Malinda shares my love for Halloween and all holidays :)

Charlie was so extremely sweet with Oliver - he didn't leave our side the entire week. He'd ask to help burp him, clothe him, share his blanket, and run all of the diapers to the trash the second I'd finish changing Ollie. I wanted to bring Charlie home with us as a live-in babysitter! :)

We did family photos at their favorite Tuttle Creek before having an Oktoberfest celebration

look at this cake Malinda made!

root beer in authentic German steins

the yummiest bratwurst on kaiser rolls that tasted EXACTLY like the street brats we used to have when we lived in Germany

look at Mason and his axe! I should've taken a photo of his collection of about 50 knives. ;)

Oliver was wishing he could eat some of the tasty bratwursts ;)

ended the trip with "Boo-Nilla" milkshakes with Harry Potter floating candles from the ceiling. It was the perfect trip to get in the Halloween mood! 

We spent the whole day celebrating our favorite 3-year-old. We woke early to have time for some festivities before 9am church, then continued the celebrating with cousins for a small Monsters Inc "party" when Tommy's sister's family came in the evening. Noah has asked for a Monsters Inc party for 6 months, ever since our trip to Disneyland. He never says anything about Monsters Inc any other time, but the Disneyland ride must've inspired him. :)

Noah is always the earliest riser, but of course on his birthday he slept in and we had to wake him up. Luckily his grumpy don't-wake-me-up face only lasted a minute, and we were able to convince him that something exciting was awaiting him downstairs.

We ended the evening watching "Monsters University". A good time was had by all, and Noah felt like he got his real birthday bash he's been dreaming of for half a year. :)

Noah has my heart. He is my constant by-my-side buddy, chatting full conversations about everything together. He has always been so calm, sweet, serious but with a sense of humor. He just seems like an old soul in a tiny body. From the moment he was born, Tommy and I both felt this. It's amazing how early you can see their personality, and how different each child is.

This month of turning three, he has suddenly taught himself how to go potty on a toilet like a pro (literally all by himself and out of the blue...we walk past the bathroom and he's sitting on the potty like it's no big deal). He also started drawing faces, telling jokes, and crawling in bed with next to his daddy every morning. I don't want this stage to ever end.