Happy Halloween

Tonight is the annual 'Beggars Night' here in Ohio. The tradition of going around and trick or treating has been a little bit altered here. Rather than sending out the children to universally beg for candy door to door on October 31st, this area sets forth a set evening and time for the various suburbs surrounding us. The week before the appointed evening, the dates and times are published in the newspaper. Both in our neighborhood, and the neighborhood of Ammon's sister Angela, tonight is the night. We opted, rather than trick-or-treat in our decidedly down-scale neighborhood, to take the children to Angela's part of town, where we figured the pickings to be slightly more friendly. The kids had a great time going door to door with their Dad, something they've never actually done. In this day and age, the only 'trick-or-treating' our kids have done is at the annual ward trunk-or-treat. Our branch even hosted a trunk-or-treat on Saturday night, so our kids are well versed in the practice. I was pleased that it was warmer than normal this year, so even though I had brought the kids big winter coats to stick over their costumes, they were completely unnecessary. Luckily, an alert mother had purchased warm clothing to integrate with their costumes, so the extra warmth wasn't needed. What were the little urchins this year, you ask? Jeremy opted to be King Arthur from "Quest for Camelot", so in keeping with the theme, Kadon dressed up as Merlin. I am proud to say that I actually sewed their costumes from scratch, and will post pictures as soon as possible. We briefly considered dressing Brooklyn up as a princess to complete the trio, but since she spent the majority of the evening sleeping in my arms at Angela's house, I'm glad we didn't go to the trouble. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, and I hope to see pictures of all the cute kids out there soon! Happy Halloween, everyone!

Pictures

On Friday we took the kids to JCPenney to get their pictures taken, and they turned out breathtakingly beautiful. I ordered several prints, and can't wait to get my hands on them and put them in frames around the house. Brooklyn did incredibly well for this photo shoot, especially considering that we had driven over an hour to get to the mall and she was starving. I stayed very close to her, ready to put the pacifier in and then quickly take it out so the photographer could quickly snap a picture before she started screaming. The dress she is wearing is comically large on her, but we were able to make it fit a little bit better by overlapping the the opening in the back and pinning it, because our tiny little girl has nothing to wear! I'm glad that the boys were so well behaved, and that these pictures turned out so well.

Harvest Festival

On Saturday we took Alisha to a Harvest Festival. We knew nothing about it, other than the short blurb advertising it in the local newspaper, but we set out on Saturday morning intent on enjoying ourselves. In deference to the confusing Eastern tradition of naming roads instead of numbering them, along with refusing to align roads in any sort of straight fashion, I 'Mapquested' the directions before we left home. Funny what a difference a '.' will make. We followed my directions perfectly. South from our house, a right turn, a left, another right. At one point we were instructed to go .3 meals down Richmond Rd. in search of Union. After following Richmond Rd. for what was surely longer than .3 miles, we turned around, assuming we had simply overlooked the road. After 'missing' it again (we couldn't possibly have gotten faulty directions, I got them from Mapquest!) we traveled down the stretch for a third time. Disgruntled and frustrated, we finally headed for home, disappointed to be missing out on what had promised to be a fun afternoon. Upon arriving back at the house, I again Mapquested the address, ceding to the fact that I could possibly have written the directions down wrong. The problem? The '.' in .3 was actually supposed to be Richmond Rd. then 3, not Richmond Rd .3. Slight problem when you're in unfamiliar territory. Chagrined, I announced the difficulty to Ammon and Alisha, and we set out once again for the festival. Once we finally found it, the kids had a marvelous time climbing on tractors, taking a hayride with Mom, and checking out a 500 year old Bur Oak tree. I'm glad that Alisha was able to visit, and hope she enjoyed her stay!

Ammon and the kids checking out the Boy Scouts selling TrailsEnd popcorn. The hefty price tag scared them away pretty effectively.
Kadon on a good ol' fashioned John Deere. Longtime readers to this blog will appreciate the throwback to another picture posted on my blog some time ago.
Jeremy astride an antique tractor.
500 year old Bur Oak Tree. Recorded as the oldest tree in Montgomery county.

Victoria and the boys on the hayride. My face looks kind of funny in this picture, but I was having a good hair day, so deal with it!

Forbidden Fruit

Why is it that forbidden food tastes so much better? As I write this, I just finished a sugar cookie. A sugar cookie with a healthy dollop of vanilla frosting, which I colored orange yesterday in the spirit of Halloween. The kids are also having a snack, although theirs is decidedly less interesting than mine. I gave each of them a piece of bread and sent them to watch cartoons so I could sneak my treat in peace. It's not that I don't want the kids to have a sugar cookie, it's that they will insist on frosting, and that is what I'm opposed to. You see, if I give them orange frosting, then it will end up all over their clothes. It will end up on their faces, their fingers, and everywhere in between. Yesterday, Kadon even managed to get orange frosting in his hair. Seriously, how do you manage to eat a cookie, and smear it in your hair? I know, I know, I'm the mother of a two-year-old, and I shouldn't ask. That being said, I chose to sneak my cookie today, rather than eat it in the open and be obligated to share with them. I'm sure I won't get away with this forever, and quite frankly, that's an awful lot of cookies for me to eat the entire batch, even by stealth. However, I'd rather wait until a little bit closer to the appointed hour of their bath tonight. At least that way their Dad will be the one cleaning orange frosting out of curly blond hair.

On a brighter note, my friend Alisha arrives the day after tomorrow. She actually leaves Utah late tomorrow night, where she will fly to New York and spend 8 harrowing hours in a layover. She arrives here in Columbus about 12 hours after her expedition begins. I may even give her a cookie with orange frosting for her trouble.

