Halloween 2017

We certainly don't go crazy for Halloween celebrations, but we can get into the spirit of fall fun for sure. We celebrated by doing all things pumpkin: pumpkin purchasing, pumpkin decorating, and pumpkin filling (with candy of course)!

We started a few days early by heading to a local nursery to find the perfect pumpkins for painting and carving.

Well, at least Spencer got the "Look at the camera and smile" memo.

Gabi took charge of the cart pulling.

It turns out Nana was there with us too! She spent her last Austin morning with us.

Then it was time to get these pumpkins ready for display.

giving the pumpkins their bath

getting ready to paint

removing the pumpkin insides

Would you trust this crazy lady with a knife?

Spencer explores his first Halloween:

We were all proud of our completed projects!

not bad for my first time carving (I think)

They were very excited about the pumpkin display. They liked how there were 5 pumpkins and 5 people in Team Cohen.

When we lit the candle and made it into a "real" jack-o-lantern, their minds were blown.

On Halloween Day, we found a Fall Festival, complete with hay ride!

Then, it was time to get dressed up for the Trick-or-Treating! (Or in Spencer's case, he got dressed up for pictures and then went to sleep.)


Jon stayed home with a sleeping baby and handed out candy to fellow neighbors, while I roamed the neighborhood collecting free candy for these 2 big guys.

We were all dressed up in style! And they did well for themselves with candy collection.

And with Halloween 2017 coming to an end, the trifecta of adorable lion cubs has been completed!

Jimmy Kimmel may have motivated a cruel trick, but I enjoyed it. #meanmommy

Ethan did not want me to do that.

Gabi was too smart for me.

October 2017

Just as we started September, we began October by greeting another big cousin. Cousin Dan came to visit for some work recruiting, and we got to take advantage of his time in Austin. Being that he came to visit just as Spencer was born as well and we played with him on Passover too, my kiddos took no time at all to bond with him.


On our first morning together, we headed to a duck pond for some fun.

No visit to the duck pond is complete without a visit to the stone cows of course.

Once again, little cousins enjoyed their time together as well!

With Spencer and new baby cousin joining the Austin mix, the fun, chaos, and mess will only increase, but for now, these 3 cuties really enjoy playing together. SOMETIMES, with adult interaction:

Cousin Dan orchestrates the band.

Aunt Syssa's lap really doesn't have too much extra room for this these days.

But, much of the time, they can entertain themselves nicely:

Seriously, boys, just look at the camera at the same time...

We surprised Joey with a surprise birthday party a few days before he turned TWO!


And then one day, it started drizzling right when we wanted to go to the playground. So we went outside anyway, just with bathing suits.

Daddy participated in the slip 'n slide fun this time.

Sibling Love:

puzzle partners

Daddy was off with Ethan, so the rest of us kept each other entertained.

a minute of my 2 older kiddos getting along calmly and beautifully

and yet another minute of their usual craziness

rockin' out

The Cohen Crazies return for another national tour.

happy babies

climbing high

yup...that's 2 of my children having salad for breakfast

Spencer obviously needed the stick-on earrings.

Spencer's crawling is getting faster. His interest in different toys is expanding. His ability to grab the plastic from trash cans is impressive.

Following the Leader

Spencer Karaoke

Not pictured: Mommy's ailing back preventing her from moving and Spencer's inability to roll over, keeping both pitiful, yet smiling souls stuck in bed temporarily

Not pictured: how slimy he actually was

In other news, he likes the swing now!

I dare you to watch this and not be disappointed by the end.

AHHH, he did it! (And that was only the beginning of the month...)

Spencer's sleep went from not-so-great to horrible towards the middle of the month, and he was waking 3-4 times a night. Urgh...

Someone (not mentioning any names) might have been up since 5:30...

"I didn't do it?"

Some cuteness just doesn't need captions:

Nope, he cannot roll over from his back. He can pull up and stand against anything. He'll be cruising and walking very soon. But this cockroach gets completely stuck on his back.

Nope, he doesn't want to stay at the YMCA child watch while I watch the other 2 at swim lessons.

And yes, he got his first teeny tiny (yet, SHARP) tooth this month!

Spencer William turned 8 months on October 24, 2017. I love celebrating each month, but sigh, it's happening too quickly.

What is that noise?

I think I had too much fun with the "collage" feature on my phone this month. But, how else do you show that -

your baby girls STILL sleeps on her back 4 years later

your baby girl likes to eat asparagus (still)

AND how do you show that -

your two baby boys pose the exact same at exactly 7.5 months old

your baby boy looks adorable in overalls handmade by Aunt Sandi

our carnivore babies chewing on chicken bones

More collage fun/obsession in the category of "Who Wore It Best?"

Nana and Zayde came in town to help with the impending arrival of baby cousin. Before she made her debut, they wanted to sneak off to see the progress on the huge hole being dug that will turn into their huge new compound. We decided Gabi was big enough to visit it, and Alyssa and I drove on down to see the lot for the first time too!

It was neat to see over a dozen dump trucks pour massive amounts of dirt on their lot.

On October 14, beautiful cousin Shayna made her debut. While Nana and Zayde were mostly around the Gilden clan to help, we enjoyed when they popped in to play with us a few times.


In mid-October, a cold front came through Austin and we FINALLY got a taste of Fall! (and then it was right back up to the 80s)

Big 3-year-old Ethan kept his underwear remarkably dry this month! Potty training was a surprising breeze with this one. (No, he hasn't actually successfully used a urinal, but Daddy was proud to show him the strategy.)

This is our normal.

While Gabi goes to "shul school" (aka religious school) some Sunday mornings, my boys and I like to hang out on the JCC playground. Well, the weather was a bit breezy and wet a couple times this month so...

Time out for some kitty love on the blog:

This little girl has decided to start spelling her name "GABE" this month, declaring, "/g/ /a/ /b/ /eeeeeeeee/." It's hard to argue that one...

Swim lessons update:

We were so excited to welcome and cuddle baby Shayna! (Well, everyone except for Spencer, who is apparently completely neglected now.)

Since you don't always know what goes on behind closed doors but instead only have access to what I publish online, let's just pretend we always have it this together and are always this happy!