Rylan's One-Year Photo Shoot

Technically Ry was 14-months-old when these were taken, but seeing as how his sister had five photo shoots during her first year, it was much better than nothing (#secondchildproblems). We decided on a mini-shoot because our rambunctious little boy wouldn't last for much longer, but Jesse and Rachel managed to capture so many good shots within that short time period.  I absolutely love all these pictures of our sweet boy.

[Spoiler Alert: Some of these photos may appear in our Christmas card.]

We also took the opportunity to take some family pictures. 

An Old Hollywood Halloween

As everyone knows, I loooove coming up with fun Halloween costumes, especially for the kids. After  channeling characters from Star Wars, A League of Their Own, and The Wizard of Oz in years past, we continued the movie theme. But this year, the kids went old Hollywood-style. 

Ava was Audrey Hepburn's character from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

And Rylan was James Dean's character from Rebel Without a Cause.

I have wanted Ava to be Holly Golightly ever since I saw a tutu-version of the costume on Pinterest a few years ago. And I knew Rylan would make the perfect James Dean (as would Josh).

I was determined to put together costumes as close to the original outfits as possible, and it was actually pretty easy to find everything. 

{Dress / Gloves / Crown / Sunglasses: Nordstrom / Necklace: Previously-Owned Necklace + Broach from JoAnn Fabric / Earrings: Sticky Jewels from JoAnn Fabric.}

Rylan's red jacket was the hardest item to locate, but I finally found one on eBay. Josh styled his hair to perfection. 

{Jacket / Shirt / Jeans / Shoes}

These two...

Rylan got the hang of the whole trick-or-treating thing down pretty quickly. 

And Ava was a pro. 

She was also very excited that Grammie got to join in on the fun.

This year we headed over to the block party on Vanderbilt Avenue for the first time, and it was amazing (although we were slightly disappointed that the houses didn't offer as many adult beverages as promised). My favorite houses were the Star Wars and creepy clown-themed ones. 

By the end of the night, Rylan's hair was a little less James Dean and a little more Flock of Seagulls. But still adorable. 

I fear this was my last year to pick Ava's costume, but I have a whole year to brainstorm Ry's next movie-themed costume. 

Halloween Week Festivities

The week leading up to Halloween was filled with lots of fun activities, costumes, and treats. We kicked off the festivities with the Leos family as they graciously invited us along to experience Halloween Nights at the Dallas Zoo.

Later that night, Bunny came over to watch the kids so Josh and I could attend the Hubbards' annual Oktoberfest party. 

And we didn't let the rain stop us from playing beer pong waaaay past our bedtime. 

Sunday morning we headed to a superhero-themed birthday party for one of Ava's school friends. Gah....I just love that little Wonder Woman costume. 

And after that, it was time to head to their school's Fall Fiesta.

Rylan with Maestra Caro.

Ava's favorite activity was bracelet making.

Rylan's was chewing on his new yo-yo and finding rocks. Boys.

We also decorated the house...

And some pumpkins...

Ava's Halloween-themed lunch. The pretzel-stick owls may be my favorite.

I didn't want to send the kids to school in their actual Halloween costumes (lest they come home covered in something), so Ava wore her Elsa costume and Rylan went as a hipster. 

Rylan's teachers didn't think he was quite hipster enough, so they added a goatee and sent me a picture. I definitely laughed for a good 10 minutes in my office. I mean...

And after all that, we still had a day of costumes and trick-or-treating ahead.