Halloween 2012

In an effort to step it up around here, I've decided to post some pictures from our Halloween.  It was a great day.  Out of all of our kids, I think Audrey had the most fun - she got to wear her costume to school and then again, later, to the Trunk or Treat activity at our church.

She wanted to be Tinker Bell this year and really loved her costume!

Then there's Luke... he still isn't very into the fun and magic of the holiday, so we opted for a more low-key costume for him.  Taking inspiration from one of his most prized possessions, his Superman blanket, we came up with a Clark Kent in the middle of his transformation into his true identity.  I really wanted to have Luke wear the dorky, black thick-rimmed glasses to go with his costume, but was also wise enough to know that they would not last 10 seconds on Luke's face, so we skipped that part of Superman's disguise/accessory.

(As you can see, our brief photo shoot was ending at just about the right time for Luke's patience!)

And last, but not least:  Ezra.  We again applied the slacker method to his costume.  We have some footie pajamas that look similar to the suit of a racecar driver, so we threw those on and called it good!

(I love these last two pictures, it looks like he's starting to lose his balance a bit - his eyes are wide, like, "Oh no!  I'm going to fall!"  But then he rights himself and has this cute smug grin.  I love it!)

Blogging Loser

I am such a blogging loser.  I'm in deep, dark denial that it's really been nearly three months since my last post.  I can't believe that.  And, just so you know:  I still often have the audacity to get bugged when some of my favorite bloggers don't update their blogs frequently enough for my liking!


Now, admittedly, I have had a lot going on the last few months....

We had a big McKell family reunion the first weekend in August.  Ezra and I made a very last minute road trip to Ukiah with most of my brothers to support my dad and his ordination as a Stake Patriarch.  A busy weekend of attending a nephew and a neice's baptisms.  A visit from my parents and Megan with her three little ones.  Both Audrey and Lucas have started preschool.  Ezra continues to grow at an astonishing rate.  And I've used the time that I pump to good use by reading an embarrassing number of books.  (Don't ask how many because I will not tell.)


And here's a few of the pictures we've managed to taking during all of that:

Audrey's first day of school... had to take a few pictures.  The first couple of weeks were a bit of a transition but now she really enjoys it.  She has friends that she looks forward to playing with and talks about a few in particular.  I love it when I drop her off when her little classmates are excited to see her and she's excited to see them too.  Lately she's even started to ask if she can go play at their houses, or if they can come play at ours... I guess I need to get to know the parents so we can get some play-dates going!    

(I love watching Ezra... especially in peaceful slumber.)

(Where hair washing used to be an ordeal to endure, now it's an imagination event to enjoy - this night she was pretending to be a unicorn.)

(Ezra is getting so be such a big, cute boy!  He's rolling over like a champ and tried to scoot anytime he's on his tummy.  And, thanks to the Bumbo, he's doing a pretty good job lately with sitting up with just the slightest support from us... it's hard to believe he'll be 5 months old in just a few days!)

(Since Ezra's birth, we bought out the crib and every once in a while when Audrey feels like taking a nap, she'll request to sleep in the crib "like a nice baby"... so I let her because there's something so cute about it.  She brings in all of her pillows from her big girl bed, and many of her stuffed animal friends, and her favorite blanket and curls up for a nap.)

(And Luke, he's doing well with school too.  His is specifically for kids who are experiencing developmental delays - language in his case - and he seems to have adjusted well.  He's such a cute, sweet kid, we really can't wait until he begins communicating more and more.  It's not often that he stays still long enough for me to get a picture, but I thought these from a couple of months ago were so endearing of him.  I love them.)

(In typical Audrey fashion, she is a complicated mix of young, dependent little girl and strong, capable big girl.  This summer we got her a big girl bike and she was so excited to try it.  She's getting pretty good at riding it.  It's fun to watch.  Also, in typical Audrey fashion is her sense of style - she's still a little princess-y girly girl most of the time.  In fact, my favorite part of accompanying her while she rides her bike is when she pauses to refresh her lip gloss...  she stops every couple of minutes and announces,  "Lip Gloss Break!"  and proceeds to put a fresh coat on.  A girl always needs to do what she can to look her best, apparently.  

I should probably be taking notes!)

Seriously the CUTEST thing in our house right now

After I posted that last post about "Somebody that I used to know" and it's various covers... I had a few brief moments of maternal guilt.  Seriously.

How could I rant and rave and gush about a song and then neglect to highlight my current obsession... my cute little Ezra.

So, here's a few recent pictures of my sweet little man.  Who is seriously the CUTEST thing in our house right now.

Don't you agree?!

Seriously the Coolest Thing I've Seen in a Long, Long Time

Many people in the music world are falling all over themselves for a song by the Australian artist, Gotye.

I first heard the song on the radio while I was driving around doing some errands a couple of months ago.  I didn't know who it was by at the time, just that it was pretty cool.  If you're not familiar with it, here's the video:

  



Fast forward to about a week later when I was watching American Idol with Adam after the kids had gone to bed for the night:  a couple of (my favorite) contestants did a duet of the same song and I finally found out the name of the original artist was.  Here's their performance:




In some future post, I should tell you how much I love Phillip Phillips... maybe.  I'm so glad he won - a true, authentic, unique artist and musician wins over the more polished pop-y performers.  Awesome!


Anyway, back to Gotye and his incredible song... and the subject/source of the title of this post.

This morning I saw this video of the same Gotye song covered by an Indie band,

Walk off the Earth.  

It is seriously the coolest thing that I've seen in a long, long time.
The band members use one guitar to recreate the song.  It's fabulous.  Take a gander:




Isn't that simply incredible?!  Take a look at some of their other videos and songs, I dare you.  You will not be disappointed, I promise!

A Bit of Wisdom to Ponder...

An old Cherokee told his grandson, "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all.

One is Evil.  It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego.  

The other is Good.  It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth."

The boy thought about it, and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?"

The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed." 

- author unknown

More Ezra

All of the pictures from the last post were taken in the hospital - if that wasn't readily apparent!

It's crazy how already he looks so different and older - what a difference a couple of weeks make!

I enlisted the help of my sister Dawnette and cousin Rachel to bring their fancy shmancy cameras over to take some pictures of Ezra - to go with the framed newborn pictures we have of Audrey and Luke.  Here are a few of my favorites:

I love all of them and it has been a really tough decision to pick just one!  Isn't he handsome?!

Ezra James Christian

Wow.

I have been a major blogging slacker.  It's been a couple of months since my last post... and some pretty exciting things have happened in that time.

At the top of that list is, of course, the birth of our third child!

On May 15 at 10:01am, a beautiful baby boy joined our family.  Ezra James.  He came into this world a bit of a chunk:  tipping the scales at 8lbs 13 oz and measuring 21 inches long.  His head circumference was also well above average, measuring in the 95th percentile!  (Which, if I am being completely honest, and maybe a bit too candid, made me glad that we had opted for a C Section after all!)

As anticipated, Ezra is a great little addition to our family.  He has a calm disposition and has continued to grow and change in the way only newborns can and do.  It's hard to believe that it's already been 3 weeks since we were discharged from the hospital!

We are trying to settle in to life with a 4 and a half year old, a nearly 3 year old and a newborn - this seems to mean a much fuller, more hectic routine for right now.  But, luckily, so far it has been manageable - thanks to help from my parents who were here for Ezra's first two weeks of life, and additional help from Adam's mom, who lives nearby.

I'm pretty sure that both Audrey and Luke are still trying to decide how they feel about this little human being who is monopolizing so much of mom's time.  I am confident that we will all find our new equilibrium... hopefully sooner rather than later!