more Halloween pics...

Halloween Carnival

The Halloween Carnival was fun for kids, but needed adult beverages to help pass the time! Basically, you walk your child(ren) around and wait in long lines to play games. The prizes were yucky plastic toys that "magically" disappeared by the time we got home. Emmett was especially good at throwing spiders thru a pumpkin cutout. He made all but one! The lady running the game was pretty impressed, as was the proud pappa! At least there was no wind or weather to deal with. Today it is so windy that Jolene and I are staying home for trick-or-treating. Emmett and Luke are going to walk around for a block or so and then call it a night.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

15 weeks and counting...

Jolene is growing like crazy these days. Holding her head up, wanting to sit/stand all the time and soon we start cereal! Her first Halloween will be pretty uneventful, but the pictures will be
cute.

Halloween eve

Last night, Luke, Emmett and I carved pumpkins for the first time. Emmett did not like getting his hands dirty and wound up being scared of the lit up pumpkin. I did not realize that he was going to be scared of the pumpkins, hence the scarier looking of the two. Emmett liked putting stickers on the pumpkin the most. He is pretty proud of his creation. We had a great time and the toasted seeds turned out delicious!

Today, we went over to Darby and Cooper's house for a Halloween tea party. It was pretty cute and they had sandwiches cut into ghosts and pumpkins. I think Emmett loved the chocolate cupcakes the best. It was a fun idea and a great nap maker(those kids play hard when they get together!). Emmett is out like a light and resting up for the Halloween carnival at the rec center tonight.

getting ready for Halloween

It's snowing...it must be getting close to Halloween! I "finished" Emmett's costume this afternoon. Originally, he was going to be a super hero and I had bought material to make a cape. The easier answer was a race car driver. Emmett is super excited to be a race car driver. "Best costume ever!" he says(a little premature, don't you think? It's only his second costume!). It is a pair of footed pajamas that don't fit him anymore so I cut the feet out and sewed them up. Easy. Done. I am sure there are a lot more costumes in the future that won't be so easy, so I'll take it this year.

Joey was making the funniest noises over the monitor during her nap, so I went in to check it out. I had run and grab the camera to document the first of many good dreams. She was laughing and grinning ear to ear. Never woke up. and it was probably her longest nap yet.

Welcome Sydney!

We would love to welcome Sydney Kate Canales to the world. She was born on Thursday, October 22nd and weighed in at 6 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches long. Everyone is healthy and happy to be at home. We can't wait to meet you, little Sydney! and welcome to Big Brother-hood, Jack!

A glimmer of hope

Emmett has started to show some interest in the potty again. After talking with my girlfriend Jessica, I decided to try a different and new(maybe exciting to little one!) approach. Emmett got to watch cartoons in the living room on his potty. He was happy to give up his diaper and watch Halloween cartoons after we had lunch today. He sat there(on and off) for over two hours. Emmett had ring-around-the-butt he enjoyed his new "seat" so much. Not a drop off anything. So at naptime, he got a diaper and went down for his nap. I headed down to the treadmill to begin my workout and only ten minutes after I diapered my two year old, down the stairs comes Emmett. "Momma, I pooped my diaper!" He is, in every sense of the term, a stinker. He basically waited until he was in a diaper to poop. With that kind of control, he is definitely able to use the big boy potty- in my opinion. We are starting Potty Boot Camp on Sunday with a potty video, chart, stickers, prizes and Halloween Candy. Here's to no more adult poop diapers! Wish us luck.

Jolene is growing by leaps and bounds. She loves to try and stand, she's chatting(found her voice last week!), happily lays on her belly, and is fastly approaching time for cereal. Can you believe 3 months has come and will go just as fast!?

Fun pictures

My mom just sent Jolene a new blanket and it's so adorable! I couldn't resist using it for pictures this morning. Jolene is doing pretty well at lifting her head. (Don't mind the video! She'd just eaten! and babies spit up. deal with it.) We are very lucky to have two very beautiful kids. and I love taking pictures of them!

Pumpkin Patch

Courtney and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and take the kids to the pumpkin patch that we visited last year. The frost had caused some problems for the gardener, Rick, so he piled up the pumpkins that made it thru the cold spell. Not much of a patch, but the kids had a great time picking out their pumpkins. Rick walked them thru the corn field to get to the patch and then the hunt began. It was very short. I think Emmett chose the first one he saw and the girls pretty much did the same. Courtney and I had dressed the kids in their Halloween clothes to take pictures, but we both forgot to take off their coats before doing so! Oh well, I'm sure we'll get another chance. (Like on the couch, where it is warm and they don't need coats!)

Bad weather

We made another trip to Denver to see Dayven inducted into the Colorado School of Mines Hall of Fame. Luke and his folks went to the reception and cheered him on. Emmett and Jolene and I got to spend some time with my mom and one of the nights I went to a great sushi dinner with Chrissy, Nina and Angie. Luke and his folks, and I and the kids met up for brunch at Aunt Donna and Uncle Bob's on Saturday morning. Always great to see the family! The weather did not cooperate for the pumpkin festival we planned afterward, but we got to have a quick lunch with friends at the Canales household. Emmett loved getting to play with Jack, Aidan, and Ryleigh. Shawna was in town so I also got to have a mini-reunion with a few Alpha Phis. It was a great break from reality until we tried to head home. The road closed as we sat in traffic on icy roads. We decided to play it safe and head back up to mom's and try again the next day. Monday came and it was like de ja vu. Icy roads, slow speeds and this time we decided to push through. We were grateful to finally make it home but it made for a tough way to start the week and end a trip.