This picture indicates that I forgot my wings last night. BUT! I remembered my excitement...

J: Happy Halloween! We're taking naps right now, gearing up for a night of Trick-Or-Treating. Below are some pictures of the wind up to tonight's festivities...

My official costume is a pirate, but the zebra costume has made a few appearances this season.

A few nights ago, we went to a friends house to carve our pumpkins together. This is the gang.

W: I liked digging out the guts. W: We were pretty proud of "our" creations...

W: I am a Funky Fairy.

Big Halloween Party last night...

And here is Happy Pants:

Rode the rails this weekend, folks. We felt so very "east coast" or "euro"--and had a blast!

Waiting...

Here it comes!

On the 2.5 hour journey north, I made silly faces,

rocked out on my air guitar,

colored while Jezz ate mom's scarf,

and held my sister.
J: I checked out the world...

...and smiled. W: Mom kept exclaiming over the colors and the day and the Fall. I would occasionally give in and say, "Yeah! Beautiful!" but this is just mom's thing... I could take a tree green, orange or leafless.

W: This is mom's friend Jason. He's my friend now, too. He's funny.

We went to a party in celebration of Gamma Birdie's marriage to sweet Ben, but mom forgot the camera. In a word (give or take), it was delicious--full of wonderful people and gorgeous food, in a cozy, beautiful home. Great trip!!!

W: Tonight we made SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLY Jack-O-Lanterns,

...SCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARY Ghosts...

Then glued them together and hung them around the house to get into the spirit... no pun intended. :)

W: The changing of the seasons offers us a grand opportuity to stop and reflect on all of the changes we're experiencing. From my perspective, Big Sisterhood is the Big Shift--and I'm adjusting with grace and humor and ginormous amounts of love and affection for the wee babe. It's abundantly clear to me and to my parents that I am no longer a baby. Jez is the babe, I, my friends, am the BIG KID! I demonstrate this most notably with how I'm talking to people and what I'm choosing to say; for example, a sampling from today:

"I'm going to go brush my teeth now. You change Jezzy's diaper, Mom. That's the deal."

"Mom, could I get the cleaning rag and spray bottle? The fridge is kinda a mess. No biggy, but it's kinda a mess. I'll do it, Mom. You take care of Jezzy."

"Dad, I'm pushing your buttons to make you laugh."

J: What I would most like to see change is my position in the front pack. A few inches higher, please, mama. I'm drownin' in here! But...pretty trees, huh?

Julie: For me, the biggest change is, no shocker here, having TWO! Sometimes it feels like herding cats (are you sure there are just TWO?) and other times it flows so gently and sweetly. Mostly, it feels like it's always been this way. Although I'm pretty sure the pace used to be a tad bit slower. And I vaguely remember needing an alarm clock to get up before 8. So, change... yes, it's sort of strange how number two changes things exponentially. Yet, even more strange is how there is time and energy and humor enough for that to happen...and for it all to now feel just about perfect. Just like the colors on these trees!! And fall! I love Fall.

J: I roll over now. Front to back. Add it to the list: Drool. Giggle. Roll.

Although, to give myself a tad bit more credit, I am just beginning to round the corner from infant into baby. Yeah, you know the corner. The one that makes me a little more receptive, interactive, interested, and smiley. They didn't think I could get more smiley. I did.

A fact which, I realize, is not illustrated here. I'm a little perplexed by the camera and think it should be gazed upon with skepticism at best, cold and steely malice at worst. (Mom edited those out; she gets a little frustrated when I am super giggly and sweet and she runs into the next room, only to return to the "'Not the CAMERA' look" My sister, as you'll notice in the following posts, has an entirely different reaction to the emergence of the camera from its case...)

W: I totally knew the answer.

This is me being sporty.
J: Tummy Time!

W: At the farm, on the hayride out to pick out our pumpkins...

W: Weddings and cousins and planes, oh my! Where to even BEGIN!? It was a fabulously perfect wedding week in Chicago... Here I am with my GORGEOUS and LOVABLE (and just a tad bit crazy, but I'm hardly in a position to judge) Aunt Jenny--the BRIDE!!!

I also love my cousins (all of whom are not pictured here)--and I love that I HAVE cousins. Who knew? I flew to Chicago for a wedding and stumble into a veritable treasure trove of lovin' cousins. They hold me and hug me and kiss me and let me borrow their sunglasses and pearls (see below). Magic. Cousins are pure magic.

(Um, hello! Over here!)

Cousins, it seems, are the people to turn to for fashion.
J: I love my cousins, too. I demonstrated this mostly through excessive drooling and lots of smiles. I think they understood what I was trying to say.

W: I like the Big City!

Not so sure about Dim Sum (folks, we may have found I food I do not like). But! I did think the chopstick thing was pretty cool. And it seemed like this guy knew how to party, so I had to hang out with him for awhile.
This picture represents a taste of the hundreds of pictures that are just too much to post here: the three generations of family gathered 'round for a fabulous weekend: My uncle Brian, Great Uncle Bob and me. (Mostly, I was not this violent, so I'm sure he had it coming--perhaps he had said something less than flattering about my man Obama).