october 2014 recap.

Let's see what October brought us... Instagram Style!

Everyone in the house sleeping at the same time. #momforthewin!


We went to two beautiful weddings this month (more on that here).



I went Bounce Inc. and jumped around like I was fifteen again. Only I wasn't quite at daring... or flexible. It was a great workout and super fun!



Lachlan in one of his favourite places- Bill's Shed with Chloe!



Spencer saying goodbye to Mimi and letting her know exactly how much he is going to miss her.



Lachlan moved up to the next swimming class without me in the water with him!



Brotherly love that usually ends in me rescuing Spencer before being squished.






Spency in the bumbo!



Little baby smiles.



Some pumpkin soup to Welcome Nana and Poppy to Queensland.



Lachlan watching himself in the camera... haha. So funny.



Big boy hair cut and his first ever lollipop!



Nana and Poppy with their newest grandson (read more about that here).



Sweet sleepy baby. So in love with this sweet little boy!



My blue eyed boy!



Kisses from big brother.



Someone turned EIGHTEEN!!! (read more about that here)



Two year old tantrums over not being allowed to have Doritos for breakfast. #meanmommy



Giving his birthday raceway a test run!



Cheeky little kid terrorizing Toby as per normal...



Lachlan trying out all of the baby things...



I couldn't find my car keys anywhere until I finally looked in the most obvious place...



I reached into the mailbox to get the mail and pulled out this very large, dead lizard! Needless to say, I ALWAYS have a good look in the mailbox before sticking my hand in there. #aussieproblems



We rounded out this month with a little Halloween fun by putting out the Jack-o-lantern we carved and some Halloween jammies. Trick-or-treating next year?? (Read more about this here)



That sums up October pretty well!

pumpkin carvin' 2014.

Every year that I have been here in Australia, Halloween seems to get more and more common. Young children are starting to grow up trick-or-treating and there are more and more Halloween themed items appearing in our stores. Most older Australian's (and by older I mean like 15 and up) are still a bit skeptical about this "silly American holiday" but I am hoping our two little boys get a chance to experience the fun and excitement of the Halloween triditions. They do have an American mother after all!

In keeping with American Halloween traditions, I give you Lachlan's first pumpkin carving experience!









He was super excited to look at the goop in the inside, but wanted nothing to do with touching it!
























Pretty sad looking jack-o-lantern. I think I need more practice and better tools! And possibly better pumpkin options. Maybe next year :)



Halloween night we put a candle in our pumpkin and placed it outside our front door so that people would know we were happy for trick-or-treaters to come knockin'.



We got about 12. Poor showing if you ask me, but we do live on a pretty busy road. Oh well. Lachlan loved the pumpkin and I am hoping to do some kind of trick-or-treating with he and Spencer next year. And Spency says Haaaaappy Halloween



Max's first pumpkin carving back in 2011

lachlan's raceway.

We are throwing a Race Car themed party next weekend and I had my heart set on making him this race car track I saw on Pinterest a month or two ago.

I had a little brain storming session with my Dad while he was here and we came up with the design using a few random wood scraps we already had laying around here along with a few items from the hardware store.

I started with a long rectangular piece of wood that we already had, and painted it black.



Then I painted the smaller, skinny strips red and cut them to the right length using a hand saw.



I used a scrap piece of wood to determine the width of each lane and started nailing them down, from the centre out.



I was going to pre-drill some holes in the small strips of wood to prevent them from splitting, but found these tiny pin nails worked fine without pre-drilling.



I measured the height that I wanted one end of the track to sit at and got Max to cut another piece of scrap wood to the right size.



We attached the smaller piece of wood to one end of the track with two hinges so that we could fold it flat for easy storage. I had planned on adding some numbers to the lanes but got busy and forgot. Oops.



I was happy with the end product and know that Lachlan will have a great time using it at his party and all summer long!

eighteen.

It is so hard to believe, but Byron turned EIGHTEEN this month!!!

We started with a family birthday celebration at his mum's house on his actual birthday and ended with a day at the horse races that weekend. We hired a babysitter for the kids, got dressed up and headed out to celebrate! It was my first time at the races and I couldn't think of a better reason to go than to celebrate such a special birthday!



It was so cute (okay, probably shouldn't use the word "cute") seeing Byron with all of this friends. It feels like just yesterday that I was that age. At least I remember it like it was yesterday! Ahhh, to be 18 again...



This is the only picture I got of the three of us and it is pretty blurry :(



Byron with his two Dads. Christian, his stepdad, on the left and Max on the right.



I had to leave a bit early to get home to feed the littlest brother (ah to be the supplier of milk...) while the rest of the group went on to dinner and drinks, but had a great time watching the horses, seeing Byron with his mates and hanging out with family.



Happy, happy birthday Byron!! We are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished so far and can't wait to continue to watch you shine. Love you lots and lots!

Dad and Michelle xoxo

spencer james // three months.

Loves getting his diaper changed, bath time, smiling, being swaddled to sleep and when anyone sits and talks to him. Breastfeeding every 3 hours and throwing up like it is his job!

visit from nana and poppy.

A few days after my mom left, Max's mum and her husband arrived to meet their newest grandson and get their first glimpse of the house renovations (yes, I still have not posted any updates on that... oops!).

They were here for a week and did as much cuddling and walks to the park as they could possibly fit in!



It was so great having them here to play with Lachlan or cuddle Spencer so I could get some things down around the house. Since it had been nearly a year since we had seen them (Perth last Christmas), it was also a great week just catching up.



We always enjoy having Nana and Poppy here with us!

thank you. thank you.

Just want to say a huge, HUGE thank you to my mom, Kathy. You will never know how much I have appreciated having you here with us for the last 6 weeks. For every piece of laundry washed, cuddle given, dishwasher emptied, dinner cooked, diaper changed, cup of milk poured. For all the walks to the park, pickups from daycare, babysitting the babies... But most of all, the company and conversation! A thank you will never, ever been enough... But thank you from the bottom of my sleep deprived heart love you!!! Xoxo