A Little bit Halloween, and little bit Country

Kaj and friends

my boys

cowboy Kaj

Looking snuggly! (and sharp after haircut)

The goo man choo (this really is Sam's nickname for Josh)

I wanted to do a quick picture catch up post as well as a small Halloween shout out, before moving on to the hurricane aftermath post which will assuredly come. We were keeping Kaj's hair long for Halloween, because I thought it would fun to do some wild crazy pirate hair. We went to little Halloween party at a friend's house where all the kids wore there costumes...except for Kaj. I thought "well maybe if he sees his friends he'll want too." I brought the costume just incase the mood would strike him...it didn't. He was totally cool just hanging out with the Incredibles, Super Red, Woody, the Statue of Liberty, and Super D like it's an every day thing. So for the next costume event which was the trunk or treat..or church or treat in this case- all day I would ask him and about being a pirate, try and get him really excited about it. Singing pirate songs all day, then I dressed up in a reindeer suit, and Josh as a monkey still thinking "he has got to think this is cool some time." (Me-as a reindeer isn't that the definition of cool? haha) So right before we had to go over to the church it hit me...Kaj can be in costume...in disguise. We have a cowboy hat that Kaj WILL wear, and cowboy shirt, and some jeans. He could be in costume and not even realize it. So, that is exactly what I did. The trunk or treat was a hit! The kids seemed to have a great time, and Kaj scored some major candy. I was so grateful for friends that could help with my boys on a night that Sam would be traveling from Queens late. I would still be at the church cleaning up if it wasn't for them. This is my shout for Halloween!

wild pirate hair

Not only is Josh Crawling...

Haha! You thought I was going to say: "He's climbing stairs!" No...not yet anyways. Eeek!

Go Ahead...Toast em

I got a text from Sam this morning that expressed his gratitude for the things I did, and also an "I love you." Simple, as it was, it uplifted me immediately. I smiled when I saw it, and it made me very happy for the rest of the day. Sam called me on the way home from his rotation tonight at about 10:00 - which, by the way- is in Queens. Sam was listening to a conference talk by Henry B Eyring on the way to Queens, and made him start thinking about Kaj and Josh, and started reflecting on himself. For anyone who knows Sam and I, know we are very different. Not just in just the obvious. (come on! ha) There is also a distinct difference on the topic of emotion. Sam likes to be very logical, and would be the first to admit he would take emotion out of every equation if he could, I....write...poetry. But, as he made observations about Kaj and noted how very sweet he is, and what a tender hearted kid he is, it made him realize the extra attention he wanted to show him, and how much he wanted Kaj to always know "that his papa slims" loves him. I, also pointed out that Josh is very tender hearted too, Sam isn't around little Josh every day to identify how early this trait has manifested itself in him. We felt it is so important as parents to nourish this piece of our boys-the world is going to be hard enough. Sam mentioned that he has always been independent (which, of course, I know very well), and he doesn't need to be told he is loved (I do tell him), and he often doesn't understand when people do, but realized that, that doesn't mean he shouldn't do it, and that he would try to do it more to me and the boys. I wanted to share the thought that I also shared with Sam. It doesn't take any time out of your day, it isn't some thing that is physically hard to do, and if you know that you will make the person/people you love happy then why not just do it? I feel like little things so often go such a long way. I am not ashamed to say that I am emotional, I do find value emotions, I will also say I definitely have an ever growing appreciation to logic. I will probably always opt for being kind to someone than being objective. I will probably never hesitate to apologize if I have hurt someone's feelings, or give a hug to someone who is sad. I am thankful for Sam, I am thankful when he comes to new realizations- and this is not to say I am right- it is just to say that he is the kind of person who is always wanting to grow, and learn, and improve. So boys-when you read this one day- your dad loves you. So so so very very much.

I spy...

It is official!! First two teeth!

ByGosh MyJosh

A little update about this ever growing boy. It turns out even sweet little boys like Josh can be quite a handful. Josh seems to be drawn to stairs, power cords, bathrooms, tight corners, and under tables. As he is become quite mobile, he gets himself into tight situations all the time. He get trapped under tables, and in between walls and laundry baskets, I reroute this kid countless times a day from his attempts to get to anything in an outlet. Josh is on the go, and very curious, he is usually not happy very long hanging out where we are aka where the party is at, if we are in the bedroom he wants to go into the bathroom or by the stairs, if we are in the living room he wants to be in kitchen or in the den, (which has a step down to get in) and, even though he has been getting up on one step I am gonna throw this out there and say he doesn't know how to get down... He loves textures, and we will hear him scratching away before he goes to sleep or in the morning on the pack n play, which, when I got him this morning, he had scratched up his cute little nose. So I have to say bygosh myjosh- he is all over the place! Kaj and Josh are starting to hang out more, I see Josh watching everything Kaj does, and often smiling at him, and Kaj will sometimes get and crawl beside Josh. There was a moment where Kaj was trying to pick Josh up, and he was doing mighty man grunts to indicate, of course, that he was just too heavy to pick up, so I said, "Yeah, Josh is big."And then, the next moment Kaj was sitting on Josh wanting a pony ride, and I had to say "You can't sit on Josh, he's too little...." It would get confusing.

