All Hallows' Eve

Halloween is seriously one of my favorite holidays.  It's for a variety of reasons, the chief two being that 1) it takes place during Autumn, my absolute favorite season, and 2) it encourages intense chocolate and candy consumption, something I'm pretty good at.

This year, we didn't have a Halloween party at church.  I'm not sure why, but I am hoping the nasty rumors that some psychos were complaining about it being "inappropriate" and "evil-spirit"-ish are false.  I'm sure they're false, because surely no one would be such a stink pot to ruin the fun for everyone else, when they could just opt not to participate if an activity where kids are dressed in darling costumes and collecting candy in plastic pumpkins somehow offends them.  But . . . just in case they aren't false, let's just get something out in the open:  LIGHTEN UP, PEOPLE!

So.  We were pretty sad about no Trunk or Treat at church this year, but then my friend Kim saved the day by organizing one herself!  Everyone from church was invited and it was also opened up to friends and folks who lived in the community where she hosted it.  It was a fantastic success!

Here are my cute kiddos, the chef and his main course, right before we headed to trunk or treat Wednesday night:

 Wanting to cram as much Halloween cuteness into a few day span as possible, we joined the other Joy School folks for Halloween story time at the library on Thursday morning.  We do class on Monday and Wednesday and sometimes will do a "field trip" day later in the week.  I taught this week and we were doing the letter H.  It was perfect that it fell on the week of Halloween!  I'm so sad that Juliet's not in any pictures!  We took them before she got there.  She was a dalmatian and was adorable.  I feel bad sometimes that she's the only girl, but man do these little boys adore her.  

Everett, Kaden, Jack, and Mark:

 I love the way the siblings are being held in this shot.  Mia, Mark's little sister, was an old lady.  Her mom even made her a walker out of PVC pipe.  HILARIOUS.  Mia stays with me on the days that Jamie teaches Joy School and she keeps Everett for me the days that I teach.  As a result, Mia loves baby Everett.  

 Which is why she escaped here to go point at him:

 Kaden did NOT want to be in any of the photos.  I may have bribed him with candy to just get the few seen here.

 We then took the kids to Chick-fil-A (or Chick-A-LAY, as Kaden calls it), where Kaden had an accident in the play place and I realized I had forgotten to throw his extra pants in the diaper bag.  He totally walked out of that place in just his skivvies.  We buzzed home, threw his costume in the washing machine, took naps, and waited for Daddy to come home so we could go trick or treating.  While we were waiting, Kaden practiced making Everett smile:

Trick or treating was a huge hit.  Everything is so much more magical when you are seeing it through a little one's eyes.  Kaden was most excited by the houses that handed out lollipops.  He'd always turn around and yell to us, "I got another LOLLIPOP!!!" after they plunked one of those into his bucket.  We seriously live in the perfect neighborhood for trick or treating.  I love it! Our little lobster passed out in the stroller for most of the Halloween night action, but he was the cutest sleeping crustacean imaginable.

I shot this cute  video of Kaden after the evening's festivities:

And here's one more of cute Everett just being his awesome, chubby, happy self:

 We're already plotting next year's costumes.

Next on the agenda:  Christmas music!!!  And cooking my first turkey for Thanksgiving.  I'm a little nervous about that.

"Our State Fair is a Great State Fair . . . Don't Miss it! Don't Even be Late!"

We are in the process of cleaning, staining, and sealing our very weathered deck and fence.  It's a job. (They don't call it sweat equity for nothing.)  Chad spent two straight days just pressure washing the joker. We'd scheduled some much needed help from my in laws a couple of weeks ago.  Bruce was going to come help us start the staining, and Joy was going to help keep kiddos entertained and out of the way, so we could get some serious work done.  Except the forecast turned ugly on the day they were supposed to come.  So, being the generous, loving people they are, they offered to come the following weekend instead. There was just one problem . . . Kaden had already been told he was going to see Gigi and Poppy.  Enter massive tears and sad voice on the telephone.  Gigi and Poppy came anyway and treated us to the state fair instead.  

