Aedan Feeling Sick, Conference Time, and Our First Real Snow

Samantha: 89 Months, Week 4

Aedan: 55 Months, Week 1

Owen: 13 Months, Week 4 (Week 60)

As I was looking through my pictures, I realized that I didn't include a couple from our time before the hockey game on Saturday night. It was Homecoming weekend, and they were supposed to have a tent with some activities, so we left home a little early to check it out. Things were wrapping up by the time we got there, but we let the kids jump around in the bounce house for a little while. This was Owen's first time in a bounce house since our kids were pretty much the only ones in it, and we didn't have to worry about him getting trampled or knocked down too much. He was doing his best to walk around, but I don't know if he understood why he kept falling down so much. He thought it was funny being able to see me through the netting on the other side.

Aedan was still recovering on Sunday morning, so we decided to have him sit with us in church rather than go to the preschool classroom, just in case. He did a good job sitting quietly in between Ben and I, coloring in his book and looking through his Superman book. Our plans for small group were up in the air for that evening because some other families were busy, and with Aedan not feeling well, we decided to just cancel it for the week. It was kind of nice having a week off to just relax and spend time together as a family before a busy week started again.

It was a fairly nice day outside, so I took advantage of the weather to clean out the garage after church that day. There was lots of dirt and trash and leaves, and I just wanted to get it swept out before winter hit and we had lots of water from melting snow. Then, once Owen was down for a nap that afternoon, I took Samantha and Aedan to open skate at Big Bear. We are trying to give Aedan more practice skating and gaining confidence with getting around on the ice. I thought maybe if we went skating in a no pressure environment, without all his hockey gear on, maybe he would do better when he got to hockey practice. I also bought Samantha used figure skates, and she was super excited about going skating. I wasn't sure how she would do because she also hadn't been on skates in over two years. I told the kids that I would rent skates and go out on the ice with them as well. I think I have only skated once in my life, so I was actually a little nervous about falling and making a fool out of myself. However, I thought it would be good for Aedan to see that I didn't know how to skate but was going to try my hardest and not give up. I hoped that skating with us would be more fun for him. I was amazed at how well Samantha did on her skates. She remembered so much more than I expected her to, and she fell quite a bit, but she always got right back up. Seeing her skate around like that made me wonder if maybe we should have continued to sign her up for ice skating lessons. She didn't show too much interest when she was in it a couple years ago, but now I could see her really enjoying it. Aedan, on the other hand, was struggling. I think he just still wasn't feeling very well, but he said he wanted to go, even though I probably should have made him stay home. He started crying when I was trying to get him to go on his own without holding my hand, saying he wanted to go home. But I told him we had just gotten there and we were going to keep skating for awhile. After going around together for awhile and having him go so slow, I decided to rent a metal frame for him to push around to see if that would help him go faster and get used to gliding with his feet rather than taking his mini-steps. Once we got the frame, he definitely started skating faster. I think he is just so afraid of falling down that he just won't move past the baby steps phase. Anyways, it was fun going out and doing something active and different with Samantha and Aedan. We will definitely have to go back and skate again sometime.

Aedan woke up on Monday morning pretty lethargic and hoarse, but other than that, he was pretty much the same, not much better, and not any worse. I wasn't sure about sending him to preschool that afternoon, but he was pretty insistent about wanting to go. I thought about calling the doctor, but I figured they would just say we should come in to have him checked out, and I didn't think that was necessary since nothing had gotten worse. Owen was also super cranky and cried a lot that Monday morning as we hung out at home, and I attempted to do some laundry and change sheets on the bed, so it wasn't exactly the most fun morning at home with the boys. Here are Aedan, Owen, and Izzy wrestling together on Aedan's blanket in his room.

I love this picture of my two boys. They are definitely creating a special bond during these days home together. Owen will miss him terribly next year when he goes off to kindergarten.

Here is Owen right after waking up from his nap that afternoon. He was so cute all cuddled up on my shoulder that I had to stop and take a picture of him before heading upstairs. This little boy has always liked to fall asleep on your shoulder. It's been his favorite way to sleep ever since he was a newborn.

