October Happenings

We love Octobers! Charlotte has added an extra layer of fun. She has become little miss smiley this month and is thiiiis close to giggling. 

She's finally figured out how to flip over from back to front on the play mat and now is like a flipping ninja. We can't set her down anywhere! Her hair has gone full on crazy too.


Her favorite position is sitting upright in our arms. Unfortunately her spit up reflex is always in full swing so we get splashed quite frequently but it's worth it to smell that little head and feel the tickle of her hair. Oh yes, and she found her thumb. It's more of a licking motion than a sucking but we'll take it.


The weather has been warm enough some nights do to walks but we still put her in this hilariously cute pink hat that Sarah brought back from India. Sure she looks like a sherpa but man that is one stylish mountaineer.

And last but not least the jumperoo has entered full force. We put a little pillow below her feet but she love wobbling back and forth and staring at the lights. Clark gets quite into it as well. The other day she bounced for 20 minutes and then without warning just fell asleep. Dana and I were laughing so hard we woke her up. It's fulfilled one of my mommy dreams - to be the lady with that kid who falls asleep eating a plate of spaghetti or halfway off the couch. Clark was too alert as a baby but Charlotte is my girl!

On the sibling front, things are looking good. Clark loves showing Charlotte his toys and I frequently find blocks, trucks and footballs in her seat. One night he declared that he wanted to "hold bebe" and so after much wrangling we got one squirmy Charlotte into his arms. Those two are the cutest!


We decorated pumpkins after a family home evening lesson on our amazing bodies. I asked Clark to give me a big smile and this is what I got. Oh boy.

He's also getting big enough to almost be in Primary which breaks my heart a little bit but it's time. He'll be going up with an amazing class including his best friend, Timmy Farmer. Before he goes though, they did one last round of nursery photos and we happened to dress him in his old man sweater which makes him look like he's seriously in college. What is happening to my little baby???

We also are doing 5 weeks of itty bitty basketball at YMCA. Dana and I were both so excited about this because Clark spends (and I am not kidding) 1 - 2 hours a night shooting hoops. So we knew this would be right up his alley. Unfortunately, we forgot about the really super loud buzzer that goes off at the end of each game:) Oh no! He freaked out and it took some mad skills from Dana to get him to even step foot back on the court the next day but we were really proud that he did. His noise sensitivity is a work in progress and it's forcing us to be more patient and just be okay having the amazing boy that we do. 

That has actually been the theme of this month - just going with it. Charlotte screams like this a lot of days and we're okay with that because we know it's just a phase. One afternoon Clark spent 3 hours against the "timeout" wall because he refused to let me clip his fingernails. He eventually collapsed on the ground and started inch worming his way across the floor. Long days happen and we get through them and when we look back on the photos...we laugh because our kids are awesome and grumpy and perfect.

Charlotte's Blessing

Charlotte's blessing took place on October 7th. There are things in our church which are too sacred to give much detail and her blessing in the Columbia River Temple was one of those experiences. It was a beautiful day. Warm and sunny and a lot windy too:) We were lucky to have so much family there along with the Reiersens, Hartmans, and Kearns to celebrate becoming a forever family. 

Miss Charlotte, you were just the cutest thing in the temple. All the ladies were ooing and aaahing over your and once we put you in your sweet blessing dress, well, all eyes were on your missy. Of course, you were screaming at the top of your lungs so they probably would have been on your anyway! :) Miss thing, you were cranky. Cute, but cranky. Grandma Tina held you at the alter while you wailed and we all chuckled. And then at the very end of the ceremony, you just got quiet. One brief moment of amazing silence when you officially became ours forever. Then more screaming:) It's okay little miss, you came into our family with a bang and I wouldn't have expected anything else. 

 After the ceremony we went outside and took family photos. Unfortunately, our photographers had issues with her camera so most of the photos were blurry except the family photo (see Christmas card). Thankfully, Grandma Tina was in full Grandma mode and had followed the photographer around to snap all the same photos. Whew! Yay for over prepared Grandmas.

And silly Aunts! Aunt Sarah took it upon herself to get Clark to smile so she spent the lead up to the photos letting him run around like a mad man with leaves, throwing them in the fountain and just being silly. The result was some of the smiliest photos we've ever gotten. (PS his little tie just kills me!)

 Again, it was so windy but look at that beautiful temple!

That night we had the most delicious Indian food (thanks Taylor!) and just hung around the house laughing and listening to Grandpa Pat tell funny stories. 

The next day we all got dressed up again and went to church at the Terrace Heights building for Charlotte's blessing. To make sure we didn't have a repeat of the temple, we fed and wrapped Charlotte right beforehand so she was fast asleep for the blessing:) Dana blessed her with a love of the Book of Mormon and a knowledge of her Savior's love. He blessed her to pursue her education and consider a mission. It was a wonderful day!

We came home and did a family dinner of spaghetti and just had a really nice night catching up. So glad so much family could make it out for this exhausting, wonderful weekend. Charlotte Marie you are now officially and forever a Gailan baby girl! (Feel free to scream for joy!)

13th Annual Carve Off

This year we held the 13th Annual Gailan Carve off and it was...EPIC. Sadly, we almost could have had it on Friday the 13th (yes, I know!) but instead we had it on the 20th. In honor of our new little pumpkin we held the first "Little" pumpkin carve off. Prizes were given for the smallest pumpkin someone managed to carve and the smallest face on a pumpkin. 

Charlotte spent the whole night awake (and then slept until 5AM. Yaaay!). She was happy to be held by the Barfus'. Clark hung out with the Washburns in the office watching movies and secretly plugging in all the Christmas lights on the tree. He would occasionally sneak out to check on the party. Our kid has serious FOMO> Dana did a magnificent job on our small pumpkin but sadly it was not even close to the smallest. 

Here are all the pumpkins lit up.  And the winners at the bottom. The Grow's took home both prizes (I should have known:)) Their pumpkins were so small we had to carve special slits to fit the tiny candles inside. What a spooktacular night! 

Charlotte's 3 Month

Our little lady turned 3 months old and we had quite the photo shoot. She was not so happy but darn it she was cute cute cute!

Decided to see if the cute shoes Penny made fit yet. The answer is...nope:)

And we also put on her blessing outfit to make sure we got some cute photos before the day. Tell me that isn't the most beautiful baby ever! 

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And of course Clark wanted in as well which was perfect since they both were finally wearing their sibling shirts - Big Brother and Little Sister.