HaPpY HaLlOwEnN!!

IT'S FINALLY HERE............HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!

As I've said at least 5 million times, this is my FAVORITE time of the year and I LOVE Halloween!! I know you're cringing Paula but I can't help it! Grace also LOVES Halloween and must have said it at least 3 million times during the month of October! Yes!! I started asking her what she wanted to be for Halloween at the end of July when the stores start putting out their costumes. She went from Snow White to a spider to a witch.......and so two, little witches were born!

We went all out at our house this year and got a fog machine, strobe light, and costumes for me and Matt! I know it's a complete waste of money but we had a lot of fun doing it!

Grace couldn't wait to go "trick or treaking"and I couldn't wait to start diving into her candy bowl!! :)

I decided to take the girls around the neighborhood while Matt stayed at the house to hand out our candy. He was almost as excited as Grace to put on his costume. As you can see from the pics, it was pretty creepy but Grace took one look at him and said, "cool costume, Daddy!" HAHA! That's my girl!

Off we went and Grace started yelling "trick or treak" as soon as we hit the next house's driveway. And if another trick or treater was behind us, she would stop and say trick or treak and give them some of her candy! WAHAHA!! I kept thinking how sweet it was but silently I was screaming, "Don't give them the good stuff!!"

We made it to around a dozen houses then Grace said she wanted to sit down so we joined Matt back at the house. She LOVED handing out candy to the other kids! AK did great as well and was awake for most of the trick or treating and only fell asleep as we were about to put Grace to bed. Her witch hat was too big for her head but I promise there is a little purple witch costume under all that garb!

Next year, we're hoping to do it up bigger and better. Who knows maybe we'll start adding a graveyard and ghouls and goblins to our decor!! WHOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Disney on Ice - Princess Wishes!

I was so excited when I found out that Disney on Ice, Princess Wishes was coming to Knoxville!! Grace LOVES them and I knew she would be in awe! I also wanted to do something special for just the two of us where I could give her my full undivided attention. It seems like the following words are always coming out of my mouth these days: just one minute, hold on a second, I'll be right there, as soon as Anna is done eating, etc.

Before I knew it, here it was one week before the show was coming to town and I STILL hadn't bought tickets!! AHHHHH!! I checked craigslist and was thrilled to find two great tickets for $12 off the face value! I started communicating with the ticket owner and all of the sudden his communication stopped.........Yep HE SOLD THEM!!! WHAT!!! And yes, I already told Grace we were going since I THOUGHT I had his tickets! Sweet! Luckily (or so I thought), I found two more tickets on craigslist........and the EXACT same thing happened!! Only her tickets are still posted so who knows what's going on there. And then I remembered an email I received a couple weeks ago through Moms Club stating a member had 4 tickets available for purchase!! Somehow (by the grace of God!) she STILL had all 4 available!! HALLELUIAH!!

Saturday night we headed downtown and Grace started saying, "Mommy this is so much fun!" at least a half a dozen times and we were only in the parking lot! :) Once we got inside, I let her pick out a souvenir and she opted for the frog from The Princess and the Frog (who wasn't even in the show, ha). Grace got SO excited when the show started and I once again got all teary just watching her! Moms, do you have my back? It is very emotional watching your little one get so excited at something like this. I mean here are these princesses that are on tv, t-shirts, games, bedding, etc. and NOW they're ALL right in front of us!! I feel the same way every time I see Keith Urban in concert! :)

Grace told me she was most excited to see Snow White and you should've seen her face once she finally made her appearance!! WOW! And then the "dwarps" AND Ariel came out and I thought Grace had died and gone to heaven!

Next came the intermission and a great time to buy a $50 snowcone! Ok, it might not be $50 but it sure wasn't the $2 snowcone from an ice cream shack......at least we got the tinkerbell souvenir cup! WAHAHA!

We both had a great time and I felt myself watching Grace more than I watched the actual show. I'm so glad we got to spend that one-on-one time together and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon!

Special thanks to AK for taking the bottle for Daddy while we were out!! That's always a little stressful to think about but she did great!! Also, thank you to Heather for letting us purchase your tickets and have a great girls night out!!

Halloween Goodies

On Friday we were getting VERY excited for Halloween so we decided to have some neighbors over to make Halloween goodies! Graces LOVES playing with Jackson, Audrey, and Owen and yelled a big "YES" when I told her they were all coming over!

We made caramel apples, decorated cupcakes and cookies, and made white chocolate ghost lollipops! We ate tons of sweets, made a huge mess, and had a great time! What better way to celebrate fall and Halloween than with good friends! Here are some pics of our treats!!

Trunk or Treat

Last Wednesday, we had our first Trunk or Treat experience at our church. Since this was new to us, I contacted the Children's Director to ask her exactly what I needed to do/bring so I could be prepared. Ok, am I the only one who didn't know this actually meant getting candy out of the trunks of cars??? Maybe I am, but needless to say it's a good thing I asked!

