The Penguin Parade: Halloween 2014

Halloween was lots of fun this year! It was Evan's first and that made it more special.

I really wanted the kids to dress according to a theme but they didn't like my idea. Ria picked out Elsa or Sophia the first (along with every other girl around!) and Javan wanted something from Despicable Me or the sorts. Ria wanted Evan to be Olaf and Javan to be Kristoffe from Frozen. But, I couldn't find an Olaf costume small enough for Evan. I found a penguin costume for Evan and Javan decided he wanted to be a penguin too. Daddy talked Ria out of the Frozen theme with the promise that he would make it up at Christmas time! I ended up making the kids costumes and I dressed up too!

 cutest little penguin around!

 we met up with Steph and the boys for our annual pics and then trick or treating on Centenary.

 The weather was horrible ... bitterly cold, windy and it started raining so we zoomed through Centenary as fast as we could, skipped the other party we usually go to and headed to Leto and Jaya's house to finish up the night with chilli and a bonfire and s'mores. It was actually sleeting when the kids were outside making their s'mores.

 ~V

Mother-Son Dance

This year the mother-son dance at Javan's school was a costume ball. I asked Javan what he wanted to dress up as and he said 'lets go as soccer players!' Seriously???? Thats what we wear every day! In the end we went as Bollywood dancers :) He liked that idea a lot!

We did some dancing and lots of talking. I see many years of mother-son dances in my future:)
~V

October Snapshots

Just a few fun pics from October

Evan LOVES the dishwasher. He could be in his room and hear it open and we hear the pitter patter of his hands on the floor making a mad dash to the kitchen. Its HILARIOUS!

 post bath yumminess

 on the soccer field with my big boy

 Evan loves the snack/drink cupboard. He got into it the tea bags and bit through some of them! He's a mess!

 and baby got caught in the middle of a tickle fight .... gosh I love these three so much.

 story time at the libary

 Lego fun at Barnes and Noble

 This is what happens when tiny little fingers get into things they shouldn't. Evan opened the XBOX and whatever he did caused it to not close. It took J three days to figure out this mess. He literally had to open the entire thing. We had little pieces all over the dining table. But he got it fixed thanks to YouTube!

 A little picnic on the front lawn during fall break

 we love bath time

 and quite possibly one of my most fave pics I have snapped of my sleeping baby. look at those lashes!

 carousel ride with big brother

 riding around the 'hood!

 enjoying the fall colours.

~V

Evan: Eleven Months

I seriously cannot believe our sweet Evan has been with us for 11 months already. Wasn't he just born? Its insane. And I need to kick it in high gear and get to working on his party. The kids have decided on what they would like for him and now we need to get it done!

Evan is busy, busy, busy these days. He keeps me on my toes and its a lot of fun and a lot of work too but I wouldn't have it any other way. I barely get anything done around the house and you know what I don't care! I love being with my baby and just watching him explore. I never had the chance to experience the whole first with Javan or Ria so this is really exciting for me.

He is just the sweetest, funniest little guy and we are so, so smitten with him. I know I've said this before but we really are!

 I mean look at him! My dad calls him 'smiler' cos he really does have this little smirk or smile on his face about 90% of the time :)

and just so I will remember ... our days typically are like this:

Monday mornings we volunteer in Ria's class at school - Evan usually sleeps or if he is awake, he will crawl around, sit in the stroller or munch on snacks while I work with the kids. They LOVE having him there but now that he's getting more vocal not sure how much longer I can take him.
The rest of the week - we drop the kids at school and go straight to the gym. I am usually there for an hour, sometimes more. We either go run our errands for the day and come home in time for lunch or we come straight home if he's asleep and then go back out after lunch. We FaceTime with my parents and he loves it. He will chat with them and show them his little tricks for the day. And we sometimes FaceTime daddy during his break. On Thursday mornings, we go to the library after the gym and then after school pick we go to Ria's gymnastic class. He is a good baby and is great at tagging along with anything. He rarely fusses in the car seat and he gets very excited when the door opens and the kids climb in after school. We do school pick up between 2:45 and 3pm.
The only time away Evan has from me is at the gym every day and then at parents night out once a month for 4hrs when J and I have our date night. Of cos in between the busyness of running around, we have some time at home to play, read, do music and he loves to just explore around the house.

~V