Visit from Big T

October was a crazy month for us. Nathan took the first part of his big licensure exam and we had family visit two weekends in a row, plus I got called to serve as the secretary to the new Primary Presidency ~2 weeks before the ward Trunk or Treat which we had to plan. Whew!

Our first family visit was Nathan's cousin Tyson and it was fabulous! These two are more like brothers than cousins and it had been way to long since we'd seen him. We were so excited to introduce the boys to their Uncle Tyson. The boys weren't exactly sure what to think at first.


{Andrew was totally scoping him out. Trying to figure out if he was safe or not.}

{They circled around him, keeping the oh so important 3 foot radius}


I realized Tyson's visit was the first time we'd had any one over to our new place for longer than a few minutes (how lame are we? answer: very). They are doing much better with strangers these days (eg. they don't scream when people look at them any more), but I think it was weird for them to have a "stranger" in the house. They kept looking at me like "Mom, what is this guy doing in here? Strangers are supposed to be outside our house!"

But, no worries they were totally warmed up to Uncle Tyson 30 minutes later. And by the end of his visit Gavin crawled over to him and "asked" to be picked up!

{Having a laugh with Uncle Tyson: Gavin's face is just hilarious in this one}

{Honking Tyson's nose: Nathan taught them this one. When they squeeze our noses we make a honking noise (like a car horn). One of their favorite games to play with Mom and Dad, but I've never seen them do it to any one else. Tyson, you should feel honored}

{Yea for Uncle Tyson!}


We had a really good jam packed weekend that included an introduction to some Kentucky culture via the horse races. But like a goof I forgot the camera. Tyson had his and took a bunch of pictures, but I forgot to get them from him (noticing a theme here?)

We can't wait for our next visit from Big T!

One of a Kind

I fantasize one day of owning a Silhouette crafty cutting machine which I would use to make funny and adorable clothing for my twinsies.

(peat, repeat; copy, paste; I distract, I destruct; the possibilities are really endless)

It's not that I can't make those cute shirts without a Silhouette, it just takes more time and effort both of which are in short supply around our house.

Well thank goodness for Aunts!

A big thank you to the boys' Aunt Angela for making this one happen.

So funny!

Success

So I decided to live on the edge a little, take a risk, and attempt to take some quality pictures of my children...

all.by.my.self.

I've attempted this before and it has always flopped. 

And flopped big.

(blurry pictures, tears etc.)

Well not this time!

Brace yourselves for some picture overload, because I'm pretty proud of these.

(both the pictures and the children of course)

{Check out that sweet little face! Love the eyebrow in this one. He has always had expressive eyebrows}

{Very intent on that apple! They loved the apples and it kept them from crawling away. Katy: 1, Twins: 0;  Yessss!}

{Gosh I hope Gavin doesn't someday take issue with being the twin in the background here. Promise we love you bud!}

{Love this silly little face!}

{I love that Andrew looks totally freaked out and Gavin is just grinning (check out all those teeth)}

{Yum! Honey crisp apples are the best!}

{Gavin waving 'bye-bye' which I think also means 'Mom, I'm all done with this photo shoot thing!'

{At first they were just sucking on the apples, but then they figured out they could actually bite into them and take chunks out! By the end the apples had all these tiny bites missing.}

{Happy Andrew!}

{Gavin: who doesn't like to look at the camera and smile so getting a good shot of him is always a challenge.}

I'm so pleased with how these turned out. Yeah for Fall!!

I'm a bit behind on the blogging so this post is a little ahead of itself (look forward to some particularly cute pictures of the boys), but I just couldn't wait to post it. 

Tonight was our church's annual trunk or treat and our first time dressing the boys up. These costumes were a labor of love, but I am so pleased with how it all came together.

Without further ado...

The Waldo Family!

{Gavin Waldo}

{Andrew Waldo: Where's Waldo? There he is Mom! He's taking our picture.}

{Mommy Waldo with her sweet Waldo babies}

We had such a great night! We couldn't believe the boys kept their glasses on without a fuss (those were Nathan's creation), but they were just absolutely sweet!

Systematic Desensitization

You might recall from this post that our Mom mentioned we don't like the texture of our front mat.

Well, we feel the same way about grass, but our parents think exposing us to such things is a good idea.

We aren't so sure.

Really, Mom? Is this absolutely necessary?

Hmmmm, well maybe it's not quite as bad as I thought, but I still don't like it.

Look at the bright side, at least we managed to get outside...

NAMI Walk 2011

 A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to participate in our second NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Walk. The goal of the NAMI Walk is to raise awareness about mental health issues. It was humbling to reflect on those we know personally that struggle with mental health issues as we walked. I was grateful for the opportunity to take some time to remember and think about those who are affected by mental illness and their families.

(Interested in participating in a NAMI Walk? Check out this website)

I love the NAMI Walks because even though they support a rather sobering cause the walks are always fun with lots of life and laughter.

Which is awesome.

{At the end of our walk}

{With one of Nathan's co-workers}

It was fun to see how much the boys have changed since our last NAMI Walk 5 months ago in South Carolina.


{Boys at NAMI Walk October 2011}

{Boys at NAMI Walk May 2011}

{Awwww! So tiny and baby like compared to the present}


{Happy boys October 2011 NAMI Walk}


The boys love to be outside so they were great troopers despite the warm weather. I'm really looking forward to participating in our local NAMI Walk in the coming years.

My Hungry Caterpillar

...but he was still hungry.