We started off with dinner then Matt and Grace went up on stage for a little costume contest. It was so cute to see all the little (and big) kids excited and dressed up in their costumes! Grace didn't technically win a prize, but we thought she was the cutest witch there! :)

The older kids decorated one of the upper hallways of the church and the little ones got to walk through and see the lights, decorations, costumes, AND get some candy! YES! As soon as Grace saw the hallway, she said, "This is amazing!" HAHAHAHA! I wonder where she gets her excitement for this stuff?!?!?

Then we all headed outside to trick or treat. Matt took Grace around to the cars while I stayed at our trunk with AK. Grace LOVED it and, when they returned, she LOVED handing out candy to the kids coming to our car! She was even giving away her own candy!

We had a great time and are already excited to do it again next year!

Three Months Old!

Here we are and our little Anna Kate is three months old!! She is still a easy going baby and tends to go with the flow no matter what is going on around her. She is growing like a weed and is already too long for some of her 3-6 month sleepers and onesies. I don't have any updated stats but should for her next update since she'll have her 4 month check-up the week after Thanksgiving.

Anna continues to show us her personality and she keeps coming more and more "alive!" What I mean by that is her "words" are getting bigger, her cooing is getting longer, her smiles are getting brighter, and she seems to have mastered her theatrical cries when she's ready to eat! :) Why theatrical you ask? Because she usually takes her cries from a level 6 to a level 1 by the time her head hits the boppy! :) What can I say.....when the girl is ready to eat, she's READY to eat. Sounds like someone else I know (ME!).

I've recently given Anna a nickname, Tark, as a result of her new habit. Do you all remember the old UNLV coach ("Tark the Shark") who used to sit on the sidelines and constantly chew on his towel during the basketball games? Well Anna also LOVES to chew on her bib, burp rag, or whatever else she can get into her mouth.....hence her new nickname. She also loves to suck on her thumb and forefinger at the same time resulting in a "cow chewing and regurgitating its food" sound! We need to work on this while we're sitting at the table eating! :)

Anna is definitely going to be a girl who speaks with her facial expressions.....again sounds like someone I know. She is always giving me what I call her "Papa John" face. I can remember sitting on the couch at Papa and Mama's house and getting the feeling that he was looking at me. When I'd look over at him, he would raise his eyebrows and shrug his shoulders with a big grin on his face. Carrie and Maggie, you have to know exactly what I'm talking about! Anna does the same thing. If I'm changing her diaper or doing anything around her so she can see me, I'm usually greeted with that same grin when I look back at her! It's so darn cute!

I can already tell she is in love with Grace! Grace has been waking her up in the mornings (something I'll get on video for you all to see soon!) and she gives Grace the biggest smiles! SO CUTE! I'll have to remind them how sweet they were to each other when they start fighting over each other's clothes! :)

AK is still not sleeping through the night (although she had a good run for about two weeks when she did) and usually gets up around 4am to eat. I know we're getting to the "just let her cry it out phase" but I can tell you I'm definitely not looking forward to that!

Oh and you all will be surprised to know that AK is now sleeping in her crib! WHO HOO! Yep, I cut the cord and finally took the plunge. She still likes to be held during most of her naps (hence the reason my blog posts are ALWAYS behind! :) ) but that's something I can't quite let go and secretly don't mind!

Anna is also very close to turning over! She gets SO close and will roll all the way over on her side, but hasn't gotten past that last hurdle. She is also quickly getting tired of her papasan chair. Every time I put her in it, she instantly tries to pull herself up so she can sit up. I think someone is getting a little too big for her britches! That chair has been a lifesaver so hopefully she'll be ready for her bumbo chair before too long.
That's about all for now. I'll post again next month with her new stats!

Oakes Farm

I look forward to our annual trip to the pumpkin patch nearly all year long (surprise, I know)! We had planned on going the second weekend in October but Matt got sick so we bumped it back a week. It worked out great because Mom and Dad were in town for Anna's baptism and the weather was a little cooler!

We had a quick lunch then headed out on the hayride to the pumpkin patch so Grace could pick out her two pumpkins. Anna couldn't have been more thrilled to be there and slept the entire time! :)

Papa could have searched for hours for the PERFECT, round pumpkin but Grace was getting low on fuel so we grabbed a couple and headed back. This farm has so many fun activities for the kids to do including slides, a blow up jumpy thing (for lack of better words), sand box, "corn maze" for kids, etc. We had one small problem......we got there right at noon and Grace was in desperate need of a nap! BOO!! Grace took a couple turns on the giant slide and we had to hit the road. No need to worry though. We're going to ANOTHER pumpkin patch this weekend with some promising activities that Grace will LOVE including a petting zoo!! YIPPEE!!

Grace got into carving her pumpkin a little more than last year. She was really just interested in all the carving tools which I'm sure her father appreciated! :)

How can you not want to reach in there and pull out all those squishy pumpkin "guts!"

The finished products!! Maybe next year Anna will get to carve hers!!