Here's a painting Aedan made at preschool. It is Spookely the Square Pumpkin's Garden, and you can see his name written over on the left-hand side. He is getting better and better at writing his name.

I decided to take Aedan to preschool that afternoon because he really wanted to go, and he didn't have a fever or anything. Then, we had a busy night ahead of us because we decided to go to the PAC meeting at Samantha's school. I didn't know if it was totally necessary to go, but since Ben and I wanted to get more involved in her school, we said we would make it more of a priority to go to these meetings. Plus, they serve a free dinner, which really is a main drawing point for me. Any dinner we don't have to make or clean up is good to us.

That evening as we were waiting to go to Samantha's school, Ben and I were sitting at the kitchen table talking, giving Owen a little snack, and he captured these pictures of him trying to climb up on the table. He is such a little stinker!

And here are Samantha's and Aedan's fall school pictures. Aren't they just adorable? I think their pictures turned out really well, and I love their little smiles.

After probably too busy of a day on Monday for Aedan, he woke up on Tuesday morning feeling worse. He had a 100.6 temperature, and I could just tell that he wasn't himself. I had Bible study that morning, and I didn't want to miss it, so I decided to let Aedan bring his LeapPad and some toys and let him sit in the living room area at church by himself so he wasn't with any of the other kids. Owen still went to the nursery, and it was fun to be able to be a part of my Bible study group. Aedan enjoyed the excuse to be able to play on his LeapPad for a long time, so he was happy. I also decided to keep him home from preschool that afternoon since he had a fever that morning, just so he wouldn't pass any germs along to his preschool friends. After eating lunch, I put Owen down for a nap and then Owen down for a nap. Owen didn't take that great of a nap that afternoon, unfortunately. He hasn't been napping well most of the week, hardly napping an hour each day. It always seemed like as soon as I finished cleaning stuff up and sat down, he would wake up crying and not go back to sleep. On the other hand, I had to wake Aedan up before I left to get Samantha from school so that way he wouldn't wake up and be worried that I had already left and that Calla was there to babysit him. Aedan has always been such a good, easy napper. He was a little disappointed about having to miss gymnastics, but he was excited to be able to be home with Calla and Owen.

After being a part of a couple different social groups this week, I was still feeling really lonely. I have been feeling like I have no real, close friends, and I feel like it's so hard for me to make friends sometimes. It always has been, and I guess I hoped that some day I wouldn't struggle with this like I did when I was younger and always felt left out. I try not to dwell on things like this too much because I know it won't help me, but I was in a pretty bad mood this week with Owen hardly napping, Aedan being sick, just feeling on my own in a lot of ways, and not feeling connected to many adults on a daily basis. It made it kind of a rough week for me.

After a rough few days of not napping much, Owen woke up at about 4:30 Thursday morning, I nursed him, and it took some time getting him back to sleep, but then he slept until 9:15. I couldn't believe it, and I actually thought about waking him up because Aedan and I were waiting for him to wake up so we could go grocery shopping. No one particularly likes enjoying grocery shopping, but with the new cart with the special seats in the back at Meijer, both boys have a place to sit, which makes them both happy. Aedan decided to wear a cape just like he did last time, and he looked pretty cute, even though he wouldn't look at me for this picture of the two of them riding Sandy together.

On Thursday Samantha had a half day of school for conferences, and we had her conferences scheduled for 4:30 and 4:45. We met with Mrs. Sipes, her math teacher, first, and we got a great report. She said she is definitely on track, if not a little beyond where she should be in comparison to the other third graders. She had no concerns for her, and she said she has been consistently coming to class, turning in her homework, fitting in well with the kids in her class, and participating. I am really glad that math is going well this year, and Mrs. Sipes seems to be really on top of things. The only thing we asked about was how to help her with her addition and subtraction math facts, and she suggested flash cards, which is what I always thought, too, but Samantha has been so resistant to practicing her flash cards. It doesn't help that we have been more busy in the evenings, but she also would much rather read a book than practice her math facts. We hoped that maybe since her teacher suggested that she practice them, that maybe she would start taking it more seriously. I would just really like her to get more solid on her addition and subtraction facts before they move on to multiplication. After meeting with Mrs. Sipes, we met with her second grade teacher, Miss Allsion, and once again, she had nothing but good things to say about Samantha. She fits in well with her peers, she works hard, she is respectful, and she is excelling in every academic area. I asked for some advice on how to help her with comprehension as she reads, so she planned to give us a paper with some questions we can ask her when she is finished reading. Also, Samantha will be retested for G/T, so we will see what comes of that. We were definitely proud of our girl and the reports we got from her teachers, not that we expected anything different. We knew she was doing well in school. She loves going, and her teachers have been a great fit for her this year. After going into the year with things up in the air and not knowing who the teachers were that she was going to have, I am definitely glad things worked out how they did for her.

