Halloween 2012

Well, it's that time of year again! Dress up time! I have been surprised at how much fun I've had each year coming up with costumes for my kiddos. This year, they were rather simple, but totally appropriate, considering we moved to TEXAS. 

My three little cowpokes!

He had to ditch the hat since he was gettin' so darn hot wearing it! It's still hot for Halloween down here in Texas!

and...the cowboy steals a kiss from the cute lil' cowgirl. So cute! 

We're excited to go trick-or-treating! Someone advised us to bring along our red wagon in case the horses get tired - good idea :) Our new neighborhood is all decked out and ready for all the kiddies - every time we're out walking or riding bikes, the kids just get so excited about all the houses/yards with cool decorations! I told Sawyer that next year we will have a house with a front yard to decorate...I think we're both excited!

Wishing you all a safe and Happy Halloween!

Five Little Pumpkins (a family movie)

Five Little Pumpkins from Tysha on Vimeo.

Pools and Pumpkins

Last night, Jacob and I had a rather large tiny meltdown.

We were homesick for Seattle.

But today...I tried to embrace Austin. It's not that hard to do, really. It's an awesome city and we're lucky to be here - it's just we were reminiscing about mountains and beaches and friends and...well, if you've ever moved from a place you love, you know how it goes. But we're here now. 

I've missed the autumn leaves and the crispness in the Autumn air more than I knew I would. BUT here I am, almost November, and I can take the kids to the pool! And instead of colorful leaves, we've got blossoming flowers all around us! Plenty of sunshine and daylight. It felt like the best of summer in Seattle today, so we embraced it - wholeheartedly!

I also embraced the camera, with my kiddos, all three. I wasn't even going to bring Annie (my big lug of a camera) but decided at the last minute, sure, why not? I propped her up on a table, set the self-timer - hopped in - and wa-la: a little souvenir of this absolutely lovely day, and our afternoon spent at the pool frolicking and playing (when I hear several states got their first snow today). Awesome!

I let the kids bring along their jack-o-lanterns, which proved to be good fun and hours of entertainment!

We stayed aaaaaalllll afternoon. Skipped naps. They had, after all, been great sports all morning when we ran errands. The past couple of weeks have been crazy - our church asked our family to head up the annual Halloween Carnival and "Trunk or Treat" - which  consists of a dinner, carnival games, and then the trunk or treating - 300 peeps expected, budget of $100 bucks. It was an exciting and fun challenge to take on - who doesn't love to plan a party? But slightly stressful to, with a lot to do in about two weeks time. Anyway, I digress. The kids have been troopers and we've spent a lot of days in preparation mode - gathering supplies, me being a maniac about details and centerpieces, etc. Anyway, I thought we all needed a break - the party is tomorrow after all. So, we skipped naps (except Miss Hazel, who took a dip in the pool with me and then took a nice nap in her stroller) and stayed until our fingers and toes looked like...craisins. Awesome!

I hope y'all have got your costumes ready - Halloween is right around the corner! I think this is one of the best parts about being a mom - dressing the kidlets up for Halloween! At least so far, I've looooved it! Good luck with all of your preparations!

Sweetberry Farm

Since it's October, we had to make our annual pilgrimage to the Pumpkin Patch. I just asked around about which one to go to and we decided to take a little drive out to Marble Falls (about an hour from Austin) to Sweetberry Farm. I learned that they have fun things going on the farm pretty much all year round. We're really excited to go back in the Spring to pick some berries, too.

I have to be honest and say that adjusting to summer weather for the majority of the year has been a little harder than I thought it would. When we woke up, it was a little cloudy - so from our air conditioned apartment, the clouds made it seem, well, kind of like fall should be. So I wore jeans and a sweater and threw the kids jackets in, etc. BUT the minute I stepped outside, I remember - we're in Texas now. It's not just warm - it's still pretty hot! While we have yet to experience true summer heat here, the weather is still warmer than Seattle summers are. So, we wore sweaters and we sweat :) But we had fun while we were sweating :)

I'm not gonna lie - I love having girls! Of course I love my little boy, too - but now that I have a couple of girls, I think my earlier aspiration to have SIX BOYS AND NO GIRLS was completely CRAZY!

