October

I think October is my favorite month.  Fall has finally truly arrived (although its seems to be coming and going) I can legitimately decorate for fall.  All things pumpkin!  The holidays are on the horizon.  Halloween is fun but Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner makes me giddy.  And bonus: we got married in October.

This October I feel a little behind.  I haven't decorated much, which I attribute to not being totally settled in the new house yet and not having many surfaces to put things on (need: mantle, side tables, coffee table).  Plus after having the major sickies around here and I realize that October is nearly over and we haven't done all the things I planned on.

We have a pumpkin carving party to attend tomorrow and fingers crossed that we make it to a pumpkin patch before Halloween (we kind of went a week or so ago, but I don't really count it, Owen was beginning his sickies and it was HOTT and miserable and we only stayed like 20 minutes).  So in the meantime here are my fall pictures so far...warning: picture overload

Scott has done a few fall crafts.  Outside.  In just his chonies.  Its been that warm.

At the pumpkin patch.  All Scott wanted to do was see the goats.

 Hot and miserable.  "I choose this one mom, now can we go!"

 When we got home from the patch this day we even ate popsicles, which is just wrong, we should have been having cider and hot chocolate.  But we did have wonderful visitors: Auntie Al and Auntie Kay!

Lil O in his Skeleton jams/costume

Studying his pumpkin

Feeling healthy again and loving Halloween

 Scott has been telling me for about a month that he wants to be a T-Rex.  Once or twice he has said other things like shark or alligator but mostly T-Rex.  Last year I waited until the last minute to buy his costume and got a killer deal. This year I was hoping for the same effect plus time just got away from me and whoops....no T-Rex to be found.  Luckily I found a dragon costume.  You know.  I know.  Scott does not know.  Please oh please just call him a T-Rex!

 And since most days he is a T-Rex anyways its only appropriate that he has been wearing his costume around the house!

My Halloween babies...

So hopefully I will have more fall fun to share with you in the next few days as we wrap up my favorite month!

"Let's do it!"

Scott, ever the enthusiast, has taken to saying "alright, let's do it!" to anything we ask him to do or if he wants to do.  "Hey Scott want to take a bath." "Alright, let's do it!" "Hey Scott want to go to the park." "Yeah, let's do it!" HI-LAR-IOUS!

I'm also thinking of starting a side business by lending him out to people who need a little fitness motivation. Last week while running:  "mommy, don't stop.  you need to go faster."  "mommy, fast again....FASTER."  "Mommy that man is running faster than you." (thanks buddy, he is also not pushing a double wide bob with 2 children over 20 and 30 lbs each, just for the record)  "mommy, good job, you are such a fast runner."  (that one was in the exact tone we tell him how fast he is when we have him running back in forth in the yard/park etc.  coming from a two year old it sounded a little patronizing, hopefully I don't sound patronizing when I tell him.)  He also reminds me every day that its time to go to cardio barre (even when it isn't), he really really really likes the kids room.   So if you need someone to get you in gear for working out...I got your guy!

7 months

 7 months old today!

Gettin' so big!!!  With Scott everyone told me how big he was for his age because he was such a chunky monkey!  Its now starting with Owen but I think for different reasons...he is SOOO long!  And what's funny to me is that he is bigger than Scott was at this age, just not so chunky.  Guess we are gonna have two big boys on our hands.

Owen continues to be such a happy kid.  Wakes up happy, gets fussy when he's tired but is generally happy the rest of the day.  He is trying to keep up with Scott in a major way and we try to emphasize to Scott how important his big brother job is.  Scott takes it very seriously and really looks out for his brother (when he is not tackling him, yes, it has begun...).  

Owen is pulling up on everything but thankfully not walking yet!!!  He's a pretty efficient crawler.  The step downs from our entry to our living room and our playroom to our living room are nearly killing me because Owen has taken more headers off them than I can count.  I'm excited for him to have those down...but then he will probably start walking and we will have the battle of the steps all over again.

Still not on solids.  I finally made a batch of zucchini and a batch of pears to freeze so at least we have some ready to go when we start.  I gave him a few tastes of the zucchini and I think it made him a little constipated last night (something similar happened last week with avocado), so that tells me he is probably not completely ready...so maybe another week or two and we will try again.

He is loving park time (and its finally cooled off a little so we go A LOT now, well until today...this week is supposed to be hot again, really? REALLY?  ENOUGH - fall...PLEASE!!!).  He loves the swings and the sand box and has even gone down the slide a few times with me!

He is also becoming SUCH a daddy's boy!!!  Brian gets home and he lights up like a Christmas tree!!!! And he hollers and leans out of my arms until Brian takes him.  And he watches every second when Brian and Scott wrestle and play, and I know he just  can't wait to get in there!!!

"Oh here mom, let me hold that for you!"

We love you little O!!!

These two...