Since we had conferences until after 5:00, we decided to get some food out that night, and the kids voted for Applebee's. Samantha loves their cheeseburgers and side salad (although they changed their kids' menu from the last time we were there), and Aedan enjoys the chicken fingers and yogurt with fruit. I love that our kids enjoy more healthy sides with their meals, and don't just want to eat fries all the time. The kids did pretty well eating out, although we sat at a table instead of a booth, and that made it a little more difficult to contain Owen and keep him happy during the meal. We don't go out to eat very often, especially at a sit-down restaurant, but it worked out well that night.

On Friday morning it was my turn to volunteer at Samantha's school. They were doing a special thing in the Maker Space with their culture teacher, and I was excited to see the class in action in a more unstructured environment. The culture teacher did a good job telling a story about Native Americans, weaving native language in as she talked, and then asking them what the English word was. She talked a lot about how we need to treat the earth and each other well, and how we are all given different gifts to give back to those around us. It was definitely an important lesson for the kids to learn, but later as I talked to Samantha I made sure to remind her that God is the Creator that she was talking about in her story, and that He is the one who gave us the earth to care for and he is the one that has given each of us gifts to use in serving those around us, just as Jesus came to earth to serve us and be an example for us. Once they went to the Maker Space, they made eagles out of play-doh, since that was the animal they talked about in the story, and then they played with squishy circuits, using the play-doh as a conductor for the electricity. Here is Samantha's eagle.

I love this picture of Samantha. It really shows her beauty, inside and out. I love being able to get a glimpse into her world at school by coming to volunteer on Fridays. I hope that when I go back to work that I can get a job at Bahweting so that way we can all be in one place. That would be wonderful. :)

Then, after I was done at her school at about 9:30, I drove back home to pick up Daddy, Aedan, and Owen so we could go to Aedan's conference at preschool. We got to talk to Miss Bonnie, and it was great to hear how he was doing. She also had nothing but good things to say about him: that he was a hard worker, a good friend, knew all his letters, numbers, shapes, simple directions, and could count to 39. She said he is very detail-oriented and knows what everyone is doing, but can focus on the task at hand, which is a good skill to have. She didn't have any concerns, mentioned that they will continue to practice letter sounds, but that he more than on track for being ready for kindergarten next year. Here is the conference form that she filled out for us. We were so proud of our big man and how well he is doing in preschool. He loves it, and I'm so glad that he is respectful and kind. Miss Bonnie even confided in us that Aedan is definitely a favorite of hers.

And here are a couple pictures she gave me of him and his friends at school. In this first picture, they are pretending to ride on the bus, and Aedan has a cash register so that he could collect money from people when they got on the bus. Miss Bonnie wondered if we knew where he would have copied this from, and we really have no idea. He hasn't been on a bus where they have to collect money, but it's great imagination!

And here is another picture of all his friends giving him hugs when I came to pick him up the day of Halloween. He is a very friendly, likable little boy, and I love to see him making new friends like this. I love that he has an identity for himself outside of the home and being Samantha's little brother. It's interesting to see how different he is from Samantha because it seemed like Samantha was always off playing by herself when I picked her up from preschool at this age, and even now, she talks about playing by herself on the playground a lot at school. Whereas with Aedan, he often is playing with someone either in the classroom or outside, when I come to pick him up. It will be interesting to see if he is more social and has more friends, and if Samantha keeps to herself more. I love this picture and all the friends that had to come hug him good-bye. This happens pretty much every day when I come to get him.

