Halloween 2011

Ward carnival, preschool/school parties, making treats for Kindergarten, pumpkin carving, jack-o-lantern pancakes, Trunk or Treat and neighborhood Trick or Treating, hot chocolate to warm up after hitting the neighborhood...it was a great year for this holiday-that-I-haven't-loved-for-years-but-now-that-I'm-a-mom-I-think-it-rocks!

Some things I want to remember:

• Ev didn't want to put his costume on and was all annoyed at Trunk or Treat after I put him in it, but then I handed him his bucket, we hit the first trunk, and brother was hooked!  He could hardly see above eye level because of the crazy horse head and so any time he came to an adult's legs he would hold his bucket up for some candy, even when we were just stopping to chat. :)  And he was a champ at saying "fank-oo" (thank you) after every piece of candy.  I was so in love with his cuteness.  And he is so independent right now.  No hand-holding or helping from door-to-door when we were trick or treating...get out of my way and let me get to the candy, people. 
• Maxwell wasn't saying thank you to anyone when we started at Trunk or Treat, he was being super silent.  I talked to him about needing to say thank you because these people are giving him free candy.  He said, "Mom, ninjas don't talk...they are really quiet and sneaky."  Okay, bud, but ninjas still have to be polite on Halloween.  He was compliant the rest of the evening. Brother was in character!
• Max and I spent almost an hour wrapping a bunch of chocolate bars to look like mummies and gluing on googly eyes...and he forgot to give them out. :)  We gave them out to trick-or-treaters instead.
• Ty got our trunk all set up at Trunk or Treat and then realized we left the candy at home. Ha.
• Kelly LOVED her costume and walked very princess-like in it.  It was worth every minute I spent making it.  I had never done anything like it before, but gained confidence when I found an online tutorial.  Half of the time I was praying that when I turned it right-side out it wouldn't look too wonky.  But the end product was awesome; I'd let her wear it to a wedding or something.
• At the end of the night the kids were (for some reason) doing an exercise class in the family room when suddenly Kelly was WAILING.  I went in to find the front of her dress totally ripped (luckily on the seam).  I asked what had happened and when she could (between sobs) she said, "Max and Reyes wanted me to do a somersault and I didn't want to do a somersault because I didn't want to rip my dress, but they made me do a somersault!!!  I really loved this dress!"  I had to laugh a little at the devastation of it all.  I still need to fix it.
• I loved that Ev wanted to pose backward for every picture because he saw that I had Kelly turn around for one of her pictures. :)
• We need to buy a stinking camera!  The iPhone camera just isn't cutting it.

 We did actually carve some pumpkins, but those pictures are on Ty's phone...

 I meant to do a scary face, but we all agreed he turned out looking grumpy

 This is Everett D's "nice smile" for the camera :)

 No masks at school and a ninja without his mask is just a guy in black shirt and pants...so we brought back the costume he wore when he was 2 (it was big then...a4T) and added the little cloth that made him look like a bona fide quarterback

 Behold!  Max the Ninja

 Princess Kelly

 Everett the boy who didn't want to put on his costume but wanted to pose for pictures

 Neighbors and friends - Ian, Adam, Emma, Reyes, Kelly, Max, Camila Everett

Cross-eyed :)

A Dad and His Boy

Ty and Max have been talking about their next campout for about a year.  The time was right and they headed out early September for Max's first backpacking campout experience, their second father/son camping trip.  SO cute.  They packed Max's Batman backpack with some of the essentials, Tyler's with the rest, and headed for the Bark Shanty campsite.  It was about a 1-mile hike in.  To say that Max was excited would be the understatement of the year.  

Tyler told me that at the beginning of the trail he went ahead a bit because it looked kind of overgrown and he wanted to be sure they were on the right path...and he suddenly heard Max screaming.  Thinking Max was being overly dramatic about something, Ty made his way back to check on our boy.  There were bees swarming around his head and he had a sting on his hand, one on his ankle, and another on his head. :(  Poor fella.  But he got some medicine and they forged ahead.  From the looks of it - and by both accounts - they had an awesome time.  Ty is pretty sure he turned Max into a pyro.  Ty went to gather some more firewood and came back to find that Max had added every single piece of firewood they'd already collected.  There is a pretty funny video of the crazy fire boy.