 Just love these crazy boys...

Do we have the best dog in the world or what?  He takes so much abuse and always comes back for more!

Owen's looking so big these days.

The other day we hit the park twice (not uncommon) and we happened to go both when school was about to start (all the kids were playing outside before class started) and then again right when school was letting out and kids were walking home.  I couldn't help but fast forward to a time when both my kids will be in school (sniff) and I realized that whole time in between our park trips I would be without them.  I'm really going to miss them!  Don't get me wrong I'm sure my days will still be full with errands, work, cleaning, work, errands etc. but I couldn't help but feel sad, it really made me cherish these days I have with them even more.  Someday they will be spending most of their day without me so I'm enjoying every second right now!

Glue 'n' Scissors...and bonus material

 The boys are enrolled in a once a week class all about animals (Thanks Mimi and Papa for the gift of this fun class, we LOVE it!)  Since my parents are traveling I promised I would take pictures and fill them in on details of the class.  Fail.  I finally remembered my camera on week 3 and then only took like 4 pictures...there are a few weeks left so maybe I will do a better job of documenting, but crafting with two 2 year olds and an infant strapped to your belly leaves Hilary and me with little capability of taking pictures.

 The boys are doing really well with listening and participating which makes me excited for preschool in our future.  It really makes me feel confident that Scott is ready!

Scott's favorite part of the class: SNACK!  Who's shocked?  He always asks for seconds (which is allowed) and I'm doing a decent job of not being overly paranoid about the gluten situation (a couple of weeks they have been served regular crackers (gasp, I know!) and skippy peanut butter (killing me!!!!) but I kept cool and allowed Scott to partake, the portions are very small and Scott does get gluten every now and then, and I try to reserve it for times like these, but skippy peanut butter, really? trader joe's organic unsweetened would have killed you? I digress.  And if you are a skippy user (like my husband) no judgements, but I implore you to read the ingredients....peanuts and a little salt, its really all ya need).

So here is a collection of crafts from the past 4 weeks (week 1: giraffes, 2: monkeys, 3: elephants, 4: lions), with many more to come.  The kids do 2-3 crafts each class, read 2-3 books about the animal of the day, have a snack of course, and then go outside for a game of some kind.  Its really quite fun!  Bonus: check out our new kitchen table!!! I kinda love it, and excited that its our first ever piece of furniture that we have bought (not that we don't love our hand me downs, but excited to furnish this place ourselves.)

Pretty proud of these!  Today was the lion and the bigger one on the right Scott drew circles in his eyes so well! (Maybe I'm a tad biased...)

 And tada- my partly completed pinterest burlap board.  I'm on the hunt for those metal pins for the edge.  Another giraffe from our class and then the boys did ghost footprints that says "trick or treat, smell my feet" (pinterest agin)

We have not been able to escape the sickies in the Campbell household.  Last week Scott set up this fort on the couch himself, went and got a blanket and was out for 2 hours.

I think this was his 3rd nap in 2012.  That's how you know your kiddo is not feeling well....

The boys have taken a liking to having baths together.  Scott's great about sharing tub toys, Owen just wants to climb out.  I think the baby tub has one or two more uses then back to the garage (unless you want it?  Holler at me, we got tons of baby stuff that's up for grabs!!!)

Super stoked to be in the bath with big brother!!!

Anniversary

Four years ago (yesterday) we said 'I do'.  We spent the day with two runny nosed babies, a tummy bug, then mommy went to work all evening.  I got home in time for bed time for the boys then Brian and I watched a little West Wing on the couch.  This weekend Brian is attending a bachelor party and we have a birthday party to go to as well.  So we are 0 for 4 on big anniversary celebrations (or really any celebration, big or otherwise) but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I can't think of anyone I would rather do this life with.  And we rocked our late night TV and snacks on the couch!!  Some day when our kids are bigger maybe we will go all out!  Love you Brian! Best 4 years ever!

Blood, Sweat & Tears

 Remember when I used to do super cool things with the boys and write really detailed posts with lots of pictures.  You could almost read it and get a little taste of our experience, almost like you were there, or if you went in the future you'd already have a little taste of what to expect because you read my blog (lucky duck!)....yeah, so that's over.  I thought about starting a new blog called "All our random crap" but decided against it.

So I'm just going to tell you a little about what the boys have been up to and also about our day today.  I wish I had a time frame for when these were taken (I guess I could look it up, nah too much work) probably over the last couple weeks-ish...

Scott and Owen love playing together.  Scott likes to include Owen (for now) in whatever game he is playing.  Above he was pretend taking a nap (its like he taunting me..."hey mom, watch while I pretend to nap, but don't think about leaving to do something because that's not the game, just laugh at me while I hide under the blanket and pretend snore...naps are for babies, LOL")  This particular time he wanted Owen in bed with him which was really sweet and Owen ate it up.