I grew up going to the Grant County Fair.  We have a killer good county fair.  Like amazing.  And I don't think I'm just saying that because I'm from there.  It really is pretty stellar.  And since I'm from a small town, it's pretty much the event of the year.  In elementary school I was a 4-H kid for a few years. I donned red cowboy boots, raised sheep, and showed them at that fair.  My siblings and I used to enter anything and everything we could come up with in the fair (artwork, cookies, flowers and vegetables we picked from my grandmother's garden--Bryan once won a grand champion ribbon for one of her flowers!  Too bad he didn't grow the darn thing!) and then collect the ribbons and prize money.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I love a good fair.

Probably what I love best about fairs is the food.  You know the kind I'm talking about--most of it straight lard battered and deep fried to perfection.  

In this regard the North Carolina State Fair did not disappoint.

In a few hours we managed to share the following caloric feast between the four of us, five if you count Kaden:

--Philly cheese steak 

--2 turkey legs

--Popcorn

--Deep fried Snickers bar (I became a fan.  Just saying.)

--Elephant ear (half powdered sugar and half cinnamon and sugar topping)

--Hot dog

--Massive bag of kettle corn

Everett is finally starting to like the double stroller, now that he's a little bit bigger.  He was a dream the entire time.  Kaden was super good, too, especially considering he hadn't napped that day.

 Kaden LOVES his Poppy!

 

Everett, napping in his favorite spot:  The ERGO

 There were soooooooooooooo may people.  Although, I was a bit disappointed . . . too many normal folk. 

We didn't go on any rides, and amazingly, Kaden didn't even ask about riding any.  We never seemed to be near any kiddie rides, so maybe he just assumed they were for big people.  I don't know.  We went to story time at the library a few days later and it was a fair theme.  The librarian read a book about a roller coaster and had the kids pretend to be riding it.  After that he started asking why we didn't go on any rides.  Ha!  I guess next year we won't get off so easily.  

Kaden was in awe!  So many sights and sounds!

 We had a great time!  Chad vows we will never go back, but I've got fair blood running through my veins.  I think there may be more corn dogs and deep friend candy bars in my future.

Dear Kaden,

I hope when I am old and gray, I can dig up the memory of you in my old IHOP apron, a souvenir from my poor college days.  That, in the recesses of my memory, I'll still be able to see the preschool version of you, my little sous-chef: shaggy, blond hair; gold-flecked brown eyes; chipped front tooth; still wearing pajamas in the middle of the day.  

 Your nose, eyelashes, and cheeks dusted with flour.

 Your little boy fingers gripping a whisk,

 steadying a glass bowl on the counter.

 I won't be able to remember if we made cookies or muffins.  If we baked bread or a souffle.  But that doesn't matter.

 I just want to be able to find that memory of you, standing on a dining room chair so you could reach the counter.  Dozens of memories really, of us creating something in the kitchen together.

I hope I can conjure those up when you are grown, and my heart is aching to feel like a mommy again.

I love you, buddy.

Love,
Mommy  

And Suddenly My Newborn Was Three Months Old

It feels like Mr. Everett Holden is growing up SO fast.  Here are a few thoughts about our Everett boy and how he's changed during the last three months:

Sleeping  

We FINALLY have him sleeping in his crib at night, but it's somewhat comical how I have to maneuver his sleeping body into the crib.  I wish I could take a video of the process, but it would never turn out since his room is so dark at night.  I seriously lay my tummy against his tummy when I put him down, then slide my right arm from under his bum, move that arm to under his head, and then slide my left arm out from under his head.  Then I put my right hand on his chest (where my chest used to be) and slowly back away.  It's a ridiculous process, but it works.  At his last doctor's appointment, the doc (who I love, by the way) recommended letting him cry it out to fall asleep . . . I tried, but I just couldn't do it.  I'm all about sleep training, but I decided I like feeling the weight of a sleeping newborn in my arms too much to give it up yet. As a result, we kept letting him sleep in his bouncy seat (he's still napping there for the most part), until the crib method started to stick.  That bouncy seat was his favorite place in the world for quite some time.  We could almost ALWAYS get him to sleep by bouncing him in it (not just using the vibration button, but physically rocking the seat).  He's now so big that his bum skims the floor when he's sitting in it, and his feet hang off the edge.  Chad can usually still bounce him to sleep in it, but I don't have the same luck.

