More Halloween

Honestly, Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  I sort of dis-like it.  I feel like every year it just drags on, and by November 1st, I usually have all the Halloween decorations down and put away, ready for it to be over.  But I do enjoy watching the excitement on my kids' faces, and that is the only reason I really participate.  Emma has been especially vocal this year, exclaiming multiple times each day "I dress up as Cinderella for Halloween!!"  Last night we went trick or treating and it was POURING rain.  We lasted all of about 10 minutes and 5 houses.  Emma was the most drenched, but she was probably still the happiest of us all.  I just love her obvious enthusiasm.

We enjoyed carving pumpkins a couple of days ago.  Here are the girls and their masterpieces.

Here is Brayden in his skunk costume.  His face pretty much says it all.

Halloween

Last night was the first Halloween event of the season for the kids to dress up.  They have been looking foward to this for weeks it seems.  Molly chose to be a black cat and looked adorable, and Emma, who has been obsessed with Cinderella for months, got to use Molly's Cinderella costume from a few years ago.  That worked out nicely, no?  Brayden, though big, doesn't quite fit into the traditional first Halloween skunk outfit yet, though we'll try to fix it for trick-or-treating.
 

Winter is here...or not?

Here is what it looked like outside on Tuesday...3 days ago.  Though a bit of a surprise, it was so pretty. 

And today it's gone, with a bright sun and 55 degrees. 

Pumpkin Patch

While David's parents were here visiting, we took them to a pumpkin patch.  It was fun to show them what "real" pumpkin farms were like in the MidWest.  The girls had a blast. 

Brayden's blessing

We were able to bless Brayden today.  What a wonderful day with family, we feel so loved.  David's parents are here to visit from California, and my family came in for the day from Des Moines.  We're so grateful they could celebrate this happy day with us. 

The Yourstone grandparents.

The Isaacson grandparents.

Brayden's newborn photo shoot

I decided to try something new with Brayden, and do some lifestyle newborn photos.  There is a fabulous photographer in our ward that was willing to squeeze us in.  It was so fun!  Brayden did a great job, but at the end when we tried to get some with the girls, he was loosing it.  I'm glad we at least got a few cute ones of all the kids together though.  Here are some of my favorites.

Brayden is 1 month old!

I feel like we're finally getting into a groove around here.  It's amazing how in as little as a month, we're already forgetting what life was like before Brayden was here.  Which is probably a good thing, because that pregnancy was not fun.

A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed a visit from Grampy.  It was nice to have him around for a few days. We're excited to have him come back, this time bringing Grammy with him, in just a couple days!

We really enjoyed General Conference last weekend, and doing some fun activities together.  The girls kept busy with crafts and games.  They painted mini pumpkins and colored little paper Conference Crowns, along with many other activities. 

We are really enjoying baby Brayden.  He loves to be held and cuddled, and doesn't do so well in his bouncer or swing unless he is sleeping in them.  He enjoys bath time, but not so much the getting out and getting dressed.  He is a grunter! He is still a good eater, but we have some work to do at night time.  The longest he has gone is 4 hours between feedings, and that has only been twice.  The last few nights he has been getting up every 2 or so hours to eat.  I am really looking forward to getting some more solid hours of sleep.  He is a big boy, too, weighing 9 lbs 5 oz at his 2 week check-up.  That's 76% for weight.  He was 22 inches long, 98% for height.  We sure think he's a cutie!!