Halloween

This Halloween was so fun! Eli was a lion with a great little "roar". Simeon was a giraffe that was simply adorable. Kris dressed up as the zoo keeper. We thought that was rather appropriate.

Eli had so much fun with his costume that he kept asking to wear it while playing.

Simeon was such an adorable giraffe! While we were out trick or treating, people kept giving him extra candy. Usually they offered him more right after they asked how old he was, which makes sense since he was six weeks old!

At the end of a long night of trick or treating, our little lion couldn't make it the mile and a half home.

Climbing into trouble

Eli has really gotten bold with climbing. He is always into and on everything. A few days ago I caught him climbing under a dining room chair. He got stuck and was less than amused. Mommy, on the other hand, found it entertaining. I couldn't rescue him until I took the picture.

Cold weather here we come

We had a few really cold days in October. Eli discovered the joys of bundling up and it definitely did not slow down his desire to play outside!

Apple Orchard

In October we made it to one of our favorite Apple orchards to play and pick pumpkins.

The pumpkin hunt was successful. This is only part of the group of friends that we played with that day. It was a beautiful but cold day!

Hunting

One of the joys of living in an old house is spiders. Eli and Daddy like to spider hunt together.

Eli especially likes to show off the squished spider after the hunt!

Fall Fun

Selah Concert

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to a Selah concert. Selah is one of our favorite groups. This concert was special because the entire Smith family was there, including Nicol Smith Sponberg, who is married to one of my good friends, Greg. We hadn't seen them in a few years. It was a blessing to reconnect. Check out Greg's blog from the link "Light Your World" on the side bar of this blog.

Greg shared his heart and story of losing their 10 week old son, Luke, earlier this year.

The boys enjoyed the concert, too.

And we got to meet Greg & Nicol's daughter for the first time. She is adorable!

Brothers

Simeon adores his big brother! He has really started to smile and Eli gets more smiles than any of the rest of us. And Eli thinks his baby brother is pretty great, too. He is always asking for Simeon to sit with him, play with him, share his apple . . .

Just like Daddy

Eli found Daddy's work glasses one day and I couldn't resist the photo op. . .

More Simeon pics

These are a few random pictures of Simeon from October. Isn't the hairstyle great?!?

Haircut

With Simeon's arrival, the family barber (aka Mommy) took a bit of a sabbatical. Eli's hair got rather long in October - so long, in fact, that one day he picked up one of my hair ties and asked me to put it in his hair. I couldn't resist. But after he wanted the pigtail in his hair for three days in a row, I decided it was time to cut the hair.

But they finally both got haircuts. And don't they look nice!

Mama and her boys

Fun in the sand

In September we finally got sand in the sandbox!

My Boys

Eli wants to play

Eli has been great with Simeon so far. He is very gentle and wants to play. We found Simeon like this at aout 4 days old. It is not uncommon for Eli to bring him toys. He just wants Simeon to throw the ball back to him!

Family pictures

It seems that good family pictures are harder to get with each addition.

but we finally got a decent one.

His first two weeks

How to spend th first few weeks of life . . .

Meeting Great-Grandma.

Snuggling with Daddy.

Meeting some of the cousins.

Hanging out with Uncle Rick.

And after all that, a little more sleep . . .

We would like you to meet . . .

Simeon Edward joined our family on Wednesday, Sept 17. He was 8 lb 11 oz and 19 in long.


Many of you have asked how we chose Simeon's name. His first name means "God hears" and it is our prayer that he will learn to trust God and rely on Him. His middle name is my (Katrina's) father's middle name. It was also my great grandfather's name. As with Eli's middle name, we wanted Simeon's name to reflect the spiritual legacy of our families. Our boys are blessed to have the example of several generations of Christ-followers in both of our families.

This was when Eli first met his little brother. The first order of business was to check out Simeon's nose and ears.

Baby Update

Many of you have been asking what is going on with the arrival of the new baby. As of this minute, I am still pregnant . . .

The official due date is Sept 16, just over a week away. I am large and uncomfortable and have had many many contractions. The doctor said things are progressing at the same rate as with Eli, who came a week early. He said we could have another week or he/she could arrive any day.

In the meantime, Kris has begun to call this child "The Baby who cries Wolf." We have had several "scares" in the last week where we wondered if we were headed to the hospital. Our friend Rick even came and spent the night Thursday because we were that convinced we might be headed to the hospital. Of course, just about the time he arrived, the contractions that had been 3 min apart for about 2 hours began to settle down. Thanks for being flexible, Rick! This whole hospital thing is a bit more complicated with another child to make arrangements for before we leave.

Aunt Susanne is still hoping to celebrate her birthday today with the arrival or a new niece or nephew. Anything is possible, Aunt Susanne, but it isn't looking very likely right now. Happy Birthday anyway.

And, no, we haven't looked at the envelope. We still do not know whether this is a boy or a girl. And we also do not have names picked out. Come on, are you really surprised?!?

So we will continue to keep you all updated and we appreciate your prayers. The contractions continue but no baby yet . . .

Pears & onions?!?

While helping Kris make dinner last week, Eli asked for a piece of onion. Kris, being the Dad that he is, gave him a large chunk of sweet onion to try.



He was obviously quite impressed . . .

Eventually we interested him in a pear instead. He generously shared his pear with me after chewing on it for a few minutes. It tasted an awful lot like onion to me! But he obviously enjoyed both.