He CAN sleep through the night and has done so several times.  The first time he did this was the first weekend in October, and he slept for 8 hours straight for two nights in a row.  I of course woke up both nights, terrified that he wasn't OK/filled to the brim with milk (since I'm sort of a Moo Cow right now), so it was kind of wasted on me.  He then went back to waking up once or twice a night.  The last couple of nights he's done a great job again, so I think we're on our way to a more consistent sleep schedule.  Once he's eating solids, I'll be more comfortable sleep training him, especially since I know he can go all night without eating.  

Our little chunk in September:

 This rattle was Chad's when he was little.  Both Kaden and Everett have both loved it!

 Kaden's buddy, Jack, LOVES babies and always begs to hold Everett.  This is him holding Ev after Joy School one day in September (I love that Everett's almost as big as he is!):

Does he look like Kaden?  

I get asked this question a lot.  I guess my answer is that they definitely look like brothers, but that Everett has his own look.  For starters, he has a lot less hair than Kaden had.  Kaden's eyes were also much lighter. They were a deep blue gray for a long time and even now are more of a golden brown.  Everett's eyes are straight chocolate pools.  He's going to have deep brown eyes for sure.  He's also chubbier than Kaden (not that Kaden was a tiny baby, by any means), so his face it a bit rounder.  Even so, at certain moments, and in certain photos, I look at him and he could be Kaden's clone.  And of course, everyone that sees him says he looks just like his Daddy, so Chad's genes have definitely dominated once again.

 We love his little elfish ears.  We have no idea where his pointy ears came from, since neither Chad nor I have this trait.

Everett woke up from a nap one day while I was finishing something up downstairs.  I asked Kaden to go comfort him for a minute until I could get there.  This is how I found the two of them:

 Personality

I honestly LOVE this phase of babyhood.  Everett is so smiley and talkative, and it's absolutely adorable.  He is an extremely good baby.  As long as he's fed and rested, he is content.  He is SUCH a smiley baby.  It doesn't take much to get him to flash you a huge grin (it is hard to capture his smile on camera, however, since he almost always gives me a deer in the headlights expression when the flash goes off).  We were at the grocery store the other day and the lady at the checkout just peeked in his car seat and he was instantly beaming.  It's probably a result of having to compete for attention.  If anyone gives him one-on-one time, they're golden.  He also has the cutest laugh ever--right now it's that deep, throaty baby laugh that's more of a chuckle.

He seems to have a much more laid back personality than his older brother, which we are hoping sticks as he gets bigger.  (Not that we don't love Kaden in all his assertive, strong-willed, mini-me glory, but we're thinking maybe Everett can help balance things out a bit.)  He's much more patient and relaxed as an infant than Kaden was.  He's so easy going.  Sometimes I feel guilty that Everett's whole existence is pretty much shuttling Kaden from one adventure to the next.  Our schedule definitely revolves around his older brother. He takes it all in stride though, napping in his car seat, stroller, or Ergo when a nap at home isn't in the cards.

Everett LOVES bath time!  As soon as he hears the water running and start stripping off his clothes he starts to chuckle.   

 Pacifiers and Bottles

Everett's not interested in these at all.  We're still working our hardest to get him to take both.  I know there are a lot of anti-pacifier folks out there, but I would MUCH rather have him be attached to a piece of plastic that I can take away than this:

 The kid always has his fingers, thumb, or fist shoved in his mouth.  It's adorable now, but a hard habit to break when kids get older.  As for the bottle, I keep praying we're going to find a nipple that he'll take.  So far, he only wants milk straight from the source.  Don't get me wrong, I love the precious moments I have snuggling him while breast feeding, but it would certainly be nice to have another option when that's just not convenient.

Playtime

Everett is so close to rolling over!  I think he'll be like Kaden though and be too lazy to follow through with it. He's just content to lie like this instead of pushing himself all the way over:

He can hold rattles and small toys now, and it's pretty awesome watching him to respond to these things. He's even semi-attentive when I try to read to him and Kaden together, especially if we pick baby books instead of Kaden's big-boy ones.  

He LOVES watching his big brother and thinks everything Kaden does is incredibly awesome.  Kaden can always get Everett to smile or calm down if he's fussing.  I can just see the wheels turning in his baby brain--he wants to be able to do everything Kade does.  I'm so glad they already share such a sweet bond as brothers.    

I can't believe my baby is already three months old.  I told Chad the other day that I LOVE this stage, but it makes me sad that he's already here.  That means he's going to be even bigger before I know it!