Happy Hallowe'en!!

William was dressed as a dalmation! I had a heck of a time getting a non-blurry smiling picture so this one will have to do.
Patrick was a ghost and Kathryn was a fairy princess.

We had a great time trick-or-treating. We walked down one street to Grandma and Grampy's house, then home along another street. We were gone about 1.5 hours and the kids hit lots of houses and were given a LOT of candy. The bags were very heavy!! I think the will be eating it till Easter at least.

We celebrated Patrick's half birthday with a little party (no gifts) and a cake! Grandma and Grampy were able to join us too.

Happy 5.5 birthday Patrick!!

Sleepy baby snuggles with Daddy:

Such a happy kid!

He's become a drool factory. There are definetly teeth bothering him and we've had to keep a bib on him anytime he's in a semi-upright position to keep his chest dry. We go thru about 4 bibs a day. This particular one was crocheted by one of my customers from the pharmacy. She made him 6!! I like that they are adjustable because I can button them just about anywhere at the back which is very handy.

W had his 4-month check up today. He is 16.5 lbs and 26.5 inches. He's following a nice growth curve!

He also had his immunizations and cried really briefly. I was able to console him just by talking to him, holding his hand and kissing his little chubby cheek.

Pumpkins!

We decided today was the day to get our house decorated for Hallowe'en. After we got groceries, we took the kids to Hi-Berry so they could pick out a pumpkin.

After lunch, we cleared the table, spread the newspaper and helped them carve up their pumpkins. Patrick was pretty grossed out by the whole thing - he even gagged when, after much persuasion, he put his hand inside the pumpkin to pull out some of the goo.

Both kids choose how they wanted their jack-o-lantern to look and we carved them up.

Here is the finished product:

Our plug-in pumpkin is on the far right beside William.

For some reason Blogger decided to upload them in reverse order. Here is KJ looking inside Patrick's pumpkin:
And here is KJ with her finished pumpkin:

Had some fun with the newly-fallen leaves in the backyard today:

Shaun took some great fall photos of the big kids while we were at my parent's place over Thanksgiving weekend. Here are a few of the better ones.

First time in the Jolly Jumper!!

He wasn't too sure what to do at first. The kids helped him figure out the sounds mat and he did try to 'jump' around a bit, but mostly he just hung there and looked around! I'm sure he'll be just as crazy about the jolly jumper as the other kids were - in time.

Such a happy baby in a new sleeper (9M!!)
Love that happy smile.

PUMPKINFEST!!!

We had a great time yesterday at Pumpkinfest. The weather wasn't so nice, but at least it wasn't actually raining.

I picked up this outfit for Mr. W the night before. I had seen it listed on the FB classifides for $3 and I was able to go and pick it up and get it washed and ready in time for him to wear it to the festival. Its a good thing too, because I suspect that by Hallowe'en it will be too small. The tag says 6-9M.

Mr. Serious didn't actually object to the outfit of course, but this was the best picture we got! He was a big hit, though, and we were stopped a few times with people commenting on his attire.

A bit short in the legs, but mostly he was covered with a blanket so it didn't matter.

Kathryn just LOVED the merry-go-round. I think she went on it 3 times! Once with me, once with Grandma and once with Daddy.

Patrick's favourite was the ferris wheel. He went on that twice with Grampy!

William just generally hung out in the stroller and was happy about it.

The kids also rode the ponies.

They wanted to ride the camel too, but it was too expensive for a 5-minute ride.

Here they are on another ride that Kathryn was very excited about, and Patrick was more 'meh' about.

They both loved the fun house this year and went on it twice! The 2nd time I went with them so they wouldn't smack into as many mirrors in the maze.

We had some fries for lunch and checked out the crafts as well. Shaun and his Dad also checked out the monsterous veggies in the grower's tent too!

Delicious hands:

Ouch!!! Patrick took a tumble Monday after playgroup in the playground. Poor guy tripped on his own feet and smacked his head off the asphalt. He also scraped his hands and knees right thru his jeans.

