Halloween Fun...a little late

We celebrated Halloween several times this year. It was so much fun dressing up my two little cats! Alex was a "french maid cat?"...not really sure what she was exactly, but it was adorable. Carson was the cutest 1 month old tigger I've ever seen :)

Here are a few pics from our Pumpkin Carving day at the Monasmith's home:

Alex, Ethan, Grace, Tyler, Mason, Sam and Abbi all had a blast carving pumpkins. They did a great job! Click on this picture- it's hilarious.

We also went to a fun Halloween play date at Jaime's house:

Mommy & Carson "Tigger"

Alex & Kaitlyn. Our adorable cats!

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I HATE this!!!!!!

Ahh...that's better!

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Do I HAVE to hold him mom? UGH!

A sweet picture of brother & sister after bribing with candy

Finally, we finished up at BB & YaYa's new house for Halloween night. They now live in Tour 18, which is an unbelievable neighborhood on a golf course. These people went ALL out! I can't imagine what Christmas will be like, but we will definitely be over for a visit. Alex had so much fun trick-or-treating. She would go up to the door and yell "Happy Happy-Ween!" and "Where's my prize candy treat?!" So cute! She ran from home to home and her little tutu was bouncing all over the place. She was in heaven! We really enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with my parents as well. Here are a few pics from the evening:

Check out my loot

Cutie trying to reach the doorbell all by herself. She is Miss Independent!

Alex & YaYa

Almost 3 weeks later, and Alex is still asking us "Is it trick-errr-treat ta-day?"

Carson month 2: October 2 - November 2

October was a very busy month for our family, especially considering we just had a baby! We were brave and got out a LOT this month! It's really so different the second time around. Poor Carson is just along for the ride, but he seems to love staying busy. The changes this month were really evident. I can't believe how much he's grown and developed in just one short month. Here is a pic at 5 weeks:

During his 5th week, we started putting him down for naps and to sleep at night in the crib. He did great with the transition. We all started sleeping better...except for mommy the first two nights as she was basically glued to the monitor :)

By his 6th week, we started getting smiles all the time! Ahh-- it's the best! Your baby goes from a sweet blob to a smiling little guy! It makes you feel a bit more appreciated. HA! He weighed 11lbs., 8 oz. already at just 6 weeks old. What a big boy!

He is so precious and truly smiles anytime you look at him.

We got out for several play dates and of course for Halloween (Mom still hasn't posted those pictures. What a slacker!) Here are a few pics from our October adventures:

Sweet bath time picture

At the Monasmith's for pumpkin carvings

At the Basden's for a fun play date. Carson was the only guy! Poor thing!

A sweet pic with mommy

At 8 weeks, he started his 5-6 hour sleep stretches. YAY! He's doing a great job with that, we just wish it was overnight rather than 8pm-1am, but we will take what we can get!

Carson also had his first round of shots at his 2 month check-up. He weighed in at 12lbs., 1oz. He is in the 68% for weight, 35% for length, and has been feeling SO much better! The chiropractor has been amazing and the dairy elimination has really seemed to help with his breathing and reflux.

Here is a picture just moments after his shots....what a rock star :)

Pics of the Kids-- Rachel & Sally visit

One of my best friends, Rachel, came to visit October 15-17. Rachel was the maid-of-honor in our wedding, we were roommates in college and we cheered at Baylor together. We have quite a history. She just had her son, Elijah, in April. For ten years we have talked about becoming mommies and having our kiddos play together. We finally got that opportunity! And what's great is that we both have sons that are so close in age. Rachel was such a huge help. She bought groceries and cooked us meals, brought gifts for the kids and watched Carson while I took Alex to the Pumpkin Patch. I am SO thankful for Rachel!!! A bonus...she is an amazing photographer and just started her own photography business. She brought her entire studio up to take some pictures of the kids.

On Friday, Sally, another one of our best friends came in with her son, Jackson. Sally also lived with us in 3-D at the Centre :) She and Jackson drove all the way from Waco and brought us lunch. Jackson is 2, so he and Alex had a blast together! It was so much fun being with my best friends and their kids. A bit surreal that we are all moms! Here are a few shots from Rachel's photo shoot.

Jackson & Alex...are they CUTE or what?!

What's so funny?
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Alex-- 3 1/2 years old

Carson-- 6 weeks

What a "crack" up!

I love the innocence of children. She had no idea that her complete hiney was hanging out for the world to see-- she was too busy coloring. I just had to post this because we fell out on this one! HA!

Kellah, the amazing butterfly!

Our family had an amazing experience this weekend! Nathan brought home a Live Monarch Chrysalis (butterfly) that he got from a co-worker. We received the butterfly in the Chrysalis (cocoon) phase. Alex is such an animal lover, we knew she would freak! Over her bed, we have butterflies floating in the air, and butterflies have been her theme since day one. Her preschool is even named The Butterfly School. You get the drift.

