five months

settling in

about a week after moving into our new home, ben started his new job and we started to settle in to our new life & find 'normal.'  i decided to resign from my job and become a full-time mom, so it was a relief to close that chapter & not to have to worry about finding child care, etc.  with emre out of school until january (when he turned 3), i quickly realized what being a full-time mom is all about:  keeping the kids busy!  luckily, we discovered there's lots to do in this area.

playing with the train display at the bookstore

enjoying american cereal - what a treat

autumn baby

brothers snuggling up on lazy fall afternoons

loving his new playroom

discovering new playgrounds & parks

my poor baby has had a tough time dealing with the transition & became super clingy - too much for a 4 month old : (

…not that i mind having him cling!

playtime at the local gym

doing my best to keep up until he can get back into pre-school

LOVE the local children's museum

typical scene on our drive home

naptime for all

hanging with my boys

loves his sophie

wegmans… need i say more?

it's been fun to reconnect with old friends.  our friend joe helped hang the tv when he came for dinner (he also unclogged the sink & informed us we need a new garbage disposal - thanks, joe!)

lunch out with my boys (photo by emre)

conquering the playground!

we love having a basement for the boys to play in

eating his veggies like a pro!

simple pleasures: shopping with his own cart

halloween

we had our 'first' halloween.  i'm calling it that because we've never trick-or-treated before (and it's not really celebrated outside of pre-schools in turkey).  i'm not sure, but i think i may have enjoyed it more than emre.  mom bought him an adorable costume - dinosaur - and he certainly loved getting dressed up, especially once he caught onto the idea of everyone giving him candy (and ringing doorbells - that was a big hit).  but getting to take my kid trick-or-treating?  and meet a bunch of our new neighbors??  and feel so damned AMERICAN???  i was grinning for days.  DAYS!  

but the best part of the night - by far - was witnessing emre's introduction to candy (which he had never had before, with the exception of maybe a lollipop).  when we got home i introduced him to the tradition (for my sisters and i, anyway) of pouring out the loot onto the floor and seeing what kind of candy you scored.  he wanted to taste one, so we chose a starburst.  he put it in his mouth & had a very quizzical look on his face.  i took this to mean he didn't like it - and then the doorbell rang.  trick-or-treaters!  i ran to the door, expecting emre to be right behind me (he loved seeing the costumes).  i finished giving out the candy, and he still hadn't shown up!  i started looking for him - but he was nowhere to be found.  then, i heard a noise, coming from the laundry room.  i walk in to the pitch-black room, switch on the light, and there is emre, kneeling on the floor, starburst wrappers everywhere!  he was shoving them in his mouth as fast as he could.  apparently he liked it!  i was too impressed to be mad.

our little dino-mite

my boys!  we left kaan at home with daddy - but he still got to dress up : )

a little post-halloween fun