumpkins and Halloween. Every year we have a family tradition to go to Sherwood Hills and play in the leaves and have a picnic. It was BEAUTIFUL day and the kids had a blast! It was hard to keep up with them as they were running up and down the trails while Craig lugged Piper around in her car seat.

This is "Butt-crack Bob!" That is what we called her all afternoon. Ever since she has been potty trained, she seems to be sporting a plumbers butt. Well, at least she has a cute little tush. hehe.

I hope you all are having a great Fall season...I know we are :)

Newborn Pictures

I love that I have a new little person to take pictures of! Newborn pictures are some of my favorites so I was really excited to take Piper's! I didn't have time to take very many cause life is just UBER crazy right now, but I like the ones I got :) What a sweet little thing she is! And here is her birth announcement....

Our little Piper is here!

Most of you who use Facebook know that our baby girl is here and we couldn't be more excited! She is so perfect and we love her so much. Piper Kaye Howe was born Saturday Sept. 26th @ 3:54pm. Her weight was 5 lbs 11 oz and 18 inches long...tiny little thing :)

Although she didn't feel so tiny when I was pushing her out. hehe. The epidural this time wasnt very strong...so I felt most the pain. It just kinda took the edge off.

But, let me tell ya- It was really cool this time because they put up a mirror so that I could actually watch the birth. I thought it might be kinda gross, but my sister & mom totally talked me into it and I am SO glad I watched...it was so neat AND it really helped me with the pushing to actaully see what I was doing- so I got her out in 4 pushes. Anyone who is about to have a baby...DO THE MIRROR :)

She had the cord wrapped around her neck so her face was REALLY really bruised. My Dr. said she hadn't been growing inside me for the past 2-weeks...I think it is becuase the cord was all wrapped around her neck and body. So we are VERY VERY blessed that everything is ok with her. Just some brusising. She actually weight less than Kylin and Ky was 3-weeks earlier. crazy.

Anyways, it has been a AMAZING experience to be able to hold my baby after giving birth and actually having her there with me instead of being taken to the NICU. I kept asking them if they were going to hook her up to any monitors to monitor her heartbeat and they we like "nope, you just get to keep her here in the room with you." It was SO WEIRD! Plus- after 48 hours they let us take her home. Thanks to everyone who came and visited and helped me through it all :) You know who you guys are...LOVE YOU!

Craig helped me SO MUCH during the birthing process, which is another reason I got her out fast. He would take these big gulps of air with me and then say PUSH. It was SO so helpful.

My little girl was the first thing I got to hold...Gosh I love her so much! Of course I got all teary-eyed.

And this bad boy was the second thing I held! hehe. I was so freakin hungry. I started into labor at 11:00 and got done @4pm. Not to bad, I know, but I was starving :)

Craig is already SUCH a good daddy and a big help to me.

I know the picture is blurry, but it CRACKS ME UP! She looks so tiny in her car seat and not super happy. hehe.

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HOME AT LAST! :)

My kids LOVE HER SO MUCH! They were so excited to meet their baby sister. They couldn't come to the hospital because it is level 2 lock down because of the flu epidemic. No one under 15 allowed.

Look at the looks on their faces...they are so excited!

BUT Let me tell ya...HAVING 3 KIDS IS REALLY HARD! I have cried a lot this week because I am just so overwhelmed. I am so thankful my mom came and helped me for a few days. As soon as she left I cried cause I just thought to myself "I CAN'T DO THIS!" I spend most the day and night feeding Piper (who breast feeds pretty darn good I think...she just takes forever) She is my first kid who actually caught onto nursing-so this a new experience for me too. But- it is hard cause I want to still spend time with my other kids and want them to feel special. Plus- I am exhausted and have a hard time keeping the house clean now that my mom is gone. BUT I am not complaining..I LOVE LOVE our new addition. I just want to be a good mommy and am feeling overwhelmed.

Piper had her 5-day check up and she is doing good. She needs to be under lights for 4-days to get rid of her Jaundice- but they have lights we have set up at home. We just have to watch her lots so she doesn't pull the eye wear off like she likes to. Craig slept by her crib for 2-nights now so he can check on her every 1/2 hour. What good daddy!

Sorry such a long post...I just want to remember this time in our family. It has been so wonderful having this special little spirit in our home. THANKS everyone for being so wonderful and for people's help through it all :)

SWORDS...BOOK LABELS...and a RECIPE...