Aspen and her "princess" pumpkin. She was really set on getting a white pumpkin, and for some reason, was determined it was a "princess" pumpkin (maybe I called it that? It was right next to the "fairytale" pumpkins after all) She was so cute about it. 

She was also really cute when we were getting ready that morning. Jacob had run to the ER to get his stitches removed, so we were killing time waiting for him. I decided, for the first time ever, to blow dry her hair and try to make it straight, to see how long it was etc. Just for fun. Since I was blow drying mine for the first time in months, I might as well do hers, too :) Anyway, it was long and pretty and we decided she looked like Rapunzel. And as she was on the bathroom counter for her hair-do, she noticed my jewelry box and begged to wear one of my necklaces - the one with the little star (a gift from my twin sister years ago, my favorite necklace). I let her. She was in HEAVEN. 

They had a ton of fun little games and carnival type things to do at the farm. We went all out and got a bunch of tickets and had a blast. The kids did this big bouncy bubble thing that was fun - Sawyer particularly enjoyed it! We've GOT to sign the boy up for a tumbling class - he's scarily good at gymnastics. 

There was also a little barrel train ride that the kids enjoyed. It actually started raining, which was kinda fun (cooled us off a little!) It was warm rain. So it made it even more humid. Warm/hot, humid and then the sun came out. We seriously should have worn out swimsuits instead of sweaters. (Oh the lessons we learn :)

We met up with some friends, too - though I have barely any photos of them. My photos were sporadic because I was wearing Hazel in the Ergo and trying to juggle her and also keep my camera safe out of the rain. As you can see, Aspen was thrilled to sit by her little friend, Teresa. And Teresa was so sweet to share a flower. Oh yeah - no fall leaves here. Just pretty blooming flowers. 

Can you tell the Hay Ride was Sawyer's favorite part? He looked forward to it all day and we saved it as our last "ride". He was giddy and had a blast! And so much for Aspen's hair - the curls came back with the rain and humidity. Good thing she's cute no matter what :)

My ticket choice was $3 for a cup - and then you got to go out into the field filled with flowers and cut as many as you could get into your cup. So for $3 I go this rather pretty boquet of fresh flowers. It was a little weird, honestly, cutting pretty flowers in the fall - but it was beautiful and fun and there ya go: fall color.  Sawyer was thrilled to have a pair of scissors to help me cut the flowers out in the field. Great little helper!

I'm trying not to compare too much between where we came from and where we are, because we are where we are, right? But in Seattle, we would bundle up and go to a farm, ride out to the field and pick our pumpkin from the vine. We'd come back to the farm, look at some animals, have maybe some hot cider, warm kettle corn - something cozy. 

In Texas, we shed our clothes, if possible, because we overdressed and it was too warm. And our treat was FRESH homemade strawberry POPSICLES! AND homemade, yummy PUMPKIN ICE-CREAM! The temperature was about 30 degrees warmer than in Seattle. Quite the difference. But SO YUMMY. No complaints!

We spent the entire day at the farm and we were one of the last cars to pull out of the parking lot. We had a blast. It's always fun just being together as a family. And you can't go wrong with homemade ice-cream!

Embrace the Camera

We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday! 

I haven't had time to blog about it yet, but today I wanted to show the evidence that I was there, too!

Me, and my girlies.

I love them so so much!

And can I tell you? Pumpkin Patches in Texas are a whole different ballgame than in the Pacific NW. Oh yeah! The same, but different. As in...we should've worn our swim suits instead of sweaters!  I will post more...eventually.

But for now...