Brooklyn

I promised my father the other day that I would take some video of his newest granddaughter to post on my blog, as I am aware that photos are an unworthy testament to her cuteness. As promised, I shot the video this afternoon, and was awarded with a surprise at the end--I think you'll find it enjoyable, and if you don't, it should at least be humorous. If it's neither? Well, you probably shouldn't be reading this blog, then. Enjoy!

Sleepless Nights

2 am. That's what time I finally got out of bed last night and came downstairs, giving in to the fact that attaining any sleep was highly unlikely. That's right, we have experienced our very first truly horrendous night. We made the mistake of letting Brooklyn sleep too much during the early evening hours, and at bedtime I paid a high price. Brooklyn was restless much of the evening, and no amount of nursing, snuggling, or pacifying her could convince her to settle into a sound sleep. Thankfully, Mary was kind enough to take the boys to the park this morning, allowing me to sleep for a couple hours this morning. I've been very grateful for her help this week. I've healed rather rapidly, much faster than I expected. I had anticipated several weeks of restricted activity, but at 1 weeks postpartum, and only 4 days out of the hospital, I'm feeling *almost* back to normal. I'm not technically allowed to drive yet, and certainly doing any heavy lifting is out of the question, but I haven't taken anything for pain in almost two days, and that's a wonderful feeling. I have so enjoyed being home with my three kids, and being able to spend lots of quality time with them. So far the boys are handling the transition beautifully, doting on their little sister and being helpful to me. Jeremy has fully stepped into the 'big brother' role that he wears so well and been wonderful to help me get things from around the house, help Kadon with whatever he can, and generally be really good natured. Kadon, who I had feared would react badly to a small invader, has instead reacted with a great love for his little sister. He is constantly wanting to know where she is, why she is crying, and if he can hold her. He regularly plants tiny kisses on her forehead, and is interested in everything she does. Of course, he is convinced that she eats from my belly, and should be able to sleep in his bed, not mine, and occasionally his 'loves' and more like mauling, but it's been wonderful.

What Little Girls are Made Of

Brooklyn Celeste Fellows was born via cesarean section on Thursday, October 4th at 11:18 am. She weighed a tiny 5 lbs 1 ounce and was 19 inches long. She is terrifically healthy, happy, and doing well. I have recovered at a much faster rate than either of the boys, and am so glad to be home. I will try to post more as soon as I can, but for now the baby is sleeping, the boys are occupied, and I'm exhausted. Hugs to you all!!

Last Belly Shot

Alright folks, here is one last belly shot for your viewing pleasure. I am 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant today. My surgery is scheduled for 10:30 am tomorrow morning, and I have to check into the hospital at 7:30 am. Ammon will be posting pictures of Brooklyn as soon as possible, but in the meantime, any prayers or positive thoughts you could spare for our family tomorrow morning would be greatly appreciated. I have definitely started to feel apprehensive about all the pain I know I'm going to be in this time tomorrow, and Ammon and I are both nervous about what kind of affect this change is going to have on the boys. All nervousness aside, we still can't wait to meet our little girl in the morning!

Squirrels

I wish I had taken my camera to the park with me today. After Kadon's afternoon siesta, I decided it was a great opportunity for the kids and I to get some of that quality time I keep vowing I'm going to give them before this baby comes. That in mind, I loaded the kids up into Mary's car (our van being in Cincinnati with Ammon) and set off for the bank. After depositing some money, we made one more pit stop at Wendy's for an afternoon snack of fries and lemonade, then made our way to our favorite park. We sat happily at one of the picnic tables eating our afternoon snack, and then the boys set out to run themselves ragged on the playground equipment. After about an hour of playing, I noticed a squirrel venturing unusually close to me underneath the picnic table. Suddenly, an idea struck! I quickly unearthed some uneaten french fries from the depths of the Wendy's bag and threw one on the ground. Just as the children approached, breathless from chasing each other around the playground, the wary squirrel snatched the proffered french fry from the ground, and proceeded to nibble at it in an entirely cute manner. As you can imagine, my children were fascinated with the prospect of feeding the omnipresent squirrels, and I had a great time trying to teach the kids the fine art of throwing the french fry 'just so', so that the squirrels would not be frightened by the approach, but instead enticed to pick it up and eat it. I'm sure my kids are going to move on to wanting to feed the squirrels in the yard next, an event that I will do my best to discourage. Feeding squirrels at the local park is one thing, teaching them to expect food from our home is entirely another.

In other news, Ammon has now completed his second full day at Ethicon Endo-Surgery. Yesterday he returned home fully an hour before I had thought to expect him, so our rush hour fears were pleasantly lifted. His boss, in viewing his necessary commute, has agreed to let Ammon take only a 30 minute lunch, allowing him to leave at 4:30 instead of the usual 5pm. This allowed Ammon to skip the worst of the Cincinnati traffic, and arrive here in very reasonable time. Tomorrow will be his last day of work this week, as we are headed to the hospital on Thursday to deliver Brooklyn. I plan to take one more belly shot to post in farewell tomorrow afternoon, along with finishing the last-minute details of bringing a life into this world. We finally have the bulk of preparation finished, having set up the bassinet this weekend, and mostly packing my hospital bag. The infant swing is set up in the living room, awaiting only the arrival of a tiny body to rock to sleep. The changing table sits waiting in the dining room, stocked with diapers, spare clothes, and bath supplies. It seems so strange to think that the age old tradition of having babies has been reduced to a surgical schedule, but I can't wait to meet our little girl in a mere 42 hours!