Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Why? First of all, because it is fun. You get to carve faces into vegetables, dress up in costumes, make fun of the scary ugly things in the world, and beg candy from complete strangers. But that's not all. I also love it for the feeling. It is a wonderful combination of sights, smells, sounds, and tastes that makes it perfect. Is it just me, or is there always a faint smell of smoke mixed with pumpkin on Halloween night? I love that. And the weather was perfect for us here in Cleveland- there was a full moon with just enough clouds covering it to make it story-bookish. And then there is the sound of laughter and excitement from the swarms of kids as they go trick-or-treating. Mix all that together with the already beautiful feeling of autumn and you've got the perfect holiday.

Evelyn liked it too. This year was her first time trick-or-treating. We got her a little pumpkin bucket and she has been carrying it around all week like her little purse. She often refuses to leave the house without it. So you can imagine her joy when she got to take her pumpkin from house to house and watch it fill up with candy. Rachel and I took her out in shifts while the other person stayed home to watch the babies and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. We were able to decorate our house again this year, with the addition of some orange lights and glowing tombstones that we picked up last year at the after-Halloween sale. And, of course, we finished our pumpkins. Like I said last week, Rachel was only able to do one because she has been pretty busy feeding babies and stuff.

Actually- besides Halloween night, this week has been pretty crazy. To start things off, the babies both have thrush that is getting progressively worse. This makes mealtimes a very painful experience for both them and Rachel. On top of that, Rachel and Evelyn have come down with the dreaded swine flu. I was also sick for a while but it only lasted for a day. Basically, the Hazard home has become a cesspool and breeding grounds for germs and disease. Thankfully, things are finally starting to get a little better.

Other than that, nothing real notorious has happened. This week we wanted to do a special highlight on Adalie's belly button. To say "outie" would be an understatement. Her navel actually rivals her nose in prominence, and it moves in and out in a crazy belly-button dance when she is crying. Evelyn is fascinated with it and loves trying to get it to stay down. We just hope that our little Adalie is able to grow into it.

Here are the other pumpkins we carved. Rachel did the fairy and I did the jester. I guess I was on an "evil clown" kick this year (See last week's post).

Here are before and after pictures of Evelyn's Halloween night. I think she was the prettiest little witch in Cleveland.

And finally, we'll throw a few more bonus pictures in for you viewing enjoyment.

This is our back yard (and our neighbor's)- I love Autumn!

What a great week we have had! I don't even know where to start...

I guess the babies are what everyone seems to be the most interested in, so I guess I'll start there. First of all, they seem to be falling asleep a little easier. Thank Goodness. Also, they had a Dr. appointment on Thursday and they are growing! Jackson now weighs 6-9 and Adalie is tipping the scales at a whopping 7-11. Woah! I know that 7 pounds is like, less than a gallon of milk, but still she has come a long way so we've got to give her credit. Actually, the Dr. said that she had never seen a baby grow so fast, so we are proud of her. Jackson, while a bit behind on the physical growth, is showing an enhanced ability to calm himself. For this, we are proud of him too.

As for us, we have have had a week full of Autumn activity. On Thursday night we went to "Boo at the Zoo" with Evelyn (and the babies, but they just slept). This was a fun event where all the kids got to dress up and meet fun characters and pet animals and stuff. Evelyn's favorite part was the story teller, Mr. Hat Box. He had her undivided attention for a full 20 minutes- pretty impressive if you ask me.

On Friday after I got home from school we went and picked out pumpkins for our Jack-o-Lanterns this year. We also picked out the subjects we will carve.

Saturday morning we loaded up the car and drove through the beautiful Fall scenery of Northern Ohio until we reached an apple farm. Picking apples has become a yearly tradition for us and this year was no exception. The farm we went to this year was a lot of fun and they even gave us tractor rides out to the orchard. Afterwards, we went into their little store and got apple fritters and apple dumplings. Pretty much we just enjoyed the sights, tastes, and smells of Autumn. That night we went to the ward Halloween party- but we were pretty late so we probably missed seeing many of the people who are reading this right now.

Well, that's about it for this week. We are eagerly looking forward to Halloween this Saturday. I have decided to officially pronounce Halloween as my favorite holiday of the year. So fun!