I'll admit it (just ask Jacob!) I feel less-than-stellar these days. Not that I'm not happy about my life, it's just that I feel like it's taking my body longer to bounce back after baby #3...my boobs are still leaking (and squirting her in the face! her surprised face is both sad and hilarious when it happens!), and my jeans are still a bit tighter than I'd like...I have bought a variety of new t-shirts lately, not fashionable ones, just very much on-sale ones in multiple colors because what's better than a burp cloth? A burp t-shirt. You know, where you can just toss your t-shirt in the laundry because you're soaked? Yep. And my hair is falling out EVERYWHERE. Anyone else get that wonderful gift of no hair falling out your entire pregnancy but almost like clockwork around 3-4 months later it falls out in such handfulls that you're almost wondering if you have some weird disease. Yeah. Bring it! There are many joys that come with having a baby, and then a few crazy side effects you wish you could skip over. At least, I feel that way sometimes. Anyway, I know I'm wordy (but this is my journal/blog, so it's okay)...but my point in sharing my feeling about being my less-than-stellar self lately (okay, I've even said it "Jacob! I'm FAT!") is that when I read THIS ARTICLE (come on, you've GOT to read it too!) it made me think. A lot. And even cry. A little. Not that having a baby (or 2, or 3) is an excuse to be overweight or give up exercising (it is, however an excuse to give up showering! ha!) but sometimes we need to remind ourselves that it's all a process. If you drink water, exercise, and eat right, your body WILL bounce back. Don't give up! BUT the little moments with our kiddos...they'll never be back. So quit caring so much about the size of your jeans, your burp t-shirts, and your hair loss, and get in the picture! I fully admit that the two frames I shared this week are the one and only time I tried to do my hair and splash on a little mascara since the babe was born 4 months ago (with the exception of an occasional Sunday). I'll be more "real" and less "staged" in weeks to come, I promise :) I love Emily Anderson's weekly nod to getting Mama's in the picture. I've only linked up once, but I've decided to try and be better about jumping in front of the camera instead of always being the one behind it. I hope you'll join me! Head over to Em's blog and EMBRACE the Camera with your littles today!

Sisters (family movie)

Well, I decided to try something new.

A home video.

The other day I just happened to catch Aspen "checking" on her sister. She does this often when Hazel is napping and often sometimes wakes her up from her naps. At times, I quickly usher her out. That day, I knew she was already awake, so I snuck and got my camera - and phone - and then put the pictures and video together. I love how much Aspen loves her sister, and sings to her. The whole motherly instinct thing is fascinating. Even if sometimes I have to restrain her from loving her too much, it's the sweetest thing. Making the video was fun. I have a lot to learn, but I might just do it again sometime. 

Thanks to my friends, Dan and Minna, for inspiring me to try capturing some video of my kids (they always make the greatest videos of their kids...my kids love watching them for entertainment!)

Without further ado, here's "Sisters"

Enjoy!

sisters from Tysha on Vimeo.

4 months old

already?

yep. I kind of copied something I did with Aspen close to this age...I thought it would be fun to see their similarities and differences. Some people swear they look SO much alike...others say they look SO different. I think they look similar AND different. They look like sisters :)

Look at that smiley girly!

Totally lucked out with her long, beautiful eyelashes

She was kinda obsessed with both her hands and the blanket I set her on...kinda obsessed that she could so easily grasp the thin throw blanket and pull it around...also kinda tired after a long morning with her Daddy's accident and hospital visit. She was tired but I wanted to try to snap a few on the day she turned 4 months old...before I forgot and another month passed us by.

Yeah, she lucked out with her big, beautiful eyes as well. Love her! 

Hazel, at four months...

-Stats: 12lbs8oz (10-25%%), 22.5 inches long (2-5%) You are proportionally petite. A tiny girl that gets lots of compliments on how petite you are, how beautiful you are, and your pretty, striking eyes. Aunt Rachel is going to laugh at these stats- your cousin Emerson was born exactly a week before you but was about twice your size...she's wearing 9 months clothes now while you still fit some of your 0-3 month sizes). You two are extremes for small and large on the growth charts, it seems :) I wish so much we could put you side by side! 

