Happy Halloween!

What a day!  As I type my sweet hubby has the big boys packed up in the car.  They are driving the neighborhood looking for a group of four porch lights that are no so they can hop out and hit all four houses.  Because it is miserable out there.... rain, rain, and more rain.  Hopefully they will be successful and Max will feel like he got his trick or treat time. 

Grandma and Grandpa did stop by for a few minutes this morning and we were able to get this cute little picture of them with the little boys.  I'm sad to admit that I had to bride the lion with candy to pose for the camera.

Here is my little spiderman with his classmates and teacher.  Today was another one of those times when it really struck me that I'm a mom.  I'm the co-room parent for Max's class so we have been working to organize their fall party and today was the big day!  It was sooooo much fun!  I loved watching Max interact with all his school friends and there were lots of friendly moms there too.

Max was so funny when I got to his room.  It was like his school life and home life were colliding and he reacted with all kinds of silliness - you know like posing with a huge grin . . . and a pencil box.

 

One game we played was pass the pumpkin, basically just hot potato, but with a pumpkin.  The kids loved it.  We played two rounds and probably could have played two more and they wouldn't have been bored at all.

 

Jack decided that Halloween was overrated.  He didn't want his picture taken.  Poor baby just wanted to go to bed.

 

My little lion looked even cuter with a little face paint put on by daddy.  He has been practicing his roar (AKA scream) all day so we will see what he does trick or treating. 

 

 Here is  one last picture of my sweet boys before they headed out.  I think they will be wet and worn out - but oh so happy. 

Six Months Old

How can my sweet little baby be half way to his first birthday already?  I really need time to slow down somehow.  These past six months have flown by in a blur - the days may seem long, but the weeks fly by before I know it.  So what is our little one up to? 

Lots, actually.  He is just the sweetest little one a momma could ask for.  Although I would love for him to stay still long enough for a non-blurry picture.  Sorry about these.  I'll try again tomorrow.

Jack is loving working on sitting up.  He does a pretty good job and can make it for about 10 seconds or so before toppling over even without the boppy.  However he has a new found interest in all of his toys, particularly in reaching for them and putting them in his mouth to chew on. 

So more often than not, he ends up on his tummy because he has tried to grab something out of his reach and fallen over.  Thank goodness for the rug.  That is our routine.  Sit, giggle (particularly if one of his big bothers is talking to him), reach for a toy, fall over, and repeat. It's good for hours of entertainment. 

Jack has also cut a second tooth.  This one snuck up on me.  I didn't quite notice the fussiness like the first tooth.  I went to show Nonna his one tooth last night and sure enough there were now two through the gum.  They still have a ways to go and it is still tough to see them, but at least that first part is through. 

 

Jack is pretty much happy most of the time.  He loves hanging out with his toys and he adores when his big brothers talk to him.  He has eagle eyes for this brothers too.  If he hears or sees them he immediately tries to turn so he can see what they are doing.  Unfortunately this often happens during nursing sessions - which isn't fun with the new teeth.

 

Will, Jack and I headed to Dr. Joe's today to celebrate six months of Jack with a check up.  He weighed in at 19lb 4oz - 95th and 80th respectively.  Dr. Joe said gave us the green light to start solids so I guess it is time for Brian to bring up the high chair.  Jack also got four shots - poor guy.  He took them like a champ and just cried for a moment.  Will was so cute and tried to kiss and hug Jack to make him feel better.  Brotherly love is the best medicine :)

2 1/2

Time for another half birthday!  Will had lots of fun helping me bake his cake yesterday afternoon.  He couldn't wait to dig in.  Can't you tell by the way he is licking his lips?

Max, as always, was a super sweet big brother and helped us sing and helped Will blow out the candles because he couldn't quite get it.  I love how sweet my boys are - it is just so evident that they love each other.  Although like all siblings they have there moments.

 This picture of my two biggest boys just melts my heart.  While the boys ate their cake Brian took the dog out and I took Jack upstairs for bed.  Max came up a moment later and told us that it wasn't fair because Will got more cake.  I went downstairs to check and sure enough the sweet little half-birthday boy had taken a handful of cake a plopped it on his plate.  Silly boys.

Haunted Hayloft

Sunday afternoon we packed up the kiddos, and Nonna, and headed to Purina Farms.  We had been there before and it is a great place for some family fun.   Once I found out they had a Halloween celebration I signed us up.  $5 for an afternoon of entertainment for my kiddos - perfect. 

Max thought it was pretty cool to milk a cow.  Will wanted nothing to do with it.  Little things like this show me just how much Max is growing up.  He is just becoming so confident in who he is, it's amazing to watch.

While Will didn't want anything to do with the cow he LOVED this fluffy little chicken.  He just smiled and pet that chicken until we dragged him away.  Both boys also loved petting the cute little pigs.  I was a bit grossed out by the fact that they were rolling around in litter.

 Then the time came for the big dog show.  Before the dog show they had a costume contest.  Max didn't want to participate, but Will was thrilled.  After all Nonna brought the bag of kettle corn out there with them.  There were about 30 or so kids dressed up and the employees picked five for the crowd to vote on.  The trainer talked to each kiddo.  Here he is asking Will to roar - which of course Will refused to do. 