Here are some pictures of our Zoo night. Evelyn loved the Dogs (top) and dancing with Mr. Hat Box (middle and bottom)

These were taken on the tractor ride to the orchard.

Evelyn loved this ladder...until she got stuck.

The apple fritters were so good. They inspired us to make some of our own. Oh- and Evelyn has perfected the art of begging for food.

Here is my first pumpkin of the year. It's not quite what I was hoping, but I think it turned out ok. For those who are culturally retarded, this is Heath Ledger as "The Joker." Stay tuned for my second pumpkin as well as Rachel's carving. She will only be doing one this year because she has two babies who need to eat all the time.

Happy Autumn!

We are LOVING the Autumn season. It is, by far, my favorite season of the year. I've spoken with some people who mention that it makes them sad. I don't know why this is...maybe because it means that winter is coming. It would be interesting to test the theory that people who don't like the Fall season are also those who have a hard time getting older and dread their next birthday. Anyway- that is totally beside the point. The point is that I like Autumn. The air is crisp and full of an energy that makes me want to run just for the heck of it. So, once again, HAPPY AUTUMN TO EVERYONE!

And it is a good thing that the air is charged with this energy because we need all that we can get. This has been our first week alone with these babies, and I think that I slept about half as much this week as I normally do. Rachel...well, lets just say that I don't know how she is doing it, but somehow she is and life is good.

That doesn't mean that life is never frustrating though. Both babies have this new trick that they like to play- They'll eat and eat, and then pretend to go to sleep. But they really don't sleep-oh no- this is just a ruse to get us to let down our guard. We put them down thinking that all is well, and then at just the opportune moment (right after we begin dinner, fall asleep, or walk into a public place) they start screaming and rooting and acting like they are about to keel over from starvation. I swear I saw a mischievous smirk in Adalie's eye the last time she did this, as if she was telling me, "Don't even pretend to be in control Dad- it's me that runs this house now!"

And she does. Sometimes she relinquishes control over to her brother though. It's sort of a tag-team effort to make sure that we, their loving parents, go completely insane trying to figure out what's going on.

But we still love them so much! Despite their roguish behavior they can't help but be very cute and cuddly at times. It is all so worth it when you have one of them fall asleep against your chest, or when you watch them as they explore the world with their enormous eyes moving in every direction, just taking it all in.

Meanwhile, Evelyn is a perfect little sister and toddler girl. She is very helpful when it comes to cuddling the babies and cleaning the house and finding dogs. Seriously, I think she has a sixth sense that is specially tuned to find "Gags." If only we could teach her to find car keys or socks in the laundry then we may be able to start marketing her to our friends and acquaintances.

Basically, life is good, hectic, tiring, and wonderful all at the same time. Hooray for Autumn energy.



These are some pictures we took during one of our Autumn walks. This is what Evelyn did when I told her to smile. I call it her "Sumo Wrestler Pose"


Here's our Jackson boy. The hat was made by a friend an it fits his little head perfectly (most hats are too big).

Wow- this week has gone by very fast! On Saturday my parents arrived at the airport and got to see their two newest grand-children. They stayed all week and we had tons of fun with them. Evelyn was happy that they were here too- I think that she will forever associate M&Ms with long walks with Grandpa.

One of the fun things we did with them was visit the Harvest Festival at the Hale Farm and Village down at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We have driven by this place before, but never visited it. It was actually pretty cool. It is a little village with homes and shops set up how they were back in the 19th century. The craftsmen did demonstrations and we got to learn a little bit about how life around here was back in the day. I'm glad that I don't live back then. I am sort of addicted to buying pre-packaged meat and to heated automobiles in the middle of winter.

One of the other fun parts about having my parents here was being able to show them what Autumn is like in Cleveland. The colors are starting to change and the chill is in the air and it is beautiful and energizing. I love Autumn!

Besides having my parents in town, we had a few other exciting happenings this week. First of all, Jackson and Adalie are officially getting fatter. The doctor said so.

Second of all, we sold our car. The Prizm was an awesome, reliable little car and we loved her dearly, but our family just got too big. For a while we just let the car sit in the driveway and it was sort of nice to have a second car. But then the registration ran out, and we got tired of paying insurance on it, so it was time for the car to go. Farewell, dear friend.