 This (above) is one of my favorite pictures of the trip.  Ty said that he woke up a while before Max and just watched him sleep and felt warm, fatherly feelings toward his sweet boy and thought about how lucky we are that he's our son.

I love these two men in my life.  Kelly will either join them or go on her own campout with Dad next year.  This tradition is pretty awesome, says me.

Mariners!

So I never watch baseball on TV.  But there is something really rad about going to a professional baseball game.  Last year we began the tradition of trekking over on the ferry to see the Seattle Mariners play.  This year was even better than last because we saw a home run and the Mariners won!  The weather was perfect, the kettle corn, cotton candy and Seattle Dog divine, the stands uncrowded so that our little man could dance and roam a bit.  We all got on TV (we were told by a friend who watched the game) but were just trying to get on the darn jumbotron.  Max worked it for the camera man.  If only we'd DVRed the game. It was a great night...can't wait to go again next year!

Well, hello there!

Hello, tiny person growing inside of me.  I am so happy that you are where you are and getting bigger every day.  I am so happy that we get to add you to our family and I am excited to get to know you and see what special qualities you bring to our brood.  The other night we were reading scriptures as a family and I looked around the room (because your brothers and sister were moving all over the room) and I felt so excited to meet you and to have you in our family. I am especially happy that I will get to hold you and all of your tiny-ness next spring.  The kids are still holding out hope that you are a girl...we'll find out early November.  Dad and I think you are a boy.  We'll just have to wait and see.  Whatever your gender, we are thrilled to have you!  How about you try kicking a little harder so that I can start feeling you move?  Your sister was already very proficient at making her presence known by this time.  Work on that, okay?  Love you so very much, Babe #4!

The Dream Has Died

So I really wanted to do a home birth with this babe.  Really, really wanted to do a home birth.  I haven't had horrible hospital experiences, I just know that I can do it all on my own and after the baby is born there is nowhere I would rather be than in my home with that sweet little person fresh from heaven. I want the spirit and beauty that accompanies a birth to be here, in the place where my family is. Plus I live two minutes from the hospital and I felt confident that we would be able to get to it in time if something were to go wrong.  Midwives, after all, are not crazy people who never monitor and will keep you at your home whatever the cost.  I did research and I was confident, peaceful, and excited about it.

However, just before Everett was born, Ty's company changed insurance.  Aetna, apparently, is one of the few insurance companies who will not cover a home birth.  Not any part of it.  They want nothing to do with it.  So we explored other options.  One fell through completely.  Then we thought about just paying for it out-of-pocket.  Tyler was totally willing, but it was going to be a difference of $1000 + and I just can't bring myself to do it.  We have insurance, I don't hate the hospital or doctors, maybe this is for a reason....so we're going the Dr./hospital route again.

I think that I needed time to mourn the loss of the home birth experience because I've know for almost a month (more than a month?) that it's not going to happen, but I was not getting on the stick to get a Dr.  Insurance changed, as I mentioned, and so this babe was going to have someone new no matter what.  Well, you'll be happy to know that even though I'm about done with my first trimester, I finally got a doctor. Dr. Christen to be exact.  He's a minimalist when it comes to intervention and likes to let women do their thing in giving birth; just what I am looking for.  The scheduler thought there was no way it was going to work out because I was calling so late in the pregnancy and he was scheduled out really far, but lo and behold, there was a cancellation for next Tuesday.  And she was able to schedule an ultrasound (measuring and date purposes) for this Friday. I'm really excited about the ultrasound.  My stomach has popped (at 12 weeks!?) but I don't get to feel the babe moving yet, so this will make it more real to me.  And I am sure that I will really like Dr. Christen and all will be well.

Like anyone really cares about all of this, but I felt like sharing. :)