Halloween 2013

We had a pirate and a princess for Halloween, and even Maya seemed to join in the excitement of the night.  As we walked outside in our neighborhood, her feet were kicking away, and she made it up past her bedtime without too much fuss.  We met some new neighbors, said hello to those we knew, and Collin loaded up with candy.

Ahoy, matey.  We made the hook 20 minutes before we left the house and it barely made it outside intact, as Collin was busy banging it around on everything and acting like a crazy pirate. 

 Trick or treat!

She is the happiest baby on the planet!  She is not the lightest-weight (praise God for a healthy baby), so Cas carried her most of the neighborhood, as my bicep started to get sore.  Of course Collin wore out towards the end, so I gave the pirate a piggy back ride home with a foil hook in my face, and should have just stuck with my girl!

Many of the neighbors left out a bucket while they were trick-or-treating, so Collin would take one piece of candy for everyone in the family.

Happy with an arm weighed down with sugar -

 Kicking away back home in her poofy princess dress -

We had a really nice, low-key Halloween in our neighborhood, and we thoroughly enjoyed trick-or-treating as a family of four!

Like Father, like son, like Brownie

The boys finally got a picture in their matching Father's Day shirts.  Though none of these guys loves posing for pictures - Cas limits my number and Collin is being bribed here with dried mangoes - I'm pretty sure they all like the result -

I dressed Maya and me in yellow too, though mine was much more golden and clashing than I realized when I pulled it off the hangar. Still, three smiles on a glorious fall day is not bad -

Happy girl and proud grandpa.  We all prefer Collin's more interactive stage of life, but my dad is just smitten by our little beauty -

Collin and Brownie love tumbling and wrestling, catching lizards and frogs, going exploring and reading books together -

And a few more posed pics in our front yard, the coordinated yellow crew -

Taking this many pictures makes us crazy -

I invited myself into the shot -

Father and son, or Cas and his mini-me

Brother and sister - I'm curious if they'll resemble each other as they grow up.  Right now, the main similarity I see is their baldness as babies, since Collin didn't have much hair until he was 2 1/2 years old -

Swinging and Sitting at the park

My parents came over on a Saturday afternoon to get some grandkid time, and we walked to our neighborhood park with the kids.  The weekend before, we had attended the fall festival and had picked up a postcard from a vendor which I stuck in a little pocket inside the stroller.  When we arrived at the park, we realized Maya enjoyed the postcard, nibbling on the corner of it.

Do you see her black paper mustache?



While Collin showed off for Grammy on the playground, Maya, my dad and I sat in the shade.

Collin flying high -

Swinging with Grammy and laughing away -

Grammy's ears may still be ringing, days later, from Collin's high pitched scream.  She took him to the bathroom where he was excited to hear the echo he could make in the small, concrete room.  Still showing off his vocal chords for Maya - 

Big girl sitting solo with teething toy in hand -

I'm not sure who is happier, Collin who asked us countless times throughout the day when Brownie and Grammy were going to arrive, or my parents, spending a beautiful afternoon at the park with their grandchildren.  

Cas and I went to celebrate our anniversary later that evening, remarking on how fun it is to see our family so delighted by our kids - so we might be the happiest of them all!

Not a fan of her first food

Collin couldn't wait to feed Maya real food, and we all had great expectations of a wonderful first solid food meal for our growing girl.  She was happy when we weren't shoving food in her mouth -

But resisted the spoon when it was filled with rice cereal and avocado -

Not a fan -

When will this end, these people are wasting their time, I'll keep spitting it all back out - 

The next day, the kids and I hit the park.  It was a beautiful, perfect weather day and the park was full on a Friday morning.  Collin wanted to drive us in this big metal jeep, and when I asked him where we were going, he said "heaven."  I suggest Bloomington or New York City or Seattle, but that heaven isn't a place you can drive to, it's where your soul goes when you die.  So we talk about heaven and souls and deep things, before Collin remarks, "But Mommy, we're just going to pretend to drive.  This jeep isn't really going to drive, see the metal poles to the ground."  Clearly over-explaining to my three-year-old!

Maya spent her time practicing sitting on a picnic blanket (it's a towel, we're not classy enough to have a real picnic blanket!) and Collin would stop by for some kisses in between slides.

Back at home Saturday morning, Collin had Maya squealing with delight.  I love watching them play together!

Dressed for our cooler weather -

Still into cars -

Silver and Gold

Maya's closet is STOCKED.  Mostly with hand-me-downs from my wonderfully generous friends, but also with some adorable outfits, many of which were purchased when we needed paper towels at Target but couldn't help but pick up a frilly dress (my mom being the worst perpetrator most generous gifter). 

 

So sometimes, on a Monday morning when we have nowhere to go and no reason to dress up, we have to throw on a cute outfit that is nearing the end of its short life and take some photos.  Silver dress, sparkly tutu, jeggings -

Full, healthy belly, taken mostly to mark the contrast to my lean Collin.

And a few more that Cas snapped after the fall festival over the weekend.  Maya's outfit from my friend Jill is almost too small, but I love all the golds so much I wish it could make it for our family pictures next month.

This boy is so much fun.  He can be so sweet sometimes, telling me that he never wants to hurt my feelings or that he's so glad I'm his mommy -

In a few more weeks, we'll be taking professional pictures and will let Cas join us! 

Fall Fest 2013

Cas and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on Friday.  Cas was out of town during the day, so as I was explaining the significance of the day, I showed the kids parts of our wedding video.  Collin couldn't figure out how all the cousins he knew looked so different and didn't understand where he was in the video - not even in Mommy's tummy.  I was in tears as the video included family members who have passed away.  It was a very dramatic morning.

 

We were delighted to have Cas home that evening, bringing in dinner from one of my favorite restaurants.  One of my friends, Jill, dreamt that Cas took a group of my friends and their husbands with the two of us on an African safari for our 10th anniversary.  The truth was so far from that - but we're hoping to take a vacation - just the two of us - this summer when Maya is finished nursing.

 

Saturday morning, Grammy came to join us for the fall festival at our neighborhood village.  She brought a hat for our little pumpkin -

At the first booth, Collin "won" vampire teeth even though the rings he tossed didn't hit their target - it's a very lenient festival.  They were his "high" of the day -

At the petting zoo -

My mom wanted to make sure she wasn't intruding on a family outing and I laughed, accurately predicting that if she came, Cas would opt out of the festival and relax at home watching college football.  I was thankful she came, took a lot of our pictures, and gave me a much-needed hand.  My mom and Maya, whose hat and general cuteness encouraged lots of "how adorable's" -  

Beyond the teeth, Collin's other highlight was riding in the fire truck -

This was my favorite photo from last year, when it was time to share the fire truck seat -

On a beautiful autumn day, some photos amidst the pumpkins -

Maya's silent pleading eyes -

And this is where we needed Cas - to get Maya's attention off the grass -

She smiles so easily, we are so blessed by her content nature!

And we compete to see who gives her the most kisses throughout the day - she is one loved girl!

Collin led us to the next area and assured us as we waited in line that he was going to be brave and ride on the saddle like the children before him were doing . . . but as we were next in line, he recanted.  And that's how we ended up with my favorite picture of Fall Fest 2013 -