Our Busy, Happy Halloween

This Halloween was a Friday.  A busy, busy Friday.  We babysat a sweet little girl Elliot's age this morning. 

 It was a chaotic 4 hours filled with pottying, accidents, pull-ups, new underwear, stories, tea parties, pretending, and cake making.  

I was pretty tired after a few hours and SO grateful to not be pregnant.  Being pregnant is exhausting.  Anyways, it was a busy, good morning.  

All the kids had a nap and/or "rest" time after lunch, and as soon as everyone was up, we ventured over to Hobby Lobby for some last-minute party supplies I need for 2 showers I'm hosting this weekend.  

When we go out, I take the double-stroller.  Elliot sits in the front, and Lucy sits in the back, holding Oliver in her lap.  We attract a lot of attention.  Lucy gets a choice between holding Oliver in her lap or walking beside me, but she always chooses to hold him.  She is tickled at having this special job.  

Hobby Lobby turned out to be a fairly easy, quick trip.  We ate a quick take-out meal for dinner when we got home, and then it was time for COSTUMES!!!

Lucy and Elliot were looking forward to dressing up as Doc McStuffins and a monkey all. day. long.  Actually for several weeks now.  We even did a "dry run" a week ago.  I let them dress up in their costumes and practice ringing our doorbell and saying trick or treat!!! 

Lucy was a little shy the first couple of houses, but she got her feet under her and started becoming excited about ringing the doorbell of our neighbors.  

 

Elliot kept getting distracted with things like, "noooon!!!" (the moon)...

 

...and acorns that simply could not be left behind.

 

The big kids had a blast tonight.  I think they'd like to wear their costumes everyday for the next several months.  

For my part, I'm left with this lingering question... what do we do with this candy?  In an age where we already are eating far more sugar than we need, how can I possibly justify feeding this stuff to my kids? They already get "potty treats" (read: jelly beans) after each trip to the potty.  

The dentist asked me the other day, "They don't eat much candy, right?"  And I was like, Definitely not.  Ummm... except after every time they go to the bathroom.  Oops.  

However, my guilt about how much candy they eat is assuaged by the fact that Elliot is nearly done with potty training.  

With little ones so close together and in cloth diapers, early potty training is necessary -- or at least very helpful.   

So, back to Halloween! We had a blast with our candy-lovin', costume-lovin' munchkins.  I love these years.  

Some day they'll be asking to go to Halloween parties and wearing costumes we don't love.  But today is not that day.  

 

Today was amazing.  And when that scary day comes, when they're wanting costumes we don't like and wanting to go to parties... God's grace will be sufficient for that day.  One day at a time.

Four Months Old (Oliver's Monthly Photo)

 Oliver is four months old.  Four busy months old.  Oliver continues to be delightful.  His default mood is happy, or at least content.  He loves to laugh and to smile, especially at the end of the day when we're putting him into his pajamas. 



He's so cute. He's Daniel's little mini-me. Lots of people comment on his little dimpled chin -- where did he get that?  He's adorable.  



He rolls over immediately when we put him on his back now.  I suspect he'll be crawling a little earlier than the other two.  He's already pushing up a little and scooting around.  He is no longer "couch safe."


He loves to coo and say, "oooooooh" in this deep little grunting voice.  It's super cute.


We're not really on a strict schedule, these days.  He naps 2-3 times/day and goes to bed from 7pm to 7am, eating once during that span.



He enjoys hanging out in the doorway bouncy chair now.  I should take a picture. He's not really jumping in it yet, but he enjoys being upright and watching the chaos that is our day.


He's a joy.  I'm so glad he wasn't our first baby, or we would have thought we were awesome parents.  Having a screamer for a first child helps one to be humble about his/her parenting "skills".


Oliver, we love you!!  You brighten each one of our days, including Lucy and Elliot's.  You are just delightful.  

I Only Love Oliver

(Me):  Lucy, God loves you sooooo much!  Do you love God?

No.  I only love Oliver. 

But did you know that God is Love?  Anyone who loves can only love because God loves and is love. 

Well, I only love Oliver.


 These are the sorts of conversations that characterize our days at home, at the lunch table, on the living room floor, on the couch...



She is making connections all the time.  Trying to figure out her world and our world. 



She's started saying, "that would be lovely" -- as in, Lucy, would you like to hold Oliver in your lap in the stroller? 

(after thoughtful consideration)... Yeah.  Yes, that would be lovely. 


I realized the other day that I've unintentionally transformed Oliver into a real, live doll for Lucy.  It happened like this.  Lucy would say something like, "Oliver, would you like a cupcake when you're bigger?"

And I, in my highest voice, would reply, Yeah, that'd be great!

Or, "Oliver--would you like a check-up?"

And I would reply in my highest voice, Yes, I'd love a check-up after you eat your lunch.  

 
She knows that I'm the one talking for him, but she doesn't seem to mind.  I think her imagination somehow fills in the gaps, and she loves pretending that it's really him talking to her. 



Elliot has begun saying, "I'm sorry!!" all the time.  Well, not all the time--but anytime he spills something or accidentally steps on our toes or disobeys.  It's super cute.  I don't recall Lucy ever apologizing like that, so readily.  Not that it's a competition.  Just interesting to see the difference in how they handle correction and accidents. 



I don't have anything insightful for this post.  Just a quick glimpse into our daily goings-on.  Thanks for reading.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

It's fall.  YES!! We got a cool front the past few days, and it's been awesome, in the 60's.  We tell Lucy important dates relative to the weather.  Like... it'll be Christmas when it gets really, really cold.  Daddy's birthday will be when it's just a little cool (November).  Your birthday will be after it gets really cold and then it gets really hot again (next June).  Etc, etc, etc.



Anyways, it was cool yesterday.  And out of the blue, Lucy goes, "It's almost Daddy's birthday!"  Since she has no concept of what day we're on, let alone what month we're in--I thought that was pretty impressive.



The Arboretum is awesome this time of year.  Well, it's wonderful from a pumpkin perspective.  It's lousy from a solitude perspective.  The place is crawling with kids, moms, old folks, and especially elementary school classes on field trips.  That last category made my recent trip with the kids pretty hectic.



I've never arranged flowers in the middle of a hurricane, but I bet it would be something like trying to pose three tiny people in the pumpkin patch, while hoards of 8-year-olds are released all around you.  It was exhausting and sort of miserable.



But we got our pumpkin pictures out of it, so there's that.  Plus, Nonnie came with us (score!), so that was a treat for the kids (and me).  We wandered around the gardens and eventually made it back to the car, completely exhausted.



Yesterday we went to a different pumpkin patch -- in Richardson.




It's a church fundraiser, where they sell the pumpkins ($$$$) to raise money for... something.  Their church, I guess.



Anyways, it was fun.





It was cold and windy, but the kids loved getting to pick out their own pumpkins to take home.



Lucy hated the large pumpkin I picked out.  She said it was taking up too much space in the wagon.
 

But if we're going to carve a Hello-Kitty into a pumpkin, it's going to have to be a pumpkin big enough so the design can be recognized.



We worked on cleaning out the pumpkin(s) after naps.  I took approximately 200 photos (by interval timing, a feature on the camera) in order to get this. one. shot.  That shouldn't be amazing to me... I've tried interval timing photography before, and it always ends up about like that.  200 photos, for one shot.



But, I'm glad to have the picture of me with the kids. 

It's hard to get these kinds of pictures.  Especially where we're all actually doing something kind of fun (and not just smiling at the camera).



So, I'd say it was worth it.