I am finally getting my journal up to date and wrote a little about the kids. So here's a little update on my little monkeys.
Liam is getting so big. He walks and practically runs everywhere now. He loves to pull out bowls from the cupboards in the kitchen and loves to pull out the phone cord. He is also known to eat dog food, splash in the dog water, rip books, pull books off the shelves and “bug” the older kids. He laughs at himself and will clap when amused. He likes his milk and will do the sign when he wants a drink. He can say mama, dada, uh-oh and wave hello and goodbye. He also sings Ooh-Ooh, Ahh-Ahh when the playhouse disney monkeys start to sing. He is a sweet little boy and makes me very happy.
I can't believe that Beckham will be 3 in less than a week. He speaks very clearly and is quite bright for his age. He is a skinny little guy but loves to eat treats. I think if he had it his way he’d spend his days sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of snacks! He loves to be with Kayla even though she gets a bit aggressive at times. Last week we moved his bed into her room and he loves sleeping in there with her. I am amazed at how well they are doing in there together. They still wake up early but now Beckham will stay in the room with Kayla until I go and get them. It’s fun to listen to them talk to each other on the monitor. Becks loves to play trains, cars and superheroes. He has a good imagination. He still has tantrums that drive me crazy but at least he says sorry when it’s all over!
Kayla has started being able to do imaginative play better. She and Beckham have been playing together and I’ve really been trying to keep the TV off more often. She is starting to sing songs and draw symbols that look like letters. She loves to get praise for doing and saying things right. Lonnie usually spends some time with her everyday working on pronounciation. She is a great helper and especially loves emptying the dishwasher. Her favorite things to do are read books, play dollhouse and do ABC time on the computer. Her last seizure was February 5 of this year. That means she’s almost been seizure free for a whole year. I really hope that she can keep being seizure free so that eventually we can take her off of her meds.
Kayla licking batter off the beater.
Beckham copying Kayla.
Poor Liam watching from his chair. At least he has monkey!
Kayla loving the decorating part of making cookies.
Daddy helping Kayla. It was hillarious watching the kids try to spread frosting and taking giant fingerfulls of sprinkles.
Lonnie took a break from studying to help us decorate.
And the cookies turned out pretty good . . . just take a look for yourself!
Cousin Andrew crawling around the kitchen and listening to his ABCs.
Cousin Josh taking a break from cake.
Kayla and Jackson eating as fast as possible!
Liam . . . I think most of his pictures are in this chair.
Beckham opening his gifts.
For months Beckham has been playing with Kayla's pink and purple dollhouse. He generally brings his superheroes and Mack from "Cars" to play in the dollhouse but we thought it was time he got something a little more appropriate for a boy. He calls this his "Boy Dollhouse" and all of the kids loved it. He's not really into good guys and bad guys yet. He set up Batman and Joker to watch TV together in the batcave. Hee, hee, hee. Lonnie picked out 5 different characters with matching vehicles so there are plenty of figurines to play with. Good job dad! And now Kayla brings her ponies and strawberry shortcakes to play in Beckham's dollhouse.
If you are too little to play with the batcave, just play with the box it came in! It provides hours (or at least several consecutive minutes) of fun.
Liam by the tree.
All of the kids were having a blast running around this tree and kicking up the leaves.
Happy Beckham.
Marvin walking on all 4 legs. A few days ago he fell off of his doggy door ramp and broke his leg. He had surgery yesterday and should be fully healed in about a month. Poor little pup. He just wasn't prepared for the Rexburg-dumping of snow we've received in the last 3 days.
My cute little babe.
"To Infinity and Beyond"
We bought their costumes at the beginning of October and they've worn them most days of the week at some point in the day.
Liam was our cute little puppy dog. The older kids thought his floppy ears and tail were hillarious. It was really cute to see him crawl around and wag his tail.
We stopped at Great Grandma's house before the party for pictures and our first treats.
Tonight we celebrated by watching "Toy Story II" and eating popcorn and candy. Liam ate some yummy cereal. One is attached to his neck . . . I think he was saving it for a bedtime snack! Marvin was catching all the leftovers.
More?
Becks was loving his tootsie pop as much as he loves his new monkey jammies.
Kayla can't resist an opportunity to give me a classic cheeser! All in all a good holiday!
He wasn't too sure if this was really his.
Now he's sure and loving it!
This was my masterpiece.
His face really lit up when he saw the cake.
Tastes good so far.
What do you mean there's no more cake?
On Liam's real birthday he was still loving his special firetruck.
The weather was a little chilly but Liam tried to stay warm.
The kids got to ride a carousel, an airplane carnival ride and jump in bounce houses.
They pet some animals, walked through the corn maze and climbed the hay bale mountain.
Kayla just wanted to know what would come next!
Cotton Candy! I love the progression of pictures below . . . Beckham really enjoyed his cotton candy. I think he was sticky for the rest of the day.
Next, it was time for a tractor ride out to the pumpkins. 
Kayla picked a white pumpkin, Becks got a bumpy one and we got a little orange one for Liam. 
Sunday night we carved the two smooth pumpkins and the kids thought it was awesome to turn out the lights and watch them glow!