Happy Halloween

We started the festivities today at Teagan's Halloween parade at daycare.  Declan was in it too but he didn't go outside.  The kids had fun!  More photos to come soon from trick or treating!

Teagan and Joshua

Pumpkins

Teagan helped clean out and carve our four LARGE pumpkins.  She lost interest in separating the seeds after a while but she sure does like eating them now that they have been roasted!

Monsters & Skeletons, Oh My!

We did a quick halloween costume photo shoot at the park this morning with Teagan and Declan.  I have done this with Teagan in past years and it works out well to capture the cuteness of their costumes.  Halloween night is always so tricky because they are anxious to get out the door and it gets dark so early. Teagan had fun acting like a monster (a nice monster!) and Declan just liked eating the grass and leaves.  I liked the yummy light and cute expressions I was capturing!

And just for the record in case anyone is wondering - I did not touch their eyes with photoshop in any of these shots - they are just that blue!!!

Practice Makes Perfect

People often comment to me that my kids are always smiling and happy for pictures.  In all of my attempts, sometimes I win, and sometimes I don't.  I had exactly 11 shots in our recent "photo shoot" of attempting to get them both to cooperate before it was all over and they were both done.  Of the eleven, a handful were completely unusable.  Here were some of the losing shots - even though they weren't the money shot they still capture some of the fun of trying to wrangle two kids for a sibling photo.  I wasn't even overly thrilled with the best and only viable shot of the two of them.  But, it will have to do for now until I have the time and patience to attempt it again.  Some of the ones below may look cute but the focus is off on one or both kids.  Hopefully I can find the strength to attempt a sibling photo for the holiday card!

And as a reminder, the winner was....

Big Boy - 6 Month Stats!

Just a quick update from Declan's 6 month check-up.  He weighs 17 lbs (~30th%) and is 28" tall/long (~80th%).  The appointment was offically at 6 months + 2 weeks.  Similar proportions to Teagan - tall and thin!  He is doing a great job at sitting up and has been making great advances in the solid food department.  He gobbled up his squash tonight and has started eating puffs.  The only trouble is keeping Teagan from wanting to eat them all too!  Unfortunately I had to miss his appointment (the one and only Dr appt I've ever missed for either of them) due to my never-ending jury service.  At least the trial is finally over!!!

Teagan is SUPER excited for Halloween so stay tuned for some costume pictures!

Just some recent cell phone snaps to share today.  Actually, two of them are from the digital camera with an instagram filter - can you tell which ones?

Rolling Machine

Declan has decided to become a rolling machine.  He could roll both ways before but now he's decided rolling is cool and he wants to be on his belly looking at the world.  We did some more "6 month" photos today and I grabbed a few of the two of them semi-cooperating.

Fisher's Island

We ventured to Fisher's Island, NY for the weekend.  For those of you that don't know, Fisher's Island is a tiny little island that is part of the state of New York located off the coast of Connecticut.  It is accessible only by ferry boat (and private jet).  The island itself has a year round population of less than 300 people, and Matt's brother Mike lives there.  In the summer the population is much higher as it contains many (very large and expensive) summer homes.  It was the off season so it was quiet there when we visited.  There were no fall leaves, probably due to the ocean winds and weather.  Matt and Josh golfed in a tournament on Sunday and we enjoyed some family time the rest of the weekend.  It was a little windy and chilly but we still had a great time!

I have been in jury duty / on a jury all week so things have been a little crazy at our house.  Hopefully it will be over tomorrow and I can resume my normal life!

Declan and Aunt Melissa waiting for the ferry

Teagan and Aunt Melissa on the ferry

Declan being a happy boy on the ferry ride

Teagan being silly

Ferry leaving the terminal in New London, CT

My future house???

Lighthouse

Post office

Views from the island - Fisher's Island Sound with the CT coast in the distance

the golf course at Fisher's Island Club - one of the top rated golf courses in the US

Teagan at the beach

First time in the ocean....

...and she loses her balance and falls in the cold water!

cold and wet!

rough seas that day!

Sweet boy

one more outtake, but this one is a happy one :)

Funny Face

Kids make funny faces.  I share them.