hot chocolate.

Cayden had his final soccer game of the season this past Saturday. At his game the week before, I'm pretty sure I was wearing shorts and flip flops. At this particular game though? Not so much. We had a cold front come in the night before, so layering and bundling up was a requirement. When my mom called and let us know she was making a stop at Starbucks on her way to the game, we quickly took her up on an offer to bring coffee. And knowing that Sawyer always wants to drink our coffee, she bought him his very own hot chocolate. Little dude has a sweet tooth like woah, so it was no surprise that he enjoyed every last drop of his "hot chocklit." As evidenced by his new goatee.

happy halloween, y'all.

From the smallest Allen who is most excited about trick or treating tonight and stocking up on some candy. Ok, fine, the largest Allen's are excited about the itty bitties stocking up on candy tonight. Happy Halloween, y'all!

biggest and littlest.

Sometimes you forget that you had more beach photos to go through. And those little moments, when you find sweet shots like this are the best. While the middle child may have been completely disagreeable to having his photo taken that night (hey, days at the beach without a nap can be rough!), the oldest obliged and the youngest had no choice. Not the best photos by any means, but the best photos for this mama to look back on.

And yes, Graham ate sand. And Cayden's hands. And Cayden wasn't super-thrilled with that, ha!

graham: first food.

I took a few photos of Graham trying out food for the first time. But y'all, the video, although poor quality, is so much better because you get to see Cayden and Sawyer react to it. And that makes it worth it. First food reactions? I think Graham loves it. His tongue thrust is still pretty strong, but he's slowly figuring it out. This stage is so much fun. New things to discover every day...

puppy.

Every so often, we'll wake up to Cayden walking in our bedroom in the middle of the night. Usually he's either scared of something in his room or complaining of his leg hurting. We try to get him to go back to his room, but sometimes, there's a hint of real fear in his voice and we let him crawl in bed and sleep. I'll admit that sometimes I sleep through these moments. Both of our boys like to go to Jeremy's side of the bed; I think maybe they know I'll make them get back in bed, ha!

Anyway,  I was making up our bed the other morning (as one does when their house is on the market) and found Cayden's puppy hanging out in our bed. My big boys had already left for church, so it was just me and the tiniest Allen still at home. I thought Puppy (as he's called) needed a little time in front of the camera. This sweet pup has been with Cayden since he was born and is so, so loved. And for a split moment, I got all melodramatic thinking about the future and the mornings that we won't find Cayden (or puppy) in bed with us.

And you know what? I think I'll encourage those middle of the night rendezvous for a little bit longer.