Happy Hallloween! And Happy Birthday!

Michael:

is one year older and wiser today! He said it's pretty annoying to be on call on your birthday because every time your phone buzzes you think, "Oh man, what do I have go in for now..." when really it's just friends and family being nice. Poor guy :) He got through rounds pretty quick on his birthday though, and we had a Blueberry Coffee Cake brunch before church. Then he got called out during church and left us to run and do a consult, then made it back in time to pick us up after. Pretty efficient. He made it to the last half of trick-or-treating on Thursday with us and it was so fun to have him there for part of that. He's listening to The Omnivore's Dilemma and wants us to become vegetarian, which is happening at the same time that I've been counting my macros for 6 weeks and increasing my protein. Sooo, we're a house divided. But he doesn't make dinner ;)

Maddie:

felt like such a mom this week! Holidays and birthdays will do that to you. Moms run the world, you guys! So much going on behind the scenes. Michael took the older two boys to the park on Saturday afternoon and I got so much done in two hours. And also felt the biggest mental shift. Sometimes I think I need to recognize more how tiring it is to be solo with little ones so much and cut myself some slack. But when the alone time is your normal, and your mental state is not your normal, you just think something is wrong with you. But three little kids takes a lot of time, it's mentally draining, and I'm pretty confident nothing is wrong with me? Kind of a sad epiphany but I mean, truly had that on Saturday afternoon. All my free time lately goes to making food. I've been doing Clean Simple Eats recipes consistently for weeks now, and I love that it makes my decisions for me and that I feel good, but it's a lot of time. I make homemade yogurt every week. I grill a whole bag of Costco chicken at a time and keep it cut up in my freezer for recipes. I cut up veggies and lettuce for salads to have on hand always. I am just constantly blown away right now by how much time I spend on making food for myself and my family. But I'm choosing to do it and it's a good thing... it's just so much effort.

Westin:

is all about that school life! He looks forward to school so much and loves to work hard. He gets sent some extra work here and there because he's a 4 year old in a room full of mostly 5 or 6 year olds so he typically falls into the "needs more practice" category, but he just excitedly tells me what he brought home to work on and loves it all. He was all about Halloween this year. He wouldn't let me get away with no Halloween decorations. I let him pick out one thing at Target so our mantle had a string of bats for a little bit. I would've been fine to do just the trunk or treat with our ward and skip trick or treating in neighborhoods but he kept talking about how much candy he'd get from houses. So we met up with friends for a cute dinner beforehand and then trick or treated with some other friends that night. He was super into it. Kids are so fun.

Bennett:

my favorite moment this week with Bennett was when we came home from taking Westin to school, and Camden was sad in his carseat. Before getting him out I knelt down by him and sang a little song to him to cheer him up. Bennett came over, knelt down, and started repeating each line to Camden. "I love you, and you love me. We go together like the sun and the sea. I love you, and you love me ... and that's the way that it's supposed to be." He wanted to sing it to him over and over and Camden loved it. Bennett loved it. I loved it. Brothers are so cute. Then on Sunday Camden was fussing when I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, and Bennett came over and started making him laugh. It was the first time that has been successful (he's tried oh so hard before, but Camden has just been too little) and it was so happy! And so appreciated! I see brighter days ahead. Then I looked over and he was bouncing Camden in his bouncer pretty intensely and Camden was loving it... but I had to put a stop to that. Bennett is a party. He got some pretty serious rug burn this week and it was so sad! We didn't even see it happen but we're assuming just from wrestling with Westin. I love listening to them laugh in the morning. At his check up this week he was 80% for weight and 60% for height.

Camden:

I've decided to guiltlessly keep sleeping next to Camden after his first night feeding until after our road trip, because that also gets us to his four-month mark. So I might as well make it through those changes with just enjoying what's working rather than feeling guilty each day for not teaching him to sleep by himself yet. We'll work on falling asleep on his own when we get home. He is so smiley and sweet! The moments I get to just hold him or nurse him while the boys are watching a show are my favorite -- he's getting bigger so much faster than I remember Westin or Bennett growing. Life is busier and this little guy is joining us during a crazy stage. We love him!!

Painting half of their pumpkins.... aka stalling the carving efforts.

I love the little windows of one on one time with my kids lately.
Bennett and I love to read books after Westin goes to school,
when Camden falls asleep.

Looking so big when he's propped up!
And so sad when he tips over. Cutie.

Life of a boy mom: taking pictures of things you never used to look twice at,
because you know your kid will want to see it later.

I showed the boys a picture of some (simple) carved pumpkins and let them each choose one for their pumpkins.
Exhibit A: Westin's choice.

Exhibit B: Bennett's choice.
He was so confident in his decision and absolutely thrilled with the final result.
Thank you, Bennett.

I just can't get over these. Kids come with their own personalities :)

Testing out that iPhone night mode.

Last minute decision during our crazy breakfast time.
Our mornings stress me out a little lately from the point of waking up to the point of all of us being changed, fed, teeth brushed, dressed, and ready for the day. So this was a simple little win with the boys.

Then the toast joined the party because I forget how excited little things make them.

My heroes!

Monster sandwiches for our dinner party with friends

Camden glows! Don't miss the candy in his belly :)

My boys are all about a bounce house

Bennett was so funny trick-or-treating.
Westin was running with the pack (Hadley and Annie, and Colt + more),
and Bennett was always pulling up the rear just taking his time.
He calls candy "hi-hi" for whatever reason, and after about 30 minutes he said,
"Mama, no more hi-hi."
He'd had his fill of the process and hung the bag on my stroller :)

Sorting (eating) with their crew! I told Westin he could eat two candies that night.
He chose a full size Reese's and a full size Kit Kat.
I mean, it was worth a try :)

The face of a rookie mom that somehow scheduled an 8:00 am pediatrician appointment the morning after Halloween.
But we were on time! And I didn't even have to wake anyone up, despite our 9pm bedtime the night before.
My kids always wake up early no matter when I put them down,
which is why I'm all about that 7pm bedtime.
Let's be honest, it's 6:45.
Survival.

Westin and Weston! His best bud at school.
Their class earned an ice cream/movie party at their jog-a-thon a few weeks ago,
plus some bounce house fun. Pretty good school day!
And the perfect post-Halloween fun.

Then from his party at school he went to his first Chuck E. Cheese birthday party with friends.
Bennett was SO SAD to leave the party when we dropped him off, so we headed to Costco and I let him have a churro.
Westin is getting so big! Doing all this fun stuff without us.

On Saturday we went out to grab fish tacos at Rubio's (free birthday meal for Michael!) and mystery shop
some ice cream to pay for half of the rest of dinner. Do you think in post-residency life we will get more than one scoop of ice cream for our entire family? Because Westin is starting to realize that we're kind of lame :)
But he loved running into the Central Valley Astronomy Club in River Park, and saw the moon, Saturn, and Jupiter.

Birthday morning! Doubled that blueberry coffee cake this year because Bennett and Westin ate almost all of it last year.
This is the only food that Michael always has seconds of, and that he says, "Mmmmm" when he eats it.
So, it's his favorite by far. Which I still just find so funny and I love it.

After his requested falafel dinner we had his requested raspberry cheesecake!
Westin wants raspberry cheesecake for his birthday too. He is so thrilled to have all our birthdays out of the way because now he knows his is right around the corner :)

"I wish I wasn't on call!"
Just a guess.