Halloween

Halloween started a week early for our family.  Gma & Gpa Harper throw the BEST Halloween parties for their grandkids every year we ALL look forward to it each year. Even the parents!! We get to drop the kids off and have a date night!!

They were all so cute this year!

We have....

 Starting in back: Brock (army man), Drake (ninja), Cade (some Egyptian guy), Cole (basketball player), Clay (bum)

Front: Elli (angel), Blayke (witch), Crew (ninja), Caleb (Simba), Tyke (Frankenstein), Braeden (mummy)

The sweet little granddaughters.... they aren't the only girls in the bunch anymore.... 

Then it was the Halloween parade at school

Braeden was a mummy for the party but then the night before the parade, he decided to be something else. His mind was set on a zombie. I didn't know how to make that kind of costume. I didn't have much time in the morning to get him ready, Capri fed, get me dressed for the day and Elli dressed all before school. So I made him think of something else. I felt bad because he really wanted to be a zombie.... but it wasn't happening. So he thought of this. He is Litl' Mac from Punch Out. I made the belt and ripped a white shirt that night and he was so excited to be this. Phew!!

Then Caleb had his preschool parade!! Look at that little Simba!! Such a funny costume, but that's what he wanted!!

Arms up!!

Then we went to Dewitt Stables the Saturday before. It was fun. Kind of like Schnepf Farms but smaller.

This stage in life... Braeden is into squids. Not sure why, but he is. 

Caleb wanted a butterfly.... umm, OK, you can have a butterfly, but we are gonna do USC colors to make it more boyish!!

This was the funnest thing there for the kids. They did this about 4 times.

Pumpkin carving. Always a good time!! I hate cleaning out the pumpkin. I'm glad Mark took control. My only job was to take pictures.

I love Elli's heart eyes and star nose. Such a girl thing!  They were all pretty proud of their finished product!!

Finally... it is time to go trick or treating.....


Our little Devil!!

Oh those toes.... so edible!!

Capri wasn't too excited to be dressed up. But she had to put up with it because she was just so cute and I needed pictures.

Simba, Devil, Angel and Litl' Mac

Arms up again.... not sure why he did that in alot of the pictures.

Love this!! 

Grandpa is pretty fond of her!! So cute of them!!

Ca-Cub

It was getting late and I told the kids to get their jammies on. A good 20 minutes later, I found Caleb like this. Sound asleep in the closest. I guess he was getting his USC jersey on for jammies.

Then another time, I asked Braeden and Elli to get in the shower (not at the same time :) and since Caleb sees them showering, he wants to do it too. So when they were both done, Caleb hopped in the shower and did his thing. Then after I was drying him off, he headed to the cabinet and pulled out some deodorant and started put it on. He made it look like no big deal. Such a copy cat!

Baby Capri

This little girl is quite the favorite at our house. Everyone wants to hold and kiss on her at her every waking moment. Mark and Elli fight for her. The second Elli gets home from school.... "I need to hold her!" Then when Mark gets home from work.... "Give her to me Elli!" Then Elli tells her dad that she just got her and that he can't have her yet. This is an everyday occurrence.

Love having another girl!! Oh the bows and accessories!!

This was right after a bath. She has curly hair for about 15 minutes right after!! Love it!!

She has the same glare I do using her eyebrows.

I guess we are kind of sleep deprived in this house..... 

 

My beautiful girls!! Lucky us to have them!!

I was holding Capri and just about to put her to bed when Caleb asked to hold her. So I gave her to him and he immediately started singing "I Am A Child of God" to her. He loves this song and sings it all the time. So I ran and got the camera and recorded him singing it to Capri.

Every time Caleb sees a picture of her or if she is smiling, Caleb says, "Ooooohh, how cute!" He seriously just adores her and loves her a lot! (As I am making this post... Caleb is looking at the pictures and saying, "How cute!") Love that boy!

Capri Lynn

SHE'S HERE!!! 

Born September 27th at 9:53 at night.

7 lbs. 12 oz.
21 inches long
(She is a whole pound bigger, but the same length as our other 3 kids. I am convinced that pound is in her cheeks!!)

Monday morning I had my doctor's appointment and I was dilated at a 2 and about 40% effaced. So my doctor stripped my membranes. And with the last 2 kiddos, that put me into labor that same night. So I was very hopeful it would work again!! I just had all kinds of contractions and that night I was up about every 10-20 minutes with hard contractions. I didn't get much sleep that night. But I was scheduled for inducement Tuesday morning at 5:00. But the hospital called at 3:30 saying they were really full and that they would call me sometime soon to have me come in. I got a call about 8:00 and was told to come in within the next hour. So I got there at 9:00 and waited a little bit. A nurse came out and told me that between the time they called and when I got there, 5 women had come in. One was sent in by ambulance because there was an ambulance outside. So I got sent home. I was pretty bummed, but it was understandable. So I waited and waited. I had nothing to do since everything was clean and organized at home. I just sat on the couch twiddling my thumbs and having contraction pains. The nurse had told me I would only need to wait about 2 1/2 hours or so and they would call me. But 2:00 came and eventually the kids got home school. Before they left for school, we told the kids that I was going in to have the baby and hopefully they would be able to see her that night, but when they got home and I was still there, Elli looked at me, pointed to my belly and got mad at me for still having a big belly. She seriously got mad at me. But they finally called me back at 5:30. So Mark and I rushed there so the same thing wouldn't happen again and we got there about 6:00 night. When the nurse checked me, I was at a 4 and 70% effaced. So those contractions I was feeling weren't for nothing!! I got my epidural at 7:00. I made a big fuss about getting a good doctor to give me my epidural because the last 2 I had were HORRIBLE. And it worked... I got someone who was confident and knew what she was doing!! So I was pain-free through the whole labor & delivery!! Which was FABULOUS!! But about 7:30, my mom, sister Kara, Mark's mom and my niece Ashley came rolling in. We watched Biggest Loser and about 9:30 we told the nurses to come check me and sure enough, it was time. Capri came at 9:53.

Of course she had to give us a scare though. The cord was wrapped around her little neck tight and she was stuck for a while. My doctor tried to get it off her neck, but couldn't because it was so tight.  So she cut the cord and out she came. During that time, she wasn't getting any oxygen so when she came out, she wasn't crying. It took her a while and a lot of nurses to get her crying. But she did and she has been great since!!

I made Mark go home to sleep since the nurses would be coming in and waking us up. I wanted at least one of us to get some sleep.  So the next morning, he brought the kids in to see their new sister before school. They were sooooo excited. They each had to hold her.

Grandma Dianna was in town watching Greg and Holly's kids for the week and it was perfect timing since she was able to be there when Capri was born.

I love that she puts her hand by her cheek.

Showing off her dimples.

I wasn't sure how Caleb would react to having a new baby in the house. But he has been GREAT!! He loves that little girl and dotes on her. He says how cute she is and always wants to help feed her and hold her. He really is a big helper. 

We had to have a photo session with Elli since she wanted to take some pictures to show off Capri to her school class.

Then one morning, I had just got the kids off on the school bus and went to feed Capri and I found her like this. Braeden had put these glasses on her before he left. It just made me laugh.  

 I have the best kids and couldn't be any luckier to be their mom!!