the elephant and the peanut

We started the day with cupcakes from noni at 7:20 am.

We had coffee at Starbuck's with Lulu.

We had H1N1 vaccines.

We hit Target and Costco.

We ate lunch and napped.

We dressed Charlie and Will up.

Will put his costume on and only shed 2 tears over it.

(he was distracted by going to henny's house and lots of candy)

We headed to the McDougall's.

We went trick-or-treating at Proctor Treats.

We went back to the McD's.

Will ate 14 pounds of candy.

We ate a delicious dinner of homemade chili and mac and cheese.

We loved hanging with the entire McDougall clan.

We enjoyed the insane sound of tons of people partying inside.

We walked next door for the Craddock's magic show.

We went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

Will walked right in to the living room (basically sat on the couch)

of the first house we went to (no, we didn't know them).

We headed home for bed.

Charlie slept through the night for the first time.

Will woke up at 4:45.

Oh, the (not so) sweet irony...

snuggy buggy

boy i heart these boys!

will he or won't he?

no way...

maybe?

kinda fun?

heck no!

not a chance.

maybe for some candy?

nope, definitely a no.

This was Will's exact reaction to me shoving him

into his costume last week.

He asked to be an elephant but did not want to BE an elephant.

The smiles were just for Chris' elephant imitations.

We have done an insane amount of talking about

will he or won't he

since then.

We have also talked it up for hours each day.

He says no.

We say yes.

We will see.

warning...

Chris went to the Husky game Saturday and stayed

up in Seattle so I took the boys on a date to see

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
Will was so excited to go to the theatre.

When we got there I figured out it was in 3D.

Could be a problem I thought...but we'll try it.

We head in, take our seat and hand out the glasses.

Will puts the glasses on (success!).

I hand him popcorn and the gummy worms he

picked out hours earlier and had been talking

about ALL day.

Happy kid.

Then the previews start.

I look over at him...frozen.

I turn to watch as the music gets REALLY loud

and scary and then ghosts start literally

jumping out at us (in 3D, remember).

I realize the preview is for the new "Scrooge"

Jim Carrey movie and as I realize this

Will lets out the loudest, saddest screech/cry.

And throws his glasses.

He is frozen in fear. Seriously.

I pick him up and he is shaking. Seriously.

Never actually seen anyone shaking in fear.

I convinced him to turn his head and wait for

the "meatball" movie to start but he never recovered.

We left and I got my $13 back.

(I didn't have to pay for Will or Charlie...

$13 just for me. Is that normal?)

We instead went to the movie store,

rented Robots for $.99 for the 5th time,

cuddled on the couch at home and

ate popcorn and gummy worms.

Why would anyone think it was a good idea to

make a preview scary to kids?

Crazy thought but it probably isn't going to

make them beg to see it.

The 45 seconds I saw of the actual

"Meatball" movie was really sweet.

I recommend seeing it.

Please just show up 15 minutes after the

theatre's start time so you miss the insane preview.

And don't take your little kids to see "A Christmas Carol".

It's (really) scary.

this one's for auntie rachel (that DUCK)

All geeked out for the Husky game.

Go Dawgs!!!!

freeze.

Will

You are getting so big.

You love your baby brother.

You sang the songs at toddler gym today AND did the hand jives.

You wanted to go to the mall with me (and char-char)

last week instead of the gym with dad.

You will eat anything.

You love a new sport the most everyday (tonight it was chase w/dad).

You're a good helper in the kitchen.

You love chocolate.

You tell us when you are "seepy and wanna dough to biiid".

You must always have your binky, bankie and "pidd-dew" (pillow), first.

You run giddy and giggling to your bed for naps.

You wear 3T pants, 4T tops and size 8 shoes.

You worship your grandparents (esp. Fred & Bomp).

You love helping your dad in the yard.

You worship diggers and when you see one not working

you say "they're restin' or sleepin" and that the guys who

work on them are "home playin' wif deir (their) tids (kids)."

You love your friend Henny and the two of you excitedly

greeting each other is so amazingly sweet.

You crack us up every morning when you wake up

because you are always yelling and it is never the same thing.

Sometimes it is mom or dad but yesterday it was

"I doooooon' waaaaanna take a nap..."

You continue to wrestle with us when changing your diaper

or putting on your clothes (not our fav time of day...)

You love oatmeal with golden raisins, dried cherries and br. sugar.

You are a jumper...you jump on and off and over everything, constantly.

You are super stubborn.

If we're not out of the house and doing something fun by about 9:30

everyday I am going to pay...seriously stir crazy.

You like looking at your friends on their blogs.

Your favorite movies are Ratatouille and Little Mermaid.

You like me to sing the Little Mermaid song to you in the car.

When you want to be picked up you say "I wanna hold you."

When asked what you want for dinner you always

answer either chicken teriyaki or tacos.

You listed all the people who you love today in the car and the

list was really long...basically every person you've ever met.

We love you, blonde hair, blue eyed, gap-toothed, sassy boy!

just yike Fed...

When we were at the beach with the gang a few weeks

ago Liz bought the kids these cool shovels.

They loved, loved using them on the beach.

A few days after we got home I was cleaning the kitchen

(I might have been enjoying blogging and

checking craigslist uninterrupted, also)

Will was playing in the playroom.

He was quiet (i know, I know) but I kept peeking in

on him and he appeared to be sweetly entertaining himself.

Only a crazy person would interrupt that.