Speaking of eating...Owen is not yet. I swear its not the "second child I do things way later with you or not at all" syndrome (ok maybe a little).  He just hasn't shown an interest in solids much (unlike Scott, it was all I could do to get the kid to wait until 6 months).  And he is killin' it with the breast milk - 28in. (96%) and 19.6lbs (85%) at his 6 month check...so I figure we are just fine.  And it saves me having to start making baby food for a few more weeks.  But he is digging the high chair and I give him tiny tastes of avocado on a toddler spoon.  He thinks he's big time and I get to cook/eat for an extended period (of 5-8 mins).

He crawls (old news).  And pulls up to standing.  Is it bad parenting to pull him back when he gets close to furniture he can pull up on...because I do.

And these two crack each other up.  They have they're own little language.  Scott makes weird noises.  Owen laughs hysterically.  Scott laughs hysterically.  Repeat.

This past weekend we were in town and I had a list pages long of DIYs for Brian, which he did happily!  This is the only picture I took of his handy work.  Frames up in the hallway between the boys bedrooms.  I love it.  I made him hang some frames that don't have pictures yet because I wanted to see how it would all look.  Its driving him bananas.  I will try to fill them this week honey : )  He also painted and hung a mirror in our bathroom which completes it and makes it exponentially more functional.  Amongst other things but those are the 'fun' projects.

Which brings us to today.....so the fun thing we did today (that I took zero pictures of) was go to a new learning center in the valley (ironically right down the street from our old house).  We started the day bright and early with grouchy pants throwing his yogurt across the kitchen for breakfast : /  Thankfully no mocking song followed this time out.  Then we hit cardio barre, then the learning center.  It is such a neat place, a big tree house slide in the middle, a book room where kids could read and use puppets and they did a few story times as well, several stations of building supplies, arts and crafts, a nature station with seashells, rocks, bugs etc. with magnifying glasses, an infant room with lots of soft toys and climbing apparatuses, dress up center and that was just inside.  Outside has a sandbox, garden, more climbing, lots of picnic tables, a music area etc. etc. etc.  It was amazing.  And free.  WOW!  We met up with Andy and the girls and played our brains out for about 4 hours.

On the drive home I realized we left about an hour too late, Scott was in full break down mode.  When I would ask him what was wrong he was say "I don't know, I don't remember".  Break down city!!!

We got home and I let Scott watch some 'Wonder Pets' (more on that later) while I tried to get Owen down for a nap.  Fail.  Owen slept 20 mins, combined with his maybe 45 mins from sleeping in the ergo at the learning center and we had ourselves a very tired, cranky baby boy.  Sweet.  So then brilliant mommy decides to cook dinner and have it ready for when daddy gets home.  Fail.  Scott was still cranky and I was able to calm down by convincing him to help me.  He was going to press the garlic (we were having lasagna) and he was so excited about it that as I was turning around to wash something/throw something away/tend to Owen/or something he pulled the cutting board down on which I had been slicing the garlic to crush and the knife sliced his toe.  Really not that big of a deal, nothing some pressure and a Buzz Lightyear bandaid couldn't fix.  But to a cranky 2.5 year old that amount of blood = certain death.  So I turned off the burners and we spent the next hour on the floor in tears, applying pressure and feeling sorry for ourselves.  We eventually managed to get up and finish dinner (not before we talked to daddy on the phone to share our story, to have his co-worker over hear and {jokingly} say he was calling child protective services).  So that covers the blood and the tears....the sweat, well happy October 1st, here's a little 110 degree weather for you southern California.  I literally cannot stop sweating! UGH!

After we bandaged up, Scott helped some more.  He took his job of mixing the cheese layer of the lasagna very seriously!  CUTE!

After dinner Scott hopped in the bath, where I could over hear him playing "wonder pets" with his plastic animals.  It is so cute...he tells them to "come on guys" "let's save the animals"  "we have to help" "good teamwork" etc.  If you are not familiar with wonder pets (I wasn't until a week ago, my seamstress who was altering my bridesmaid dress, oh yeah, Kelly's wedding, no pictures, ugh, maybe I will steal some and blog about that, I want to, we will see, well she put the show on for him and he's been obsessed every since, he loves animals!!) its a duckling, a turtle and a hamster/guinea pig who go on missions in a flying boat to save other animals.

And last night we had company for dinner and Scott was so sweet and told me "Mom and I want to get some grapes to share with everyone" and then proceeded to take the bowl to everyone (we had guests) over and over until the grapes were gone.  It was sweet.  He has also been coming out of his shell a bit and saying hi to people again, the other morning he even said "good morning" to the gardener getting in his truck across the street.

And just now he was hiding under the pillows on the couch and passed the heck out (tough day).  Tomorrow we have our little jungle animal class, maybe I will take pictures, but probably not!