Here is what it looked like when Nathan brought it home.



Of course we had to enforce ground rules as Alex would have immediately taken the butterfly away, hidden it, or fed it to one of our dogs.

Alex was amazingly patient. She wasn't allowed to touch any part of the butterfly. It about killed her, but she sat at the table and patiently learned about the process of metamorphosis. A very cool thing to teach as a parent! She decided to name it Kellah (?!) As in the city of Keller in Ebonics? We have no clue where she came up with Kellah, but that is what we named her!

On the card attached, Kellah's due date was October 26. We had Kellah for three days before she hatched. On Saturday morning, we knew she was about ready to go because the Chrysalis turned from a Jade green color to a dark black.



Sure enough, within 12 hours, Kellah was born! (As if this was our child)- ha ha! She was born on October 25, so just one day early. We couldn't believe how big she was! She was absolutely perfect and so beautiful.




Alex was hysterical! "Kellah HATCHED, she did, she did. Momma, the butterfly is heeeerrrreeee." All of us were amazed. Even baby Carson observed the new family member. It's never too early to learn about nature. Check out that huge grin he gave mommy!



Even Macy, our Yorkie, got in on the action. That poor dog has been put through the ringer.



Kellah flew all over the house and played with us for quite a while. We knew the inevitable was coming....the release. The problem is our child has MAJOR separation issues with anything she loves (as all 3 year olds do). We told her over and over "When Kellah hatches we have to let her fly away to find her family." She seemed totally fine with that idea. Note the pouty face picture below. Here are a few pics of us interacting with Kellah outside. We expected her to immediately fly away, but she didn't.




Finally, it was time to say goodbye. We decided to place her on a leaf on the tree in our backyard. We watched her until it got dark and she still hadn't left.

There is quite a bit more to this story.....the video explains everything. Enjoy!

If you are unable to view the video, check it out on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ4Y1sa0dd4

Welcome Parker

Parker is here! One of my dear friends, Ebes, had her precious baby boy on October 20.
I got to go see the family at home tonight. They just left the hospital today. Parker is SO precious. Ebes and I had fun talking about our boys and planning play dates. I am so happy he is here-- what a doll. Carson and Parker are going to have so much fun together and they are only 6 weeks apart!

Happies

* Grey's Anatomy- although the show has jumped the shark, we still love watching it every week. Last week's episode was hilarious. If either of our kids want to become a doctor, we will be sure and steer them away from Dermatology! Eww- Dr. Hahn and Calllie!!! Is that necessary? McSteamy's inappropriate comments are the only reason that relationship is okay.

* Autumn weather- amazing! Now I remember why I got into running. The only perk of winter is snow skiing (and the holidays of course), so I am hoping the weather sticks around for a bit longer. We are spending a lot of time outside and it's absolutely gorgeous!

* Homemade Rice Krispy Treats- I'm cookin' it up again :) Add a layer of peanut butter for extra love.

* Pathology- starring Milo Ventimiglia (from Heroes). Whew, what a jacked up movie! Don't watch this unless you enjoy movies like Se7en and Saw. I was impressed and surprised with this film. Again-- do not watch this unless you are hard core-- ha!

* A smiling baby- Carson is smiling all the time now. It's the best! There is nothing better in the world. When I look in his eyes, he talks to me and and gives the biggest grin. Now I know why the lack of sleep is so worth it!! Is it possible to be obsessed? I may be, because I can't put Carson down!

* HDTV. Yes, I said it. Nathan "surprised" me with an early 30th birthday gift. Isn't that precious?! He called me from work and said "babe, I got you an early 30th birthday gift." I was so excited and trying to figure out what it could possibly be. Then he says "actually I wrecked the car"-- then I hear all of this laughter in the background from his co-workers and he says "okay, seriously, I bought a new TV." Nathan has been waiting for this day for a long time :)
Of course I was excited...it was just hilarious how he presented his case, as if he needed to.
I've learned ALL about the world of Hi Def. If you know how incredibly detail oriented Nathan is, then you know all I heard about this weekend was 1080p. GOOD TIMES!

* My parents-- they are moving into a new home. I am so happy for them! They will be on 2 acres. Alex is going to have a blast running around. It's on a golf course in Flower Mound, so they are closer to us-- yay!

*"Morning Puppy"-- is when Alex comes in first thing in the morning, with her hair all fed up, acting cute and sweet like a little morning puppy. "Gooood morrrrrnin' everybody. Time to wake up." She is so precious and always comes and gets in bed and cuddles with us. What a great way to start out the day. Of course Emmy and Macy are already in bed with us, and then we grab Carson and throw him in to the mix. Our bed has no mas vacancies!