Friday, November 16, 2012

4 months

It is hard to believe that this little munchkin is 4 months old already! 
Emma continues to be the best baby EVER.  I'm hoping that doesn't mean we are in for trouble as she gets older, but rather that she continues to be happy, patient, and so wonderful to be around. 
At her 4 month check-up she weighed 14lbs. 13 oz (56%) and was 25 1/2 in. (84%) 
She has perfected the shriek because you have to be LOUD to be heard, apparently.
Her latest trick (as of Nov. 11) is that she can roll over from her back to her tummy.


 Her new favorite thing: her thumb!  She is definitely not interested in a pacifier, but her thumb is pretty much permanently stuck in her mouth these days. It is stressing me out a bit...I know how to be done with a pacifier when the time comes, but I've never had a thumb-sucker before.  I am sure we will manage! It is pretty cute though :)

Our Library

One of our favorite things about Ames is the library. As of today our library is closed for a few weeks while they move to a new, temporary, location while the current library gets a face-lift.  We are super excited about having a bigger, newer, nicer library in the end, but are certainly sad to see our wonderful library condensed for a few years while construction takes place. Our usual routine is to attend the "Family Craft Story Time" on Thursdays at 10am (or 10:15...whenever we actually get there!). As part of our "good-bye" to our old library the kids each got to put their hand print on the wall. We will miss you, library, and can't wait to see the new you in a few years!


Camille's hand print is the red one just left of her hand.


The Shed

Nate's latest project was this shed in our backyard.  Since he has a riding lawnmower...he also need a place to put it. There goes our cheap (garage sale) mower! :) Really our garage is huge and we have space for it, but we also have a playhouse in part of the garage for the girls...and with the mower it was just too cramped for winter-time playing. So here it is: before, during, and after. We thought about buying a kit shed to put together, but we wanted it to look like our house.  Our house isn't exactly "normal," so this is what we came up with! Nate hired the framers who did our basement to help with this project, and, of course, the girls helped, too!










Nate really likes this picture because it shows how the shed "matches" the house.

Halloween

Welcome to the Pettitt Zoo: Iowa's Wildest Adventure!

This year for Halloween our family theme was the zoo. My mom started it by sending baby Emma a super cute giraffe costume.  After that I started thinking about how fun it would be to be a zoo...but wasn't sure how to pull it off.  While in DC I found a perfect little monkey costume for Camille. She HAD to be a monkey, well, because she is totally a monkey! Then I figured out how to make a zebra and a tiger with sweats and duct tape for Hannah and Allison.  Of course, Nate and I were the zookeepers for these crazy wild animals!  We had a lot of fun!

First up, our pumpkin fun.  Hannah did an amazing job carving her pumpkin all by herself!


 Not a great picture, but Hannah's pumpkin is the one in the middle.


 And the costumes!



Getting BIG

Here is Miss Emma at 3 1/2 months.  We sure love her smile! :)




Nate's B-day

In the mix of all the wedding busyness, Nate also had a birthday! He got to have the "just in case" wedding cake leftovers :) It was not decorated by me because I was tired after all of our running around, but the girls added plenty of sprinkles! And they sang really loudly, so I know Nate still felt special!





Wednesday, November 14, 2012

3 months

So technically this little cutie turned 3 months in the craziness between our Washington DC trip and the wedding travelling, but here she is at 3 months...and a week :) Can you tell she has discovered her tongue? 
Some 3 month baby Emma facts:
~she is the best sleeper EVER (10-12 hrs a night and I usually have to wake her up to take Allison to school in the morning)
~she is SO HAPPY and PATIENT!
~she weights 13lbs 9oz
~she is finding her hands and love to chew on them and watch them
~she likes to look the right ONLY...which is actually sort of a problem.  It is making her head flat on the right side.  Our job is to get her to look left as much as possible to strengthen/stretch her neck muscles and hopefully as she grows her head will reshape w/o any help :)
~she is such a great addition to our family!!!!





The Reception

The girls most certainly enjoyed Kristen and Ryan's reception! Hannah and Allison were both Junior Bridesmaids and were introduced to the crowd before Kristen and Ryan. Hannah and cousin Caleb did a little hula-hooping for their intro and Allison and cousin Calvin got to climb through the hula-hoops for their intro.  Everybody loved it!








Nauvoo

On October 11, 2012 (10-11-12!) Nate's sister Kristen was sealed to Ryan Bell in the Nauvoo, IL temple. We had a great time being there with them and enjoying the city of Nauvoo. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Bell!!! Thanks for letting us a part of your special day.
We were stuck on the draw bridge to get across the river into IL because of this HUGE boat. 











While we were in Nauvoo we stayed in this neat little cabin...complete with an indoor "outhouse!" After we came home Camille kept telling me that she wanted to go back to our "other house," this cabin!  She must have enjoyed it!



 On the way home we stopped at the Coral Ridge Mall to grab some food and ride the carousel. Emma even got a turn!