McKinley at 10 months!

McKinley now has two bottom teeth that she sometimes bites me with...BOO!!!!  Breastfeeding has become a bit like a Russian Roulette game.  I have no idea when it's going to happen but it happens more frequently than I think it should which makes me a little nervous every time I sit down to feed her.  I'm pretty sure all my kids have bit me but I swear she's done it more than all of them combined!  Hopefully she'll learn not to do it sooner rather than later otherwise she might be my earliest baby I wean...

She is very mobile now!  I wouldn't say she's crawling exactly but she does get from point A to point B.  I guess the best way to describe it is she scoots on her butt...

She's a fairly happy baby now that she can get around and destroy things.  She definitely keeps us on our toes.

She's a great eater!  She LOVES food and basically eats most everything.  She especially LOVES meat!  

She's still a dancing machine!

This was one of the first videos of McKinley getting around. This was about 10 days before she turned 10 months.

Video of her kind of rolling her r's

She started shaking her head "no" to most everything.

Just a few days before she turned 10 months.  

It's not very often that Blakely asks to hold her sister but I know that she loves her to pieces because everywhere we go she has to introduce her baby sister to everyone!

Blair is constantly asking to hold McKinley.  Unfortunately she doesn't hold her for very long.

This is exactly where McKinley wants to be most of the time.

Another video of McKinley dancing.  I swear this little girl has music playing in her head all day long!

Christmas fun!

We made our annual "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers.

Easton's

Blakely's

Blair's

Dyer's

We had Blair's best friend, Kiera, stay with us for a couple days while her parents were out of town.  She came with us to a live nativity at another church.  The kids enjoyed making a craft and having cookies and hot chocolate.

The girls on the hay ride

Me with the boys

Blair's Christmas piano recital:

Santa in the park

Earlier that day we went to the Niceville Christmas Parade but I didn't take a single picture.  The kids got TONS of candy!  Later that night we went to the Children's Park for the annual Santa in the park.  This was the first year we attended.  The kids had a great time making crafts, eating, and playing at the park.  They weren't all that excited to see Santa but I wanted to get a picture so they grudgingly went.  Luckily they got a goody bag from Santa's helper so I think that made up for it.

Eating popcorn and cookies and drinking hot chocolate.

Blakely was more than happy to get a picture with Rudolf but she didn't want anything to do with Santa.  "Santa's kind of a stalker...(she starts singing) He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake...that's kind of creepy!"

As I'm typing this right now Blakely states out of now where..."So Santa's real!?!  Dyer was lying!?!  That means he can bring us presents...but he didn't...he's such a meanie!"

Blair posing with her reindeer cookie she made.

Picture with Santa.

Valerie sent the kids a package with stockings the kids could decorate.

I found this gem on my phone...

Random and Thanksgiving!

This picture cracks me up...This costume I believe is a 2T and yet Blakely still manages to squeeze herself into it!  She may be 4 but she is definitely the size of a 5 year old. 

Our stake had a fall festival and the kids were able to go on a hay ride.

The kids up to random things using my phone...

We put all the kids in charge of something for our Thanksgiving dinner:

Easton was in charge of the turkey with Nathan...His face says it all.  Easton was totally disgusted by the whole thing.

While the turkey was cooking Blair wanted to get outside to learn to roller blade.  We've had these roller blades for forever but Blair's been the first to really take an interest in them.

I took her roller skating the night before because she's been super excited to learn to skate.

She's starting to get the hang of it.

 Dyer was in charge of the stuffing.

Blair the potatoes.

Blakely the punch.

And McKinley was in charge of eating!

McKinley at 9 months

 McKinley is working on her 2nd tooth!

I tired snapping a couple quick pictures of her but she didn't want anything to do with it...

I think the ones I took on my phone after she ate turned out better...

Much happier baby!

She has started to raspberry every time you try to feed her baby food.  She must think that she is no longer a baby...She prefers feeding herself finger foods.

McKinley waving!  

She learned this little trick about a week before she turned 9 months.

McKinley LOVES dancing!  

It doesn't matter what song is playing she will be rocking those hips and shaking her booty!

She is so lazy when it comes to moving!  She will just sit and reach out as far as she can to get something (often times on her hands and knees but as soon as she gets what she is after she sits right back down).  If it's too far away (out of her circle radius) then forget it she won't go after it.

Another trick she learned around 9 1/2 months was clapping!

It's kind of hard to tell in this picture but for whatever reason McKinley loves to sleep with her head squished up in the corner of her bed.  I always lay her right in the middle of her bed and whenever I go in to check on her she has wiggled her way into the corner with her head pressed up against the side.

At around 9 1/2 months McKinley randomly pulled herself up into a standing position.  She tried a couple more times that same day but was only able to get about half way up.  

Dyer's 1st grade concert

The first grade put on a Veterans Day concert. Nathan of course had to work that night and Valerie left that afternoon to go home so I had the pleasure of taking all the kids by myself.  Luckily, Nathan and Valerie were able to catch the concert they put on for the whole school earlier that morning.  I love how in some of these songs Dyer gets really into the song!

Dyer's right behind the girl in the Lady Liberty costume.