Pumpkin Patch

I took the boys to the pumpkin patch yesterday. It was a nice change to sitting at home and being sick (Harper is still snotting like no other - poor kid). Obviously, living in L.A. the pumpkin patch is a joke compared to the once you would encounter in the country side - it was in the Albertson's (grocery store) parking lot. The asphalt was covered with hay and the "patch" was chain-linked all around. Not ideal, but we'll take it. Andre had a blast there. I bought him tickets for the pony ride and the petting zoo - he loved it. He keeps asking me today - "Mommy, Andre ride horsey."

This is the best picture I could take of the boys together

Andre picked his pumpkin

Harper didn't want to do anything with taking pictures. He refused to sit up (which by the way he does pretty well now, not completely confident though, so I propped him up on the pumpkins - wouldn't be too fun to fall onto the asphalt, let alone - faceplant). Harper's full attention was focused on hay. I did manage to get a couple of cute shots of him looking up

"Hello? Mommy is over here!"

Some lady was walking by and saw my struggle and decided to help me out - at least one is smiling

Andre absolutely loved the pony ride, he picked the tallest horse out of the bunch.

He's a natural

Harper enjoyed watching Andre riding the pony

Harper babbling away "dadadadada"

THe petting zoo was a hit as well. Andre petted every single animal in there, and we must have spent at least half an hour in there.

One of Andre's favorites was a little piggy (top right)

The stare-off

Harper go a lot of attention from sheep and goats...

...well not so much him, but the stroller...
...but shhh... don't tell him. He loved it!

Halloween Party

This year I set out to make my kids' Halloween costumes, as if I didn't have enough projects going on :). It took quite a few sleepless nights, but I finished them in time for the ward party, which was held last night. Though it took a lot of effort to make them, I have to say that it was worth it. I got a lot of compliments on the costumes, and they were unique. Though Andre was the only elephant, there were quite a few lions, and to be honest - Harper was the cutest one. See for yourself:

This picture would have been a lot cuter without the binky, but Harper would not cooperate. (Andre was even worse)

Here we are on the way to the party

There were a lot of fun games the kids could participate it and get little prizes. Andre loved it. He also decided to stop at the coloring table - I have to mention he was the only one there, since the other games looked a lot more fun
Andre throwing plastic spiders into pumpkin buckets. Check out the kids wrist - a basketball player in the making!

In line to playt yet another game

This was Andre favorite by far - Ghost bowling

Andre and his best friend Allie - sadly they moved up north, so he won't get to play with her much anymore. Allie was a cute flower fairy, though Joni, I still think she should have gone as Captain Hook like she wanted. :)Cute little girl Natalia - so girlyThis is the best picture I could get of Andre's costume

Allie and Andre trunk-or-treating

Harper and I in front of a decorted truck bed

More candy

Yet another decorated trunk

I thought candy was enough sweets for the day - apparently NOT - Andre had to have a couple of cupcakes to top it off

Harper is 6 months old!

I cannot believe my little Harper just had his half-year birthday! Crazy! - I thought by now I would lose the babyweight, but not so - I seem to have lost the ability/willpower to diet, and until I find it - I'll still have at least 10 pounds to go.

Back to my little Harper - he loves his brother Andre and Andre can make him laugh like no one else. Harper also wants to have everything Andre has (espesially when it comes to food). He eats a lot! And by a lot I mean at least a half-cup serving of solid food, but it has to have banana or yam in it, or else he doesn't eat it (he's got the sweet tooth gene form his parents :) He like to be held most of the time - if I set him down, I might be able to get a few minutes of not crying (my poor poor back). But I have to admit that he got a lot better at falling asleep on his own, so now I do not have to walk and bounce him upright for half an hour until he falls asleep. Phew. I know I'll later say 'what was I thinking', but I cannot wait for him to start moving- I think that might make him a happier baby.

I love my little Harper, he is such a cotie - see for yourself.

His on the 'move' in this picture, but I still like it. This is Jeff's favorite outfit for him - 20s beachgoer.

My always cute and adorable boys

My poor sick boy

My sweet little Andre all of a sudden got sick Wednesday night - the poor kid was burning up for a couple of days. To knock off the fever, I had to give him Ibuprofen every 6 hours. We tried to convince him that the medicine was yummy and tasted like candy, but it was to no avail. Everytime I tried to give it to him, he would spit it out, start gagging and crying uncontrollably. Well, we had to bribe him - everytime Andre would drink the medicine, we would give him a handful of chocolate chips. You see the end result.

Sunday best

Sitting up

Harper has been working on sitting up. He still falls and folds over quite a bit, but I think he'll get it down pretty soon.Our little Jayhawk
Folding over

Doesn't this look comfortable?

Andre recently decided to push his bedtime to 8:30-9 pm, and even then he doesn't quite go to sleep - the kid has an unlimited amount of energy (I wish I could borrow some of it). We keep our routine - we say our family prayer, tuck him in and kiss him goodnight; Andre lays still until we leave the room, and as soon as we close the door behind us, he gets up, climbs up on the changing table, turns on the light, climbs down and plays with whatever toys he can find. Battling him at it is pretty much impossible, as he will keep doing it ver and over again. So, we let him do it, and usually about half an hour later we find him asleep in hi bed, with the lights still on (And I've got to say they are pretty bright). This is how we found Andre a couple of nights ago.

That's right he moved the SUPER heavy futon mattress almost completely off the frame, and I guess in the process of doing it got tired and fell asleep...

...on the very edge of it

A complete turn around

When I started Harper on solids (rice cereal) 2 weeks ago he was ok with it the first time, but all the subsequent times he got more frustrated and upset. That is until I introduced bananas. Since then he started to eat like a champ. I barely have enough time to fill up the spoon, and if I am too slow he lets me know by starting to fuss. The kid practically attacks the spoon, sometimes I worry that it will gag him. So here's the way it goes:A huge bowl of rice cereal/banana mixture
One ready baby

5 minutes later it's all gone and I have one satisfied baby (well, sometimes he also likes to nurse afterwards - he's going to be huge if he continues at this rate)
Licked clean bowl and a spotless bib