Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween. On Friday, Nate and I took the kids alone to the Oregon City business trick-or-treat downtown. It was completely overwhelming for Baron. Baron had been practicing Trick-or-Treating for about a week and was prepared for that part of it, but he was not prepared for all the weird people walking around in costumes (neither were his parents!). We figure it was a good way to get Baron "warmed up."
On Sunday (the actual date of Halloween) we went to a nearby city for their festival which is designed for young children and it was much more fun! The Trick-or-Treating was "self-serve" and only has about 15 places to get candy. There was also a puppet show, fire truck and police car for other options of entertainment. It was perfect and we enjoyed every minute of it!
Here is Baron getting ready in the parking lot. The wide hips on his Elephant costume did not fit in his carseat (actually it just wasn't safe, but we told him they didn't fit).

He was stunned at first - buckets full of candy and his parents were telling him it was okay to reach in and grab some!

It didn't take long for him to get the hang of it. I was surprised that Baron (and most other children) were only taking 1 piece per bucket. Baron was also picking candy that I let him eat (like Smarties) even though there were much better selections in the bucket.

Once he had visited all the buckets he wanted to go back, but we told him he already had enough candy. He started to examine it...

and then decided to sit about 5 feet away from the Trick-or-Treating to start eating it. This picture cracked me up because he was really unsure about the toothbrush that made it into his bucket!

Looking for approval...

Our little Elephant and Pumpkin!

The Family.

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa.

Watching the puppet show with Grandpa. This was Baron's favorite part of the day. When it was over, he was sad! He kept saying "more please, more please, MORE PLEASE!" Finally we had to explain that the puppets had to go home and take naps.

Waiting in line for his sticker from the fireman. He didn't want to climb in the fire truck.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for celebrating with us (2nd year in a row) and holding Baron during the entire puppet show!

The Magic of Velcro

Both sets of grandparents gave Baron toys for his play kitchen for Halloween. I found it interesting that both sets of toys had velcro on them. One of them is an adorable cookie baking set. The cookies use velcro to stick to the cookie sheet and the frosting uses velro to stick to the cookies. The other toy set is a bunch of veggies and fruit that are cut in half. The velcro holds them together and it came with a knife and cutting board. Baron has been making alot of salads and fruit salads for me lately! The best part of all this velcro? It keeps all the pieces together when I clean up! My mind is spinning...what else can I put velcro on?

This was too sweet to leave out. Harper would much rather sleep in arms during the day than a crib. She doesn't want to miss anything - especially when we have company!

Halloween Cookies - A Flip Book

I decided to post all of the pictures from our cookie making night. The expressions on Baron's face tell the entire story. Enjoy!

The Protector

Gus is Harper's protector. He helps keep a safe distance between her brother and her at times. In fact, I have seen Baron fall on Gus and as a result missed falling on his sister (thank goodness!). He also lays outside her door when she is sleeping in her room. I don't remember him doing this when Baron was young, but it always amazes me how intuitive and gentle he is with the kids.

Happy Girl

Can you guess who the happy girl is? It's me, not Harper! Harper is starting to enjoy the bath more and more, but it is her mommy who loves it the most. The reason: Harper sleeps sooooo well after a bath which means mommy gets to sleep too!

Switching things up

We did a little switch up tonight. It is amazing how something so small can be so hilarious to a toddler. Harper managed to show her usual amount of excitement about the change.

Seaside

We spent a few days with Nana (aka Nannie) and Papa Weber in Seaside, OR. We had beautiful weather and alot of fun. Baron loved the beach and the sand, but I managed to forget my camera every time we were getting ready to go out. I wish I had pictures of Baron falling in the water the first night, Nana and Baron running from waves and water rushing up Nana's legs, Baron and Nana sitting in the sand making turtles and airplanes, Baron watching birds in amazement and slight fear, and the beautiful sunsets. I have the memories in my head though. I did manage to capture a few of my other favorite moments.
Papa and Baron sharing the famous Animal Cookies.

Nannie and Baron having morning coffee. This is now an everyday morning request (that is not met.) Who wouldn't want to drink warm water with flavored creamer?!

The boys in the stroller. I received some of the craziest looks when I was pushing the boys by myself and had Harper in the carrier on my chest.
Harper and Caleb playing on the floor. It just shows what a difference 2.5 half months makes in a baby.