Doesn't seem to be any lasting effect except a sore noggin. He had tylenol after lunch but didn't want it later that night.

The big bruise is subsiding, but the smaller raw patch will take a lot longer.

Brotherly Love:

William likes the exersaucer! He even spins himself around to play with other toys.

Growing up fast!!!

Kathryn made this at preschool today. I love all the colours but I love her description of it even better.
Kathryn says this is our family. Everyone gets 1 eye. I guess we're all standing sideways? The eye that is mine has glue on it (my glasses) and the smallest eye is William. Isn't that adorable?!

A friend loaned me her cuddly wrap which is basically a long piece of fabric. I have a ring-sling but just couldn't make it work so we were both happy and comfortable.

I like this wrap! And W seems to as well. I am going to take apart my ring sling and make it into a wrap as he seems to need a more rigid fabric (he is a large boy!)

Super comfortable though and hands-free holding!

Kathryn had her first dance lesson last night. She was so excited!!! This is the new body suit we purchased for her - she just loves the little attached 'tu-tu'.
Ready to run out the door!

She had a GREAT time. There are 2 other little cuties in her class. When she got home she showed us all the steps she remembered. Next week can't come fast enough for our little dancer!

Had a little photo shoot with William. I was trying to get a good smile with him in this cute outfit that Shaun's work buddies gave him.

He did smile lots - but not when I was actually snapping pictures.

He's adorable though!
Shaun's buddies had no idea when they bought this sleeper that Shaun's nick name as a child was BUCK! So fitting!!

Here's a blurry smile! Such a cutie pie.

There have been people asking what I'm actually eating these days so I thought I'd post quickly about that.

Breakfast is 1/2 cup instant oatmeal with 1 cup vanilla rice milk. I also add some stevia sweetner for flavour and I've started adding 1 tsp of ground flax for fiber and omega's. I also take my prenatal vit, vit D and calcium citrate.

Lunch is often rice (2:1 ratio of brown to white) with chicken and peas mixed together with some chicken bullion concentrate for flavour. Sometimes I have a biscuit (recipe below) with some turkey slices, carrots and cellery. Sometimes left-over rice pasta with beef and a salad. I've been meaning to get back to salad with chick peas in it but I haven't been motivated yet. I used to eat that with a creamy dressing - which I can't have now.

Dinner varies more. Last night I had the rice-noodles with beef and a salad. Tonight I'm having pork chops, applesauce and sweet potato. A few nights ago I had shredded, fried potatoes and a huge salad.

For snacks I often have unsweetened apple sauce, apple, plain rice cakes, a biscuit, raisins, sunflower seeds or carrots & cellery. I'm drinking mostly water but I'll have black tea, sometimes with honey, or welches grape juice with seltzer (my new 'pop') as a treat. I have been eating way too many plain potato chips - they're so yummy - but I'm going to cut down.

Here is the biscuit recipe. Finally got it right and quite enjoy it.

Whisk together 1 TBS ground flax and 3 TBS warm water. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together:
1 cup flour
1 TBS guar gum if using gluten-free flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
(1/2 tsp nutmeg and 3 tsp cinnamon - can be omitted - Cinnamon gives W gas)
1 tsp liquid Stevia.

In a medium bowl, mix together:
1/2 cup oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup vanilla rice milk
Flax/water mixture

Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix. Spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

I think the next time I make them I may try adding 1/2 cup of honey instead of the stevia. I may also use flavoured unsweetened applesauce for a different taste.

HAPPY 3 MONTHS WILLIAM!!!!

We did a little photo shoot of the birthday boy. He's wearing a new outfit here - its a size 9M. Crazy. Just a bit long in the sleves,the rest fits fine.

Such a happy smile here!

The obligatory monthly chair shot:

Happy Happy Happy!!! He has such a sweet smile.

I weighed him before his bath and he is 15 pounds!