Trick or treat!

Jack has been looking forward to today FOREVER. He was so excited that he got up this morning and got dressed (pretty much) all by himself. He then stood at the door begging Justin to "hurry up, Daddy, I have to get to school!"

At preschool, they had a Halloween party where they took the kids to the local Senior Center and let them trick or treat to the older individuals there. They had a blast and came back with lots of candy. Jack then had lunch, and a short nap, before we headed over to his BFF Spencer's house for yummy

dinner and nighttime fun!

Before school this morning. We have since "lost" the sword somewhere...

We had a few meltdowns along the way - there were a lot of kids, lots of yelling and running and screaming. Jack didn't eat much (except sugar) and he was kind of manic. He would only wear his turtle shell for part of the night, and he refused to take off his sweaty plastic mask. Oh, well. It's the stuff that great Halloweens in childhood are made of, right?? :)

Caroline got in on the fun as best she could...but she hated (HATED) her costume and pretty much screamed if she was wearing it. At least she was super cute and cheesy before I put it on...

Look! A bow!

She had so much fun with the big kids.

Who wouldn't be intimidated by this Ninja Turtle?!

It was really cold out. She still hated the hood. HATED. THE. HOOD.

Once we got outside, he was so happy and excited!

Scoping out the loot.

Still hating the hood. I mean, how cute is she in her tights and costume??
But nope, no smiles. 

Before I convinced him that only real Ninja Turtles wear their shells
(isn't that a pretty vital part of the whole turtle thing!??!)

Finally. Shelled.

Now he's hitting his stride...

This house was awesome! Best decorations and nicest people.

They even let us do a family photo op in their front yard :)

The two babies...in matching strollers :)

 One thing that both grandparents requested was a Halloween picture of the two kids together. I thought it would be a piece of cake. IT WAS NOT. Neither one of them cooperated at the same time! Go figure. Sorry, y'all. :(

All the kids before going in and devouring their loot. They had a great time!!!

Caroline passed out in the car on the way home, and Jack wasn't far behind in bed. It tired both of them out, but it was really fun. We enjoyed the company of old and new friends, and look forward to more holidays soon! The best is yet to come this year!

Movember...and, almost Halloween.

So, it's almost Movember. (See here.) Justin is all about it and started growing his moustache about 2 weeks ago (to get a head start, otherwise you'd never be able to see it...LOL.)

He's very proud of himself and even added a goatee. Funny guy. At least the other guys are work are doing it too!

The kids are doing great. Life is crazy busy around here as we are getting ready for Halloween! Jack is super pumped. Caroline's costume is still up for debate - we will see how the weather is on Wednesday night. We are looking forward to trick-or-treating with Spencer and a bunch of other little ones...it is going to be so fun to see them this year. Jack is going to love every second of it! Don't worry, we will take lots of pictures.

She LOVES baby cookies!!! And she's just as good as Jack
at making big messes :) 

I just can't resist sleeping pictures. She's so adorable in her swaddle.

Who took over my bed?!

Look at that BLOND hair!

Gigi sent a bunch of awesome bows. This one, a spider for Halloween,
is super cute...but it looks too funny without hair :)

It takes her a looooooong time but she can get up like this
by herself.

Everyone enjoys cookie picnics at the park.

Caroline's teeth were hurting. Jack decided his were too.

She loves her mirror...and herself.

So proud!

I was watching TV with Caroline and I thought Jack
was napping in his own bed, in his own room.
I was mistaken. He scared the crap out of me when this appeared
on the monitor in the living room!!!!

She loves her new place at the dinner table!

6 month checkup

Caroline's stats:

• 26 3/8 inches tall
• 16 lb 9 oz
• 43.4 cm head circumference 

Dr. Trojnar said everything looked great! She's meeting most of the 9-month-old milestones as far as language development, sitting, holding various parts of her body up, strength, etc, so she's ahead of the curve. The second we sat down together in the "shot chair," she knew what was up. The nurse started swabbing her legs and she flipped out! If you know our calm baby, that's not normal for her...she knew what was coming! I have a feeling I'm destined to have another one that's too smart for their own good...

