My Three Pirates - ARGH!

We started celebrating in mid-October. We had a church party, of course. The next night it was adults only for a super fun party. The next week Landon took it into his own hands that we hadn't carved pumpkins yet and I found him at the kitchen table, knife in hand, digging into his pumpkin. (Needless to say we had a long talk about how pumpkin carving is only okay with Mom and Dad's help). So Landon drew a ghost on his pumpkin and called it good until Monday when we carved them for FHE.
Halloween day started at Landon's school where Austin, Zac and I watched the parade (Austin described all the kids as "silly not spooky"). Then we came home and Landon decorated our "Brain Pudding" (red jello with crushed pineapple) with a spooky jack-o-lantern face and made "dinner in a pumpkin". After dinner the kids and Cameron took off to trick or treat while I took care of our youngest pirate who has his first case of the sniffles.
The kids made a haul and had so much fun. They came back smelling like candle-lit pumpkins and crisp night air. It was a great night.

First Smiles

Those fleeting first smiles are so hard to catch on film! Little Zac has recently started smiling and we LOVE it! It is so fun that he is responding and and so alert. The best way to make him smile is to lay him on my lap and talk to him - thus the way too close, blurry pictures (sadly the photos do not do him justice!) but I had to show off his new skill.
He is growing so so fast, I can't even believe that almost two months has gone by since he came into our family. It has been a blur of excitement, that's for sure. It really is amazing how a parents capacity to love can just grow and grow. I know, a little sappy but those smiles just melt me!

Austin On...

Landon - "he's the best. I'm the best so he's the best."

Isaac - "Wake UP, Isaac, it's not dark yet."

Food without milk in it (especially, treats) - "it's MY cake? Yeah, Yeah, Yeah"

Birthday invitations - "my friends will like my party because I am giving them this letter." Every picture he draws lately is a birthday invitation and then he tells me how old he is - it's always a different number sometimes eight, sometimes five and sometimes a grown up.

Mittens - "you put your baby finger in the little sleeve and a lot and a lot of fingers in the big sleeve"

Carving Pumpkins - "Can we make a face in the pumpkin and rip the top off?"

Halloween - "I like Halloween but when's Christmas?

Being dropped off for a play date - "we have to bring my lunch bag and we need... (whatever he feels like eating that day)" He wont go to anyones house without his lunch bag.

His "blankie" - "I can't go to sleep without my truck blankie because I need my suck" Yes, that's right he sucks on the corners of his blanket and calls them his "sucks"

There are many more silly things Austin says and I always tell myself I need to write them down. But, of course by the time I get around to it I can't remember what they were. I just love my little Austin. He gives me a run for my money, that's for sure. He always has his own agenda and unless it's his idea it's usually impossible to talk him into anything else. How can one kid be so hard to live with and so hard to live without at the same time?

Fall in Iowa

I LOVE FALL! Apple picking, pumpkin pie (and bread and cookies and milkshakes...) apple cider, cool breezes, chili, leaves changing, jackets in the morning and t-shirts in the afternoon. I love everything about the fall. Iowa's fall is especially beautiful. Once you live here you learn to appreciate it fast - it's definitely the best time of the year here. The kids love it too. The best fall tradition is the pumpkin patch. The kids look forward to it as soon as the air gets cool. We love the apple orchard too. We go to Kent park and look at the leaves change. It's also the beginning of the holiday season. Now that Halloween is on the way it's hard not to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner. The magic is in the air...

Just Another Day in Paradise

If you've ever heard that Country Song you know what I'm talking about... How do you know when you've reached the epitomy of marital bliss? When you spend your 7th wedding anniversary at the hospital getting your sons tonsils out. Then to come home and your husband leaves you to ROTATE the tires on the car (did it HAVE to be done today?) in the house to take care of a crying, "my tongue hurts" 3 year old and a four week old baby, at the same time your five year old is trying to be helpful and spills a quart of blue gatorade all over the kitchen table, carpet, your cell phone (while you're breast feeding your baby), and himself - and then runs down the hall spreading the stickiness on the walls and door knobs as he goes. Then without warning some nice people, new to our ward, who I haven't met yet (who came to bring dinner and I am truely grateful for) walk in (at the invitation of Cameron) on me nursing Isaac in all my naked glory - the poor husband just turned his head and walked back downstairs. Finally, after the dust settled and we got the kids to bed, we spent the evening doing the dishes and laundry. We did, however, top our night of by watching Grey's Anatomy before going to bed only to spend to night waking up every three hours to give Austin Tylenol and feed Isaac.
It is only when you've spent an anniversary like this that you realize, this is what family is all about. Taking care of each other with no expectations. Thank Goodness we love each other unconditionally. Also, maybe the exact day you got married isn't necessarily the best day to celebrate your wedding! I think we'll be celebrating next week.

Yes It's All Worth It

The laundry is piled everywhere. My hair is definitely suffering. I'm covered in baby "goop". I don't remember what it feels like to get a good night's sleep. Austin takes advantage of my half hour feeding sessions to destroy my house or help himself to whatever he can find in the fridge (cold hotdogs, unwashed grapes, 4 soy yogurts all half eaten..). Cameron and I spent half of our date night on Saturday sitting in the car feeding, diapering, and burping Isaac.
Is it overwhelming? Actually, no. I love it! In the words of my good friend Kasey, "It's no big deal, just throw the baby into the mix." I took her words to heart - We just threw Z into our family and carried on! The kids love him. They really like to help out - especially Austin. He thinks Z is his baby. We are having a blast. So... yeah, it's tough sometimes, like trying to get Landon to school in the morning with temper tantrum throwing Austin and a hungry baby and Landon telling me he doesn't know how to get dressed by himself (as if he hasn't been doing it for the past three years), but overall it definitely worth it!

Isaac "Z" Creighton

September 6, 2007 6 lbs 14 oz We call him Z because we couldn't decide between Isacc and Zak. So we thought we could compromise with "Izak". And that somehow turned into Z. This kid has been a dream child. He loves to have his hands by his face. He's so mellow. When he's awake he just looks around wide eyed. He is such a sweet little boy. We're happy to have him in our family. Landon and Austin are great with him, they want to hold him all the time. Isaac loves when they talk to him - he usually opens his eyes. I'm so grateful for great doctors - everything went so smoothly, I couldn't have asked for a better experience . I'm also so thankful to all my friends and my mom that have helped me out so much. It's amazing how you can love a bundle of baby so much so fast.