Friday, November 9, 2018

Halloween 2018

Another Halloween has come and gone and we are not sad about it, cuz we are ready for the most wonderful time of the year!

This year's Halloween night was a little tough because Trick or Treat was right in the middle of Audra's bedtime.  So, for the first year ever, we split up.  Steve took Xavier to Trick or Treat in a part of town that had a fun block party/festival for the kids.  I stayed home with Audra and passed out candy.  It was fun interacting with the kids who stopped by.  They have no filters and say anything they want!  My favorites were the kids who would yell at each other because one would take too much candy and Mom said to only take 1!

Xavier as Captain America!

Audra as Raggedy Ann!


Audra the Cat!


Xavier ran into the police officer who he had a picture with last year (when his costume was a police officer)!!  The officer said he saw the picture of the 2 of them on UA's website for this year and was said he got relocated and didn't think he'd get to see Xavier again.  Luckily, we relocated Xavier for Trick or Treat night too!

Some other things we did to celebrate the holiday were to go to the Market District's Trick or Treat event, read Halloween stories from the library (Xavier's favorite this year was How to Make Friends with a Ghost), and decorate with the giant spider outside and spiderwebs and Halloween lights throughout the house.


Xavier's favorite part is at the end and he says "Awwwww"!  He also knows almost every word to this book!

We love getting Halloween cards from Aunt Cindy.  Xavier asked to spend his money at Target (just like his Momma!)

Audra's first piece of mail!


And now, we start decorating for Christmas!

Monday, October 29, 2018

Festive Fall Fun

We are in my favorite season as a parent with kids.  There are so many things to do with kids this time of year, it's by far my favorite time.  Year after year, nothing gets us more in the mood than first - the drop in temperatures, and also watching OSU football, burning fall scented candles, jumping in leaf piles, and making s'nores (as Xavier calls it) over an outdoor fire.  

The first cool weekend we had, we all went to Jacquemin Farms to pick pumpkins and ghords for decorating the house.







She's standing!! Big girl!

Always watching her brother.  Xavier is wearing his PJ Masks pajamas that are too small, but he refuses to let us throw them out!

Painting rocks we found in spooky ghosts and monsters to give to his friends.

Making bird feeders!  We got the idea from the book Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf that his teacher read in pre-K class.


Ready for the game!


Daddy and Xavier did a great job!

Friday, October 19, 2018

Sibling Snapshot - Audra 7.5 months, Xavier 5 yrs

We are in the middle of Halloween season and looking forward to carving our pumpkins this weekend.  This week, Xavier's pre-K class took a fieldtrip to Leed's Farm and I joined.  I love going on field trips with my guy!  He got to take home a pumpkin pie pumpkin and asked that we make a pie out of it.  It's the first time (and will also be the last) that we made a pie from a real pumpkin.  It tasted great, but it took almost 3 hours from start to finish!  The seeds were amazing, as always!

Feeding the donkeys!  He does this every year we bring him!

The bees were the kids favorite.  They stayed here, watching them for 10 minutes!

He's loved this slide since he was 3!

I have pics of him in this same pose at age 4 and age 3!!  His favorite slide!


hayride! Xavier is on the end.




Xavier (5 years) - A natural born leader, always suggesting games we should play and never a dull moment.  His Pre-K teacher (Ms. Maya) says he's always got a story to tell and is very entertaining.  The kids swarm to him on the playground the one day I dropped him off later than usual because of a doctor's appointment.  He loves to participate in school, always offers answers to his teacher's questions.  He loves to play super heroes, enjoys the outdoors, asks me to play Halloween music (my favorite too!), and sets a good example for his sister.  He recently has been helping unload the dishwasher by putting the silverware in the drawer.  We love to paint rocks together with Halloween themes, his favorite book at the moment is "How to Make Friends with a Ghost", and he's always negotiating with us how he can stay up for "1 more minute".  He loves being festive with me and has asked for even more Halloween decorations to be put up in the house.  At afternoon pick up, he still asks me every day if I brought him a snack.  He is a planner and had me write him a note with all the upcoming holidays so he could track them.  He's obssessed with the Halloween movie theme song, which he calls Michael Myers, and when he hears it, he acts like the character.  His heart is gold and his imagination is wild!

Audra (7.5 months) - The easiest baby!  Her little personality is starting to show and she is a curious baby, always scooting towards any new toy or item she notices in the house.  She is drawn to power cords (boo!!) and enjoys all of Xavier's toys.  She's eating all kinds of pureed food and has yet to majorly dislike anything.  Tho she's not a fan of meats that don't have fruit added to them.  Her favorites are chicken and apples, anything with mango, apple and pumpkin, apricots, and all other sorts fruits (blueberries, bananas, apples especially).  Her mood is almost always content, and she is most entertained when I put her in the pack and play and let her watch Xavier play.  When someone greets her, she gets the biggest smile and kicks her legs with excitement.  She's started getting up on all 4's and is so close to crawling.  She's mastered scooting, pulling herself up from laying on belly to a sitting position, and is very stable at sitting.  She zooms across the room in her walker chair.  We tried giving her a tiny bite of watermelon (not in her fresh food feeder) and she gave a yucky face.  It's the first time we'd seen that face when offering her food!  She sleeps from 7pm til 9am, usually with no middle of night crying or feeding.  She takes one afternoon nap, around 1pm.  She is the happiest baby and is so easy at this point!!

She looks so little in her big room!

Playing with the blocks her brother played with at this age.



With her favorite stuffed unicorn and penguin. 

Comparison of the kids - We've noticed Audra is more active and mobile than Xavier was at this age.  She sees something new and has to scoot towards it and explore it.  Xavier used to sit and be happy just watching new things.  Audra also doesn't really nap during the day.  We are lucky if she sleeps a good, 2 hour afternoon nap.  Xavier needed 2 solid naps and couldn't function without getting good sleep.  But the are both the exact same in terms of mood and personality, so far.  They both are/were the happiest babies, love interacting with people, and only cry when hungry or tired.  We are very lucky parents!!

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Fall Family Photos

This year, we had our traditional fall family photos taken at a park in Dublin.  The scene was rustic, with a white barn as the main center piece.  These pictures turned out great!  I love how the photographer captured Audra's sweet little smiles and Xavier's fun personality.  They both look so grown up in these pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites.



One of my all time favorites of these two!



Buddy looks so grown up here!  He's so photogenic!






And then, a few Xavier and I took in the backyard.  Xavier picked out his outfit and asked me "Is this nice?"  Ooh love him to pieces!




She loves watching her brother.

Oops!