Halloween

We had the most wonderful Halloween. Nicolas was a lion, Adison was a ballerina, Kirsten a cat and Jaden a storm trooper.
We went to church for pizza and a movie and to see all my friend's little kids dressed up - too cute!
Then we went out into the parking lot for 'trunk or treat'. Lots of people with little kids don't want to hassle of going house to house so churches will have lots of cars with the trunks decorated and give out candy. It was perfect for Nicolas and he loved getting candy in his Elmo candy basket.

He was mesmerized by the dancing frankenstein.

Everyone made so much effort with their decorations and we had lots of fun.This was Nicolas' favorite trunk. It was decorated by the sweetest guy who is also Kirsten's Sunday school teacher.

These ladies tried to make Nicolas stick his hand through a sock into a box to get candy and he didn't like it!

These little girls are my friend Andrea's daughters. Kaitlyn, the littlest one, is a week older than Nicolas, and if I could marry Nicolas off at this age to anyone, it would be Kaitlyn, she is just so cute.

Adison was so sweet and happy for most of the time.

After eating large amounts of candy, it was all getting a bit too much for Nicolas.

Adison and I got attacked by a man in a pumpkin outfit.

Adison had been an angel all evening and then as soon as I wanted a picture of me and my babies, she started to cry.

After we got back to the house I bathed Nicolas and Adison and put them to bed while Adam took the kids around the neigborhood. I wished I could have gone with them but it wasn't fair to drag the little ones around more. Nicolas had had more than enough candy and chocolate!

Jaden's friend Blake was a weir wolf. Adam didn't get a picture of him but there is one on the blog from a couple of weeks ago.

Skylar and Eve, the girls next door were also trick or treating in the neighborhood.

Kirsten managed to collect over 10lbs (!!!) of candy tonight. Jaden traded most of his candy for football cards with his friend Blake. Adam and I have also eaten huge amounts of chocolate! It was a very fun night. I can't wait for Adison to be old enough to enjoy it too.

Adison Talking to the Trees

This was a while we were camping and Adison was just so happy talking to the trees!

Nicolas' Playhouse

We are great believers in the barter system and Adam did some work for our neighbor a few months ago, so when he was clearing out his son's toys, he gave us a playhouse!!

I've wanted a playhouse for the kids for ages. I spent today cleaning it and now it's under the dogwood tree in the garden. I can't wait for Kirsten to see it.

Our neighbor also gave Nicolas this wagon which needs it's wheels fixing and a slide that will be perfect for when Adison begins to walk. I feel very luck to have such wonderful friends and neighbors.

Adison at 15 Weeks - Sleeping Through!

I had prepared myself for a difficult baby as Nicolas was so easy, but I never imagined Adison would be such a dream! I had been so tired the last few weeks even though she was sleeping pretty well, but she has slept from 11pm to 7am for the last 6 nights, and I'm feeling much better.

It will take me a few weeks to catch up I think, but I feel so much better already. Nicolas woke up a couple of times last night coughing so he slept until 8am this morning and Adison woke at 6:30am. I was lovely because I fed her in bed with me and then we just snuggled up and went back to sleep for another hour.
Because Nicolas was such a bad sleeper at night I would often bring him in bed in the morning with me and we would go back to sleep for an hour or so. I've never had that chance with Adison because Nicolas is always up and ready to go by 7am, he's not a snuggly child who will cuddle in bed.
My friend Melissa gave Adison this Halloween outfit. It's so cute and she actually really suits orange, which is odd as yellow and red do nothing for her coloring.
All the kids here have orange outfits that they wear around Halloween time, but as I'm still an American Mom in training, our kids don't have seasonal outfits unless someone gives them to me!
We went to Jaden and Kirsten's fall festival on Friday and I'd dressed Adison so she looked adorable. Unfortunately she has these screaming fits where nothing will quiet her and she had one while we were there. It's usually if something scares her and she will scream uncontrollably for about 10 minutes.

She loves to watch what is going on and loves the bumbo seat. Nicolas would just fall asleep if you left him alone but she loves to be talked to and see what's happening. She went to Nicolas' gym class facing forward in her sling, as her head control is pretty good, and she loved watching all the kids running around.
She is also a very sucky baby. I hate that she has her passifier so much but if she doesn't have that she'll suck her hand, even if she's just been fed. Mom always said I sucked everything, so maybe she gets it from me.
She is still a very serious looking baby when she's not smiling. She is much cuter in person than in her pictures because as Adam says, what makes her cute is how her expressions change.

Playing Outside and Halloween Costumes

The weather has been wonderful the last few days and it's been cold enough to kill off the last of the mosquitoes at night. We have been outside each afternoon and after I post this I'm going outside to do some gardening.
Adison is a bit too small for the swing but she didn't mind being in it for a few minutes. Nicolas loves the swing and now Kirsten has taught him how to swing on his belly he thinks he's really big being able to swing like Jaden and Kirsten do. Nicolas will spend ages in the pine island picking berries off the grass around the edge.
I couldn't find Nicolas on Friday and when I did he was hiding in the dryer!

Halloween falls on our weekend this year so we get to go trick or treating with all the kids. We got them there costumes this weekend and Jaden wanted to be a storm trooper. Unfortunately the suit was a bit small (and see through which really distressed him!), but he spent most of the weekend with the mask on, playing with the gun. Kirsten has a cat costume and looks very cute, but I didn't manage to get a picture of her.

Jaden is 9 now and in so many ways very grown up, but give him and his best friend Blake as mask and a gun and you realize just how young they are!
Blake is big for his age and Jaden is small for his age, but it's only when they stand next to each other that you realise the difference in size!
Mom knitted Nicolas this cute little sweater vest when she was here and he wore it to church on Sunday. When I take photos of the kids I crouch down so I'm on their level, so now whenever I get out the camera, Nicolas crouches down too! It makes getting a good picture of him a bit harder.
I also finally finished Adison's quilt yesterday. My finger and thumb are torn to shreds from quilting velor, but it looks really cute and feels so soft. I only posed her with the quilt, I know it will be a year or so before she can sleep with it because of 'cot death' issues.

Adam left one of his socks on the floor and for some reason the dog tried to eat it! Nicolas tried to rescue it from him.
One of my friends had given me this lion costume for Nicolas and I wanted to make sure it fitted. I didn't know if he would like it, but he did, especially the paws.

Leo went crazy when he put it on, I don't know if he thought Nicolas had turned into another Golden Retriever!
So Halloween should be fun this year. Adison is going to be a ballerina because I can staple some net to some ribbon and tie it round her waist and she can wear her socks that look like ballerina slippers.