Trick or Treat

Our black-suited Spiderman.

Haha.  So typical of these three.

Show me your muscles!

After a few houses, hubby took the big kids around the whole neighborhood while the rest of us went back home to hand out candy.

He was surprised to see his other friends out doing the same thing he was doing.  I guess the thought hadn't occured to him. :)

Showing off his haul.  He ate a few (plus a few more) and then we had him pick his 10 favorites to keep in his bucket.  The rest of the candy we put into a bag to set outside for the Giant Jack-o-lantern!  Oh yes, he's real.  And he needs all that candy to keep his insides glowing from now 'til next Halloween.  Ha!  Really all that mattered to C was that he leaves a surprise on your doorstep after he eats all your candy.

The bowl was almost empty by the time our little trick or treaters returned, but C had fun handing out what was left.

 Sugar high!

Mmmm...chocolate. :)

Happy Halloween!

Sweetest Smiles!!!

New pictures of our sweet boy in my inbox today made me so happy!  And I was even more thrilled to see that our little peanut finally decided to share some smiles with us!

He must have gotten the memo that Mommy and Daddy were tired of that tough guy stuff. ;)  Look at how happy he is!  It is hard...to be the mother of a child who is being parented by someone else.  So, seeing him happy is such a comfort to me. 

He seems happy and healthy and just perfect. ;)  (That's what every mom thinks about her own kids though, right?)  He is growing.  He's gained about 2 pounds and added almost an inch to his height in the last two months.  He is now at 22.2 pounds and 29.5 inches.  He also has 8 teeth now!!  Four on top, four on bottom...which you can SEE because he is smiling so big! :)
I actually thought to grab C's baby book while writing this and do a quick comparison.  I don't have stats for C at 14 months, but at 15 months he weighed 24.5 pounds.  Pretty similar there.  C was the same height that peanut is now when he was only 8 months old!  Well, if it wasn't obvious before now that they have different genes, that should clear it up. ;)

I am so thankful for these sweet smiles.  Also thankful that the end to this wait is in sight.  Even if we wait the full estimated time, that is 6 months from now.  Six Months!  That doesn't seem like that long.  We've got the holidays coming up, then the new year is here, and before we know it, it will be time to travel.  I love that we are at the point now when we do seasonal stuff I can say to myself  "Next year when we do this, both our boys will be here." 

Grace dresses her girls to "match" for Halloween. Last year they were Pooh and honey pot. This year, caterpillar and butterfly. I love it! And can't wait to see what we come up with for our TWO kiddos next year. The superhero/sidekick scenarios are endless. :)

What?!?

First snow of the winter (technically still fall!)  Craziness!!!

Fall fun!

One of the things, among many, that I have always loved about staying home with C is the ability to go on weekday adventures.  We've taken hubby along to fun places like the zoo and aquarium on the occasional weekend and it always reminds me how good we've got it.  It's like two different worlds and I much prefer the slower pace and uncrowded landscape of this middle-of-a-Monday world we are lucky to live in.  This week, we spent the middle of our Monday enjoying Gaver Tree Farm.   

Oh, this picture makes my heart all fuzzy.  I am biased, but I think my little boy is growing more handsome by the day.  And looking more and more grown up (and that makes my heart a little weepy!)

"Oh no!  Not these things where Daddy broke his ankle!"  You'll recall that hubby did, in fact, break his ankle on the tire obstacle of his Rebel Race this summer.  C had no such problems.  He navigated those tires like a pro. ;)

"You go look over there Mom and I'll keep looking over here.  If you find the perfect pumpkin just call me on the phone, ok!"

We had a lot of fun and will definitely go back next year.  We might even take Daddy with us...on a weekend...or we'll just convince him to take a day off.  :)

Baby B's 2nd Birthday!

Now at the age of 2, my nephew is far from a baby.  When he was born, we called him baby B and the name has stuck.  C still uses it for him.  It's too cute to correct.  Way cuter than my cakes.

They did survive the drive and the birthday boy properly identified both of them, so it could've been worse!

Every time these two get together it gets more and more fun to watch!

I love that I haven't missed one of this kid's birthdays yet.  It's so nice to live close enough to be able to celebrate with him.  It's going to make me very sad if the day comes when I don't get to be the one to make him a lopsided firetruck cake. :)

Night owl

Our little owl lover has been asking for months to "stay up all night and be nocturnal."  I doubt we'll ever make that happen for him, but the other night when C came into our room after waking up to use the bathroom, hubby jumped at the chance to indulge him a little bit.  "Hey buddy, do you want to go on a night hike?" 

We threw on our hats and shoes and headed out.

We didn't see any owls.  Or any wildlife for that matter.  But, we did make an awesome memory.  As expected, C didn't sleep in a bit the next morning.  And we were all pretty tired.  But, it was totally worth it.  It made him so happy, and probably got us a little closer to being the coolest parents ever. ;)