Every family's got one...

She is such the baby of the family - such our family clown.

She loves to perform and have us all laugh at her.

We've got some feeling under the weather with colds and Tess has a fever.

So tonight we decided to have a movie night cuddled up on the couch before early bedtimes.

Torrance however, is feeling fine and was not in the mood for cuddling and quiet.

Nope.

She was SO loud!

And wild!

And giggly!

And loving the spotlight as we all watched her from our big sectional.

Here she briefly paused and considered joining us.

Nah, this is way more fun!

Come on...you have to love me!

We did get to watch about 5 minutes of the movie in peace...

while she played with Daddy's Blackberry.

But Daddy had to put a stop to that fun.

We love you Torrance.

And we love the spunk you bring to our house!

Birthday week!

Rest assured that this little girl's last week as my baby will

be fully documented in pictures and serious spoiling.

Here I caught her dancing with Tess this morning.

Serious adorableness.

She's a total cheeseball.

Then it was time for a bottle.

Thought Id get some cuddle time there?

Nope.

This is how she drinks a bottle.

Either sitting or standing and doing something else at the same time.

NEVER sits still. NEVER.

Are you kidding me?

It must be documented...

...that 'RED' won on their early and freezing cold game on Saturday.

And that this cute little thing scored THREE big goals!

So fun!

framed

Jocelyn's got a CHICKEN!!!

There was also a petting zoo with chickens, kitties, pigs, horses, dogs....

At one point Jocelyn came around the corner like this...

I yelled, 'Jocelyn's got a CHICKEN!'

She was holding it like a baby.

Cutest thing ever.

I panicked a bit cause in my mind a chicken will peck your eyes out if you get too close!

Jen Ven told me not worry...Jocelyn is the 'chicken whisperer!'

Too funny.

pumpkin patch day!!!!

I love pumpkin patch day!

It was pretty chilly and windy but we had a blast.

I wish we had a picture of our caravan of minivan mom's rolling down Hwy 20 this morning.

This was not all of the kids but most...even the specks in the distance.

Tori enjoyed her first trip.

With the exception of her non-fitting hat and that I wouldnt let her go wherever she wanted.

(side note - she is wearing a sweater that Lauren wore in her 1 year pics - oh the memories)

We started by painting pumpkins - the newspaper even showed up to document the event.

Serious concentration.

No school today meant the big kids got to join us too!

Next we moved onto the haymow...I think the kids would have stayed here the whole time.

Hayrack ride next!

Sully was nervous so he found a hand to hold.

Personally I think it was just a clever tactic to sit close to Jen!

Lauren - babysitter extraordinaire.

Poor baby

Why cant I go out and play too?

I'm sure this will be a theme in her life...poor youngest child.

for your viewing pleasure

It has been a week around here...

And my attitude has been the worst.

But the weekend is near so Im forcing myself to forget the week.

And these pictures help.

Tori is cutting some teeth and was struggling to fall asleep last night because of it.

Daddy cannot bear to listen to her cry...so down she came.

And this is what they did.

Look at his face...honestly.

She was ready to go again this am.

She loves cupboards.

She takes everything out...and gets in.

And when I say, 'no'...

she does this.

Tess was playing dress up.

Dr. Ballerina playing Rapunzel - her absolute favorite toy.

I tried to tell her that her scrub hat was actually to go over shoes...she didn't care.

This girl is a SERIOUS eater.

She is the human garbage disposal.

She'll eat anything and mass quantities of it.

She is a lot like Sullivan as a baby...he was like this too.

Seriously dont you just want to reach through your screen and squeeze that face?!

(well maybe clean it first.)

#3458

Random fact #3458 about my dad.

He loved Wilson Phillips.

yep.

I miss making fun of him about that.

on the other side of the list

one thing I will not miss about the baby phase coming to a close in our house:

changing an extremely nasty diaper on the floor boards of

my van in the middle of the wal-mart parking lot.

Torrance's first day in the leaves

Oh. my. heart.

Love this little girl and all her spunky, spitfire cuteness.

LEAVES!

I'm pretty sure there is nothing better than Iowa in the Fall.

The kids worked very hard to make the perfect pile.

(Thanks for doing all the hard work Isaiah!)

Really, this weather and leaves falling from the sky...perfection.

Where's Lauren!?

Daddy was such a good sport!

And how can I not love this picture?

All of them holding hands...smiling!

If you want genuine smiles and giggles on kids...put them in water or leaves.

Works every time!

Love.

Love my kids

Its 8 am and we've already had the quote of the day.

Lauren (exasperated tone):

"AVERY! Soccer is not a fashion show...just get ready!!"

excuse me?!

We walked in the door from church tonight at 8:30.

Jordan greeted us and Tori holds out her arms and says,

'Dada!'

Are you joking girl?

in just 3 short weeks

Torrance is 11 months old.

When the calendar flipped to October it hit me that this was my last month with a baby in my house.

That soon she'd technically be a toddler or something.

I could tell you how I feel about that but I'm sure you can already guess.

She wants to grow up.

She does big things.

She is a dare devil.

Found her here.

Super.

She has discovered that cups are fun.

Also found her here.

Even more super.

She likes to play doll house.

Only her role is 'attack of the giant killer baby'

And no one likes it but her.

But man she finds it funny!

Truly this girl...she lights up my days.

She's my only one I've ever been home with full time from the beginning.

I have an ache in my heart about her becoming 'big'.

But I also know that there are some really fun things coming.

And I love seeing her involved in the mix with her older siblings and I know that will get easier and easier. There are some very fun and very new things on the horizon for us...its just that when you've basically had a baby in your house for 10 years - learning to let that go isn't goign to be easy!

So I'm soaking all of this in while I can.

And taking like 456 pictures this month.

Because I do not want to forget how it felt to stare into this tiny face.

Sullivan-isms

me: 'Sully what would you like for supper tonight?'

Sully: 'chicken'

me: 'what kind of chicken?'

Sully: 'the turkey kind.'

Thanks, that'll help.

While mom is away...

Is it any wonder they love time with daddy?

Another week

Honestly, how do these weeks continue to pass so quickly.

I was lucky to have a girls weekend away these past few days with Melanie & Amy.

It was fun and so good to talk and laugh.

I can admit that I was really in need of a break.

And Im so so happy that I got it!

The sad part was that this trip was supposed to include more friends...but Thursday one of our friends suddenly lost her father-in-law, her husband lost his dad, and their children lost grandpa. Our hearts are broken for them.

And it forces us to think about losing our own dad/father-in-law/grandpa. The shock and grief of that day for us came rushing back and having that fresh scab ripped off hurts so much. We are hurting and praying for our friends and reliving it in our own hearts.

Its just so hard. So very hard.

And then these pictures. For some reason I was in my 2007 folder tonight.

Avery is 2.5 here.

Are you kidding me?

Look at that precious head. And those sweet feet.

I miss that 2.5 year old.

And Lauren is 5 here.

FIVE!

That just isnt right.

Look at that sweetness.

And this is Sully at 1.

Hysterical.

And my word he looks just like Tori!

I miss my tiny boy...he doesn't fit in my lap anymore...he's becoming gangly!

One thing I know...my blessings surround me.

Simply everywhere I look.