Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

This has been the holiday that never ends. It started with a Halloween themed playgroup last Wednesday (of which I already posted pics). The next event was the party at Wesley's preschool. He was the cutest cowboy EVER! And Wes is a pretty good cowboy name if you ask me.

I was one of the parents that helped with the party. It's always fun to get an inside view of your kids at school. Wes is a pretty good boy.

The next event was on Friday -- the Trunk or Treat at our church. Behold the fabulous costumes! (notice Wesley had a costume change, also notice the super cute bags my sisters sent) Not sure who that guy in the suit is!

Cruella and her puppies!

(Yes, this is the third time we've done this, I couldn't resist)

Dillon had a blast with the donuts. I think he ate FIVE!

Trunk to trunk is so much faster than door to door.

The most exciting thing on Saturday is that I let the boys wear their costumes to the grocery store. The next holiday event was on Sunday -- our little tradition of Dinner in a Pumpkin. It turned out pretty awesome this year. And my sweet friends added a delicious salad and absolutely beautiful homemade rolls to the menu (I should have got a picture of those). Dessert was pumpkin bars and Carmel Apple Cider! YUM!

While the pumpkin was cooking we had some fun carving pumpkins.

Dillon loves playing with the seeds.Awesome dad! Great picture!

The finished products

The fun continued today. We ran over to Dillon's school to see him in the parade.

Caleb enjoyed the show!

And later we all headed out to Trick or Treat. This is a shot of some of the neighborhood kids.

Wesley loved the whole thing. He kept yelling things like "I got another one of these kinds!"

We were significantly slower than the older neighborhood kids and ended up venturing on our own back toward the house.

Dillon and Wesley were great.

Cute puppy in the stroller

All in all, it was a great Halloween. I can't believe the holiday season is on its way!

Six Months Old!

Caleb is 6 months old today! Wow, this is going fast! I took lots of naked baby pics this month so we can remember his awesome rolls! He continues to be so smiley! Everywhere we go people comment how he is such a happy baby. He's making more noises. Grunting, sighing, moaning, whimpering, etc. He is especially vocal when he eats and boy, does this boy LOVE to eat! He's had rice cereal, squash, peas, beans, bananas, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and carrots. We just introduced puffs which is great since he just wants something in his mouth all the time. He needs to hurry and get some teeth so he can really have fun. When he wants something in his mouth, he smacks his lips and has even figured out how to click his tongue. We're working on the sleep thing. He was getting tricky, so here's how it works now. I always give him the option to be rocked to sleep, but if he fights me at all, he goes into the crib and gets to figure it out on his own. We did that a few times and he hardly ever fights me now. He'll take the cuddling (and I like it too!). This is another time he has become more vocal. As he relaxes he usually whimpers or groans a little. Sweet! We've had to do some middle of the night crying too. If he wakes up any time between 8 PM and 4 AM, he gets to cry himself back to sleep. After that, I'll usually give in. Last night he slept from 8:30 to 6AM. I went in then, let him eat, and he went right back to sleep until almost 8:00. I'll take it. Eventually we'll have to get rid of that early morning snack.

This was probably the last time I put him on the bed. He is rolling all over the place now. And he rotates on his stomach real fast. He does this funny thing I call 'beached whale' where he leaves his tummy on the ground but everything else is moving --legs and arms flapping all over. He's a pretty restless little dude, constantly moving. It's a rare moment when he just sits still on your lap.

He's also just started making the funniest face, usually when he is upset or tired. He squints his eyes shut while he whines. He usually points his face straight up and arches his back too. Funny boy.

Caleb can sit all by himself now. Eventually he'll fall over, but it takes a while. He looks like a little Buddha here.

We went to a Halloween playgroup today. I have another costume planned for our church party on Friday night (family theme), but I had to try this one out. And I must say, he is the cutest giraffe I have ever seen, although he is the last person that should be dressing as a tall, thin, long-necked animal -- I don't think he even has a neck!

Unfortunately things went down hill after the playgroup. I had Wesley hold him on his lap for less than one second and he pretty much just let go. Poor Caleb flopped right off the chair and face planted onto the hard wood floor. He and I had blood all over and I was sure he'd broken his nose or something. (We'll have to see how my shirt weathered) Aaron reassured me that there is no way he could break a bone in that face. It is way too padded. But his face was a little puffier than usual and he hasn't been his happy self, so I didn't take any more pictures today.

But we sure do love our little man. Here's a little video of his cute giggles. He loves playing with Daddy!

Stats about three weeks ago:

18lbs 13 oz -- 86th percentile

26.75 inches -- 76th percentile

Head 44.5 cm -- 82nd percentile

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken this last weekend. It was a gorgeous day to be outside -- so lucky! Before heading out, we took a few at the house...

Tickle Caleb!!

Then we headed out into the beautiful day, to a nearby park/forest preserve.

LOVE this one!

I am so mad Wesley is hiding in this one. Otherwise it would be perfect! That's what happens when we tell him to snuggle in close.

Gotta love silly pics!

For trying to get 5 people all looking the same direction with a decent smile, I think we did fine. I'm so grateful for family.

Fun with Friends

Our friends moved to Texas two years ago, and we finally got to see them again, thanks to a medical conference here in Chicago. Unfortunately the whole family couldn't come, but we still had lots of fun with just Leanna and Mike. And because they didn't have their own kids around, they had time to really entertain our boys. Dillon and Wesley LOVED it! I think Dillon might have a little crush on Leanna, it's cute. They were nice to put up with all the craziness our boys have to offer. Their first night here, we went to a Keith Urban concert. I got the tickets for Aaron's birthday last month. It was awesome!!!!!

He was so entertaining. So smiley too. And I had no clue what an incredible guitarist he is. AMAZING!!! Even if you don't like country, you'd love listening to him because he is just so darn talented. And he totally worked the crowd. At one point he pulled 3 people on stage and had each of them sing the chorus of the song by themselves. Then we "voted" which one was the best. This guy was the winner. You could tell he was having a ball! Keith also went out into the crowd several times and even signed the guitar he was playing and handed it to a young girl.

My sister loves Nicole Kidman and asked if he deserves her... Absolutely! It's probably against the rules to video, but I grabbed just a 5 second one to give ya the idea. It was such a fun night and I'm thrilled we got to go. Go Keith Urban!!!

We also had some Chicago style pizza while they were here.

Gotta love the cheese!

We played late night games, did a little shopping and ate lots of chocolate while they were here, but the best time looked like this...

My boys love "Aunt" Leanna and "Uncle" Mike.

We also love singing with these two, so since I was in charge of sharing time in primary on Sunday, we threw together a 4 part arrangement of "Pray in Faith". It turned out pretty good for the amount of time we spent and I just love singing with them. I feel like Leanna and I blend like sisters!

We're going to have to make sure it's not another 2 years before we see them again. Thanks for coming! And thanks for entertaining our boys. We love you and miss you already!