October in Pictures

It's the middle of December. And almost Christmas. I gotta get our October pictures up so *maybe* I can post about November before we hit the holiday travel trail!

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Both kids are awesome snugglers. They both need some "snug snugs" after waking up both in the morning and after nap time. I don't mind one bit.

Happy 7th anniversary to us! I got Tom (doesn't he look so handsome in that pic?!) some super yummy coffee (we had it at a recent Embassy Suites and both fell in love) and he got me a delicious Edible Arrangement that little Missy Sue there in the middle stayed up late to partake in. He added chocolate covered apples for an extra ridiculous price and it was SO WORTH IT. They were so good.

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for a quick visit, which is always a highlight. Grandpa brought his super glue to fix a few projects, during one of which, Gwendolyn asked him, "you sure this is gonna work, Grandpa?" and mom hemmed our curtains that I'm certain would have hung un-hemmed for many, many, many more months if she hadn't noticed. They're both so good like that. 

"Brother, can I have a kiss kiss please? Can I have a kiss kiss?"

And then he obliged. Per usual.

When one does something, almost always the other one decides that's what they'd like to do as well.

Working on the letter A. I love our preschool curriculum b/c I'm not that creative and it gives me fun and simple ideas for helping her get familiar with her letters....like gluing Cherrios on an "A"!

(Conrad was just eating them.)

I was finally able to go out to dinner with Margie and Amanda. It was long overdue and we really needed another hour or two to cover all we probably could have talked about. Margie had another little boy November 5th - so exciting!

We've all been pregnant together at the same time for all previous kiddos. Amanda, however, decided not to join in on the fun this time around, but with three little girls under the age of five, who can blame her....

That girl would sleep and sleep and sleep at nap time if we let her. But we don't. She's often woken up a short little boy who climbs up on her bed and rolls all over her. He literally can not wait until she wakes up and I often have to go bring him back down the stairs multiple times b/c he's snuck up them yet again wanting to go get her. 

We don't go often anymore, but drop-in play time on Friday mornings is a great way to get out of the house, interact with other kids, and burn some energy.

Happy Halloween! 

We tried out the Monster Mash at the high school and probably won't ever go again...the prizes were nothing to get excited about and there was no candy to be found. Anywhere. (Trust me, I looked.) But at least we tried it out. And the kids looked adorable. Gwendolyn tried out a ring toss, bowling (you only get three tries and then you get a pencil!), face painting, and the bouncy house, which she lasted all of two seconds in. Her favorite part was the story area where the high schoolers were reading Halloween themed books appropriate for little ones. She could have sat there all night. Oh, and I guess we did enjoy the live music. He was quite entertaining and the kids showed us their best moves.

Gavin and Gwendolyn

Hailey and Conrad

Next up....the pumpkin patch to select the BEST and PERFECT carving pumpkin!

He tried so hard to life several of them. And then he just took a seat.

We found the perfect pumpkin!

Making their way through the straw maze...

Trader Joe's sold a Halloween haunted house this year....adorable and the perfect family activity.

If Conrad looks a bit upset (red eyes) it's because he was. He just reeeeally wanted to eat some of that yummy house.

Tenley came over one Sunday night so her mommy and daddy could go to a fundraising dinner. Gwendolyn was off on a date with Daddy so it was just the three of us. 

These two are seriously two peas. 

"Hey."

"Oh, you put this in your mouth? Ok, I"ll try that too."

When one stopped playing with something and moved on to something else, the other one did immediately as well.

"Here you go, Tenley. You can play with this car."

Getting into the "lid draw" in the kitchen.

Gwendolyn knew Tenley was at our house so when Daddy gave her the option of hitting up McDonald's for dinner or heading home to see Tenley before she went to bed....guess what she picked?

Heading home for 20 minutes with Tenley....

Daddy is carving and Sissy is painting!

The one time a princess, a dinosaur, and a pink bunny all went trick or treating in the freezing cold and still loved every minute of it.

Waiting patiently....

Their new favorite activity...."wrestling".

Playing outside with Daddy while mommy was at a shoot.

Watching a Superbook movie together.

(Notice her hand on his head.)

We had some absolutely fabulous weather and loved playing outside.

Love his hands. He's like Gwendolyn....he didn't want to touch the leaves in order to get up.

Love his picture of him b/c it's so Conrad....

Reading books...can't get enough books!

Love this picture....he's such an amazing dad.

20 weeks pregnant!!

That's a good looking crew right there!

Gwendolyn:

She wrapped up another 8-week round of swimming lessons and did so well. She never complains or hesitates to get right in the water. And boy was it nice that she finally was old/ready enough for an instructor led class! That water is cold!

We had our first (probably won't be the last) big mess. I know kids will be kids and we're all sinners, but I never would have expected her to do something so naughty. Natalie had to remind me that she's THREE and apparently this is what three year olds do......they get into things they know they shouldn't when mommy isn't looking and occasionally do naughty things. She certainly has her 3-year old moments, but this type of thing really caught me off guard b/c I've trusted her so much since she was newly 2 years old. I was putting Conrad down for a nap and came into her room to finish putting her down and up she pops from the corner (clearly hiding) with a little smile on her face. Neither of us smiled for long.

I can handle the various shades of eye liner on her face, but the teeny tiny little itsy bitsy bottle of sample liquid foundation she dug out of the bottom of my make up bag on our cream carpet, white velvet headboard, and white dry clean only Pottery Barn black out curtains was a whole other story. I'm so overwhelmed by those stains I have to deal with them two months later. Ha.

We had a good come to Jesus talk and her Barbies were taken away for a couple of weeks. I think she learned her lesson, and it was a good opportunity for mommy to get some practice in patience and forgiveness.

It's just carpet and it's just a curtain.

It could be much worse.

She's just a toddler.

We're all sinners in need of grace. Lots of grace.

Later that evening, we were best friends again.

I hadn't planned on washing windows this particular Saturday, but when she asked me if she could help me clean, I thought it was the perfect job for her little hands. She's definitely my little helper. (She even takes things sitting on the steps upstairs without being asked!)

Only a few minutes after this picture was taken, Conrad walked over and licked the window. Nothing stays clean long around here.

Waking up is hard.

"I'm still a little bit sleepy," she said as she stretched on our bedroom floor.

Conrad:

He absolutely kills me.

The kid seriously has the best personality.

Trying on the same costume Sissy wore when she was Conrad's age. It was definitely bigger on her.

Looking so handsome after church.

"Mom, can you pleeeeeease get this pink sleep sake off of me so I can play with my toys."

That would be a picture of Tom as a baby compared to Conrad. I see differences, but a lot of similarities as well. Love it!

Love.cute.hand.me.downs.

What is it about sleeping children that makes a mommy's heart melt?

He's SO much fun in the bath tub! I will admit I rarely give the kids their baths, but I LOVE hearing them laugh and giggle from downstairs when they're up there with daddy.

He's always coming up to us and randomly hugging our legs. Sometimes he goes between all three of us multiple times. That little boy has a lot of love to give.

So thankful for his love of books!

October really was a great month. We did a ton of fun family things and got a weekend away to celebrate our anniversary, which was so fantastic. I had five super manageable shoots so wasn't overwhelmed and missing out on great fall weather like I was in 2013. It was the perfect balance and such a gift from God. I've learned how vital it is that I protect our family time and it made all the difference.