Happy Halloween

Adorable super heroes

Making a serious face

We headed down to New Orleans this year for Halloween. My parent’s neighborhood always has a big turn out for Halloween and this year was no exception.  Logan and Catherine were super excited to be super heroes and were ready to hit the streets long before sun set.  It’s interesting to me how you can see the difference in personalities at such a young age.  Logan is more reserved when venturing out to do something new. Catherine is full speed ahead.  After she went to her first house and figured out how the whole tick or treat thing worked, she charged ahead down the sidewalk to the next house.  And the next.    And the next.  I don’t know how parents manage more than two kids because Brian and I have our hands full with our “man on man” defense.

We had a blast visiting with both sets of cousins.  As for the amount of candy ingested Halloween night, it was a lot. I had planned to give them each two pieces of candy and then put theirs up, which I did, but Logan and Catherine quickly found other ways to get it.  By the end of the night, a sugar rush possessed them both.

Catherine decided it was time to take off her clothes

Slinky fun

FALL

The Dwyer Patch is taking full advantage of the beautiful fall weather that has blessed us these past couple weeks.  We hit a park at least once a day and sometimes even twice a day.  We go to Hermann Park in conjunction with seeing the dinosaur’s at the HMNS.  We hit Garden Oaks park all the time because they have awesome play grounds that are perfect for a 3 year old and a 2 year old.  Candlelight Park is always our default for days we are not up for going very far.

There is a lot a child can learn through playground etiquette, for example sharing swings.  Logan completely understands that you have to take turns on the swings if there are other children waiting.  He does not always like it but he gets it.  Catherine is not a fan of this concept.  If her turn on a swing comes to an end by anyone’s choice aside from herself, she gets really upset.  We are working on this.

Logan loves to play “get me”.  It consists of me chasing him all over the park.  Upon his command, I become either an alligator or a shark and continue to chase him.  He could run for hours and hours if only his mom could keep up with him.  

Spider web at Garden Oaks

Bike rack turned train

Catherine and Cambry on a hot September day

Catherine and Mimi

For the days we can't make it to a park, Logan flies us to various destinations

Our New Favorite Photographer!!

So, we finally got to meet with a new photographer that I had been trying to book for a while. It was a 9am shoot on the hottest day in August.  All four of us were drenched in sweat after 10 minutes, the shoot was for an hour, and we literally went into our cars to turn on the AC and drove to a splash park to try and redeem the end of the hour (so freaking hot!!)

With that being said, I kinda thought we would not get too many cute pictures… but we did! 
I am obviously a proud momma, because my L&C are pretty darn cute in these photos. Husband is cute too but I might forget this as he has been in Stratford-upon-Avon (birthplace of Shakespeare) for the last three weeks.

Stratford-upon-Avon

It is true that the small gestures in life are often ones that bring the most happiness.  Brian has been in Strafford-upon-Avon for 18 days now and is scheduled to return on Saturday at 5pm!  Sratford is about 2 hours outside of London and a very pretty area of England from what he has told me.

I have honestly been doing great in regards to watching my kiddos and taking care of them.  We have been trying at least one thing new a day and that is keeping things exciting.  I do get quite tired in the evenings but I am very grateful that both my mom and Brian’s mom flew up to help me during these three weeks.  Today we went to the zoo and had a great time.  The kids took 3 hours naps but I did not. I was dragging to say the least.  But then I checked the mail and saw  Logan’s and Catherine’s post cards had arrived. They were so cute and the kids LOVED them.  Logan was SO excited that he slept with it tonight.  

Corpus Christi

For Labor Day, we headed down to Corpus Christi for a much-needed break from work, studying, and other everyday requirements.  Brian’s good friend, Mark Beach, lives in Corpus Christi.  Mark and Brian grew up together and were classmates and roommates.  Mark and his wife, Melissa, have a two-year-old son (Grant) and a new baby girl (Jenna).  It was so sweet to meet baby Jenna at such a young age. And my kids were very sweet to her which is good because they have not always been sweet to younger friends!

Our trip to Corpus was just what the doctor ordered.  We had fun, ate well (including delicious soft shell crabs), and took a break from the norm.  Logan, Catherine, and Grant hit it off.   Our children were excited about new toys and a new environment.  Corpus has similar weather to Houston but they have a breeze that gives you a coastal feel and makes outside so much more pleasant.  Mark’s neighbor also had everyone over for competition-grade BBQ, swimming, and running around with pet chickens.  Logan and Catherine were in their own utopia and so was our first born/adopted, Winston. 

Ton Ton

Don't worry, it's only a root beer

Ton fell asleep right after L&C

Logan is still talking about Chickens

Boys will be boys

Peli the Pelican

This past weekend was super fun.  We had a family photo shoot with a photographer I have been trying to book for a while and I can't wait to see our proofs.  It was outside from 9-10 and we were all drenched in sweat by 9:15am.  From now on, no more outdoor photo shoots in the summer months as it is jut too hot.

Logan is totally into finding Nemo these days. We stop at Pet Smart and Petco every chance we get.  He loves looking at the aquariums and deciding what particular fish is indeed Nemo.

Bob is still one of my best friends and I use him almost daily.   Now that the kids are getting older, they like to get out and push the stroller a lot.  It is a great game as they get exercise and so do Brian and I.

On Sunday, we splurged and purchased a Pelican that Logan has named Peli.  We have seen him at HEB for months now and finally decided we wanted to bring him home.  He is supposed to live in the back yard but Logan and Catherine prefer for him to live inside.  The funny thing is that he is eating a fish and Logan can't quite understand that.  He keeps asking if Peli is friends with Nemo and I keep changing my answer (after he asks 15 times in an hour).  For now, Nemo and Peli are good friends that will not eat each other and Logan enjoys hearing any story about their adventures.

Not a good day

Last Saturday was not a good day.  It could have been worse, and I thank God it was not.  But all in all, it was not a good day.  Winston bit Catherine's lip while he was eating a dog treat. The truth is I did not even see it happen. I gave him a treat in the kitchen (kids were in Logan's room) and the next thing I knew Catherine was screaming with blood all over her face.   I almost passed out just at the sight of my precious baby girl bleeding so much.  It took me a full 5 seconds to realize that I had to help her as she was not going to be able to help herself.

A small piece of her lip was missing.  It could have been a lot worse, I do realize this, but it did not make me feel any better. She calmed down pretty quickly and  I wish I could say the same for her mother.  This is where I started balling.  I was crying for her and for me.  I was doubting my ability as a mom to protect my children from harm.  I was also convinced my beloved puppy had turned Cujo and would need to be euthanized.  Because Brian was out of town, I was solo in the decision making department.  I finally got it together and made my way to an Urgent Care facility.  The doctor advised us to go to Children's because she would need to be put under so the lip could be "realigned" and we needed a pediatric oral surgeon to do this.

Once Brian got home, I made my way to Children's and after 8 hours, Catherine was all stitched up and ready to go.  The surgeon made me feel SO much better in that 90% of dog bites are from the family dog and food related ones are considered better.  I guess if a dog bites a toddler with no known cause then you have a bigger problem on your hands.

Catherine is well on her road to recovery and hopefully will have minimal, if any, scaring.  Winston and her are still best buds however any and all food given to Winston is now outside.  I am thankful for the medical treatment we received and obviously thankful it was not worse.  I am praying for all the kids at Children's Hospital, that had or have life threatening illnesses, that they may continue to find strength and hope.  I am also praying for their parents as well.

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