Baron playing with Caleb. Caleb loves to scream when he is excited. One of my favorite memories was when Baron was supposed to be going down for a nap and Caleb was playing in the living room. Every time Caleb would scream there would be an echo scream through the baby monitor. Not only does Baron mimic us, he also mimics babies!

Nana having breakfast with both boys on her lap. Actually I think she was letting Susie and I eat our breakfast!

Thanks for a great time Nana and Papa!

Reserved

Harper reserves her smiles for special moments, but when she smiles it is BIG! This is the "Daddy-just-took-my-diaper-off-aghhhhh" smile.

12 Weeks

Where has the time gone? I am in shock that my baby girl will be 3 months old soon. She has grown so much. I was looking at a picture from the hospital and my hand was larger than her back. That is no longer the case. I am guessing she is about 13 or 14 pounds now. She seems very long to me. I used to lift her up to burp her and she would be this little ball on my chest. Now I have to put her head up on my shoulder and her feet touch my legs. Harper is a serious little girl and saves her smiles for the changing table and her brother. The camera does not amuse her. Apparently the fact that we sit her next to "Butch" does not amuse her either.

Bath Time!

I am dreaming of the day when we can bath them together. Bath time is not my favorite time of day unless I am the one in the bath with much hotter water, a book and no children. It is nearly impossible to keep Baron out of the bath once we put Harper in, but it is still not safe to have them in there together. Baron slips and slides all over, splashes and squirts water out of toys when he is in the bath. Harper leaves the bath over stimulated and in shock like she just experienced a natural disaster.

It was still worth a picture even though I had to do some terrible editing before I posted it :)

Mimic

Baron was eating his breakfast with us this morning. He wants to do everything we do. Most of the time this is a good thing, like this morning when he wanted to read the paper with us. It wasn't a good thing last night when he wanted to drink beer like daddy.

Having a Ball!

They were playing in the balls, but by the time I took a picture I realized that Harper had found something very interesting on the ceiling and Baron had found nail clippers to use on his sister.

Pumpkin Patch

It was a beautiful fall day today. Luckily Nate was able to get off work early so as soon as he got home we put the kids in the car and went to a pumpkin patch that is very close to our house. It is actually a nursery where I get my flowers in the summer. We want to go to a patch where you actually picked your own pumpking, not the kind where they are picked and just sitting around in the grass for people to pick out (this is typical around here). However, I learned why they have those kind of pumpkin patches....vines are extremely hard for a child to walk in. Baron fell about 10 times, but he didn't care. He even had a nice red scratch across his face, but he had no idea. He was having too much fun walking in the dirt to notice.
Action shot of Baron falling and eating dirt.

The pumpkins were a little green still which is not surprising. They also had u-pick produce and their tomatos were fairly green. It just doesn't seem to be the best year for produce.

Harper was with us, but it was hard enough to take pictures of Baron and hold her and walk amongst the vines. So I asked her in the car what she thought of the pumpkin patch...

That much fun, huh?!

Good Morning!

Baron was the last one up this morning (typical). He wanted a lazy start to the day so Harper, Hat (Cat in the Hat who he now sleeps with) and him laid in bed this morning for about 10 mintues. I love mornings because I am refreshed, the kids are well rested and we have the entire day ahead of us.

11 Weeks Old

I was playing dress up today with Harper. I love this dress and it was a hand-me-down from a friend. I think if I get a long sleeve shirt under it and some tights we might be able to wear it some more. It was actually warm enough today to wear it, but this is not typical of October.

Love

Dear Harper,

I hope that someday you read this blog so that you will know just how much your brother loves you. He has been excited about you since the day we brought you home. He loves to hold you on the boppy pillow. He loves to pretend to nurse you. He offers you snacks multiple times a day and I have to remind him that you only drink mommy's milk. He entertains you with silly dances, songs and by waving toys in your face (I try to keep them a safe distance, but in all honesty you have been nailed a few times by stuffed animals). He tells you about the animals on your bouncer chair because he loves to say the word elephant. He tries to climb in the bathtub when we are bathing you because he wants to play with you so badly. He tells everyone in the grocery store and at the park that your name is Harper (most people aren't asking, but he'll talk to anyone). Every time he wakes up in the morning or from a nap he asks where you are if I am not holding you. When you start to cry, he has tears well up in his eyes because he knows you are not happy.

Even though he has attempted to hit you once (even though he was mad at me), tells you that you are all done eating when he wants my attention and is completely jealous that I let you sit on the counter in your swing, he still loves you more than I could have ever imagined.

Love, Mom