After getting back home from the conference, Daddy headed over to campus, and the boys and I decided it would be fun to go to the MOPS play date at McDonald's. We hadn't been to one of those in a long time, and I thought the boys would have fun climbing around, playing, and eating lunch there. Owen was pulled up into the play place by a few other kids, so he was able to jump around inside the little area on the bottom. In fact, when it was time to go, it was difficult to get him to come out, and I had to climb up part of the play area to help get him out, with Aedan pushing him from behind. Aedan knew several kids he knew and was having a great time climbing up and running around with his friends. Plus, I was able to sit around and talk with some moms, getting to know some people a little bit more. Here are some silly pictures I took of the boys once we got back home and were waiting for Samantha to get home from school.

We got our first measurable coverage of snow that Friday, November 9th, and it was beautiful watching the fat, fluffy snowflakes fall down from the sky. I'm not too excited to see this much snow at the beginning of November, but I am trying to embrace it and enjoy it rather than dread it, because after all, we live in the U.P. now, and we have a long winter ahead of us.

Both kids were home from school that afternoon because of conferences, and they were so happy to have extra time to play together. I let them watch a movie that afternoon while Owen napped, and then when he woke up, we all got our snow stuff on to experience our first time playing in the snow for the year. Everyone was so excited to get outside, even Owen. At first he kind of just stood there and looked around, not quite knowing what to do, but once I helped him down the step, he walked around and got right into it.

Later on, our neighbors came out to play and asked if they could come over to our yard. Samantha and Aedan love having our neighbor girls over to play, so they were super excited. They even brought their puppy over with them so that our dogs could finally meet and play with each other. It was funny though because they always bark at each other like crazy when they are separated in their own yards, but they didn't bark at each other at all that evening. They just got right to playing and chasing each other, tiring each other out. We talked with the neighbors, saying that we need to let our dogs get together and play more this winter because it's so hard to get all their energy out when they are inside more, and this way they can tire each other out and wrestle to their heart's delight.

Samantha was determined to build a snowman that evening, and the snow was perfect packing snow. She started with a small ball and rolled it all around the yard until it got quite big. However, Izzy kept jumping at it and knocking parts of it off, so we decided to to put the snowman up on the table to be safe. Samantha added two more snowballs, and we worked together to pick off the leaves that were stuck in the snow. Then, she went inside to find a hat, gloves, buttons for eyes, and a carrot nose. She was super proud of her snowman, as this has really been the first successful snowman she has ever built. Normally, she gets frustrated and gives up before getting a snowball big enough. Here is her finished snowman, along with Samantha and Aedan posing next to it.

We were having so much fun playing outside that night that we ended up eating dinner later than we wanted to, but it was worth it to make those fun memories together outside. Then, after dinner, Samantha asked very nicely if she could have a sleepover with Aedan that night. Ben and I figured, why not?! It was a Friday night, and they are finally old enough to not be bothered by each other too much, so we moved Samantha's mattress into Aedan's room, and they were excited to be able to sleep together that night.

Owen enjoyed climbing on Samantha's bed, rolling around, and being silly. I just love his smile. There's no way you can look at him and not smile back. He is such a happy boy, and loves nothing more than being surrounded by his family.

Here are a few pictures Ben took of him and Owen while I was reading Samantha and Aedan their bedtime books. :)

Ben even got a couple pictures of me reading to the kids. I'm glad he got this in a picture. I don't get in on many of the pictures, as I am usually the one taking the pictures.

At that point, Owen was in his pajamas, too, and he wanted to join in with the cuddling. Samantha was glad to welcome him on her bed and under her covers.

Samantha and Aedan did just fine sleeping in the same room together, and Owen even slept through the night, all the way until 6:30, and then I was able to get him back to sleep for a little bit longer after nursing him and walking around with him for awhile.

After doing some things around the house and getting ready that morning, we went out to the dollar store to get our presents for our Operation Christmas Child box. We decided that would be a much better use of our money, and the kids would be able to pick out more things for our boy at a store like that. They had a great time coming up with ideas that a 2-4 year old boy would like, and we filled that box to the brim. They were looking forward to bringing the box to church the next day.

