Six Months

 November 6, Playing on the floor with Sissy.  Seth really enjoys all his siblings and loves to be near them.

 October 30, We started using cloth diapers.  We have 10 of these green Coolababy diapers, we'll see how it goes.

 November 7, Enjoying a nice warm fall day outside while mom reads Calico Bush to all the kids.

 November 13, Seth's first time with a babysitter.  Of course, it had to be Auntie Heather.  He did great, he slept most of the time.

 We think it is funny how many camo clothes this kid has, especially considering we didn't buy any of them.

 November 16, Hanging out with his siblings while they play the Wii.  There have been so many times this month where I put Seth down with his toys and then when I go to check on him, he isn't there! Instead I find him hanging out with his siblings, he loves it.

 November 17, Some Daddy time! Seth doesn't seem to mind too much that Daddy is growing out his beard. 

 November 20, Twins! Everyone comments about how much these two look alike.

 November 21, Seth has started making this silly sound where he stretches out his neck and sounds kinda like a wookie. I think he does it because it makes us laugh.  He has also started fake coughing because it gets our attention, that makes us laugh too.

 November 22, First Thanksgiving.  Seth is spending more time in his high chair playing with toys as he likes to be where we are when we are eating.  On Thanksgiving we let him try some new foods like potatoes, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes.  Some fun we have with Seth at the table is that we come up with a reason to clap our hands (like...mom made us this great meal today) or anything silly and then on the count of three we all clap loudly and it startles Seth and he gets big huge eyes until we stop.  We think it's hilarious and we usually do it several times at dinner just for fun.

 November 25, This is his newest silly face.  He scrunches up his eyes and shows his gums while smiling.  We just love it!

 November 25, Jared pulled out his old Santa suit from when he was a baby and put it on Seth and it fits!  We got all the Christmas decorations put up before dad left for China.  Isn't he just too cute for words?

 November 29, Seth is 6 months and loves to eat mashed food (except for pea soup), so we thought we would give him some Cheerios.  It took him a little to get used to them, but after just a couple he got the hang of it and loves them.

After a month of cloth diapering, we love it, so we are trying out some other brands of diapers, aren't these cute?  Oh, and there's that silly face again!  Seth likes to play on the floor either sitting up or lying on his tummy, which is also how he sleeps.  Sometimes he pushes up so high like this that he falls over on his back, but he doesn't know how to roll back over yet so he just kicks around and yells like an upside down turtle.  I keep finding him like that in his bed after a nap or in the middle of the night when he wakes up.  So, it's been a great month.  He still isn't sleeping well at night (we started sleep training to help him fall asleep on his own, but it's a slow process), but nursing is starting to go better and he is really happy a lot of the time now, so that's good.  He even recognizes the camera and knows to start smiling when he sees it. :)

The Many Faces of Halloween

 Clarissa is a colorful witch.

 Instead of a family theme this year, we focused on faces. Jared designed and painted everyone's eyes. Clarissa has spider webs.

 Krystal, the jazz dancer.

 She wanted something flowery.

 Amber is a peacock.

 We all had fun painting her peacock tail.

 Seth is a monkey and I am his tree.

 Jared has known since last year that he wanted to be a ninja and he designed and made his whole costume.

 Complete with weapons and everything.

 Here we are at the ward Trunk or Treat.

 The girls with their friends.

Another shot of Amber's peacock face painting.

Five Months

 October 4, He won't take a pacifier, but every once in a while he finds his fingers.

 October 9, Tired and enjoying some Daddy cuddle time while Dad is home for lunch.

 October 12, Dressed for fall in plaid shirt and overalls.

 October 12, Hanging out with Bubby at the campfire party for his 13th birthday and trying to figure out how to play with this toy.

 October 14, Seth often tries to get his whole fist into his mouth.

 October 14, As Seth and mom struggle through some breastfeeding issues, there are several opportunities for Dad to give Seth a breastmilk bottle.  He had no problems taking a bottle the first time.

 October 16, Seth has been trying to eat our food for a couple weeks now, so we finally gave him some rice cereal.  He loved it and had no problems eating it all. He was even trying to grab the spoon to feed himself.

 October 16, Ready for bed after hanging out with Dad while he works on the computer. At this point, we are still rocking him to sleep every night.

 October 18, Um...So Cute!

 October 18, Talking to the camera. :)

 October 23, Well...there comes a time in every baby's life when you have to cut the apron strings a little shorter.  Today was that day for Seth as he moved from the bassinet in our bedroom to the crib in Jared's room.  (On a side note: I looked long and hard for a crib set that would match his favorite "magic" blanket that he always sleeps with.)

 October 24, Sitting up! Seth has reached so many milestones in his short life and today is just another one as he masters sitting up all by himself.  He looks surprised at his own accomplishments.

 October 25, Everyone always asks us if he is teething because he often has these two fingers hooked in his mouth.  We don't think he is, it's just his style!

 October 29, 5 Months old and getting love from Sissy.

October 29, 5 months old has brought many new adventures (like lots of drool :)) We look forward to the many more adventures yet to come.

The Creative Juices Are Flowing

     October 9, Self portraits as we listen to baroque music as part of a unit study about the 1600s.

 October 12, Homemade campfire pizza (the best pizza ever) for Jared's 13th birthday party.

 

 October 12, A Jared and Clarissa original performance of a Punch and Judy puppet show.

 October 18, Making clay pots while Mom reads, "The Courage of Sarah Noble."

 October 18, Celebrating "National Chocolate Cupcake Day" by dipping chocolate cupcakes into chocolate ganache.

 I have been using coconut oil in all my cooking lately, in everything from this to-die-for ganache to popcorn to homemade barley bread to super-good-for-you carrot muffins. Yum!

 October 23, Creative clothing layers and cute jack-o-lantern pizzas make this lunch a hit!

 October 24, Sprouted lentils are the main ingredient in this vitamin packed stir fry that also includes mixed greens from the garden, fresh garlic, cabbage and chicken all fried in coconut oil and seasoned with homemade curry seasoning.

 Everyone loved this dish, once I reassured them that the lentils wouldn't keep growing in their tummies.

 October 22, Finished clay pots, with lids!

 October 22, the kids and I made these braided "rug" pot holders out of old T-shirts.

 October 24, A preview of Amber's Halloween costume, we painted this peacock cape.

 An experiment in fall gardening: some beds are covered in straw, others in oak leaves, and in others we planted cover crops to maximize the earth's resources and possibly extend our growing season while providing food for our chickens.

 October 24, Krystal learned how to embroider on Monday and has been working on her designs every day since. These are her butterflies.

 October 24, Clarissa continues with her talent of embroidering.

October 24, We have been working on puzzles (like this one of the Salt Lake Temple) while Chris reads "Percy Jackson" in the evenings before bed.

It has been a difficult month of many breastfeeding issues and a baby that isn't sleeping well, but as we look back on some of the fun things we have done, we remember the good times.