Halloween: “How You Doin’??”

So, I’ve always loved holidays (especially Christmas! Duh!) but Halloween has just been on the same level as so many others. Man, now that I have a little one at home I am seriously loving me some Halloween! This year has been so fun. We pumpkin patched, made another homemade costume (doin’ every year, people!…but totally buying a cheap backup like I did this year), and made 3 normal errands way more awesome. Let’s start by telling you about the costume.

Last year she was a pea-pod.

We went to Indiana for J’s grandfather’s funeral two days before Halloween, so when we returned home at 5pm on 10/31 last year we zipped down to Grammy and Pop’s, took some quick pics, and then took off the costume and put her to bed. This year was way better! Starting with the costume (back on track…):

It. was. the. best. ever.

I’m already coming to terms with the fact that I’ll never top this one and it’s cuteness. Maybe its her age. Maybe I’m crazy. But honestly, I’m preparing myself just in case to never have a costume this great. And everyone else that saw it LOVED it. So proud!

Like last year, my mom did most of the heavy lifting but I stepped in a little more this year by choosing the costume and sewing a bit. Whee!!

(I found the instructions for her Skunk costume here)

We needed 1 white maribou boa, a 12x18 scrap of black fur fabric, 2 pipe cleaners (though we used 4), black leggings (we found cotton pants – perfect!), a black long-sleeved top (we found a great onesie), and a black or white baby’s bonnet (couldn’t find one so my mom decided to just sew one herself).

(My mom found the bonnet pattern here…and I’m making this girl’s winter bonnet my first sewing project! Stay tuned!)

Grammy checking to make sure the bonnet fits B (the original one she made from the pattern was too small…I said it looked more like a yamika):

 

B staying busy in her new pack-n-play (its bigger than the normal ones! whee!) doing “calculations” on Pop’s machine. J and I always giggle about her doing “calculations” because she often taps her fingers to her thumb in that manner. Hehehehehe.

  

Grammy at work:

 

It’s going to be perfect!!!

 

Now Mommy gets to make the tail (notice the concentration level here?)!

“Mommy! Did you see that big, fat squirrel?!?!?!”

 

The finished product! Aren’t we great models?? :)

 

So much more fun to come…I went REALLY photocrazy this past weekend!!!

Well, better late than never!

I took my sweet time to decide whether or not I still wanted to document Bridget’s growth through monthly pictures. It was a tough choice! Now that she’s fully mobile and can climb in and out of the chair, its WAY harder to get the job done. Looking at the camera has gone out the window, and don’t even get me started at trying to get her to smile…those two alone combine for not much fun for mommy. That being said, I had pretty much decided to stop taking the pics. But stopping would mean conceding the fact that my baby is no longer and baby and everyone knows I’m not ready for that! So, here its goes. I’m keeping it up for another year and will officially stop at her 24th month (though I may not take the pic on the 7th EXACTLY anymore…).

 

Weight: no clue!!! Heavier than all the newborns we’ve been visiting recently :)

Length: eh…long?

Favorite foods: this little stinker is so picky with me! she’s still into avocado, goldfish, bananas, and meatsticks and has added fish sticks to her repretoire. The list pretty much ends here, so she still gets pureed veggies and fruits (I know, *gasp* but what’s a mom to do?!) with me. She’s a great eater with Miss Kathy, so I know its just a phase. She’ll come around!

(side note: just distracted by a Harry Potter: and the Deathly Hallows Part I movie trailer….aghhhh!!! So excited!!!)

Words: mama, dada, uh-oh, baby (and says dada and/or baby when she means “bye-bye”, too)

Favorite things to do: drink from a straw, water the flowers with her watering can (so sweet!), give Penny her tennis ball (just puts it directly in Penny’s mouth…doesn’t understand that she’s supposed to throw it yet!), feel water on our hands (see pic below…all the time!)….this is just a quick list!

Oh yeah…and she finally started a very common baby habit (well, she uses it as a toy so I’m not too concerned!). It’s so funny that she likes these (pacis) now, seeing as how she’d NEVER take them when she was an itty bitty:

And in case you couldn’t read her shirt:

One of my favorite things to get in the mail recently. I love this cute T and love it even more because is was less than $5! Whee!