I caught him once standing at the toy bin with his shovel in hand

and another time next to his easel (next to the back door).

I didn't think anything of it until I went out to BBQ

the next night and this is what I found...

He had shoveled every single toy he owned out the cat door.

Including the pens and chalk that I thought he was

nicely coloring with at his easel.

Maybe I don't love that shovel so much.

Then today he started "cleaning" his playroom with the shovel.

He thought it was especially useful putting his legos into their box.

He kept saying "just yike fed...(just like Fred)"

as he was cleaning.

I couldn't figure out what he was talking about until he

explained further (talking quietly to himself)...

"just yike Fed cleanin' up da schnoods..."

"just yike Fed cleanin' up da schnood's poop to hit da chubs"

Ah ha...he demands that Fred clean up the schnoodle's poop

everytime he's over there so he can hit his golf clubs and

Fred scoops the poop with a shovel.

Their little interpretations about life are so entertaining.

The shovel is back in.

(I was feeling like I've told this story before and

then remembered this from last summer

Weird subject to keep talking about.)

Yo, bro.

(We say "yo, bro" in our best russian accent

at our house but you can do what you want.)

I had to work

I had to work for this video.

I think we have about 30 minutes of 30 second

"takes" trying to get the dude to grin.

As soon as the camera was off he was ear to ear.

Typical.

Today after his lunch I caught him.

the best deal ever...really.

So I found this cute little Splendid shirt at Marshall's last week.

It was on the rack all by it's lonesome begging for me to take it home.

I looked for a price tag and couldn't find one.

It didn't have a tag on the neck either (it was ripped off).

But you can just tell it's Splendid (they're so, so soft).

I took it to the counter to ask how much it was.

The girl ringing me up took it to her manager.

They had no idea what it was.

The girl came back and said...

"we don't know what to do and we aren't even sure

it is ours...so you can just have it."

What?

Sometimes I love living really close to trashy little

parts of the state where parents don't know how to

distinguish cheap junk clothes from $40 fancy brands.

Actually, they probably do but choose to buy the junk anyway,

not necessarily because it's cheaper (we're shopping at Marshall's)

but because they like it better.

Poor kids.

October

Don't think I've been to a pumpkin patch since my

elementary school field trips.

We went to Maris Farm with the McD's on Saturday.

It was really fun and a lot cooler than I remembered.

Checking out the farm animals.

Rubber duckie races.

Henry's first horse ride...lovin' it!

Henry's 2nd horse ride on Stacy...

not a fan.

Everytime he came around he was saying

"mommy...how come it's so scary?"

Will's ride on Bullet.

He loved it but Chris was right next to him the whole time.

They were both pretty white knuckled.

His "cool guy" look.

Notice one hand in his jean pocket

and one in his sweatshirt.

And then the camera died.

Maybe our first family of 4 pic will make liz's blog.

1 month update

Charlie's one month stats...

11 pounds 13 ounces

22 inches

Will picking his nose (his new favorite activity)

while waiting for Dr. T.

When Dr. T. came in Will kept saying (loudly)

"it's not my turn, it's not my turn"

I could not figure out what the heck he was talking about

and then I remembered that the last time we were

at the Dr. for Charlie's bili f/u we snuck in Will's flu shot.

He was not a fan and screamed "THAT HURT"

at the mean ole' nurse.

He was glued to his seat and wouldn't come

within 5 feet of Dr. T.

We may have to straight jacket the poor kid

the next time it is "his turn."

my new life

My view from the shower this morning.

Charlie in his swing.

Will sitting in front of it so it won't actually move,

eating the peanuts I gave him so he'd

stop begging for food

(he'd already eaten a bowl of cereal and half my bowl of oatmeal)

and "let" me take a shower.

And Chris wonders why I spend so much time

in the shower (with the door closed) on the weekends.

It's like you've always been here

Happy 1 month birthday!

You're only a month old but it's hard to

remember when you weren't here.

You were meant for our family.

You were meant to be Will's little bro.

And he loves you. And we love you. A lot.

You have been sweet since the moment you were born.

You eat A LOT.

You belch like a trucker.

You aren't a fan of your carseat.

You love to be bundled tightly.

You have the most kissable big squishy cheeks.

You appear to have blue eyes.

You have LONG dark eyelashes.

You have rolls on your thighs already.

You adore bath time (and so do I).

You are working hard on your grin.

(Your dad thinks you smiled at him yesterday).

You aren't even close to sleeping through the night.

You wake us up by grunting.

You never cry unless I wait too long to feed you.

And you only cry after grunting hasn't worked.

You love staring at Will.

He loves to get right up in your face and talk to you.

He shakes your hand and says

"pleased to meet you Char-yee Rone"

(He's always cracked up when I shake his hand

and say "pleased to meet you Will Torrone")

He loves re-plugging your binky.

If I'm in another room and you're crying he quietly

and sweetly in a high pitched voice says

"it's ok, Char-yee" If you don't stop crying after a

couple of trys he yells "IT'S Oooooo-Kkkkkk!!"

We wish you could stay just how you are forever

but we also can't wait for you to grow up

and show us your big personality.

We love you little dude.

yesterday

Love, love this of Lucy and Liz

Could you die for this little outfit on Lucy?

I could eat those cheeks all day long.

We spent the day relaxing at home and
taking Henry and Lucy to "Will's Park."
(as opposed to the other park we are always at, "Henry's Park")
Loving this fall weather.
Don't want it to end.