-Yes, you still fit in some of your 0-3 months clothes, but this week I am starting to box them up and add more 3-6 months clothes to your fall wardrobe. I also started using the cloth diapers now that you're getting bigger - and they make you HUGE. Oh my. But they're fine for home, I feel good about making a lighter footprint on the planet by having you in soft cloth diapers. The FLIP diapers are awesome!

-You love to lay on our bed and look up at the ceiling fan as it spins around and around - you get all excited and kick your legs and smile :)

-You are super into your HAND and FISTS. You know, sucking on them and stuffing them into your mouth any chance you get. 

-You decided the Binky is okay after all. You're not the biggest fan, but you do take it now and then, which is kind of nice in certain situations.

-You now roll over from back to tummy and tummy to back (both ways). And you do it quite well! You roll all over the places grabbing for toys these days. In fact, you even scoot yourself forward and backward and I'm thinking you'll be crawling around Christmas if you keep this up. All our babies have been "early" crawlers, full speed ahead by 6 months, and it looks like you won't disappoint the tradition. Personally, though, I would be fine if you waited just a little longer. I know you're so anxious to keep up with your big bro and big sis, but it would be awesome if you'd just sit there looking cute a little bit longer...just sayin'. 

-You're getting really interested in a variety of toys. Your favorites are the winkle toy (Manhattan Toys), the wooden rattle thing (Natural Squish), and the soft Dwell Studio blocks that our good friend, Cassandra, handed down to you. Don't tell anyone - but I already started Christmas shopping and I got a gift for you that I think you're going to ADORE! 

-You love to "talk" to us and have the cutest voice. You can coo and you can also make some pretty loud noises, too! 

-Your Laugh is adorable. Everytime I walk up to our mirror in the bathroom, I hold you up and swing you back and forth and start singing the chorus to an old Madonna song ("Who's that Girl?" and you think it is the FUNNIEST thing EVER! I'm not sure if you're laughing because you are noticing yourself, how silly I look, my singing voice, or that I had a thing for Madonna back in the day and it haunts me now and then and forces me to spend an hour reminscing and watching old videos on YouTube (and having my family watch with me and dance around the living room... :) Whatever it is you think is so funny, is SO cute! I love to see you smile and laugh so much you can barely contain yourself!

-We set up your new standard sized crib in our room, and I've been putting you there for your naps instead of our bed since you like to roll around so much now. Your favorite place to sleep at night is still cuddle between me and Daddy. 

-Your brother and sister LOVE to share toys with you, be big helpers, sing to you, and otherwise smother you with love. They also enjoy telling us things like "LOOK! She's trying to crawl! Good Job, Hazel! Hooray!" It's rather adorable, too, - how much they love you. The hardest part for me is when they get all worked up and excited and start running circles around you and I want them to have fun, but I also want to keep you safe. 

-So much more I could say, little one, but the most important is that I love you to pieces. WE love you to pieces. You are such a happy blessing to our family, and such a sweet girl. I always thought I'd have 6 boys, but I will be totally honest and say I'm ecstatic I was blessed with one boy so far, and two girls. I'm sure each of you will give me a run for my money in your own way, but right now I'm enjoying that you're in the stage/at the age that all you do is cuddle and snuggle and look at me and smile with those big beautiful eyes you have. Sometimes I wish you could stay this little forever. I'll just enjoy soaking it up at much as I can...and watching you grow. You'll be beautiful to me in every stage and at every age, I know it ;) It's so fun watching you grow!

Autumn

Dear Autumn,

I always thought of you as brisk, yet sunny, colorful leaves, cool evenings, soup weather, crunchy leaves, and sweaters.

I'm starting to see you in a different light...

we now live in a city that seems to have merely 2 seasons, rather than 4. The seasons here in Texas seem to be 1) warm, and 2) HOT.