Random title I know :) But, I have not really been in the mood to blog lately...just been SO tired and busy trying to get my house unpacked and get everything ready before a certain someone arrives. That is IF she ever decides to come out! I am 37 1/2 weeks now which is considered full-term and dilated to a 5 and 95% thinned out! And let me tell you it is not fun to sit at home and dilate for weeks with these REALLY painful contractions. Ever since I got a TB shot to stop my labor a few weeks ago, I can't go into full-blown labor now. Don't get me wrong- I am SO GRATEFUL that she has been in here and didn't come early like my other kids, but it has just been a pretty difficult month and i'm in a lot of pain....so, I hope she decides to come out soon :) If any of you have labor inducing tricks...PLEASE SHARE! Except you Megan...hehe. I can't believe you went past your due date, I have a new found respect for you :)

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Ok- so on with my post...I have been trying to spend lots of time with my kids before Piper gets here, so we decided to make some She-Ra & He-Man swords yesterday because they LOVE that show...so did I when I was a kid. And yes- I know we are super ghetto and the swords look crazy funny. But, the kids LOVE them and it was something fun and different to do.

Funny lookin' swords:) But see how much they love them. Look at the big bruise on Mckay's forehead...he got it from in his own words, "running into the most beautiful girl in the world that I love". I think he has found his first crush in preschool :)

We will see how long they last with all the fighting that is going to be happening. They are only double layered cardboard, tin foil and shiny jewels :)

And of course we had to make them sword holders just like in the show so they can carry them around on their backs.

This is Kylin with her sword watching She-Ra...All day I have heard "I AM SHE-RA" and "I HAVE THE POWER!"

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Also- I thought I would share something made recently. We are big readers in this house...at least when we have time and we loan out a lot of our books to family & friends. So, I decided to make these labels to put on the insides of all our books so that they hopefully will get back to us after we loan them out.

There is a Microsoft word file you can DL, which you can just print out on labels (Avery 8163) that you can get from any store OR you can just DL the JPEG file and print them on normal paper, cut them out and glue or tape them on the inside of the book yourself. Maybe some of you are book loaners too and could use them :) Here are the download links:

WORD FILE

JPEG FILE

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Lastly here is an AWESOME recipe from my mother in law that I LOVE and we had for breakfast!!! So, I am sharing I hope she doesn't care :)

Mckay's First Day of Preschool & My New Lens!!!

Mckay had his first day of school on Wed. He actually just turned 5 and really could got to kindergarten, BUT we wanted to hold him back a year since he is right on the deadline...that way he can be the oldest in his class instead of the youngest :)

We had a REALLY REALLY hard time finding him a preschool up here. We were on about 3 waiting lists to get into one, but after calling and bugging this preschool a million times...HE GOT IN! It is so great because not only does he get to do all the important learning stuff, but he also switches off between swimming, tumbling and tennis as a daily activity. It is such a nice school....it better be for the FREAKIN price. But, totally worth it when I see how much he loves it and is excited every day to go to school.

I cried after I got back in the car from dropping him off his first day...silly i know. But, I feel like he is all grown up and from now on he won't be home with me anymore. He will be at school and with friends and it just makes me sad to have him not be my little Mckay anymore :)

Ok enough with the sappiness- So MY NEW LENS!!! Wahoo... I have been wanting it FOREVER. So, I sold my NICE 24-70mm f/2.8L lens (which was really hard for me to do) and was able to buy a fixed 85mm f/1.8. It is gonna be so much fun...I just need to get used to it and practice LOTS more. good thing I have a cute guinea pig. Too bad I had to bribe her with pizza and a trip to the park, so there was only about 5-minutes of good light left :)

ps. I am going to be selling these headband soon...so stay tuned if you are interested :)

Sneak Peek...

Here is a look at what I have done on the nursery so far....BARELY ANYTHING! She could be coming any day now and I don't even have her clothes out in the dresser or the dresser painted for that matter! I still need to do bumper pads for the crib, some vinyl and to finish her

bench, but you can kinda see a little bit in the direction that I am going :) I wanted something simple and modern and cheap! I have done this whole nursery INCLUDING the crib for about $150 just because I made almost everything to keep the cost low :) Lots of work, but worth it and super fun! I will post pictures when it is all done...hopefully before she gets here. Thanks babe for all your help and patience!

**UPDATE ON PIPER and I**

This is officially the LONGEST I have ever been pregnant...WAHOO! My Dr. only gives me another week tops, but I am still pretty darn excited to have gone this long. I have totally dropped if you can see my belly, I am 80% effaced and dilated to a 2. Plus, I am super sick and having LOTS of contractions. So, it should be any day now. I hope she is healthy. THANKS to all of your well wishes! :)