Fall Weekend Fun

Fall has only been going on for about a month or so, but we have had a lot of little moments that make DB and me laugh and feel even more thankful for our munchkins :)

Olivia's First Curlers

 Ever since she saw the cheerleaders at our school with curlers in their hair the evening before a big competition, Olivia has wanted to try this!  She was psyched, and told George it would be okay when he suggested she might have a hard time sleeping with them in.  Granted, I did leave the back down, which was especially awesome when the curlers actually worked!

LOVING my curls!!

 Of course, this little girl has thick, wonderful hair... that doesn't hold a curl at all.  Oh well!  Check out the waves!

Outside, it's the place for me!

 Samuel is finally starting to branch out from the swings!  Granted, he gets mad at me every time I make him try :)  But, he's becoming less irritated with me as he discovers new things like this bridge that hangs and moves with your steps.

 The sun sets early now with daylight savings... but we get to see some awesome sunsets on our way home from the park!

 No, Olivia is not actually pushing Samuel (how cool would that be?!)... Samuel is pushing himself for the most part!  I'm still working on getting him to push with his legs, but those arms can crank that bike!  All three love riding!

 Back to the park!  I love this picture... look familiar?  (Click here)  (Here's the post)

 George is all over the place!  It's amazing how quickly they're climbing up these things, running around, and sliding back down - all before you realize they've gone for it, ha!

Everybody loves the swings!  

MS Fundraiser

One of our friends had a neat cook out combined with old cars and a firetruck to raise money for the MS Society... we went to have lunch, and ended up having a great little adventure!

Don't worry, I do understand the edict of checking out these cards, and was vigilant about reminding the kids not to touch, sneeze, or trip into anything!  But how cool was this, one of the guys asked if the kids would like to sit in the car!  They even got to honk the horn and touch everything... it was so cool.  And I was so terrified they would break something, ha!

George was definitely the most excited about all the cars, and especially the chance to ride in one :)

The whole crew!

Touching everything - agh!

Cheese :)

It's a Doctor for Teeth

There is nothing I would have rather done with my Friday morning than take three 3-year olds to their first dentist appointment.  Ha!  The great news is that in the end, all went well :)  This was thanks to Omi for joining us (four hands can be SO much better than two when it comes to things like this) and of course the Dentist.  Or, as the kids refer to him, the doctor for teeth.  

He was amazing!!!  Neither George or Olivia cried, and even though Samuel didn't like the idea of having his teeth polished, the dentist managed to clean every single one without him gagging.  I was floored!!!  I knew he specialized in pediatrics, but still, I was definitely worried about someone trying to inspect Samuel's mouth.  This was just a great visit!  Plus, our teeth look great (which I also was not expecting, partially just due to being preemies), and no cavities, yea!!

George after a good teeth cleaning... come on George, show me those pearly whites! 

 That's better :)

 Olivia mid-cleaning... and yes, that is a tiara on her head.  I figured some battles just aren't worth fighting, plus, if a tiara makes going to the dentist easier, then awesome!

 Look mom, clean teeth!

I had to help a little bit with Samuel, and when he was finished he surely wasn't getting back in the chair ;)  But look, he's not running from it either, hooray!

The kids are so proud, and showing everyone their clean, pearly, shiny teeth.  Love it!

Happy Halloween!

What a day!  Of course, Halloween and dressing up was great (awesome photos below)... but before that George and Olivia had a Halloween parade with their school and Samuel had his own Halloween parade at the hospital, ha!  That makes for a very long day.

Starting with Samuel, he had four appointments on the same day... whew.  Because it's such a hike to get most of our doctors, it's nice to schedule one full day of appointments when possible rather than make the trip more often, but man it can be exhausting.  In a nutshell, we left the house at 7:30am and pulled back into the driveway at 6:30pm.  Which is one of the reasons Samuel wore his costume to the appointments :)  It was Halloween, darn in, and what a great opportunity to dress up!

A little more detail... we started with ophthalmology  which was great.  I love our doctor!  Samuel's eyes look really good still, and he did some neat tests that tell us Samuel is using his glasses well.  This was great to have reassurance because while Samuel seems to like wearing them, I'm not really sure how to assess if they're helping his vision processing.  It would be one thing if he couldn't see without them, but while I get the gist of the processing stuff it's still confusing to figure out best practices.  We also had some really useful conversations about some lingering visual patterns and possible sources.  He was such a good listener and full of good info.  Good way to start the day!

From there it was off to get blood drawn, ugh.  Luckily, our favorite phlebotomist was there and she is a pro with the needle.  For the first time, Samuel sat in the chair instead of lying down on a table, and the crying was over before the draw was.  Incredible.   We had a pause in appointments so we made visits to the NICU and PICU, wow was that a flashback.  The folks there are just awesome!  Even when you don't see them for weeks, months, or even a year, they still feel like family and their love for children just beams.  Samuel was a little shy, but did show off some of his new skills :)

Then it was off to pulmonary for another great visit!  Dr. B was thrilled to see how well Samuel is doing!  Not sure I've mentioned it in a while, but his O2 sats have been incredible for some time now and that day he was satting 95/96 with no extra O's!  This kid blows my mind sometimes... well, pretty much all the time.  Then Dr. B pulled the rug out from under me again and told me to stop giving Samuel his respiratory meds.  WHAT?!  I think this is the third time this year I almost fell on the floor in his office... I don't know if it's panic, joy, disbelief, or a combination of them.  He came of most of the meds about three months ago, but I was not expecting at all that we would stop this one too.  So far, so good... but my fingers are crossed and I started sat checking Samuel for the first time in ages.  Ha!

