October- Ava 5 months

Ava is 5 months old and as sweet as can be!

We finally got Ava set up with a new pediatrician in New York for her 4 month checkup by the time she was already 5 months. By then she was 13 pounds 2 ounces (19% weight) and 24.8 inches (44% height) and 34% head. 

What a great stage though. She's been enjoying discovering new toys, and loves her exersaucer which keeps her mostly happy and occupied. She has gotten better about grabbing things more with her hands, and she loves to put things to her mouth. She sucks on her fingers and drools a lot, but likes to practice taking her pacifier in and out too. She still has the softest little laugh and cry- but occasionally when she tries to make her voice louder, she seems to startle herself but then likes the sound of her voice and will just coo instead. Technology seems to fascinate her so anytime I pull out my camera she just gives me this blank face- so it's hard to capture her real smile!

The real person who gets her to smile and laugh though is Blake. She just adores him- well both of her brothers. Blake especially likes to play with her though while Jacob is at school and gets excited when he can make her laugh. 

We've been better about getting her rice cereal more, though she still just eats once a day during our dinner time. She loves to be fed with a spoon!

And a couple cute shots of her in some sunglasses. I guess we were already missing summer. But we were so lucky to have an amazing fall season without it being too cold. Here are a few things we were up to in October...

Earlier in the month I took the kids out to Jacob's school carnival one evening. They had a lot of fun games and both the boys had fun. It was good to see some of Jacob's new friends in his class too.

Jacob's favorite was jumping on the sticky wall!

Blake got to visit to Ellms Farm (twice actually!) First we went with a group of friends from church, and then he got to go again with his preschool class. But there were so many fun things to do there we didn't mind going twice!

He picked out our pumpkins for the season and got to enjoy all the fun things they had to offer...

Seriously such a fun family place! Even Ava enjoyed sitting in the corn seed box both times. She seems to have grown a lot from the visit at the beginning of the month to the end of the month. Looks like she was finally getting better at sitting up by the end of the month, but still needed some support. 

And I love this outfit. Every time she wears it she looks so sweet! We are still trying to determine what color her eyes are- but they seem to be blue around the edges and brown in the middle! Maybe she'll end up with a blend of both her parent's colors?

Well that's the update for now. I'll save Halloween for the next post!

Our First Family Visit to Palmyra

One night, early October, when I was putting my boys to bed, Jacob asked me who wrote the Book of Mormon. So we had a nice little talk about Joseph Smith and how he was given the plates and translated them. And then I told him that all this actually happened in New York, not far from where we lived, and so Jacob became really excited and asked if we could go see the place. So being the good parents we are, we decided to go to Palmyra that very weekend! We figured it would be a great time of year to go, the weekend after Conference, and enjoy the fall colors on our drive too. 

Somehow I got talked into driving us the 3 hours there, so I didn't get a ton of great pictures of the leaves changing, but it was a pretty drive- until it started raining after it got dark, but we made it in to our hotel Friday night. 

Saturday morning I got to do a session at the Palmyra temple, while Luke stayed back to watch the kids. It's always neat going inside a new temple- this one is very small but I was so grateful to be there since I hadn't made it to the temple all year!

While I was inside, Luke took the boys over to the new visitor center by Hill Cumorah, and once they picked me up we drove into "town". I had been here as a kid but forgotten how small of a town it really is! But I did remember the 4 churches on every corner. It's no wonder there was so much confusion about religion back in Joseph Smith's time. 

After getting some lunch and stopping by the LDS bookstore, they conveniently have the old printing shop next door, so we did a little tour. 

It was neat to see how the Book of Mormon was published all those years ago and to be in the same building where it had all happened. I felt like I re-learned a lot of things that day!

And since I missed seeing Hill Cumorah earlier, Luke drove me to the top so I could see it again. I remember coming as a teenager with my family to see a pageant done in the summer, and it's something I would like to come back and do with the kids too. Such a special and neat place.

We then went to see the replica of Joseph Smith's childhood home, and his room in the attic where he had an angel visit him. 

From the cabin, we could easily walk into the Sacred Grove- the woods where Joseph went to pray about which church was true and Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to him. Although there had seemed to be lots of visitors, when we went through the woods it seemed as if we were alone and it was quiet. It was also the most beautiful fall day, and so I really felt the Spirit and enjoyed our walk around those woods.

We talked with the kids again about why these woods were sacred, and everything we had seen and learned on this trip. I hope it is an experience that they will remember! (Well- hopefully at least Jacob.)

Most of all, I felt peace and a gratitude for my family. I was grateful for the wonderful weather that we were experiencing so that we could enjoy the beauty of this special place. I felt grateful that we now lived in an area where we could visit sites like this, and will be able to experience many more day trips as a family. Each one of them bring me so much happiness and I love that we were able to set time aside to experience this trip together. We had a great first visit to Palmyra and hope to be back again soon!