i don't wanna be a penguin!

on friday, holstein hosted a 'pumpkin parade' for halloween...which is a business oriented trick or treat session for the kiddos. before we headed downtown for the treats & tricks, we had a pretty busy day! stella came over for an afternoon playdate & i got my first taste of two young ones running around in my solo care. yikeso. just kidding =) friends, marcell & josh were visiting town for the weekend with their little guy vaughn, so they were able to bring him over to join in the madness. the two older ones were quite fond of vaughn, but i think he just thought they were a bunch of crazy indians running around. and this led to no naptime for miss stella & sir oliver. and then came costume time. my aunt connie had found a penguin costume & brought it for oliver this year for trick-or-treating. lovely...took the creative effort on mama's part away...now my only challenge was the get him to stay in it. last year, he could have cared less what i put on him. but this year...different story! as i tried to casually slip on the penguin costume, it sent mr. two-yr-old attitude dude into a complete meltdown! ripping at the legs, ripping at the coat, flipping, flopping, causing mama to break out in a complete sweat. after about 10 minutes of wrestle mania, i manage to strap him into the carseat & head downtown for a FUN GOOD TIME! ugh. the ripping & yanking at the penguin suit continued as we met up with mamaw at the cosgrove law firm. good thing debbie saved the day with candy! of course...why didn't i think of that?! so, i did manage to get a few quick shots of the mad penguin & oliver did snag some sweet treats for mommy & daddy...i mean...for himself =) so at the end of the day...sugar high + no nap = meltdown city shortly after dinner & an early bedtime =) awwww...here come the holidays!

great bumpa, the newest "ne-ne" & the scarecrow farm.

i haven't been able to mention the heartache we endured back in august, up until now. i realized that every time i wanted to share, there were still some wounds that needed to heal. in august, i lost my first grandparent. and i know that many have already experienced this loss & many of you will tragically have to endure this in the future, but it was an experience that taught me a lot. a lot about myself & a lot about how strong of a man my grandpa leon was. losing grandpa, was like losing a parent to my siblings & i. growing up, if we weren't with mom & dad...we were with grandpa & grandma ehler across town. there are so many cherish-able memories i will take with me from that. and i am so very thankful that oliver was able to know his great grandpa leon also. oliver very tenderly told his great bumpa goodbye the last night we were up at the hospital visiting him. that is a moment that i will forever keep dear in my heart. these two just hit it off...the first time i brought oliver to see grandpa after getting home from the hospital, i remember grandpa reaching out wanting to hold the little guy. i believe that these two had a very special connection & they always brought smiles to each others faces.

switching gears here...one of oliver's new favorite words is "ne-ne"...& yes, this is in reference to his "ne-ne" aka weinie. upon listening to mike & oliver in the shower one day as i was getting ready...i overheard the conversation of oliver repeating "ne-ne, ne-ne, ne-ne" & mike responding, yes, oliver, that's a "ne-ne", yes that is daddy's "ne-ne" and that's oliver's "ne-ne". nice! we're learning parts around these parts apparently.

on the other hand, we are also very excited to announce that baby schweitzberger number two will be a boy!!! so, that makes me an official "ne-ne" farmer. mike's first comment before we even left the ultrasound room was "oh yes! this means three motorcycles!" oh boy oh boy...mama is in for a treat =) and this explains the undying 24-hour sickness, equivalent to his brother's pregnancy.  he's a healthy little man in there, weighing in just under a pound & starting to move around a lot.

so mike & i have been finding ourselves working more & more with our side jobs lately. myself with my photography & michael w/ his handy carpenter work. our weekends have been full of busy-ness & trying to find a balance is so hard. i'm just hoping...hoping that we can find some time to work on our own house projects in the near near future! at least the little "ne-ne" news bought us some time on the addition to the house talk =)

yesterday, as mikey was mr. handyman somewhere else...my mom & i decided to hunt out some pumpkins & enjoy a little fall weather with oliver. we visited 'scarecrow farms' near lawton, iowa yesterday. it was a beautiful day & there was lots for oliver to do. i think that his favorites were the old tractor & the giant corn box...like a sandbox...only filled w/ corn...& i couldn't resist myself, i had to hop in & check in out myself.

so in less than a month, we'll have a two year old & only about three more months to wait for the newest baby schweitz. i've been working on party planning for oliver's birthday...which will appropriately be themed "cars"...as we cannot get that movie out of our dvd player...the weekends usually entail a 10 viewings minimum of that movie. but, hey, i cannot complain, it's the go-to for getting anything done...i am posting a blog entry...right?! it's either cars or listening to him say "puppy" & "baby" 3 million times through 'marley & me' =) his ever-growing vocabulary is awesome to experience. he says words like "battery" & i have to question "how the heck does he even know that the battery is dead in his toy car...really?!" it's so exciting to witness the evolution of child development! please stay tuned for an oliver photo shoot, as i have been slacking big time on photographing him & his birthday highlights!