Last appointment of the day (seriously, the never ending day) was developmental ped's.  An okay appointment.  I want more feedback than most are able to provide... I know time will tell, but sometimes I just wish I knew more now.  Then again, sometimes I should really just soak in the moment!

Meanwhile, George and Olivia were on a Halloween parade with their school friends!  I was so sad to miss it, but was incredibly fortunate to have a friend keep me in the loop with a few pics :)

Olivia decided to be Fancy Nancy during the day too, while George went with Spiderman once we realized he couldn't take his garbage can to school :)  Good choice George!  Plus, he loved wearing his cape to school. 

On to the real deal!  Time to trick-or-treat!!!

The crew!

Kristen and BB: Olivia, what should we be for Halloween?

Olivia: Fancy Nancy, of course!!!

Olivia did a great job dressing us :)

Garbage men, big and small!

Although DB was not interested in hauling around the normal size trash can, ha!

Batman was joined by Superman/Clark Kent!

Loved this, Josh!

The boys enjoyed traveling in style, especially towards the end of the evening.  And, George was all about comforting Samuel when the day started catching up with him.  Such good brothers!

After stopping at a few houses in the neighborhood, and ending up at a wonderful party which our friends host every year, it was time to head home.  Although, not before Olivia informed me, while we were inside at the party grabbing a bite, that she was ready to go outside and hang with "the girls" (a group of high schoolers, one in particular who was dressed like a ballerina).  Not only that, but she did not want mommy to take her, only Kristen.  And it begins :)

Another great night!

Fall is officially here!

It wouldn't be fall without... the Pumpkin Patch!  Sure, the cooler weather is nice, and there's nothing like sitting by the fire, but the trip to the pumpkin patch each year seals the deal - it's time for the holidays to begin :)

Memory lane, here we come... our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch, only two years ago.  Wow.

How about this one?! 

The pumpkin was THIIIIIIS big! 

And just why can't I have both?! 

Team work :) 

Hey guys, check this out! 

Rah!!!!  Did I scare you, mom?! 

Welcome to my "house"! 

Also great fun were the hay, horses, goats (who ate cheerios from our hands), pigs, etc.  

Love this place! 

Of course we couldn't resist a lap around the patch :)

(Notice Josh has a camera... even better photos of the patch trip to come soon!) 

George also has a camera, though you might not know it... see that peace sign necklace?

He was pretending to snap photos like crazy, and of course texting them to everyone.  If you're not on the distribution list, you really should be... ha!  Even better were the "responses" he got from the folks he sent photos to.  Hilarious!!

Six Years!

Happy Anniversary, Dear!  Love you :)

 Nothing better than a walk in the sand... was strange to be there without watching munchkins run in three different directions :)

On our way to dinner, the MOST beautiful sunset!  

And a really great dinner followed :)

Who knew we'd have three kids just three years later, ha!

So many adventures, laughs, tears, and miracles since that photo was taken... love you, DB!

Pre-Halloween Fun

Our fall fun started with a wonderful fall festival and a community downtown trick-or-treat... gotta love our town!  This year is even more fun than last (I have a feeling I'll be saying that for years to come, ha!), because the kids are old enough now that they really get excited.  The wonder of holidays is incredible to see in their faces!  In fact, they have already mapped out which holiday happens next... although they don't quite understand why they can't dress up and be another character for Christmas.

The Fall Festival was at the school where DB and I work, and it is definitely a highlight.  It's a great, family, festival with booths manned by the students.  Adorable!  

Also, we got to see DB in the dunking booth... haha!

There were enough holes for everyone!

You should have seen Olivia, absolutely adamant she was only going to be the cat.

George learns to putt from one of my favorite 10th graders, and a swimmer :) 

This was HUGE!  I mentioned face painting to Olivia and she looked at me like I was crazy... just why would anyone paint on their face?!  Then she saw Caitlyn (in the background) with a cute pumpkin on her face... and asked the face painters if they could make a princess.  When they replied "yes", Olivia was sold!  Although, note the completely tense body position, ha!

I love my princess!  (And I was seriously impressed!)

George, on the other hand, thought purposely painting on your face sounded awesome!   I'm pretty sure he was happy about the cute girl painting it, too :)

Check out my cool pumpkin!

Samuel wasn't much into the face painting, but this balloon brought hours (literally) of laughs!  Although, at one point he was so fixated on the balloon that he wandered away - agh!

The kiddos were joined at the festival by one of their best friends from school, who was already dressed up to head downtown and trick-or-treat.  Needless to say, my kids wanted to change into their costumes the minute they saw Evelyn!

Gotta love those sweet moments between friends :)

Off we went to trick-or-treat downtown!  This is an annual event, but our first time going.  The trick-or-treating was a little nutty, but we all enjoyed walking and seeing all the costumes.  People are so creative!  It was also nice to experience our first witch costume in broad daylight, ha!  If we would have seen her in the dark, I'm pretty sure Olivia would have actually passed out.

George the Garbage Man!  He picked this for his costume early on, and was so excited!  Trashy Town is still a favorite book, and let's face it, garbage trucks are super cool.  I have to say, I'm seriously impressed with the little trashcan that DB made.

Samuel as Batman!

My mom actually sent this, complete with a handmade cape!  She also sent Spider Man and Wonder Woman, also with handmade capes.  They are the coolest! George wears the spider man all the time, but so far Olivia is really just into the handmade headband with jewels and the shiny blue skirt, sigh. 

And of course Fancy Nancy there in the middle :)

Hysterical because she's  Fancy Nancy every day!  Gotta love a book that teaches words like iridescent, bonjour, expert, plume, and fuchsia... just to name a few. 

Omi and her boys after a wonderful, long, afternoon :)