This was my first attempt at taking pictures for the Christmas cards. Didn't go so well. I had visions of them all bundled up in the snow, but Jonny wouldn't sit and he did not stand unassisted at this point so it lasted about 3 minutes until he start crying. They are cute shots of Madeline though. The next try was much better.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! We had so much fun last night and I'm exhausted. I'm not a big fan of Halloween, but having kids definitely makes it more fun. My little Snow White could not wait to get dressed up and trick-or-treat. I even put real makeup on her and she LOVED it.

The little puppy was warm and toasty...and by the way pulls up on everything now to stand. Can we put off the walking until he's, say 2 years old? Please!

Shrek took Snow White around Hyde Park for the loot - or should I say - candy while the puppy stayed and handed out candy with me.

This is Crystal, our neighbor who Madeline absolutely loves. Jon and I become completely obsolete when she is around. Looks like Jonny is headed for love too.

Ahhhhhhh!

We had food and drinks out front of the houses with our neighbors and all the kids stayed up late in front of the firepits.

Snow White plopped herself in the best seat with heat from the fire, a blanket, hot chocolate, and a bucket of candy. Perfect way to end this year's Halloween.

Baby's 1st Halloween

I swear sometimes I can't even stand the cuteness. Brace yourself.

Siblings

All I have to say is, aaawwwhhh.

Hall-boo-ween

Madeline and I had a "girls day" a few weekends ago. She wanted to have a day with just mom. We went out to lunch (her choice, McDonald's) and to the Halloween event at Kings Island. She wore her costume and told everyone in the lines that she was there with her "mama". Every, single, line, she told the people around us. It got to be a little much, but it's a memory I'll never forget. She was so happy and excited to have a day for us girls. I promised her we'll be doing more of these days just us and I can't wait for the next one.

Chatter

Although Jonny hasn't said what I'd consider his first word yet, he does say Mamamama and Dadadadada just not yet at either of us. Madeline's first word was Cooper so I'm secretly hoping this kid opts for one of his parents this time around.

Burger Farms

A few weeks ago we went out to Burger Farms for the fall events and to get our pumpkins to carve. Kids enjoyed it and we carved the pumpkins a few weeks early. With the heat they actually started to rot. It was pretty gross and we had to throw a few out before Halloween. I think next year we'll wait to carve.

This weekend at dance was "watch week". So here are the adorable pics and videos. She has the bright green bow in her hair.

Le Dance

Madeline started dance a few weeks ago. More pictures to come after the first viewing class. The parents are not allowed to stay and watch so I'm not sure exactly what they are doing, but she bounces in and out with excitement so I know she's loving it. They'll be a class in a few weeks we can stay and observe.

Renee - she specifically asked me to post these for you to see her!

Through the trenches

Crawling. He's really crawling. And I mean everywhere. There is no containing him at this point. It's this adorable, digging through the trenches, army crawl.

I am always spotting the instinctual differences between boys and girls. I brought out a little play table that Madeline used to play with today for Jonny. It's an activity table that sings, makes noises, lights, etc. Madeline used to love pushing all the buttons, bouncing to the music and eventually learned to pull herself up for the first time using that table. She would walk around it and would make her way to the other furniture in our family room as she was learning to walk.

Soooooo I had high hopes to see what Jonboy would do. His eyes lit up and I soon realized what he was thinking. Something new to try and climb! He had his arms reached across and was trying to pull himself up and onto it, grunting and crying in frustration. I'm sure he'll be interested in the lights and sounds eventually, but for now it's his Everest.





I also have been taking lots of pictures of him sleeping. I can't help myself. There is just something about a sleeping baby and I sound like a broken record but it's just going to fast and I want to be able to look back on these and remember how little he was, although he is not little, he's a chunk.



Just today he cuddled up on my chest with his head down on my neck and took a nap. A whole hour. I know the days of him doing that are numbered and for that reason it was the best hour of my week.