Halloween 2015

So our newborn sleep-deprivation sapped all our creative energy this Halloween. We decided we'd just re-purpose old costumes this year. Lame, I know.

I'm actually pretty impressed with what we came up with, since we threw it all together the day of our ward trunk-or-treat. Katelyn is supposed to be my udder, hence the pink fabric on the pack.

Here's a cute pic of our cowboys. Yes, Ethan did have a hat; we just couldn't get him to keep it on. Real life, I guess.

Here's our pumpkin for the year. The boys are really into Transformers lately, and Ryan liked that everything was straight cuts. Simple.

We always carve our pumpkin the Monday night before Halloween for family home evening. Unfortunately, with treat-or-treat on Saturday this year, it was pretty shriveled by the big night.

And here are the big boys up way past their bedtime in order to see the finished product. Happy Halloween! 

October Overload

I just plugged in our camera card, and we have 525 pictures on our primary camera. That doesn't include whatever pictures Collin has taken on his camera lately (and I'm sure there are plenty there), and mine and Ryan's phones. Yikes, I'm behind.

Okay, so here's what we've been up to according to the camera card in age-order (youngest to oldest)...

KATELYN

Katelyn has some of the cutest little outfits. Between the tubs and tubs of fun things from my sister (who has three girls), a shipment from Ryan's sister (who also has three girls), and her seamstress Nana, this girl is decked out at all times!

We think she is just beautiful!

She is sleeping very well too. She particularly loves being in her swing, sleeping from 8pm- ish until 4am-ish (with a quick feeding) and then again until 8am-ish. She eats good and fast, which is a major blessing in our busy home.

You can't tell in pictures, but she actually has dark blue eyes.

She loves to smile, and it makes my heart melt. I think God has babies smile right when Mom thinks she can't take any more; the adrenaline wears off at six weeks, you get a smile, and you can keep on trucking!

She was screaming a lot in her car seat, but now with the velcro-swaddler, she is doing much better. She also was squirming and grunting and needing to be held all night, but without the velcro-swaddler (but with a blanket-swaddling instead), she is doing perfect. This baby didn't come with a user manual, so trial and error is the story of our lives. Can anybody relate?!

ETHAN
Eefie is a little parent. He does everything he sees his mom and dad do, including taking pictures. He is pretty much the cutest thing in the world.

He also loves to hold the baby, rock the baby, give the baby her pacifier, and give her kisses on the top of her head. It is the most adorable thing in the world! He is my first child to ever care about babies. He is very nurturing and gets quite concerned when "baby kies."

Ethan still can't make it more than an hour without his precious "ba-ba." He sucks on one corner, while sniffing another. Gross, I know. He takes it in the car, watches tv with it, and drags it around the house. I usually can get it away from him once a week to "give it a bath." It's gross, but our lives are crazy enough right now without taking away his comfort object.

BRENNAN
Brennan has really turned into a pretty wonderful little guy. Here he is ready to go on a daddy-date nature walk one day.

I think the sun was in his eyes.

He is still pretty physical and silly, and he often hits, slide-tackles and kicks people. I spend a lot of time trying to re-channel his energy or putting him in time-out.

Other the other hand, though, I am starting to see an entirely different boy when Collin is away at school. He helps me with the baby and Ethan, and he and Ethan play really well together. I can often find him quietly drawing at the kitchen table too.

He plays soccer on Mondays after preschool gets out, and he LOVES it! He is still our crafter too, creating page after page after page of art work each day. He still naps almost every day too, which I love. 

Everyone says that these are my two kids that look the most alike

COLLIN
Collin is slowly but surely adjusting to full-day school. At my parent-teacher conference last week, I learned he's at the top of his class and far ahead of age-expectations. He can read pages in the Boxcar Children books (with me alternating pages with him) which is super fun. He has the ability but not the stamina to do more yet. I am super proud of him.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he is only home a couple minutes after school to have a snack and put on his soccer gear before returning to school for soccer practice. His coach is hard-core and very competitive, and he isn't enjoying it at all.

We'll finish out this season (two more weeks), and then we'll pursue his interests in running and piano instead. 

Collin doesn't like babies. He's never liked any of his brothers until they are walking and talking a little bit. Ethan still kinda annoys him. The other day Collin referred to Katelyn as "the new one." He just doesn't view them as people. It's sad. He isn't mean to her, but he just doesn't care about her.

LINDSEY 

And then there's me. I am doing pretty well. Now that I am getting a bit more sleep and getting my elliptical-time in every day, I am handling all the craziness as well as can be expected. 

These pictures are the best we could do before church last Sunday for the baby blessing. 

I turned 34 at the beginning of the month. (Apparently we didn't take any pictures though.) We had two families over for our birthday bonfire (much smaller than our usual bash). It also rained on and off during the party, so we grilled the hot dogs and roasted the marshmallows under the oven broiler. Gotta keep things simple when you have a newborn and three other children!

RYAN
Ryan is the most amazing help around the house. He's super patient with our sucky dinners, and he does almost all of the boy-care in the evenings. He is super patient with Katelyn when she is inexplicably cranky when I want to go to bed at night. And he holds the house together so I can get my twenty minutes on the elliptical each morning.

Ryan turned 34 too at the end of September. Katelyn had turned one month the day before. He's still as skinny and active (road and mountain biking, running, and strength-training) as ever.

He was called as Sunday School President in our new ward, and he's been handling the calling of all the teachers and his counselors really well. He loves being on ward council again and being in the information loop.

And that's October up to today. But we still have Ethan's birthday this Friday and Halloween next week, so get ready for more posts soon. :-)

Katelyn's Baby Blessing