trick o treating

i had to be in this pic, b/c christian wouldn't sit that close to silas with his scary mask on....
dave and i were trying to remember the last time we went trick-or-treating...
needless to say this was the first time in a lonnnnnnng time either of us had gone.
it was fun joining our cousins-- the bee, the lightning bug, and 'Venom'-- around their neighborhood. some of the neighbors sat at the end of their driveways in lawn chairs, with jack-o-lanterns a'blazin, and some even had little campfires going. such a fun way to introduce our boys to the magical fun of the candy hunt. christian was much more interested in observing all of the other neighborhood costumes as they walked by. the thought never crossed his mind that there'd be OTHER kids out there dressed up too. i think he thought it was just us going door to door. so cute.
we don't eat a lot of candy yet, so i think his favorite give-aways were the pretzels, chips and peanuts. one house even gave out bottled water with their bags of peanuts. nice.
it brought back memories for me-- of the early years on Moreland Road. we knew almost all of the people on our street. we knew who gave out the best candy, and even looked forward to the dental hygenist who gave out toothbrushes every year.
we let C have one twizzler from his bag of loot, and he was so sweet about the whole thing. never asked for more than that. never tried to take more candy from the bowl extended to him, said thank you at every house, and was just thrilled with whatever he got.
can he pleeeeeeeease stay 2 forever??

fab fall family fun

we had a wonderful week/end with S,K,W,andW in from chicago! did several fall photoshoots and cannot wait til kel posts them. dave took a ton of video, and i can't wait for that to be edited into a fall video! we visited the park and the pumpkin patch, rode trikes, had lots of good food, took lots of naps, and ran around in the beautiful sunshine. the weather has been amazing! today it got even warmer-- up to 74-- bright and sunny!
this afternoon we took Kyren to his NICU reunion party at Lankenau, and got to see a few nurses and docs and mingle with some other graduates. . . including the twins from Christian's preschool class that we just met in the last month. small world. we were only there for about an hour, but it was such a powerful reminder of how far our little miracle has come in just a year. everyone remembered Kyren-- because of his name, and because he was one of the tiniest tiny's. one doc remembered his strange sores and we showed him the scars. it was a really interesting (almost dream-like) experience to be there, interacting with those people with smiles on all of our faces. the best part was seeing our old favorite nurse, Maureen. she took a pic of us with K, and we took one with her in it too. will try to post it soon.
dave has the next 2 days off, so we are looking forward to an extended weekend after a busy work season at BOA. he is such a hard worker and i'm glad he decided to take some time off. i also really appreciate how sincerely he wants to spend time with my family, as he took friday off too so we could all spend time together. since we don't get to see SKWW too often, it was a sweet thing for him to do.
thursday night we got to visit a new care group (finally, after a long hiatus) and felt really... cared for. :) it was such a blessing to be in fellowship again, and receiving encouragement and prayer from some old and new friends. i haven't always had the best attitude toward such gatherings, and it was refreshing to reconnect and remember why it is important to spend time with our spiritual family. God is so gracious to us!

cut out for fun

so, christian kinda gets the fun of this little game...

kyren, not so much....

Autum snapshots

fall photoshoot at northbrook:

our first family campfire:

the Renaissance fair:

happiest when eating his puffs:

getting too big, too fast:

