Let me just start off by saying we had the most AMAZING Halloween. I was SO nervous leading up to this holiday this year. In the past Kimber hasn't really cared about the candy or trick or treating but this year I knew it was going to be different. I debated about what to do. I finally decided to just send out a little message to some of our ward members to see if any of them were planning on having non-food items available at their homes the night of Halloween. I was hoping for 5 or 6 houses to hit just to give her the experience. I was so excited for her when 10 families told me that they would have something special for Kimber.
As I took her around on Halloween she was SO excited. She enthusiastically told each person "Thank you for my Trick-or-Treat!" When we got back to the car she would giggle, examine and excitedly talk about each new prize until we got to the next house. As we were driving I started getting text messages and phone calls from other members in our ward to let us know they also had something special for our girl. Over an hour and 20 houses later she proudly marched into the house with her loot of
bouncy balls, stickers, glow sticks, coloring books, and even a can of olives! We really do live in an incredible place with incredible people who love our little Bean!
The rest of the month went pretty good as well but boy were we BUSY!
After Shawn had to leave for ANOTHER work trip I jumped at the chance to get out of the valley myself and took the kids to surprise Aunt Mikayla in California while Uncle Bryan was out in the field for training. Shawn wasn't able to join us due to a very full work schedule but we had SO much fun. We loved seeing her little home on the base, hanging out at the beach (although Brady HATED the water and Kimber took some time warming up to the idea of sand and waves again) and seeing where Uncle Austin works. I wish we could see them more often and the weekend went by way too fast.
Shawn has been amazing. He's set some pretty big goals for himself and the business and has been working SO hard to achieve them. Usually this means not getting home before 9:30 and skipping lunch but he knows if he works hard now it will pay off. He and Kimber are workout buddies and do P90X together every morning. The other day he had some early meetings and Kimber slept in and so she missed their session. I think the sound of the shower is what finally woke her up and she came running into my room in a panic and said "Mom! Where's my friend!"
"What friend honey?" I asked her.
"My friend! My friend that does push ups!"
"Oh... Dad's in the shower..."
I love that she considers him "her friend". I hope she always does.
Speaking of which, she is SUCH a crack up. As her vocabulary expands (she used the word "smock" the other day) and her speech becomes more clear she keeps us laughing every single day. As I was putting her down for a nap a few weeks ago she kept getting up. At first it was because she forgot to give me a hug. Then it was a kiss. Then she needed to give Brady a hug and a kiss. I could tell her excuses were running low when she came out and asked for a drink of water (that NEVER happens). The final time she got out of bed I was getting frustrated and she knew it. When I asked her what she wanted I could see her draw a complete blank. Then very carefully she answered "I need to.... shake your hand...." She walked over to me, shook my hand and then ran off to her bed before I could put her in a time out.
She LOVES learning her alphabet and can identify every letter. My conversation with her while doing the dishes went like this: "Mom! I see a K! K like Kimber!"
"Yes that is a K! Do you see a Q?"
"Ya! I see a Q! Q like Kimber!"
"No honey, Q is like Queen."
"Oh, ok. I see a Q like Queen Kimber!" She is one of a kind for sure!
She is starting to notice there is something different about her though and as a mom it is hard to watch. I want nothing more than to "fix" it all for her right now. I never want her to feel left out or alone. When she walked out from her nap holding her Gtube in her hand I rolled my eyes a little and told her to lay down so we could put it back in. I was surprised when she said "Ummm I don't want it anymore." I tried to explain that that wasn't an option and she replied "But Brady doesn't have a tube! My friends don't have tubes!" Ugh... I didn't think we would be having this conversation until she was at least in kindergarten. Luckily we have an amazing community of PWS moms who sent me photos of their kids with their tubes and we were able to have the "some people have special tubes and other people don't get them" talk. That night as we carved pumpkins Kimber asked if her pumpkin could have a tube. We have the only jack-o-lantern on the block with a gtube and we are proud of it!
Our little Brady boy is now two months old! He was blessed on October 11 in his Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen's home. It was such a special day with just our immediate family around. (Which was still quite the crowd mind you) He weighs 11 lbs 8 oz and is 23 inches long. He's finally figured out how to smile (for a little while he had his smiles and frowns mixed up) and has the cheesiest grin earning him the nickname, Chuckles. He is still "Mr. Intense" and loves to be one the move requiring me to learn the art of the Moby wrap. He loves to be held... but not snuggled. If he's awake his head is up, eyes are wide and he's constantly taking it ALL in. We absolutely love him!
That's this month in a nutshell! We are excited for the holiday season and we are so grateful for the friends and family who helped us get it off to such a great start!