But in the end he did okay even without the roar.  He won the contest!!!!  I have to admit I cheered pretty loud, but he was the cutest one out there :)

The Exersaucer

 

There are some things that Jack is doing that feel like such a right of passage.  I remember when Max first used the exersaucer and I remember when Will did too.  Max loved it right away.  Will loved it when Max showed him how it worked.  Jack is just like his brothers.  

He loves to hang out in it, but he loves it even more when his brothers are there to play with the toys with him.  Tonight he hung out while we had dinner on the porch and I couldn't help but take a few pictures.  He is just so amazing - all my boys are.  I feel like I'm savoring every first with Jack because we know he is our last.

It amazes me how quickly babies change.  They go from these little newborns that are so sweet but don't really engage to these silly, engaging, happy little individuals with preferences and personalities.  I also can't believe how big he is getting.  I look at his sweet little hands and I realize that before I know it they won't be baby hands any more.  Before I know it this sweet little guy will have sticky toddler hands like Will, and then kids hands with long fingers like Max.  For now, I'm just going to take in his sweet little baby hands and kiss them any chance I get.

Speaking of sticky hands like Will. . . I swear I turn my back for a second and this previously clean,  sweet little toddler is a sticky, dirty little mess.  It just melts my heart every time. 

Outdoor Men

My boys all love being outdoors.  Poor Jack was super cranky all day Friday.  He didn't want to eat, he didn't want to play, he didn't want to be held.  He pretty much was the crankiest I have seen him.  In all honesty it wasn't really that bad.  He is such a sweetheart of a baby that any crankiness that I can't solve in a matter of seconds is unusual. 

After Will woke up from his nap I decided we all needed to go outside to enjoy the weather.  Before I knew it Jack was all smiles.  He just looked all around and took it all in.  The tree in our front yard are turning a beautiful yellow and I think he liked looking up at them from the comfort of his quilt.  He barely took his hands out of his mouth.  I even sent this picture to Nonna and Nonno saying that poor Jack was thinking 'stupid teeth'.  Sure enough last night I realized that Jack's bottom right tooth has broken through the gum.  It wasn't there in the morning and it still has a ways to go, but at least it is through the gum.  Hopefully our littlest man can get some relief.

Before we knew it the time had come to head down to get Max from the bus.  Most days our walk is pretty fun.  Like I said the boys love to be outside.  Sometimes Will is all worn out before we make it back home - after all it's a long walk to the corner for short little two year old legs.  Most of the time on the return trip Will demands that I 'lolo' him.  Which means hold in will speak.  This is actually pretty funny because he will say the word hold correctly when we are talking about Jack, but any time he wants to me held it is 'lolo'.  I'm going to be sad when he asks to me to 'hold' him.

Yesterday he was full of energy and he made it almost all the way home.  In fact he was so full of energy that he insisted on hugging every tree we passed.  It was pretty darn cute!

Halloween Bash

Tonight we had fun at the third annual Mattera Halloween party.  All day long Max counted down the hours, literally, until hte party started.  He just couldn't wait.  I mean he would get to be Spiderman, eat marshmellows, and play with Chase and Jacob.  How could it get any better?  I'm happy to say that the rain - mostly - held out and the evening lived up to all of Max's great expectations. 

 

And look at that smile.  Not one, not two, but three teeth missing.  He lost one before school on Friday.  Then he lost the second at school that same day.  Saturday night he was trying to be sneaky and climb in our bed.  It was pitch black and he smacked his mouth on our foot board.  He cried like crazy, there was lots of blood, and he spit out a tooth.  The tooth brought the crying to an end and made everything okay.  Although he did leave quite a gouge in our bed. . .

Will had so much fun at the party trying to keep up with the big boys.  He looked SOOOOOO cute in his lion costume!  One of his favorite books is Goodnight Gorilla.  We read it everyday and he loves the lion in the book.  When I asked what he wanted to be for Halloween he told me a lion.  Perfect, I thought,  I can do this.  I'm pretty darn proud of how it turned out and I'm even happier that he actually wore it.  In fact he didn't want to take it off to eat. 

 

 

All three boys looked so cute!  I just love the little hat Jack is wearing.  It was a present from one of the ladies in my book club.  Along with a first Halloween onsie, he was set.  Max chose to be Spiderman.  He was pretty disappointed when we bought his costume because he realized that it wasn't going to shot real webs. 

 

 My sweet baby Jack was his typical adorable self.  He was happy to be passed from one person to the next so that everyone could get just a bit of a cute baby fix.

 All the roaring and running around wore out our little lion too.  He was happy to have daddy 'lolo' him so he could suck his thumb and regain a bit of energy to chase the big boys again.

I never really cared too much about Halloween, but now with these adorable boys it is becoming one of my favorite times of the year.  The weather is nice and there are a million and one fun family events to take the kids too.  I look up things to do while I nurse Jack.  Brian swears I have sent him links about about 12 different fall outings :)  Up next, the pumpkin patch tomorrow as long as the weather cooperates.