another week in review

well, dave never did get sick. not sure how. lucky duck.
the cold definitely hung around for the rest of us through this whole week, too.
not sure if Kyren is cutting more teeth simulataneously, but he has not been his usual sweet self. very fussy, clingy, and easily frustrated with life. it's so hard that he can't communicate what and how he is feeling in words.
yesterday we went to get our usual saturday donuts at the orchard, and i realized i didn't really have to wipe any noses during the trip. a first in a long time it seems.
the events of our week began with the threat of having to move in with Gramsy n Poppy, i mean, joy. . .and the potential for it to be for a week or so if indeed our bathroom needed a complete overhaul... which it ended up NOT. darn. so back in we moved the very same day (tho C got a sleepover out of the deal). our bathroom is still torn up (ceilling and part of the walls)...and covered in plastic. but it's usable. unfortunately we discovered that there are bees living somewhere in our walls, and several of them stung our bathroom guy. they apparently don't like being disturbed. we're hoping they are gone by tomorrow when the men return to finish the work. we're also looking forward to hibernation for all creepy crawlies as the ants have found their way back in this week too.
friday we had a really fun field trip to Maris Grove with Nina to see her Grandpop's Train Room. several of the men who live there have gotten together and constructed an entire room of their old model trains from their childhood. complete with tunnels, drawbridges, murals, and miniature/to-scale everything, it's a little kid's wonderland. Christian could have spent several hours just watching and taking in details. he was in awe. and the grandpas were really proud to show it all off to the little guy.
later that day i made a trip to the post office into a field trip as well. one of our local post offices shares a parking lot with the hardware store. always on display outside are several dozen riding mowers, snowblowers, push mowers, etc... every single one of which C had to try out. we went inside to see the chainsaws and weed wackers. and then we walked behind the store where (surprise!) there were full-sized, real life train tracks, with old cabooses resting on them. so of course we had to pretend to drive each one.
this was almost as exciting as a week previous when we got to see an actual freight train pass right before our eyes when we were visiting the local canoe company. it was screechingly loud, and we stood there, holding our ears, mouths agape (well, at least one of us), and eyes wide with delight and amazement.
so i guess we've entered the train phase.
this morning C was actually excited to go to church, and even brought his bubbles to share with the kids who might not be as excited to be there. i can't get over the change in this child. it's like he grew up overnight.
speaking of which, this afternoon we went to cousin Silas's 5th birthday party and watched all of the 5 year old boys be... five. he seemed like such a little guy next to them, and it made me cringe to think of him being that old someday in the not too distant future. he is still so innocent and naive. he wanted to stick close to mommy and watch the big kids, content to still be little. oh how i wish i could bottle it up and keep it forever.
we watched a video tonight of the first week of his life, and i suddenly longed to go back and know him then like i know him now. he was so new then. and tho we loved him, we did not know him like we do now. i felt similar pangs in my heart to the ones i felt at the party. that ache deep inside that time moves too fast and you never get to return to these precious moments of now.
please, please, please let me keep taking it in. every snuggle, kiss and tickle i can get. relish in every "mommy, hold me", while he's still small enough for me to pick up... and while he still wants me to.

ugh... there's that ache again.

Autumn videos

...

New Life Leaf :




Roughin up the little guy:

smilin' smarty pants

week in review

it's been a busy week. i am not sure why though. they say the days are long but the years are short. and often the same is true about weeks. some days drag on and on, and yet it is the weekend again before we know it.

after the torrential rains last week, we started to notice the ceiling and walls of our bathroom were extra 'wet' looking. dave immediately went to the attic to check things out and discovered once again a little hole in the roof where he could see the sky. so now we have a couple days' worth of torrential rains collected in our attic floor and bathroom ceiling. greaaaaaat. the roofer came the next day and the insurance adjuster came a few days later. we have a big deductible, but may end up using some of the money to put toward a whole new bathroom, which we've been wanting/needing anyway. that would be a nice twist of fate!

Christian had his first successful/happy sunday school class, followed by 2 days of excellent preschool experiences. Kyren cut his first tooth without us even knowing it. his only symptom? he slept a lot. hopefully the rest will sneak in as surreptitiously. he has been such a delightful little crawler and cruiser this month. his little personality is so sweet and he is generally so happy and easy to make smile. he will follow us down the hallway, crawling with his little bottom swinging back and forth. and when he comes around the corner and we make eye contact, he gets a HUGE smile on his face and giggles. so precious!!

tuesday night dave and i went to a married couples meeting called 'Spousekeeping'. i really am so grateful for the priority our church puts on marriage, and investing in us as couples. i feel so privileged to be receiving such quality teaching at the beginning of our marriage, rather than after years of mistakes and potential damage. we really are learning how to love each other better, prefer one another, and lay a foundation for our lifetime together.

wednesday night was Open House at C's school, where he got to show us his classroom, introduce us to his teachers and his new friends. it was almost a no-go due to a certain someone waking up from his nap with a barky cough. but he really was no worse off than a bunch of his classmates who appeared to have caught the same germs. ahhh, it begins.

thursday we went to a very fun playground with friend liam and his mommy, and then followed them to Trader Joe's, where liam and Christian had mini-shopping cart races around the store. it was super fun! Jen and i talked about meal planning and she inspired me with how organized she is. i know this may sound incredibly boring to anyone who might happen to be reading this, but to me it was extremely helpful. i've been struggling with my propensity toward procrastination and disorganization. but i really do desire to be more productive and organized. looking forward to getting a little moreso in the coming weeks.

by thursday night, i had caught the cold, and by this morning so had kyren. poor dave is doomed.

currently we are all snuggling in our bed as i type and Christian begs to watch monster trucks on Youtube.

craving comfort food after making a crockpot full of chilli the other day. perhaps today will be a potato soup of the creamy variety. as soon as i get that dose of energy i need to get out of this snuggly place...