I decided that Ben and I needed a date night, as we hadn't had one in a while, so earlier in the week, I contacted our friends around the corner to see if we could do another babysitting swap with them. I wanted to see the new Nutcracker movie and figured we could go out to eat afterwards at an Italian restaurant in Canada. Owen took a pretty good nap that afternoon and we dropped all the kids off around 4:00 before heading over to Canada. There was a decent size line for the bridge, so we ended up being a little late for the movie, but we still got there pretty close to the beginning. It had been ages since I'd been to the theater to see a movie, and even though the movie was a little silly at times, I enjoyed the music and the dancing. Then, we went to Solo Trattoria, our favorite Italian restaurant, and had a wonderful dinner of brie for an appetizer, bread, house salads, and we split the stuffed chicken and gorgonzola gnocchi. It was all SO delicious. The food, the conversation, and company was so wonderful. I don't talk about Ben very much on my blog because I don't want to share too many details of his life or his job that he wouldn't want shared, since this isn't his blog. But he is still the man of my dreams as much today as when we first met, when we started dating, when we got engaged, when we got married, and on and on. In fact, my love for him grows more and more year after year, the more we build life together, and I get to see how faithful, loving, and devoted he is as a husband and father. I still get butterflies in my stomach when we get to sit close and hold each other's hands. My heart feels at home when we are doing things together, and I love these date nights where we know our kids are well cared for, and we can go out and do something together, catch up with one another, eat without feeding another kid, and talk without getting interrupted. This has been a super busy and super stressful semester for him, with barely any time to just sit and breathe and relax, so I'm glad we were able to do a little bit of that on Saturday night. I'm looking forward to when Owen is not nursing and sleeping better so Ben and I can take our first overnight trip somewhere together. Even with all of the craziness of life and work and parenting, Ben helps keep me grounded. He has a servant's heart and is always doing things to make my life easier and to show me that he loves me: from helping get the big kids ready in the morning, to making dinner if I am busy doing something else, to helping with laundry, or really anything I would ask of him or that he sees needs to be done. When he is home, especially when the kids are awake, he is present and involved. I love him so much, and truly, my life would not be the same without him in it.

(Blog about November 4-10, 2018)

Halloween Festivities

Samantha: 89 Months, Week 3
Aedan: 54 Months, Week 4
Owen: 13 Months, Week 3 (Week 59)

Here are a few more pictures from Saturday that I didn't include on the last post. Ema kept Samantha and Aedan busy on Saturday helping make some pumpkin cake and peanut butter spider cookies. Everything smelled and looked delicious, and we couldn't wait to taste it. It was very thoughtful of her to plan out things to make with the kids, and they always enjoy helping in the kitchen.

 (I'm not sure what this face is all about...)

And here are the finished products. I thought the spider cookies looked really cute, even the one with three eyes that Aedan did. :)

Sunday was the day that Ema and Papa had to head back home, so Ben and I went to first service so that we could teach our classes, while Ema and Papa stayed home with the kids so they didn't have to stay for two services. Here is a wonderful video they took of Samantha and Aedan singing the books of the Old Testament song, holding hands the entire time, and Owen even joining in by standing next to them and dancing. I love this video. I could watch it over and over again.

Then, after church was over, we gave them hugs and said good-bye. The car ride home was very quiet, as we had two sad kids on our hands that didn't want their grandparents to leave. Aedan even cried most of the way home. They always love them coming so much, and we told them that we will see them soon with Thanksgiving coming up in a month.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on things around the house, getting Owen down for a nap and the big kids in their rooms for some quiet time, followed by small group at our house. We had two couples this time, and we tried doing things a little different where the adults ate dinner together first before letting the kids come upstairs, while we continued to talk about the lesson, that way we could eat in peace, and we could all fit around the table easily. Our kitchen just isn't big enough to have a lot of people in at once, and we all agreed that we felt it worked out pretty well doing that. It was much more relaxing, and then when the kids came upstairs we could let them all sit at the table and we could just focus on making sure they had what they needed instead of trying to eat at the same time ourselves.

