she's ten months!

Everly is seriously growing up right before our eyes.  On the one hand, I love seeing her growing and changing and learning new things every day.  Each time she learns a new trick feels like cause for celebration.  Yet, sometimes I look at her and wonder how in the world she changed from a tiny, newborn baby, into a miniature person overnight!

She really is a tiny, petite little thing.  At ten months old, she is still wearing size 6 months clothes, and lots of those are baggy on her.  A week before she turned 10 months old, she weighed just 15 pounds at her checkup, putting her in the 4th percentile.

She can't decide if she wants to be the type of baby who sleeps through the night, or be the type of baby who misses her mama so much in the middle of the night that she just wants to snuggle.  Half the time she is one type, and half the time she is the other.  And I'll take her either way!

One of her favorite things is standing all be herself.  When she does so, she looks around to make sure that everyone is watching her and witnessing her amazing, new talent.  She's pretty darn proud of herself!

We certainly have a little explorer on our hands as she spends her days getting into cupboards, crawling everywhere, and always trying to be where she's not supposed to be.  It doesn't even bother her anymore to crawl in the itchy grass, or on the scratchy concrete, she just wants to be exploring!

Her little personality is starting to shine through more and more all the time.  I get so excited for what it's going to be like to hear her talk and explain what's going on in that cute little head of hers!

Happy 10 months, Every Boots!  We sure love you tons and bunches!

the rest of our trip

Friday morning, we said goodbye to my parents as they began their trip back home to Utah.  We decided to take our time getting home, and spend a night in Madison.  On the way, we drove through the little town in Iowa that Bart grew up in.  He loved telling the kids all about places he used to go when he was little.  It was fun taking a walk (drive) down memory lane with him!

 This cute house that Bart and the boys are standing in front of is the house he grew up in!

 Saturday we took the kids to the zoo in Madison.  I think Everly enjoyed it the most out of everyone.  She was fascinated by all the animals and loved point at them and making her cute "psh" noises!

 We couldn't stop laughing about Everly feeding the goats.  The first piece of goat food went right to the goat, but the next piece that Bart put in her hand, she gripped tightly and wouldn't let go.  She was not about to let that mean goat eat another one of her snacks!  Luckily we got it out of her hand before she discovered how yucky goat food is.

 No trip would be complete without a dip in the hotel pool, and while Everly didn't enjoy the cold water very much, she did enjoy looking adorable in her bathing suit!

 And completely unrelated to our trip, but when you are nine months old and your hair all fits in a ponytail, it's kinda a big deal, right?!

our nauvoo trip

Back in June, my parents came out here for a visit.  It is always so much fun to have them here.  The kids absolutely love it!  The tail end of their trip, we all drove down to Nauvoo, IL to spend a few days having fun and enjoying the sights.

This was the first time I'd been to Nauvoo (except the time I went when I was two years old), and it was exactly how I pictured it would be.  It is a beautiful place to feel the Spirit, and reflect on the sacrifices of so many.  It's hard to put into words, but every time I walked into the visitor's center, I felt so close to tears, for no specific reason.  It was lovely being there with my family, and I hope that my boys felt touched while we were there like I was.  

Matthew 19:14, "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

We went on an awesome wagon ride behind some huge horses and learned about a lot of the buildings and sights in the area.

The above picture makes me laugh.  My dad didn't come on the wagon ride with us, but went photographing instead.  I got a picture of him taking a picture of us, with the beautiful Nauvoo temple behind him up on the hill!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was spending time with my kids.  The past few months have been crazy with building a house and selling one, and all that goes with that (on top of the craziness that simply comes with having four kids, including an infant.) So, we haven't had much time to just be together this summer, but this trip was just what we needed to be able to do that!

One of my favorite places we visited was this dance hall.  It was easy for me to imagine the early members of the church gathered here to have dances and socialize.  This is the original floor that my two little ones are crawling on, and I loved thinking about some of the people who walked on this very floor.  It was a precious moment.

Kade and Ky helped make a rope.  It doesn't look like it in this picture, but they thought it was pretty cool!

What is it about little boys and throwing rocks in the water?

One of the best stops was walking around the temple.  It is even more gorgeous in person than it is in photos, and the history behind it makes it so special!

Oh, how my heart loves this statue!  (oh, and the cute boys in front of it too!)

The morning we spent touring Carthage Jail was powerful.  The rain was coming down pretty heavy, and while that stopped us from spending a lot of time walking around outside, it added something special to the feeling that was there.  There is such a powerful, sad, yet somehow beautiful spirit there.  I loved watching the twins while we were there, because I think they got it.

Brothers

Krew's favorite part of Nauvoo was the rental house we stayed in.  My parents had a bedroom, and the six of us all slept in the large loft bedroom all together,  Krew loved that.  From the looks of this picture, he also loved to sleep in Kade's bed with him, even though he had his own bed a few inches away.  This picture was taken after I had already moved him back to his bed twice that night!

let's build a new house!

I realize that this might not be news to many of you, but a few months ago, we decided to build a new house!

It's quite a long story to tell how we went from saying that we were never going to buy another house in this area, to deciding that we have to buy another house here because we have seriously outgrown this house (think: three boys sharing one room, and sharing the worlds' smallest bathroom), to deciding to build a brand new house.  After Bart experienced the joy that is putting in an entire yard when we moved into our current home, we swore we would never build or buy a brand new house again.  But breaking those types of promises seems to be a recurring theme in our 12 years of marriage, so here we go again! 

 One of the best things about building a house, it getting to see it as it's being built, and watching it change each week.  It's so fun to go there, not knowing what things have been installed or built that week, and being surprised when we walk in.  I think it's fun for the boys to see it like this too.

 These pictures were taken nearly two months ago, so it already looks nothing like it did in these photos.

 This is Everly and me in her new room.  Fancy isn't it?

 It's kinda hard to tell, but the boys are standing at the bottom of the stairs that go to the upper level here.  I can see us taking lots of pictures of them on this landing over the next few years.  It will be a perfect spot to take Christmas morning, pajama photos before we open presents, and things like that.

 I know this little guy is going to be sorely disappointed when we move in and they have flattened out this mound of dirt, because right now, I think it's his favorite thing about the new house!

 Our first family picture in front of our new house!

 A few weeks after those last pictures were taken, the house had walls, and looked completely transformed!

 We had the boys write their names on the floor of their new rooms in order to help them get excited about the transition.  The older boys aren't quite sure they like the idea of moving.  They are scared and sad to leave their friends and their school.  I really think they are going to love their new school, and make lots of friends there, and in the new neighborhood.  But, I can also understand their fears and worries.

 And poor Krew.  I don't think he understands what is going on.  He's having a hard time grasping the concept of us taking all our stuff and putting it in the new house (especially considering the new house doesn't really look like a place to live yet).  We recently took a trip and listed our current house for sale, and when we were on our way home, I could sense that he honestly had no idea where "home" was.  He even said, "Wait, don't I live in a hotel?"  Poor kid is completely confused!  Hopefully once we are all moved he will love it.  Plus, he'll get to have his own room again!

It's such an exciting, busy, stressful time, but we are looking forward to all the memories we will make here together as a family!