Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween with the Holden's

Halloween was way more exciting this year with a preschooler who "understood"what was going on.   It was a little chilly in the morning so the boys spend some extended time in their matching skeleton pj's 
Before they put on their Halloween finest and headed outside for some photos with the pumpkins.
After nap time, we changed everyone into their costumes.  Carter was a prince, complete with his own horse to ride.
Parker was an adorable, snugly tiger baby.
Once everyone was ready we headed to our neighborhood Halloween party.
Recognize the person with Carter - that's dad dressed up like a female country music singer.  He won the award at work for the best men's costume (He came in close to winning the neighborhood award as well  but lost in a dance off.  Someone said dancing in a dress was hard).

We had a blast at the neighborhood party.  Parker enjoyed snuggling with the ladies.
While Carter got out his excess energy chasing around his friends.
Both kids thoroughly enjoyed their pizza dinner.
And Carter had a blast in the various bouncy houses.  Mainly when playing with Hailey.
Soon it was time to line up for the Halloween parade.  All the kids stand together until released into the neighborhood.  It's a mad dash at the beginning and hilarious to watch screaming, smiling kids everywhere.
Carter was a little slower than most (particularly with the horse he refused to take off).  But he had no problem walking up and getting his candy.  We practiced saying "Happy Halloween" and "Thank you" all week.
In addition to Carter's neighborhood friends, he had 3 of his classmates who were trick-or-treating in the neighborhood too.  This is Carter, Jack, John Paul (in back) and Logan.  They were on the same pace for a while so it was nice to chat with their parents and catch up.
We were lucky that Grandmommy was able to stay for the initial rush so she could watch Parker and man the house while mom/dad got to walk around with Carter.
Carter made it much further than we anticipated.  He did great ringing the door bells and picking one piece of candy at each house.
Soon everyone made it home where we snapped a quick family picture on the front porch.
The boys were having too much fun so we let them stay up a little late.  Parker took the opportunity to dig into Carter's candy.  He choose a lollipop.
Carter preferred to hand out the candy.  He loved to hold the basket and tell all the kids to just take one piece.  After a while he decided that he would rather pick what piece each child got and put it in their bag for them.  He was a tough candy-giver-outer!  And probably had as much fun doing that as he did getting candy.
Parker had a great time watching his crazy brother and being tickled by dad.
It was a really fun day for the whole family.  We hope you all had a Happy Halloween as well!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Halloween Decorations

We have spent the past month getting the house decorated for Halloween.  Here are some pictures of our efforts.
Parker enjoying the baby pumpkins Grandmommy helped him and Carter pick out at the Pumpkin Patch.
Carter's pumpkins: Elmo, a Monkey and a Lion
Carter showing off the Pumpkin mask he decorated.
Carter drew a design for dad to carve on his pumpkin. Any guesses as to what it is???
Helping dad remove seeds from the pumpkin
House lit up at night.  Carter picked out spider webs for our windows and pumpkins to line the driveway.
Carved pumpkin #1
Carved pumpkin #2
All our Halloween crafts - someone has had a busy month!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Weekly Recap

Parker (11 months)
Parker is definitely showing he is almost ready to gain his "toddler" title.  He was very interested in walking while holding a walker or mom/dad's fingers this week.  He definitely has an idea of where he wants to go and he will lead you there.  He is also obsessed with the stairs and if we leave the gate open, he will go straight for them and crawl all the way to the top.

He had grapes for the first time this week and he LOVED them.  He probably has then twice a day now.  He continues to primarily eat finger foods though he loves an occasional pouch while on the go.

Here are some pictures from this week.
Playing with his sisters on the stair rail
Trying to climb up the stairs.  He is imitating Carter and trying to go up the stair treads on the side.  
Eating Nilla Wafers
Playing with the shower door.  He loves to climb in a wet shower. 
Cute baby
Ready for Halloween!

Carter (2 years, 5 months)
Carter is becoming a social little guy and loves to hang out with his friends.  His best pal is Hailey, our neighbor.  Every day we go outside around 5 and wait for Hailey to come home so they can play.  Carter loves to do what Hailey does.  
He is also a big fan of his friends from school.  We are fortunate that there are some really great families and we have been able to enjoy some play dates with them.  We went to the Children's museum with Logan this week.  They were hilarious at snack time.  They each took their snacks and divided them so they each got some.  Then they both liked to eat the same thing at the same time.   It was really sweet.
Other than that, Carter is just a crazy toddler who loves being silly, doing art, playing outside and taking baths.  And no bath is complete without a crazy hairdo!

Brothers
Watching the boys interact makes all the stress of having two disappear.  Carter has been extremely affectionate with Parker lately.  He also likes playing with him and showing him how things work.  Grandmommy got Carter a scooter this week and he and Parker had a blast riding on it (preferably together).
The boys can also get each other into a lot of trouble, like when they both wanted to play in the crib full of stuffed animals at the grocery store!
Brothers are definitely equal parts brotherly love and double the trouble!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Kristen's Wedding

This weekend mom/dad got to celebrate the wedding of a good friend from High School, Kristen.  Friday night we went by the Smith's to see Julie who was in town for the wedding as well.  The boys did great at a cocktail party at her house.
Saturday was the main event.  We drove up to Greenville and left the kids with Grandmommy.  Kristen looked gorgeous.  And her husband is pretty great too.  His name is Jordan and everyone named Jordan is just wonderful ;)
It was really fun to catch up with our high school friends and enjoy an adult-only evening!
Congrats Kristin and Jordan!