Monday was one of those days that just felt hectic and busy all day. Both boys woke up early, so they were cranky all morning. Then, I found out that one of the families that came over for small group had a daughter that was sent home from school with lice, and her younger sister also had it, so she let me know so I could be checking our kids' hair, just in case. So then I spent a lot of the rest of the day trying to clean things, like the kids' bedding and doing some vacuuming, just to be safe. Then, Owen only napped like 45 minutes that afternoon, I was able to get him back to sleep, and then he woke up again 5 minutes later. It was frustrating, especially after he was was up so early that morning. 

Then, after school, Ben came home a little early to be with Owen so that I could take Samantha to her first orthodontist appointment. He spent a good while looking at her mouth because the issue is that she has lost all 8 of her front teeth, but only six have come in. Her lateral incisors on the top of her mouth are up in her gums, you could see them in her x-ray, but they don't have enough room to come down because her teeth are so crowded. Her bottom front teeth are also tight and somewhat crooked, but he said that would be fairly easy to fix. After looking for awhile, he recommended that we have the baby eye teeth pulled out to give space for the other teeth to come in and see what happens. However, down the road, she still may need to have adult molars pulled to give space for her teeth to be in the right place and then braces to straighten everything out. It sounds like it could be a long road for her, and I'm glad to start her early and hopefully avoid issues I had where my lateral incisors came in behind my front teeth, probably because there wasn't enough room, and then I had to wear braces for five years and endure a lot of work on my mouth. I'm not sure if I should just go with what this orthodontist is saying, or if I should seek a second opinion from the orthodontist in Canada, so we will just have to see how we will proceed from here.

After rushing out of the office after Samantha's appointment, we picked Aedan up from preschool. (I had gotten permission for us to pick him up late that day, instead of making him leave preschool early to come and be bored at Samantha's appointment.) I was worried that he would be sitting there waiting for me, wondering why I hadn't picked him up yet, but he was busy playing with his friends and didn't even notice that I was there 45 minutes later than usual. We got home and Daddy already was serving up dinner on our plates so that we could eat quickly and get to Trunk or Treat at our church. I don't know I've ever seen the kids eat quite as quickly as they did that night. They got their costumes on, and we were off to church.

Aedan was very tired that evening after waking up so early and having a long day. He was crying before we even got out of the car in the parking lot at church for some unknown reason. It was pretty windy and chilly outside, even though earlier that day it wasn't as bad. We walked around to get candy at the cars first, and then went inside to see what they had to do. It was different than it was in past years. There was an inflatable slide for the kids to go on, a place where you could get popcorn, and some craft tables.

We also made sure to get pictures of the kids dressed up together. Aedan wore his Iron-Man costume, Samantha was a gypsy, and Owen was a monkey. It's difficult to get pictures where they are all looking at the same time, but I still got a few cute ones.

Tuesday was a Bible study day, and the boys and I were able to just spend some time hanging out around the house that morning. Owen wanted to put his monkey costume on, and while Aedan was walking around the house playing the guitar and singing, Owen joined in with his awesome dance moves.

I tried as hard as I could to get to Bible study on time, but even though it doesn't start until 10:30, I still arrived late, and I was feeling very frustrated by myself.  I have been trying really hard to be better at managing my time, but I feel like there is always something that comes up at the last minute and makes us late. Then, as I dropped the boys off in a hurry, both of them ended up crying as I left the room. Owen cried because another baby was crying and he has gotten into the separation anxiety phase now. Aedan started crying as well because he wanted to give me a hug before I left, and I was trying to drop them off in too much of a hurry. Maybe one of these days we will be able to get our act together enough to be on time and not always in a hurry.

Owen had another difficult day, not taking much of a nap that afternoon (it seems like he always does this on Tuesdays), and he was crying when I left to go pick up Samantha and Aedan from school. He saw me go out the door, so I hoped that he wouldn't give Calla too hard of a time calming down. Ben told me later that he ended up being grumpy for about five minutes and then calmed down and was happy.

Gymnastics went well for the kids, like it usually does. They really enjoy it, and even though I can't watch them very well, I know that they are learning and active, and are excited to go each week. Plus, I have an hour of time where I get to sit and just read a book, something that I don't have time to do very often. Here is a video of Samantha on the balance beam. She wanted me to take the video of her.