Our house these days.

JACK
He's still my crazy kiddo in every way. He is stubborn (although his tantrums are admittedly better lately), hilariously funny (more to come soon), and overall a truly entertaining little man. Some recent things...

• His favorite color is blue. At meals, everything must be blue - his plate, spoon, fork, cup, etc. 
• He is addicted to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He is going to be the blue one (of course) for Halloween and he constantly has a sword, a "turtle stick," or some other weapon in his hand. 
• He always has "a good idea." He tries to convince Justin and I that his good ideas are really great by adding in "and take a nap" -- like this: "I've got a good idea! Let's go to the mall, go to the toy store, go to the park, eat a snack, take a nap, wake up, go to Target, and then go to the bouncy house! Is that a good idea?" Like adding in the nap is going to make us magically say yes to all those other ridiculous things.
• He's into sleeping naked lately. Well, in his nighttime diaper only. (And sometimes he even tries to take that off.) He never wants to wear PJ's, even though our house gets down to like 60 degrees at night.
• He has ninja moves. He always likes to show people his ninja moves - usually involving his weapons as noted above.
• The kid has NO fear. We see this exhibited in his swimming, roller coasters, the diving board, etc. But it also involves social situations. At the park, he will go up to ANY kid (big, little, teenager, baby), and ask if they want to play with him. I have been trying to talk up "stranger danger" because while I don't want him to be super cautious all the time, his lack of discretion in talking to anyone scares me. 
• He is excelling at school. Every day he comes home with worksheets where he's learning to draw his letters, and he's doing great. He loves his friends and always has great stories about who has been bad and who has been good. Today, his best friend at school is Andrew. Yesterday, it was Jayden. Tomorrow, who knows??
• Here are some pictures taken in the last week or two:

Last Monday, I took him to this place near us appropriately called "The Jungle."
He only got stuck a few times...me climbing in to save him wearing Caroline
in the Baby Bjorn was quite hilarious I'm sure.

Turtle sticks, ninja belt, and baby Caroline - always a good combo.

Watching "The Nightmare Before Halloween" with Daddy.

Mornings in the Crosby house before school!!

He's so big.

That's his "you've got to be kidding me" look.

Trying to fix his broken 

Sleeping with a ninja sword. Safe and sound.

Another pair of new shoes...the kid's growing! YES!

CAROLINE
Our sweet girl is growing by the day! Her ability to do new things constantly amazes me. She has her 6-month checkup tomorrow morning (shots, poor girl!) and I can't wait to see how much she's grown.

• She's an awesome nurser. She is not, however, an awesome solids eater. She now likes puffs, biter biscuits, and baby cookies that she can hold and gnaw herself. She hates anything pureed and mushed fed by spoon. We will keep working...she can't avoid silverware forever, right??
• She can sit up unassisted, and can almost get to a sitting position on her own from laying down. 
• She rolls all over in her swaddle. It's insane what positions she can get herself into at night. 
• She grabs ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and it immediately goes into her mouth. I feel like she's much worse than Jack ever was at this, but I may have just blocked this part out of my mind. She's got a stealthy fast reach and can grab anything in range!
• I moved our family seats around at the dinner table. Jack used to sit at the head with Justin and I at either side. Now, Caroline sits in the head in the big high chair, Jack in his wooden little chair, Justin next to him, and me across. It feels surreal and strange to have 4 of us at the table at night now!
• She giggles and squeals and babbles and yells. A LOT!!!!! She's quite the talker :) I can't wait to hear all the things she has to say!
• Here are some of her recent pictures:

Look at those LEGS!

Bedhead!

Teeth!!!! Probably the reason everything goes in her mouth...

Watching Dr. Phil at the car repair place. I busted a tire on Justin's car.  Oops.

One of the many nights she was hanging out with us instead of sleeping.

No more camera, Mom!

Love those cheeks!

She had just woken up. She smelled SOOOOOOO yummy and warm :)