A Morning with the Goo

 Last night, right before Sam came to bed, he went and checked on Kaj, which he typically does. Then he came in and said "I don't know why Kaj keeps wanting to be in his crib?" Sam had a heard something in Kaj's room, and then found Kaj transferring all of his things to then sleep in his crib. He is random, and he will go 3-4 nights where he will be in his big kid bed no problem, and then one night decide to climb in his crib.
This morning at 6:15-not a typical time- we heard Kaj wake up, which nowadays he wakes up and will play in his room for a real long while. The real hold up on playing in his room if he puts himself in his crib is while he has mastered getting in, he has not learned the dark art of getting out. So, moments later we heard a loud THUD followed by crying, and we both knew what had happened, he is my child and with no grace had toppled over the side. He was totally fine. He then grabbed his bunny, his blanket, and went into our room. A real party, obviously. So later in the morning while I was showering I could hear Kaj's little feet trampling back and forth in the hallway...oh boy what is he doing? I thought. When I returned to our room he had been getting all of his bed time things and taking them to our bed. haha!! He had made himself right at home.  haha!

Entering the Construction Zone

 We then had major plans to go to the library for one of their drop in programs. I have become a big fan of the library for their kid programs, and it is something that we do regularly. We walked in, the lady asked if Kaj wanted a hat, which the answer is always "of course!" to a mom who wants their kid to wear a cute, silly hat that is too big, and we went to work!  Today's activity...the construction zone. They had a lot of different building type toys to play with. So we built with some blocks and some big puzzle squares (pictured below, I obviously don't know the real name of them) and made a poorly constructed house, but we had fun. I have to say there are times that I realize just how sweet of boy I have, and today was another one of those days. I really do love my Kaj bears.

what a pucker?!

Party me harty!

Birthdays. It used to be really exciting. I don't know at what age you start loosening your collar and gulping audibly (isn't the typical response?) , and thinking it would just be better that no one would remember it was your birthday, you are convinced that if no one remembers it is your birthday then you actually don't have one and you remain the same age. No harm, no fowl. But, in reality, you do still in fact, turn a year older regardless. It was 24 that I felt like it was starting to get weird, but officially 26 that I was not stoked about it. Sam has spent the days prior to birthday teasing me about turning "the dirty 30."I don't know what makes the the 30 dirty, but I still was not happy about him adding that year to my life. I am not 30, and will hang out to the last year of my 20's, and hopefully go down in style by the end of it. When I woke up yesterday, and had my regular oatmeals in the morning, and then quickly  spilled oatmeal all over the floor, I thought...huh, if this is this an indicator of the day, wow, pretty awesome.

this is how Kaj at his ice cream cake 

messy face aftermath

I must say though, it was actually a very enjoyable day. I started with pilates, which I really do like a lot. And then, a lovely friend of mine, insisted I get out of the house while she watched the boys, but not before giving me the fuzziest, coziest earmuffs on the planet. I treated myself to getting my toes done, which I had not done by myself. Sam brought home sushi, Dora the Explorer party hats, and an ice cream cake. Josh wore his party hat, Kaj blew out the candle, and I had a moment of such thankfulness for my all of my sweet boys. I then went to volleyball as per my usual Thursday, but found the net decorated, and the girls...decorated as well. Wearing party too-toos and funny hats, and handed me my own party wear. We volleyed, went out for a little treat, and talked until the night closed in. It was such a good day! I was feeling so thankful, so blessed, and so not 29. Eek! (seeing it written is weird) So despite my age, I am happy. I am excited to be to reflect, and be thankful for the experiences I have had to learn, and to grow, and to appreciate. 

First time fitting into his "little brother" shirt

but I don't want to be a pirate

In other news, we tried on Kaj's Halloween costume, and he hated it's guts. He did not want to be a pirate. I am really hoping that he will come around, because there is nothing else on the menu.