A Surprise Fall Festival

We made a last-minute trip to McKinney to visit Julie at her school’s fall festival. Wow! I was totally blown away by all the amazing surprises B and I found upon arrival. The first one? Nowhere to park!!!

We were a little nervous to enter after seeing the massive crowd…

but when we found our way inside, we were seriously amazed. There was a HUGE silent auction (one prize was about $500 worth of restaurant gift cards!):

a delicious bake sale (Julie was manning this one when we came in…good thing I didn’t have any cash!):

 

a multitude of performances:

 

Bounce houses and Dicky’s Bar-B-Que catering:

 

Your traditional fall festival game booths:

  

And friendly jack-o-lanterns on the move (yes, it was about 80 degrees but she didn’t seem to mind):

You know this horse-lover wanted her little pumpkin to take a pony ride, but I decided to wait on it til next year :(

 

But neither of us could resist the petting zoo:

   

There was also a full-on mini craft fair going on inside. I bought B the CUTEST turkey onesie…personalized and everything for only $10! Score!

  

Ryan brought Abby up to the fair after Julie was done working:

 

My pumpkin was ready to head out to the parking lot where the train ride was happening!

Even Julie’s niece, Kinley, took a ride!

  

Abby and Kinley playing the Duck Pond game (they got prizes, but all these girls wanted was a rubber ducky from the pond!):

 

It was a great night! I’m so glad we decided to make the drive up to meet our special friends. We made some great memories and I can’t wait for the festival next year!!!

Pumpkin Patch #1

Well, I was so disappointed when we didn’t make it out to a pumpkin patch last year. Bridget was such an itty bitty and I’m sure she had a runny nose or something that kept us from going (or was it weather that’s not still 80 degrees in October). Regardless, we finally got a chance to go this year and Jonathan’s family came with us. We got some great shots!

She wasn’t in the greatest of moods upon arrival, so I feared she was going to be in one of her new mindsets: no one can hold me but Mommy or Daddy and they must hold me the whole time though I’ll pretend I want to go down all the time….

But we put her down and she ran right in on her own!

…and found my favorite teen wizards (no time for Quidditch while you’re hunting pumpkins)!

Then Daddy was sure to introduce her to his favorite Jedis…beware the Dark Side, Bridgey! 

Did you see Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Daddy??  

She was a little cautious about entering the Pumpkin House (notice her hands clasped together…when she does her version of “the snake” dance with her arms, that means she’s nervous):

 

But when she realized she could pick up any pumpkin she wanted, she was all over that sucka!

Daddy! They really let you carry these guys!

  

Any more outside this shack?

The Big Daddy…

 

Riding with Grandma :)

  

Back in the house…and we’ve obviously stumbled a bit already. She had a pretty dirty tush pretty fast!

 

Christina (Jonathan’s sister) and her two boys. Anthony is on the left and Noah is on the right. Such hams (or should I say pumpkin?)!

  

Here’s me and the sweetums….love it!  

Of all the pumpkins in the patch…

  

…she chose this beauty:

And then she was ready to head on down the dusty trail…

 

   

The boys were psyched about the hayride (so was I!):

    

The kids look too cute in this pic for me not to include it…yes, I’m aware I look awful. Blerg!

Waving to Grandma and Grandpa!

 

It was fun!

  

This was a REAL treee that had all these amazing characters carved into it…I was super impressed! 

How long has it been since you’ve been on one of these?! Notice Noah (in blue) gripping on for his dear life? The old school merry-go-round is just as you remember it: super fast, totally awesome, and way to dangerous for kids! The boys couldn’t stop talking about it during dinner, so I told them all about Fermin, the fastest kid in my class at Johnson Elementary, and how all the kids wanted Fermin to run with the merry-go-round during recess because he transformed it into a silver spinning scream fest of doom :)

She needed Daddy’s help to take this pic, but I required it!

Then, we met a familiar friend…  

…before we had to pack up and go to dinner. The boys got to ride with us, which Bridget thought was awesome!

   

All in all we had a great time and I can’t wait to go again with friends later this week. Stay tuned!