Halloween!

We started our fabulous Halloween out with breakfast and pumpkin carving with the Injaychocks. Luke and Oliver had such a great time playing with the seeds and pumpkin guts, and I think all of the grown-ups had a good time actually carving the pumpkins! Monkey bread, fruit salad, coffee and pumpkins, I think it's the start of a fun Halloween tradition. We did not, however, roast pumpkin seeds this year. After seeing the boys dig around in them and fling them all over the floor, we decided to pass!

After a few boys took some nice naps, it was costume time! We walked to a few of the neighbor's houses just so they could see Ollie in his costume, and then we hung out at the house passing out candy. The Injays and Wernerts came to pass out candy with us so the babes could all hang out. Towards the end of trick-or-treat time, a few of the other neighbors came over so we could have some adult treats in the form of wine and appetizers. It made for a great day, and Oliver was a very sleepy skunk by the end of the night!

Fun at the park.

On Thursday afternoon after playgroup and a nice long nap, Oliver and I took a walk down to the park since it was such a beautiful fall day! Jon was, again, in Puerto Rico for the week, so we were trying to stay as busy as possible to pass the time until he came home!

Pushing the wagon Swinging away!
Look at those teeth! Watching the big kids play soccer. Chillin' in my ride!

Playing Legos when we got home
El Destructo!!

Spooky playgroup fun!

Thursday morning we had a special Halloween playgroup at Teresa and Paige's house. We tried our hardest to get a group shot of all of the cuties, but it was hard to do with a group of 10 kids that are 2 and under... Notice how thrilled they look!!


After the picture, we let them all run around and play, and they did have a good time, despite their mommies dressing them up and making them pose!!

Halloween storytime!

So Oliver got the chance to wear his costume three times over Halloween week! Our fun started on Wednesday morning at storytime. All of the little library-goers got to wear their costumes to hear some spooky Halloween music and stories. Miss Nancy even brought some vanilla oreos for a treat! My little stinker, day #1...

Playing with the wall of legos, his favorite thing at the library!
Listening to the story with Carter.

Everyone listening to Miss Nancy.

Eating a cookie with Veda.

Smarty pants.

Hello? Hello? Yes, I'm talking to you!! (He is holding my cell, if you can't see it...)

So Ollie is becoming quite the smarty as he gets older. Here are some of the cute things that he has done lately:

• Some of his milk leaked out of his cup onto the kitchen floor, so he walked over to the stove, pulled down the towel, and wiped it up. Jon didn't believe me, but I pretty much follow him around all day mopping up after him, so I'm sure he knew what was going on. He did the same thing later on with a diaper.


• He loves to play with his socks and shoes. Mainly, he walks around sniffing them. I'm sure that this stems from us pulling his shoes and socks off and smelling them, exclaiming "stinky feet"! What a little ham.


• Yesterday Jayme was over, and we were talking about reading and books. Oliver heard us, walked over to his pile of books, picked one up, and started looking at it.


• Tonight I was sauteeing some veggies, and I took the handle of the pan and shook it a few times. He immediately wanted to grab the handle and shake the pan too.

He is such a little mimic! It is really cute though. I guess that we had better watch what we are doing, because he really likes to copy us. He is even starting to make the same faces that we do. I guess it will be good practice for when he starts talking!

We love the Children's Museum!

Last week we had playgroup at the Children's Museum, and all of the kids had a great time! We bought a membership, because every child who's any child in Indianapolis needs a membership to the zoo and the Children's Museum. It is nice though at this point, because you don't feel bad about going for an hour at a time. Since Trish and Luke were unable to attend the last playgroup, we decided to take our own little outing. Luke and Ollie had a blast! There is an entire playscape area for kids under 5, and a lot to do for the little ones. They also have an interactive activity such as storytime or a sing-a-long every 30 minutes, so you can take a rest from playing if you wish. Here are some pics of the boys!

Little Addison

My friend Holly from nursing school and her husband Adrian (who works at Lilly also) welcomed sweet baby Addison Corine on October 7th. Jon, Ollie and I packed up some dinners and a little gift, and went to visit them. Addi is so sweet, and so tiny! She was 5lbs, 10oz at birth, so Oliver looked like a giant next to her. Here are some pics.

Go Cosmos!

Jon had his big first round playoff game for soccer on Monday. It was a heated game that went into overtime, but his team (the Cosmos) won!! He has some sweet goalie moves, and did a great job in helping to deliver a victory. Oliver and I were there to cheer him on, even if we were wearing the other team's colors!! Best of luck to the team in round two of playoffs next week, they will be without their star goalie since Jon is going to be in Puerto Rico again...

