Halloween....take two

Halloween continues to be a big hit in our house and it's not even "trick or treat" time yet. This morning we hosted a Halloween party at our house for Charlotte and Jacob's friends (and their nannies / mommies). 11 toddlers ranging in age from 16 - 24 months joined in the fun. All the kids looked adorable in their monkey, spider, lion, monster, flower, pumpkin, strawberry, dragon, shark, fish, owl and witch costumes. 

Table decorated for the party - the kids said
"oh wow" when they came down from their morning nap and saw the table

The flower and monster are ready to party with their friends!

Oliver...my lil pumpkin slept through the party

Jayden the dragon 

Lilibeth and Wesley the monkey

Flower power Charlotte is loving the party

Ali the strawberry

Play time at the party

Ava the witch 

Ali, Benjamin and Pat 

Assembling the kids...take one

Assembling the kids...take two

Assembling the kids...take three!

Max the lion and Ava the witch

Grammy and her "boys" (festive sweater mom)

Even monsters need to eat

Flowers get hungry too! 

Daddy and his lil monster
(daddy worked from home in the morning and heard all the fun from the basement)

Claire and the boys

Daddy and his sweet flower

Daddy and his lil pumpkin

Mommy and Daddy enjoying Oliver's first Halloween! 

Three generations....Grammy, Mommy and Oliver

Lunch time shots

Lunch time fun...

Jayden and Ethan enjoying their lunch

Ava and Max enjoying their lunch

More Ava and Max

Charlotte and Jacob decided they wanted to try Andrew and Teagan's costume's on
Jacob is a shark and Charlotte is a fish! 

Loving their friend's Halloween costumes

Hey Charlotte look at me...I'm a shark! 

Jacob couldn't be happier in the shark costume! 

Mira the owl comes for a visit

Mom being a shark is so much fun!

Lindsay has clearly captured Charlotte's attention! 

Andrew, Lindsay and Teagan enjoying the party

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween....take one

Halloween is in full force in our house and we're still one sleep away from the actual day! Last night we carved the pumpkin and today Claire, Charlotte, Jacob, Oliver and I attended a Halloween party at the Central Eglinton Community Centre. Although the kids don't quite understand what Halloween is they were very excited to carve the pumpkin and put on their costumes today for the party here are some pics....

Charlotte checking out the inside of the pumpkin

Getting ready to carve the pumpkin - shirtless because it's a messy job! 

Watching mommy dig out the pumpkin guts

Jacob sporting the bee boots because you just never know
how messy pumpkin carving will get ;)

My Lil Monster and pretty flower with their spider friend at the
Central Eglinton Community Centre Halloween Party

Monster Jacob and Claire decorating spooky cookies

Loving cookie decorating

Oliver's first Halloween party

Mmmmmm spooky cookies are YUMMY! 

There was a professional photographer at the party taking pics of the kids -
I'm looking forward to seeing her version of this picture

Charlotte admiring her tulip face paint! 

Jacob gets a "monster" eye...

So many generous gifts....

Motorcycle diaper / blanket / bib / bottle bundle
from my colleagues on the Education team at St. Michael's Hospital

We have been so fortunate over the past two weeks to have received so many generous gifts from people in honour of Oliver's arrival. We have been given beautiful cards, sleepers (Oliver is thankful for the new outfits since many of his clothes are hand me downs from Jacob), flowers, toys, books, gift certificates, many packages of diapers and wipes and lots of yummy food! 

We can't thank everyone enough for all the goodies - we're lucky to have such great family and friends in our lives! 

Two weeks in and it feels like....FOREVER!

We have officially had Oliver in our lives for two weeks now and we couldn't be happier! Although it has been busy I honestly can't imagine our lives without him. It truly feels as though he's been with us forever. And I mean "forever" in a good way. 

Charlotte and Jacob have really taken to their little brother and are great little helpers. They especially like to help me hold the bottle when I'm feeding him and always ask me if he's pooped! Charlotte can't say Oliver but proudly calls him "Opiter" if anyone asks what the baby's name is! 

Oliver also seems to be adjusting to his surroundings. He has spent much of his time eating and sleeping over the last 14 days! One observation I've made so far is that he tends to sleep longer periods during the day than he does at night - he likes to remind us that he's part of our family every three hours in the evening / overnight hours but is quite happy to sleep past four hours during the day. We're working on expanding that period at night though because sleep is a wonderful thing! Beyond that he is a content little man who really does roll with what is thrown his way. He has been on many adventures since joining us two short weeks ago including: walks around the neighbourhood, a visit to the park, a trip the nail salon and hairdresser, a visit to the High Park Zoo / castle park and a ride on the subway to renew Charlotte and Jacob's health cards at Service Ontario, say hello to mommy's former colleagues at eHealth Ontario and visit Grandpa's office. 

We look forward to sharing many more adventures with Oliver over the coming weeks / months / years - forever is a long time and we're thrilled he's a part of our family! 

Jacob and Charlotte loving holding their new little brother! 

This tummy time thing is exhausting...don't mind if I take a rest for a bit!