wild things!

tonight was our first time taking any of the boys trick-or-treating. yesterday, when i told gabe about it worked and i got to the part where the person who answered the door puts a piece of candy in your bucket, his jaw dropped and his eyes got huge! he talked about it all day and could not wait to get out there. he practiced and practiced at home throughout the morning and when it came time for the real thing, his practice really payed off! you could hear him yelling "trick or treat" from the next house over. if enthusiasm and volume were a halloween contest, gabe would beat the best of them. he was amazing. and ezra's version of the phrase improved as the night went on until it was pretty clear what he was trying to say. titus hung out in the sling and (eventually) fell asleep.

i got a little carried away this year making their costumes, but in my defense, i had a lot of fun! the pictures really do not do them justice... the walking talking versions are incredible!

pumpkins, blank stares and scowls

pretty sure this year's pumpkin pictures are an accurate depiction of how it will go from here on out. with three, they are never all happy, looking at the camera, sitting down, or aware of what we are doing. but in the end, i kind of like it because it really is such a picture of our lives these days... always going in three (or more!) directions.

ancient city kids day

gabe had a blast and cried when we left. ezra was sick and droopy but still had fun. titus slept. steve took all the pictures.

picnic with friends

why yes, each of the older children did take a turn sitting in the tree. they all went up enthusiastically but not all were extremely comfortable once they got there.

birthday

so, my birthday was at the beginning of the month. i am 27 now, which feels pretty close to 30, which is a pretty adult age to be. but i suppose having three kids put me in the "adult" category when i was still 26. i just never feel like i am one of the "real" adults, ya know. pretty sure i could have 7 kids and still not feel like a "grown-up". oh well.

so, for my birthday steve surprised me with an ipad (!!!! very unexpected... we do not buy gadgets! it is so pretty. and i love it and i love him too.) i told him he should be very proud because i am pretty much unsurpriseable (exception: when my parents gave me mordy. very surprised them. that is two surprises in my life). i thought he was getting me this camera lens that i have been drooling over because i told him to get it for me (we do not come from people who do surprises, you know, so we just tell each other what to get. its very practical, and i like it). but the little sneak went off and bought me an ipad instead (i forgive him). it was a lovely feeling, being surprised.

anyways, that was a really long way to say: here are a few of the pictures that the boys and i have taken with my birthday ipad. gosh, that was much shorter.

life right now in video form

just a few videos that i took yesterday that sum our life up pretty well at the moment:

gabe and titus playing. they are already such great buddies!

ezra singing. there is very little time during our day when someone isn't singing one made-up song or another. this particular song was about me.

gabe at tae kwon do. there is a free class at a christian school nearby that gabe and steve have been attending. it has been great for them to have something special to do together each week and we are hoping that gabe will learn some direction-following skills from going! also, please note that steve is doing what the instructor said to do and gabe is making it up as he goes with as much yelling as possible.

at five months...

darling titus:

:: babbles and chats with us all. he finds gabe especially amazing and always laughs at his silly antics.

:: watches us eat our food. will be time to give him solids next month, and i think that he will be very ready!

:: is incredibly content. he really spends most of the day just enjoying the company of all of us... happy just to be hanging out. he does not demand entertainment, although i suppose, with two older brother, the entertainment is always there.

:: props himself up very well when lying on his belly. and when there is an enticing toy nearby, makes obvious effort to get to it so that he can put it in his mouth.

:: puts everything in his mouth. especially loves to chew on his toes. also, he has now managed to put his pacifier back in all by himself several times.

:: is growing wonderfully and getting pleasantly chubbier every day!

:: is great about letting other people hold him. and when i catch his eye from across a room, he smiles so huge, my heart melts into a puddle right there at my feet.

:: has been fussing a lot at bedtime (but not at all at naptime!), so i think that a consistent bedtime routine might be in order.

:: has a teeny birthmark just above his left eye. well, truthfully, he has had it for quite some time, but i am now convinced that it is actually a birthmark and not just a "boo boo" from one of his crazy brothers.

:: is so sweet and cuddly and i love him and want to squeeze him all day long (but i don't because obviously that would be a bad idea).