It might take a little getting used to, but I'm sure we'll adjust. I do miss seeing you the way I've known you for so long - yet if I turn the AC up I can wear a sweater while making soup for dinner. But I can also soften the butter for our traditional pumpkin-chocolate-chip cookies by putting it outside for 5 minutes. Not bad. And if the soup is too hot - we can always go take a dip in the pool while we wait for it to cool off. 

All joking aside, I have missed the Autumn I used to know. BUT I'm getting used to our new Autumn. I can't complain, because essentially Autumn in Austin is like summer in Seattle - and that is my favorite time of year. 

When we were looking for a place to live in Austin, we met with a realtor to find a good rental. He took Jacob on a tour of a few places...all of them were nice. But it came down to a decision between two. One apartment was a little bigger - but on the third floor. The other, a tad bit smaller, but ground floor with a little fenced yard. Within walking distance to a park that has tennis courts/basketball courts/sand volleyball/playground/pool/water feature/huge paved path for biking or jogging. With 3 little kiddos, can you guess which one was the winner? Our apartment community (yes, it's like a whole little town almost) has two pools as well. And one of them has this huge area that is only 6 inches deep. I LOVE it because it enables me to take the kids to the pool by myself and feel like no one will drown. In fact, spending so much time in the water has really been great for the kids. And me. And us. The first couple of weeks when we got here and it was in the triple digits, we took our little trio night swimming before bed almost EVERY single night. It was a piece of heaven. At first, the kids kept asking if we were going back to our "hotel". It does feel rather resort-ish living here. But it's starting to feel more like home. Our boxes are all un-packed. The kids' new beds arrived. I mostly just need to finish organizing closets and we'll all settled. We even got Texas license plates this week! I digress...anyway - I love love love the water! It's such a pick me up. One bonus of renting an apartment is that we have one just a few steps from our front door. I might miss some parts about traditional Autumn, but I love that here we can swim so much of the year. Love it!

Miss Hazel is getting so squishy and chunky! She'll be 4 months next week and she is just delicious! She doesn't look too happy in the above photo...probably because shortly thereafter I had to rescue her from her sister - who, quite literally, smothers her in love. 

Cute big sis. She has the best of intentions. She just loves her baby sister so much that sometimes we have to pry her away. So far, we don't do princesses in our house and Aspen has never seen a Disney princess movie so doesn't yet know who the princesses are. BUT she knows who ballerinas are. I was going through boxes and trying to organize the clothes in their closet and happened upon my stack of "to grow into" clothes (I like to buy things off-season when they're on sale, thus next seasons wardrobe is cheaper yet still so cute and stylish, just waiting to be grown into). Anyway, she found this 3T swim suit that I got for next summer on sale last spring. She grabbed it and said "it's a Ballerina dress!" I didn't even try to talk her into saving it for next year...she even talked me into putting a bun in her hair. She's obsessed. It's adorable! I don't think she's old enough for ballet classes yet, but sometime in the future I think she'll be a very excited girl to go to ballet class. Maybe when she's 4 or 5? (I'm of the opinion kids generally start activities way too early...I think they need something to really look forward to and be excited about when they have to wait for it a little longer :)

Maybe she'll take after Aunt Tia and Aunt Erin and be a dancer?

Anyone else love the clearance aisle at Target? I found these two fish squirter things there for like $4 - and they've provided hours of fun. Love it!

So, as you can see, we are welcoming Autumn in an Austin kind of way. Sometimes we pretend it's fall - but really, it just feels like an eternal summer. Strangely, living here I may finally come to appreciate winter :) Everyone talks about "when it cools off a bit..." Rumor has it in November it will cool off a bit. We shall see :) Rumor also has it we will be chopping our Christmas tree down in short sleeved t-shirts. I was talking to someone about what to expect with winter and she said "If you have a sweater, that's great - but I wouldn't buy any more". I get the feeling winter is rather mild. I think I'm gonna love it!