Halloween - AT LAST!

On Friday, October 30th, Jennie, Angie, and I ventured to the Aquarium's Trick or Treat to make Halloween week extra fun for the kiddos. Although the actual candy was pretty scarce, the experience was way fun. It was entertaining to see what seemed like thousands of kids in costume, and our little ones threw a fit over every single aquatic exhibit. We tried for a very long time to get a picture with everyone looking, but the atmosphere was just too engaging for them to have a desire to look at the camera. I thought this shot was pretty typical and 100% cute.

Most of our pictures were like this -- of their backs.


As soon as Brendan found out I was being a witch for Halloween, he got super excited. He wore my hat around the house much of the day on Friday and Saturday, and would constantly scream, "Mommy is a witch!" If it weren't Halloween, I would be worried and offended... but given the circumstances it was quite cute.

Here we are as a family at our church's Trunk or Treat. Dan and I had actually planned to be paleontologists to go with the dinosaur theme, but time got away from us. We found ourselves at Party City on Thursday night picking from whatever "costumes in a bag" they had left. I ended up a witch and he chose to be vampire. Oh well -- it was still MUCH more fun of a Halloween since we dressed up this year!

For the Trunk or Treat, one parent/adult sits at the car (the trunk) and passes out candy to all the kids, while the other takes the kid(s) around to collect the goodies. We LOVE Trunk or Treat. Brendan gets tons of excellent candy and gets it all in less than an hour by walking around a parking lot -- very low maintenance! Hadley fell asleep in the sling soon after we arrived, but this was our last attempt at a picture of both kids.

Daddy was in charge of Brendan that night. Our candy collection was exceptionally good this year, so I think he gave some fatherly advice when Brendan was making his selections. :-)

Trunk or Treat -- meticulous and well-trained candy selection

Hadley right before we left for Trunk or Treat

Cute dinosaur!

Serious dinosaur

This was actually taken on Halloween. It was raining and cold, so we needed something quick and easy. The Campas invited us to trick or treat in their townhome community, and it was the perfect place for it. I was able to go around with them for part of the time and then go back to her place with Hadley while Dan and Brendan kept going. Brendan loves being around Cassie and Choloe, so it made for a great night.

The top to the dinosaur costume was way too big, yet Brendan really wanted to keep it on his head. I felt bad for him... wish I could sew.

Gradma DARling and Grandpa John's visit

Grandma DARling and Grandpa John Richards came the week before Halloween for their annual fall visit. We had so much fun! They treated us to a trip to the Botanical Gardens, which had a special Halloween exhibit of very creative scarecrows. They also joined us for a trip to the pumpkin patch, but our camera battery died so we only have a couple of shots from that day. They were a huge help to our parents and we miss them terribly! Luckily, we will see them again for Thanksgiving in just about one more week!

Made from computer parts

All recycled cans

Sponsored by The Melting Pot Restaurant

Supermom -- she had bottles, rattles, Parent magazine, rubber gloves and more. We loved it! So we deemed ourselves honorary supermoms and took a picture.

Just reading a book with Frog

There was a garden area set up like a country home. Brendan thought it was fabulous. He sat on every ceramic animal.

Grandpa and Hadley

At the pumpkin patch, I asked Mom to get face painting. I picked out my own design, pointing emphatically at the skeleton and saying, "I want that monster, Mommy! That monster! That one!" Don't I look tough?

Grandpa and I scouting for the best pick

Zoo Pass - Great Idea!

In September we went in with the Wolferts and bought a zoo pass. So far we have gone once each month. The kids LOVE it and, let's face it, so do the moms. If anyone is contemplating a zoo pass, do it! It is sooo worth it!

Wide-eyed and ready! This was Had's second trip to the zoo, but the first time he actually seemed to enjoy it.

Jack and Brendan

The petting zoo is a must for each visit. Brendan absolutely loves it. Aside from the super cool animals (zebra, lion, giraffe, monkey, elephant), the petting zoo and the train are on the top of his list.

Poised and ready

We had trouble finding a seat on the train - can't you tell? Ha! It is GREAT being able to go on a weekday in October. Aside from a couple of school field trips, we nearly had the place to ourselves.

Parent Play Date

On a very cold night in October, Dan and I joined some of our closest friends for a parent-only play date at Six Flags Freight Fest. Because it was parent-only and therefore we were all paying babysitters by the minute, it was a very fun but very short couple of hours. I had forgotten how scary some roller coasters can be... or perhaps I am just getting old.

Here's Milena and Carol playing for a "Wonder Woman" cape. It is so fun to be the ones playing the games rather than supervising your kids playing...

The group -- Skollars, Campas, Garrisons, and Richards

Jack and Brendan

Once a month Mom and Dad babysit Jack and Ty Wolfert so that their parents can go on a date, and then their parents return the favor. That means twice a month I have a guaranteed play date with Jack! He is certainly one of my best friends! We play so well together and do such cute things, Mom can't help but take lots of pictures of us.

Truly enjoying our bath towels as we impersonate a dragon and lion

The haunted house I made while at Jack's house (His mom is super creative!)

Bath time is always a blast. It took some talent for mom to get an internet-appropriate picture though.

They told us to take turns; we found a way to both ride at the same time.

October Fun

From left to right: Hadley (5 months), Charlotte (4 months), and Cooper (6 weeks)

Charlotte, Cooper and their moms came over last Monday (our Potty Party day). I (Hadley) first met Charlotte and Cooper when they were still in their mom's womb. If you go back to the post of Katrina's baby shower, you will see all three of our moms pregnant. Although I am the oldest, I am not yet the biggest... but I am working hard to change that!

Gettin' a little fresh with Charlotte

What girl would not be impressed with this kind of talent?

Plus I am pretty good lookin', even if my pants are a little short.

Here I am having fun with my big brother. We are finally starting to play together (highly supervised).

Ta-Da! Here is what Brendan decided to do with all of my congratulatory baby cards. He took them off the mantel and built a tunnel for his cars. Nice.

Potty Training Triumph

Okay, so I know I am super behind on all kinds of blog posts, namely Halloween, and it will all come soon - PROMISE. Something happened the past two days, however, that forced me to come online and talk about it.



I decided to throw a "Potty Party" on Monday. Yes, it really was a party. We had a cake, candles, lots of treats and yummy drinks, and even ended up having a few guests even though they were all under five months old or an adult... but that still made it more fun. Brendan had been showing signs of readiness for potty training for about six months, but I kept putting it off due to everything else that has been going on (like having a baby). I was completely prepared for Monday to be stressful and perhaps even down-right hard. BUT IT WASN'T! When I announced that morning that we were throwing all of his diapers away, Brendan said, "No diapers! I wear underwear like Jack! Like Beau!" I guess it really pays that his two best friends are potty trained and that he wants to be just like them! He immediately went to the bathroom and used the potty -- FIRST THING! He then went on to self-initiate the potty every single time for the past two days. I NEVER had to ask him if he needed to go and he only had one accident -- and I am not even sure if it counts as an accident because he made it to the potty but had a hard time getting his underwear down (this was the second potty experience on Day 1; after that we took off the underwear, went "free" and he never missed a beat). He woke up from his nap dry yesterday (he is currently sleeping so we will see how today went...), and I think he was dry from the night time too (I kept feeling of the pull-up and could not really tell). As soon as he woke up this morning he went for what seemed like half an hour... whoa. I plan to let him start wearing clothes again this afternoon, so we will see if that changes things, but so far I have been amazed at how well it is going. Cross your fingers that he keeps it up! Having two kids in diapers sure does drain the bank!