.

the last couple years, we were able to coordinate family costumes (muppets in 2012 and fruit in 2011). this year, i simply didn't have the energy. AND bailey REALLY wanted to be princess sofia (which left the rest of us with not many options). so here you have it, a princess, an owl and a skeleton. i decided that for the next 20 years, i will be a banana bc i already own the costume. and in the sweetest gesture that brought me to tears, matt bought a monkey costume. he told me he wanted to be the monkey to my banana for the next 20 years. awww. i love my monkey.

happy halloween!!!!

i can't believe it's been over a month since the newest member of the lillvis family was born. though things have been topsy turvy, as sleepless life with a newborn usually is, things have also been pretty amazing too.

mr. cooper lam lillvis was born on september 17, 2013 at st. luke's roosevelt. he was the biggest of the 3 kids, weighing in at 6 lb 14 oz. and in one month, he gained a whopping 3 lb. the poor little guy already got a cold (in his 2nd week of life, no less) thanks to bailey's preschool germs. his newborn cough was so sad and his projectile vomiting so scary, that i cancelled our trip to california. instead, i ended up taking him to the doctor every 2 days. oh and did i mention that the whole family got the cold in the course of the last month? matt, bryn and i have gotten 2 rounds. cooper is threatening to get it again. grandma merry, grandma carol and paw paw all got some form of it too!

this time around, grandma carol was here to help out when cooper was born. my c-section recovery was much quicker than the other 2 times. i was up and walking the same afternoon. the only setback was the coughing from my cold (which frankly, still hurts my insides. ugh.) bryn and bailey have both been great big sisters. initially, brynny was ECSTATIC that we had a new baby in the house. at the hospital, i'm pretty sure she was convinced we had this baby just for her. she wouldn't let anyone else touch him and sang a song that went like this, "baby, baby, baby, baaaby, babeee!"

now, i think it is starting to sink in that this baby is ONE- not hers alone, TWO- taking away precious attention from her, and THREE- not going back.

uncle john and aunt denise came to visit after grandma carol left. then grandma merry and paw paw came to visit after that. having all the extra hands around (including and gaby's <- thank god!!) have been a godsend. i can't imagine how we would have gotten through it without all the help. in fact, i'm scared sh*%less about figuring out the juggling act now.

though life with 3 kids is no doubt going to be tricky, our love and joy has now been multiplied by 3.