Team photo

Daddy and his #1 cheerleader

Party time!

We had a big first birthday blowout for Oliver on October 17th. There were many family members, friends, and neighbors there to help celebrate. Here are some pics from the day!

Party decorations:

Party pics:

First birthday stats...

So little Ollie went to see Dr. Bergstein today for his one year appointment. She said that he looks fabulous!! He can officially start whole milk now, no more formula, yea. The only off-limit foods are shellfish and peanut butter, but he is free to eat whatever he wants besides that.

He is 30.5 inches long, which is the 80th percentile. The big change was his weight. He is up to 23 pounds, 9 ounces. He has gained 5 1/2 pounds in 3 months! That real food is delicious. So he is now in the 60th percentile for weight. So our little man has grown 10 inches and gained 16 pounds in his first year!

He got a clean bill of health. His top two teeth have finally made their appearance. He is right on track with his motor and verbal skills. He did have an innocent heart murmur, but Dr. Bergstein said that sometimes that will pop up, and that he is growing like a weed, so it shouldn't affect him. I had one when I was little too, so no big deal.

He got a little finger stick to check his hemaglobin, which was great, and took his three shots like a champ. A few tears were shed (mainly over the band-aid on his finger, he didn't cry when he got poked), but he was all smiles by the time we got home. Good job Oliver!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

So Ollie's first birthday was pretty quiet, because Jon had to go to Puerto Rico for work! Luckily, we have an awesome family and fabulous friends that helped us celebrate. Jon flew out early in the AM, so he was the first to wish our babe Happy Birthday.

Grandma and Grandpa drove down to take us to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Oliver was very unimpressed by his birthday sunday. I think he's taking after his mama in the sweets department. Grandma even dipped his binkie in whipped cream, and he refused to open his mouth for it! Silly guy.

For dinner we ordered Oliver's favorite, Bazbeaux Pizza! Jenny, Joe and Jake came over to help us celebrate in the evening. Ollie ate 1 1/2 pieces of his birthday pizza, and then ate a little Red Velvet cupcake. He started by eating some frosting and spitting it out, but decided that the actual cupcake was pretty good! He then opened his present from the Fults (a cute book and musical magnet set), and played with it for the rest of the night! It was a pretty chill first birthday, but a good one!

What is this thing?

Cheese!

Opening presents is fun!

Happy 1st Birthday!

I really can't believe that our little man is one today!! Here is a look back at his first year. We love you Ollie!

Pumpkin patch

Today was the perfect day to go to the pumpkin patch! After three dreary, rainy days, it was beautiful and sunny. We drove up to Stonycreek Farms in Noblesville, and met some of our playgroup friends up there. They had pony rides, hayrides, and all kinds of other fun stuff to do! The babies were still a little young for most of it, but we all still had a great time.

Arriving at the pumpkin patch:

Next year, I can ride the real pumpkin train!

This pony is awesome!

Can I get all of these pumpkins?

Paige, Oliver, Emily and Veda. Maybe next year they will all look at the camera!

Out in the pumpkin patch, which is also a Christmas tree farm!

Strike up the band!

What a beautiful fall weekend in Indianapolis! On Saturday afternoon, we walked over to the Butler football game so Oliver could watch the band at halftime. He loves any kind of music, and was jumping up and down and screeching with excitement as soon as they took the field. A few minutes of dancing later, it was all over, but it was a nice little distraction in the afternoon.

The other exciting news is that Ollie is officially walking. He has been stringing more and more steps together, but on Friday when I was talking to Jon as he was driving home from work, I counted 18 steps in a row. Jon said "Amy, I think you can stop counting now, he can walk..." It is pretty much his new mode of getting around too. Sometimes after tripping a few times he will just get down and crawl, but he's getting pretty steady, and has progressively gotten faster. I'm sure he'll be running in no time!

Little lunch date!

Yesterday we took a "field trip" down to Greenwood with Trish and Luke, Mari and Emily, and Teresa and Paige to check out Buy Buy Baby, which is a big baby store kind of like Babies R Us. We all got some great deals, and then headed over to the Olive Garden for a soup, salad and breadstick lunch. This is the first time that we have gone to lunch together when all of the babies are eating "real food", so it was quite the experience. The babies all did great though. They split 2 kids meals, and as always, had a fantastic time together. It may be awhile before we try that out again though...

Waiting for Mari and Emily at Buy Buy Baby: Waiting on our table. Future prom dates??