A Warm Fall Day

We enjoyed this beautiful day by heading out to the corn maze for some fall fun.

The kids and dads played in the corn pit....video of Pat diving into the corn pit coming soon. 

Stay tuned.

The Amdahls joined us for some family fun.  This was before we even went into the corn maze and the kiddos were already photo'd out!

Now that Bennett knows Grandpa drives a tractor...tractors are a very big deal in our house.

Ben fed all the animals at the petting zoo.  Pat and I were secretly a bit scared of putting our hands near those animals' mouths.  But we did not let on to Ben that we were aprehensive and a bit grossed out.  He loved it...spit, saliva and all!

There was a kangaroo with a baby Joey in her pouch.  It was so neat to see.

Tatum enjoyed her first encounter with pumpkins.

 Benny got in the saddle to ride the pony.

Some good quality family time. 

The kids were worn out and I may have caught a nap myself on the drive home.

Bring on the Steak

Tatum's first tooth has arrived.  I had been feeling the start of something on her bottom gum and she finally let me peek in her mouth this morning.  And there it was...barely poking through the skin.  A big milestone for our lil' honey.  The craziest thing is that her first tooth is here on her 228th day and Benny's came in when he was 230 days old.  So they got their first tooth at the exact same age...almost to the day.  Kind of crazy. 

7

Sweet Baby Girl is 7 months old.  She is still her happy, smiley and very curious self.  Everything goes straight in the mouth these days and she is into everything.  She is so so nimble.  She can twist and roll and crawl and manages her way into anything she has her mind on.  When I look at her I see my tiny little baby girl, but then I set her down and see her go and realize she is so much older and wiser than I give her credit for.  Probably foreshadowing the wings our girl will spread throughout her life.

At 7 months, she is 15.5 lbs (25%).  Still no teeth, but lots of drool so they could be on their way. Her hair continues to be long in the front and bald in the back....better days to come on that front:)  She still spits up a lot, but she eats a ton so she is gaining weight beautifully.  She is babbling all the time and it is especially cute if I walk out of her sight because she shrieks as if to say..."Hey Mom, over here."  Her hair seems to get lighter each day.  Her days of black hair are behind her and now it is more of a light brown.  She still has her pretty blue eyes. 

She is the happiest waker upper in town.  We go in her room in the morning and she shrieks with delight and excitement to see us.  She goes to bed around 7:30 and sleeps until 7 or so in the morning....like a rock!  The daytime however is another story.  By day she is the lightest little sleeper.  With Bennett, I remember if he fell asleep in the carseat, we would just carry him into the house and let him finish his nap in his carseat.  That does not work for little miss.  The second the car stops, she wakes up.  Her naps are getting a little longer than they used to be...usually an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, but the lightest little noise seems to wake her up.  But that is ok because she saves all her sleep for nighttime and we are very very happy about that!

What a precious little peanut you are Miss Tatum.  We sneak in your room at night to check on you and we just have to stop and take it all in.  You are such a bright light in our life and we thank God for choosing us to be your parents.  Oh Tater Bater...how we love you!

5th (I think) Annual Jordan Family Campout

Friday night we hosted all the Jordan kiddos for a campout in the backyard.  I think this is the 5th summer that we have done this.  I cannot remember for sure if this is the 4th or 5th annual.  Maybe the first one was not until 2009...all I know is that I was not good at taking pictures the first couple of years.

Last Year's Theme was "Amazing Race", the year before that (2010) was a kickball tourney and in 2009 I believe we had an obstacle course.  So in honor of the recent games, this year's theme was "Jordan Family Olympics".

Here are all the Olympians before their fierce competition:

Warming up on the swingset.....

Miss Tatum loved cheering all the big kids on.

The opening ceremonies:)

A Photo finish in the 100 meter dash......Tony won the first heat by a hair.

The older boys warming up for the "shotput" (AKA Softball Throw)

 Trae-Dogg throwing the discus (AKA Frisbee toss)

Some quick photos in between competitions

And the final competition in the Olympics was a trivia competition.  The kiddos were so smart and got NEARLY all the questions right.  They new Grandpa Jim's age, and that this year's Olympics were in London but when it came to the question about Grandma's middle name...only one team got that right.  Bernice was the correct answer but we got a great laugh out of the team that guessed her middle name was Judy...Rita Judy....that one will be an inside joke for a long time:)

What a good time to have all these kids together making memories!  We are so blessed!

Grandpa's Semi

Trucks are all the rage with a certain special 2 year old these days.  And it had been a while since Benny had gotten to see Grandpa's truck.  So Friday night we paid a visit so Benny could poke around and explore.  

Tatum's Finalization Hearing

Friday morning, August 10th, Tatum woke up like her bright and happy self.  What she did not know was that her daddy, Pat, was in Texas meeting with the judge to make her place in our family 100% legal and final!  She has been ours in our hearts since we first laid eyes on her, but it is sure exciting to know it's all on paper!

Tatum Hope Jordan, we are so blessed to call you ours.

Getting so Grown Up