Owen and Dolly

As I mentioned in the previous post, the night of the Jack O'Lantern Spooktacular was cold so we needed to bundle Owen up. It was the first time he wore his winter coverall. When we put him in the van Jenna took one look at him and said he looked like Dolly (Jenna's lovey for the past 3 1/2 years). When I looked at Owen again, I just laughed because he really did resemble Dolly. We had to capture that!

Celebrating Fall

As usual, we have been quite busy this fall season with all our festivals and parties. Joe and I usually love this time of year and look forward to all of our traditions, but I will admit, it has been a bit more trying with a new baby in tow! Owen has been a trooper with this mad family he has been born into!! We have already been to the Indian Summer Festival (which was very hot!), the Jack O'Lantern Spooktacular (which was very cold!), the Great Pumpkin Patch (which was very windy!), Where are the Wild Things at the Illinois State Museum, and our play group Halloween party (which was very loud!). And just for good measure we threw in a trip to the St. Louis Zoo. We did miss one Halloween party due to illness and still have a couple more Halloween celebrations to go before the actual event of trick-or-treating, not to mention carving our pumpkins! The Jack O'Lantern Spooktacular was a first for us this year and it was wonderful!! It is held at the Washington Park Botanical Gardens and it is an amazing walk through 2008 lit Jack O'Lanterns! The number will increase every year as the number of pumpkins matches the year. Jenna's preschool class craved a pumpkin for the event, but in all honesty we could not find it amongst the other 2007 pumpkins but we had so much fun looking for it! Despite getting to the pumpkin patch later in the month we were still able to pick our own pumpkins from the patch. This is always a fun time watching the kids critique every pumpkin they find wondering if the next one they find might be better. Normally our pumpkins reflect our position in the family - Joe's is the biggest, then mine, then Alex's, then Jenna's, and Owen's would be the smallest this year. But Alex threw that out the window this year and got the biggest pumpkin! He can lift bigger pumpkins so why not go with the biggest?! Halloween costumes were much easier this year. Alex is a pirate and is wearing a costume he already had but we did buy him a new sword and Jenna is finally the ghost she has always wanted to be! As for Owen, we have slimmed him down by putting a skeleton onesie on him...it glows in the dark!! While we have enjoyed our busy season Joe and I have decided to ease up a bit during the Holiday season, stay home more and really just take in our incredible kids - to have fun with them, to play with them, to make great memories with them!

Funny Jenna

On the way to preschool this morning Jenna informed me that Owen was "slobbering milk." This is Alex and Jenna's way of telling me that Owen has spit up. I cannot see Owen when we are in the car because he is rear-facing and we have yet to find a system of mirrors that allow me to see him. Anyway, it doesn't really matter because no one can reach Owen; I'm driving, Owen is in the middle row, and the two older ones are in the back row. As usual, I thank Jenna for letting me know and say, as I always do, that I will clean Owen up when we get to where we are going. Jenna then says, "Never mind, Mom. Owen is getting it. He is scooping the milk back into his mouth with his hands." Then there is a pause, I assume she is watching this process, and then I hear "Mom, that is sooo gross!" Never a dull moment in our lives!

9 Years

Nine years ago today I married my best friend, my soul mate. In a day when marriages easily fail, I cannot imagine not being married to Joe for the rest of my life. While we have a long way to go before we are old and gray, we think of the day when we will sit in our rocking chairs on our wrap-around porch (a house we don't own yet) on a beautiful Fall morning (our favorite season) drinking our coffee, still holding hands, waiting for our kids and grand kids to come for a visit. Our nine years together have gone by quickly. Together we have purchased one car, one house, gone on three big vacations, and have brought into this world three absolutely amazing kids. We have endured sad times together and, yes, we have had our share of arguments but always is the love, respect, and admiration for/of each other. So, how will we celebrate these last nine years? Will we hire a sitter and go out for a fancy dinner? We will go see a movie? We will go out for a coffee afterwards? Nope. We will celebrate it the best way we can think of - small, quiet, and cozy here at home with the kids. I'm making one of Joe's favorite meals and then after we put the kids to bed we plan on cuddling on the couch and watching the VP debate relishing in the fact that we both love the simplicity of life and still love each other's company. Happy Anniversary Joe...I love you!!