Finally, we are about to find out what we are really in for with these twins. Since they were born over a month ago we have had family living with us on all but two of the days. It was a little bit ominous and almost comical as we drove away from the airport after saying goodbye to my parents with two babies in the back seat screaming at the top of their lungs and us not being able to do anything about it. We both looked at each other with this what-have-we-done sort of look, and then did our best to pretend that everything was normal. I think that from here on out, silence in going to be a treasured commodity.

But I also have to say that it is sort of nice being just us again. It is nice to be able to hold my babies and cuddle with them on a more regular basis. It is nice to have Evelyn back and to be able to have long conversations with Rachel. We are very, very glad that our family came out, and we are very, very thankful for their help, but I think we are ready to be on our own again (famous last words). We went on a Sunday family walk today and it was a lot of fun to think about how this is our family and of all the fun times we have ahead of us. Bring it on- that's what I say!

And now...Get ready for a lot of pictures!

I think my parents really liked meeting Jackson and Adalie.

Evelyn really likes my motorcycle helmet. It makes her top-heavy though, and she tends to tip over at times. She's a pretty funny little girl.

Here she shows how proud she is of herself for being able to stuff her baby doll into an oatmeal container. Yes, it is sort of worrisome. Grandpa taught her this trick. Thanks Grandpa.

One day when I came home from school, I found that our sunroom had been transformed into a fort. Leave it to the grandparents to find innovative ways to entertain toddlers.

Yes, we know. Evelyn is the cutest toddler girl ever. We are lucky to be her proud parents.

Here we are at the Harvest Festival at Cuyahoga Valley. It was a beautiful day and we got to see some of the changing colors. Fun, fun, fun!

They had a "corn maze" at the harvest festival. It wasn't very hard tough, since it was pretty much just a straight path through a little corn patch with very few minor detours. Evelyn liked the tall corn-stocks though.

Here's Rachel and my mom at the Harvest Festival.

Our "Little Man"

Evelyn got her nickname "bug" or "bug-a-boo" when she was only a few weeks old. Jackson is following in her footsteps and has now earned his nickname. Here is his story.

In the beginning there was Greg Hazard (grandpa)... Great Grandpa bestowed upon him the nickname "Little Man." Greg's son Logan was occasionally known to close friends and family as "Little Man." Now our little man has earned the same nickname. This is not because it was passed down, but he actually earned it and I started using it before I realized the generational implications.

Jackson does not look like a newborn. He has two very distinctive looks; when he is relaxed and happy he looks exactly like a little four year old boy. When he is frustrated and mad he looks just like an old old man. He does not look like a newborn, he actually looks like a "Little Man." I must say that when I am feeding him I occasionally look down and get a little bit freaked out. He looks so much like a little boy that sometimes I look down and feel weird breastfeeding him because I would never be breastfeeding a four year old boy... crazy.

I began calling him "Little Man" and the name has officially stuck. I have included a few pictures to show you our sweet boy.

I have no doubt what he will look like as a toddler and pre-schooler...

Our own Benjamin Button (definately the cuter version)

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This week we (mostly Rachel) have been put to the test. Wendy had to go home early on Thursday morning so it was our first time to see how we could cope on our own with our new oversized family. And the verdict is...

Rachel is amazing!

The first day she was alone with the babies she took the whole clan to story time at the library, met me at institute for lunch, and even had time to take a nap in the afternoon. The second day (Friday) she was able to get everyone out the door and to a doctor's appointment even though it was right in the middle of the kid's nap times. I think she has this mothering thing in the bag.

Saturday afternoon my parents arrived and will be staying with us for the next week. We are excited to have them here, and they are excited to see the babies and Evelyn again...and us too.

As far as the babies are concerned, they are great- except that they are too skinny. To get an idea, Jackson is only 1/4 inch shorter than Eva was when she was born, but he is a full 2 pounds lighter- and Eva was not a fat baby. The doctors are a little concerned, and so a large focus of the week has been on getting food into these little ones. Rachel has turned into a feeding machine! We have started waking them up to eat every two and a half hours instead of every three. It's amazing that a half hour makes that much difference, but it allows for one extra feeding during the day and seems to be working because they have finally started gaining weight again.