On Two Feet!

Little Leyton is officially a walker...most of the time! He's been walking for the most part since Friday afternoon. Now and then he decides that crawling is easier, but he is definitely on two feet more than ever before. Now that he's getting the hang of it, he's starting to look a lot less wobbly, but he still has that adorable little baby waddle that is just too cute. Here's some video footage of the momentous day!

Almost There!

Big news!...Leyton is almost walking! For the past few days, he's been taking a few steps at a time independently and really showing more of an interest in moving on two legs vs. hands and knees. I am really excited for him! He hasn't been a fan of walking at all, even with me holding both of his hands and helping him along. He has definitely preferred crawling and has perfected it so much that he can zip from one place to another in a flash. FINALLY, he seems to have a little bit more confidence, and I don't think it will be long now. Yay for our little man!

I will be sure to get some video this week, but for now, here are a couple recent pics of our happy man not so happy.

Scowly...

and serious...

I've Been Slimed!

30 seconds...all it takes for Brody to dump an entire bottle of shower gel over Leyton's head. At least the little man takes it all in stride. Such an easygoing little cutie!

Trick or Treat!

Halloween was lots of fun this year with two little ones! Our little superheroes really enjoyed trick-or-treating, even though it was a bit colder than last year. We set out just before dark and hit a couple blocks right around our house. Brody was a little shy at first, and sometimes he was a bit spooked by the scary decorations, but he quickly warmed up and probably could have trick-or-treated all night! Leyton didn't really know what was going on, and since I forgot to buy him a trick-or-treat basket (bad Mommy!) he just watched big brother. He can't really eat candy yet anyway, so I don't think he minded. :) Brody was terribly excited about all his loot, and every day since he has wanted to dump it all out on the floor and sort through everything. Thankfully, we've been able to limit the actual consumption, but wow--does this boy like candy!! After our trick-or-treating adventures, we headed over to Wendy and Mark's, our next door neighbors, for a fabulous Halloween block party. It was fun, but I realized quickly that we just can't have the same kind of fun these days with two busy little ones to chase after and corral. Not like I didn't know that, but it really hit home for some reason that particular night! Brad ended up taking them home early (so he could watch the Longhorn game) and I stayed to have one more drink!

Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!!

Batman visits his first house and gets some treats from Wendy the Witch!

Little Leyton didn't even mind his eye mask, although it made him squint!

Leyton, Katherine, Louden, and Brody

Mommy gets treats, too! Edward and Jacob chocolates--yummy!

Autumn Leaves

Saturday was "clean up the yard" day. Brody and Leyton had fun destroying the piles that Daddy worked so hard to rake. When that got old, Brody decided to take his dump truck for a ride in the stroller. Too cute!

Pumpkin Party 2009

On Friday night, we hosted our neighborhood pumpkin carving party. We ordered pizza and shared yummy treats and apple cider. Last year, the weather was nice enough to carve in the Schwartz's front yard, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case this year. No stopping us, however! I just laid down some tarps in the living room and we carved away. Michelle and Chris provided lots of tools and patterns, so Brody and I set to work choosing what he wanted his pumpkin to look like. He quickly picked a spider, and then he, Brad, and Leyton got to work cutting off the top and scooping out the seeds. Leyton was completely in love with all the pumpkin goop--he couldn't keep his hands out of it! I worked on carving the spider while Brad and Brody set to work on our second pumpkin, using a kit that was basically a bunch of translucent colored pegs that you tapped into the pumpkin to make a design, kind of like a light bright. Our neighbor Andrew carved our third and final pumpkin, giving it a nice happy grin! The kids (and adults) had tons of fun, and the jack-o-lanterns were a success! I look forward to this party every year, and I am so happy that we have great friends and neighbors to share it with!

Lovin the pumpkin goop!

Happy Man!

Leyton tries to carve, too!

Our masterpieces!

Happy Halloween from The Smiths!

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Our Little Superheroes

Brody finally got to wear his Batman costume to school today, and man, was he excited! His class took a field trip to a retirement home and sang Halloween songs to the elderly people. How cute! His teacher said he sang really well and wanted to wear his mask the whole time. Somehow he ended up coming home without his belt. When I asked him about it, I got a crazy story about how his friend Jack was also Batman but he didn't have a belt so Brody let him borrow his. I guess I'll find out tomorrow!

This evening we took the kiddos to the Southwest Community Halloween Party. It was a big old-fashioned Halloween carnival with lots of games, raffle prizes, puppet and magic shows, and other fun activities. Brody won one of the raffle prizes--a free oil change coupon, a free burrito from Chipotle, a $50 gift certificate to a neighborhood framing store, and a big Halloween decor gift basket from Sunnyside Gardens (our neighborhood nursery.) That was well worth our $5 entry fee!

We're excited for our pumpkin carving party tomorrow and trick-or-treating this weekend! Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Batman and Robin...Aren't they adorable?

Halloween Treats!

The coveted "box of goodies" arrived from Grandaddy, Grandma, and Aunties Allyson and Bethany yesterday. They always send the boys the best stuff for Halloween! Brody and Leyton were so excited that they just dumped everything out on the floor and jumped right in. Teddy Grahams, goldfish, gummies, a puzzle, a CD, books, coloring books...but the item that brought the biggest smiles from Brody and the biggest shivers from me? The giant centipede gummy! Ewww! It looks a little too much like the ones I see in the basement occasionally, not to mention that it's about three feet long!

Thanks, guys, for bringing some Halloween fun our way!

The loot!

Pumpkin Day!

On Saturday I took the boys to the Lake Harriet Trolley for their annual "Farmer Ken's Pumpkin Patch" trolley ride. Even though we already had two nice pumpkins at home, we added one more to the bunch. (I'm going to have a LOT of carving to do on Friday!) The boys had fun climbing all over the pumpkins and riding the trolley full of spooky Halloween decorations--Brody thought the skeleton was the best!

Then we headed out to Yumi and Eric's for pizza and pumpkin carving. I didn't actually get around to doing any carving while we were there, so I am still going to have a lot of carving to do on Friday. The kids enjoyed some playtime, and Leyton got to sit at the big kid table for the first time! I just can't believe he's ready for that!

Friends! (Leyton, Brody, Carson, Miya, Mia, Lily, and Maisie)

Puzzle Fun

Leyton and I attended a playdate last Thursday morning with some JLM moms and babies at Kiddywampus, this really great store for kids. Leyton fell in love with this puzzle. It was the perfect level of difficulty for him, and he just sat there and played so contentedly. Maybe I'll have to add this toy to his Christmas wish list!

Two New Babies To Love!

I am so overdue (unlike Erin was!) in wishing our wonderful friends Erin and Juan a big congratulations on the birth of their two baby boys, William and Alexander. They were born on September 18th, and after spending 18 days in the NICU, they are now at home with big brother Joey and dog-brother Jack. Erin and Juan, we are so thrilled for all of you and can't wait to hop on a plane to Denver and meet your new little ones!