Wednesday was Halloween, so it was a rather busy day. Samantha had her Halloween parade at school that morning, so we all went with her to drop her off and then just stuck around to watch her walk in the parade. She dressed up as a gypsy this year. :)

Then, the boys and I went to the library like we usually do on Wednesdays before getting Aedan dressed in his costume and ready for his Halloween parade at preschool. Samantha had a half day that day, so she was able to come with me to drop Aedan off and watch him in his parade. Aedan stuck with his decision to be Iron Man because Kate was going to be Iron Man, too. However, as soon as we walked into the classroom and he saw that she was dressed similar to him, he got extremely shy and tried to hide behind my legs. It took me going into the room with him and giving him a reassuring hug before he was okay to sit down and start talking to other kids. Then, Samantha, Owen, and I went down to the basement to wait for the costume parade. Aedan was the second in line, and I love how both kids waved at each other before they even noticed me.

I love how Aedan is sticking his tongue out in this picture. I'm glad he decided to wear his Iron Man costume and the mask that is more comfortable and easier to see out of. It's so fun to have these opportunities at preschool, and I was so glad to be able to be there to see him.

After the parade, we went up to his classroom to say good-bye and get a few more pictures. I LOVE this picture of Aedan. It really captures his true smile. Man, do I love this little boy, and sometimes I'm surprised at how grown-up he is getting. I can't believe he is 4 1/2 and will be heading to kindergarten next fall. I want to hold on to this little boy of mine for as long as possible.

Kate, the other Iron Man, wanted to get in on the picture, as well as some other super hero friends.

Here are Aedan and Kate, best friends, and wearing the same costume. :)

And here's Aedan's whole class dressed up for Halloween, with Miss Stacie, Miss Kaitlin, and Miss Bonnie.

That evening, after eating dinner together and answering the door for a few trick or treaters, we got the kids dressed in their costumes and walked around the neighborhood to go trick-or-treating as a family. We were blessed with better weather than last year, and the kids scored a lot of candy since people give generously on our block because there aren't too many kids that trick or treat here, and they don't want to be stuck with a lot of extra candy.

Our neighbor, Jim, wanted to get a picture of our kids together on their front porch, so here are my three wonderful kids rounding out the Halloween festivities for the year.

We skipped out on AWANA that night to go trick-or-treating, so the rest of the evening we just enjoyed being together as a family, eating some Halloween candy, passing out candy to a few more families, and wrestling together in Aedan's room. It was fun, and I sometimes miss having these laidback nights to just be together and have fun.

Thursdays have been our grocery shopping days lately, and Aedan wasn't very thrilled about going that morning, so I was able to convince him to be more excited about it by allowing him to wear a cape around Meijer as we shopped. I figured it didn't matter, and maybe it would help us get through the process faster. :)

Just the other day Ben and I were talking about how it was only a matter of time before Owen learned how to climb up on the chairs and on the kitchen table, so I found it very ironic that that is exactly what Owen did on Thursday afternoon as I was trying to put groceries away. He was very proud of himself, and I had to take a video and some pictures to send to Ben. I knew he would get a kick out of them. This little boy is trouble, and no place is safe with him around!

Friday was one of those days where I was just feeling kind of lonely and defeated. I felt tired of being the only person that planned things or initiates things. I am trying so hard to find friends, and I'm trying to plan play dates with other moms and their kids, but then it seems like those efforts are not returned very often, so then I wonder if there is something with my personality, if I'm just too shy, or if people already have their own group of friends and really aren't interested in adding any more to their group. I have been feeling lonely lately, and just wish I had friends that knew me and wanted to hang out with me. It has been hard moving so much in our married life because we don't have that basis for friendship that other people have. And being away from family as well makes all that doubly hard.

Instead of going out just for the sake of going out, we stuck around home on Friday morning, and Aedan and I spent some time making applesauce. He helped peel, core, and slice the apples with our fancy apple contraption. We boiled the apples on the stove with some water and cinnamon, and then put it in the blender to smooth out any lumps, and here was our finished product. It tasted good, and it smelled lovely in our home from the apples simmering on the stove. Aedan couldn't wait to try some of the applesauce that we made together, and to have Daddy and Samantha try it when they got home as well.

