Pumpkin carving!

Ok, am I a little crazy to be wielding a camera, sharp knife and juggling a two year old and baby? 

Probably! But we had fun! ;-)

Scene 1: getting cute outfits on the boys..."I wanna wear monster trucks!!!", "Nathan, if you wear the pumpkin shirt, your monster truck shirt won't get dirty" "uugghhh!" "Ok, momma" (Two year olds!)
Liam happily giggles as I put on his baby's first halloween outfit...he has already outgrown it, but we are wearing it anyway!
I cut the top off the pumpkin and we look inside.
Me: " Nathan can you get all the seeds out of the pumpkin?" I hold up a seed.
N: "OK"

Scene 2: scooping out pumpkin...."look momma, look momma, Nate got a seed!" Gingerly puts it into the bowl.
Oh boy, just another hundred or so left!
Me: "Nathan, let's use our hands!"
N: " ewww, yucky" "Nate use momma's spoon... Nate got another seed!"
Me: "Good job sweetie"
Liam holds up his clean spoon. It is now in his mouth. He rolls to his side and plays with a toy while watching his brother.
Now Nate has lost all interest and wanders off.
I finish cleaning out the pumpkin and draw the face on with a sharpie.
Me:  "Nathan, can you see the face on the pumpkin?"
N: " Nate sees a nose!"
Me: "Good job! Do you see anything else?"
N: "Uh huh"
(that's the best I got out of him)
Liam is happily playing and has managed to rotate on the towels 180 degrees since I set him down.

Scene 3: Kitchen, I am carving the face now...Nate pulls on the locked pantry doors,
N: "Nate want breakfast!" 
Me: "Honey, we are going to have lunch in a few minutes"
N: " Nate want doughnuts!" Heads off to the table picks up a pear, " Nate want pear!" 
Me: " I said we will eat in a few minutes, you can have a pear with your lunch"
N: "OK, Momma, Nate eat doughnuts in just in just a minute" wanders off again

Final scene: pictures of final product...Nate is playing with his toys
Me: " Honey, come sit by your brother and take a picture for Momma!" No response... 
"Liam is going to get his picture taken without you?" 
I start taking pictures, Liam is smiling and posing quite well. I hear a yell from accross the room...
N: "Noooooo! Nate take pictures too!" he sits down and looks at the pumpkin and we talk about the different parts of the face. He is disturbed that his "hair" falls off...
Me: " OK Nate, smile at the camera!" Nate makes a huge cheesy grin. Liam just watches his crazy brother.

DONE.

Liam is 3 months & A fun filled October!

What a month it has been! 

There have been lots of good things as well as bad, but we are so blessed! First off we have had lots of ailments; colds, allergies, sinus infections, ear infections, stomach bugs, poison ivy reactions & pink eye...etc.... The only one who seemed to stay the healthiest was Liam, thank goodness!

Nathan while you were sick it was different seeing you as a quiet, snugly boy. Your daddy and I would have enjoyed it more, had it not been for you feeling bad. :(

Nathan: Your vocabulary and sentences are becoming more and more defined. Your daddy and I are shocked how well we can communicate with you sometimes. And you are funny as well! Some of your thoughts are quite funny to us. Plus you are recognizing emotions in others. You love it when we are really really happy and ask us when we smile if we are. The same is true of sad & mad, but you don't like it if we are sad and mad and ask us to be happy again. You are my sweet boy. 

Liam: You are getting so big! As I write this now that we are ending October, you have grown out of your 3 months clothing and are wearing more 6 month clothing. I think any day now you are going to fully roll over, you only roll to your side currently. You still don't like being on your tummy, and your brother didn't either. But I know it will be old hat to you soon after you start rolling over, if you are anything like he was. Another thing I love is how vocal you are and your agreeable disposition. You started laughing last month in September and its the sweetest sound! 

Back in September, Momma started designing again for her company and it's been an adjustment having both boys to take care of and work some each day. Gotta love the extra money though! We took a visit to my office and showed off the family to everyone. Nathan you were quite the handful, but most everyone laughed at all your shenanigans! You especially loved Irma, she gave you lots of candy and a sweet little flower toy to take home.

Family picture time!

Our family is growing up so fast so we decided to get some professional photos done of the four of us. It was such an experience, especially getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time. Nathan, you were so excited to travel to the city of Denton where we met our photographer and long time friend, Michelle. We ate square puff pastry with all kinds of yummy toppings and ran around the park outside the courthouse. Nathan, you were unable to stop moving and didn't look towards the camera, but we got some great shots despite the challenges!

Spending time together!

You've been spending more time with your grandparents lately. We love dropping you and your brother off One Sunday we left you at your Gigi and Grandpa's house for a couple hours. You and your brother got to go to their block party. While you were there you had fun playing with some boys about your age and even rode a scooter! Liam - you had a difficult time and ended up ruining 2 outfits and Gigi's outfit before we even walked out the door. Oh well! At least you look cute in a diaper, which is all you wore to their party.

There were many other visits to Mimi and Bum's house as well. Nathan, you love playing with the frogs and cars. Liam, you love being held by Mimi and playing games with her. 

October festivities!

We had so much fun attending the Calloway's Fall Kids Fest. Nathan, surprise, you loved running around the nursery and wanted to pick flowers for Momma. It was hard to make you understand that those were not the flowers you could pick. I enjoyed following you around and watching you discover things. You were not interested in the crafts but they let us take a small pumpkin  home that you hastily scribbled on for decoration. We will carve it later! Liam - you are still kinda a bump on a log. Not quite ready to sit against pumpkins and take pics, but we tried our hardest. You loved watching your brother though!

The next event was a visit to Hall's Pumpkin Farm. It was loud, crowded and both of you boys weren't up for pictures. We muddled through a half hour and got done what we could. Next year we will try to go on a less busy day like in years past. Nathan, all you wanted to do was the push pedal tractor ride, but you are still too little for it. I'm hoping next time you will be able to enjoy yourself more.

  This year Nathan - you are a frog. Its an animal that you love to imitate, so I thought it would be perfect.

Liam - you are a spider. You do not like your costume, it scares you to be wrapped up in it. So the few pics we have of you in it were hard to get. However, you don't mind being next to it! Your daddy this year is a ghostbuster/pest control guy to fit with our small animal theme.