Owen took a pretty good nap for me on Friday afternoon, even though he cried a little bit in the middle of it. But then that Friday night I could not get Owen to sleep. Ben was at the hockey game enjoying some time away doing something fun for himself, and I had had a long day and didn't feel like dealing with trying to get Owen to sleep. He wasn't happy with any way I was holding him, so I just laid him down and left the room to see what would happen. He ended up crying for about ten minutes and then fell asleep on his own, for which I was grateful. He is starting to do that more now, and I'm glad that when he is really tired, he can sometimes calm down and go to sleep without us having to walk around the room with him for a long time. He still wakes up at least once a night, at a different time each night, but Friday night was more rough with Owen. In fact, he has been waking up more than normal lately, usually requiring Ben to go in there earlier in the night to settle him back down.

Aedan also had a rough night on Friday into Saturday. He woke up crying and coughing just as we were about to head bed. Ben and I both rushed into his room because it almost sounded like he was going to get sick to his stomach. He was holding his throat like it was hard for him to breathe. Then, when he took deep breaths, it sounded raspy. I was worried about him that night as he went to bed, and he woke up a couple times during the night, calling for us, needing a drink, and just some reassurance.

Saturday morning, Ben and I were met with a wonderful surprise. After I was up with Owen from about 5:45-6:15, I went back to sleep, thinking I didn't have too much longer to sleep before all the kids would be awake. However, the next time I opened my eyes, it was almost 8:30, and Owen was still sleeping. I couldn't believe we had slept in that long! I don't even remember the last time we have been able to do that, especially since having kids. Samantha and Aedan had woken up an hour or so earlier, but they just quietly played and read books upstairs, letting Ben and I enjoy some extra time to sleep. It's nice that they are getting to the age where they can handle that.

When Aedan woke up on Saturday morning, he was very hoarse and it sounded pretty bad when he coughed. We went back and forth on what to do, but after talking to a nurse friend for advice, Ben decided to take him to the walk-in clinic to get him checked out because we were afraid he might have croup. Ben sent me a sweet video and picture of Aedan sleeping on him as they waited to be seen by the doctor.

They said to just treat him at home with ibuprofen, a vaporizer in his room, lots of fluid, and an expectorant. Then, if it were to get worse, like turn into a barking cough, or if he shows signs of stress when breathing, we should take him back in. His lower lungs were clear, which was a positive, so they didn't think he needed an x-ray or steroids.

We had tickets to the Lakers hockey game that night, and we went back and forth on what to do with Aedan being under the weather. We had him lay down for a nap that afternoon, but I'm not sure he actually fell asleep at all. We also attempted to take Owen to the game, just to see how he would do. He was pretty fascinated for the opening songs and the first few minutes of the first period, but then he started getting antsy. He didn't want us to hold him, and he wanted to get up and walk around and climb the stairs, which of course he couldn't do. I ended up strapping him into the stroller to try and contain him, but I knew that wouldn't be a long-tern solution. (Next time we will get a babysitter for Owen so we don't have to wrestle with him during the game.) Aedan was also fading fast, so after the first period, we decided it would be best for me to bring the boys home so they could go to bed. Our time was going back an hour that night, which always messes with the kids' schedules, but we hoped that keeping them out slightly past their bedtime might help their bodies adjust better. We had Samantha sit with a family that we knew at the game while Ben walked back to the house with me to help get the boys in bed and then went back to the game to be with Samantha. She enjoyed having one-on-one time with her daddy, and she even got to meet a couple of the hockey players after the game, which she found really exciting. It's fun for her to be able to stay out later and do stuff like that now that she is older, and Aedan wasn't feeling well, so he didn't mind at all that he was home sleeping instead.

Since Owen slept in for so long that morning, he didn't take a very good nap that afternoon, which was unfortunate, but the benefit of that was that he actually fell asleep nursing that night at bedtime, which never happens anymore. I was glad that he went to sleep better for me that night than he did on Friday night, and I hoped that Aedan would have a better night's sleep and start feeling better. The poor kid was not like himself. He was pretty lethargic, wasn't playing much, didn't have much of an appetite, and still sounded pretty bad when he coughed. I hoped that he would keep getting better and that it wouldn't get any worse. It's always so hard to see your kids sick.

(Blog about October 28-November 3, 2018)