Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

We started our Halloween festivities Wednesday by scooping out our pumpkins.  Like most messy things we do, MiniM.E. approached the pumpkin guts as if they were alive, only touching them gently with a spoon.

But it only took a few minutes for her to realize what she was missing out on.

I want to carve a SCARY pumpkin!

 Thursday we rested up in anticipation of our big Halloween Day on Friday.  Lots of cuddles and a pretend trip to the doctor for Baby#2.

Yesterday we had a huge day and by the end of the day we'd all had it with Halloween.  But it was a blast and MiniM.E. loved (mostly) every minute of it.

Let's start with MiniM.E.'s costume.  Sometime in September I asked MiniM.E. what she wanted to be for Halloween and she said Cinderella.  I thought she meant Rapunzel since she is in love with Tangled, so I ordered her a Rapunzel dress up outfit for her birthday.  When I tried to play up Rapunzel she still insisted on wanting Cinderella, but I held off.  Good thing because mid-October this conversation took place:

MiniM.E.: "I want to be a mum for Halloween"

me: "Like the flower?"

MiniM.E.: "No, a MUM, like with a silly hat."

me: "A NUN? Like a black and white with a silly hat?"

MiniM.E.: "Yeah."

me: (Pull up nun photo on my phone) "Like this?"

MiniM.E.: "Yep."

And that is how my daughter decided to be a nun for Halloween.  Still not sure where she saw or heard about nuns, because it certainly wasn't with me...

I am so glad she chose nun because our Halloween was hilarious and everyone that saw her declared it the best toddler costume ever.

Halloween started with a fashion show and trick or treating at school:

 Then we drove down the street to the Riggi Mansion to trick or treat for full sized candy bars and a chance to win $100 every half hour.  We had been MiniM.E.'s first two Halloweens, but since then the event has grown and we started out a block away and after 45 minutes were only a few feet closer, so MiniM.E. and I got our cider donuts and pet the pony and decided to be on our way without seeing the princess.

We came home, took a quick break, trick or treated a few houses in our neighborhood and lit our pumpkins.

We jumped in the car and headed out to a Halloween Party.  It was WAY too much for us to attempt with a new baby but it went really well and we all had a great time.

Firsts

Turning the big 2 (weeks) meant some firsts for Baby#2.  Her umbilical cord stump (which is the grossest thing about a newborn) fell off which meant a real bath.  MiniM.E. wanted to give her a bath for a good week and a half so she was ready.  Baby#2 had no idea what was coming, but she was a trooper and actually seemed to enjoy herself.  

MiniM.E. is really into caring for Baby#2, so she did most of the work:

After the bath came a nice warm snuggle:

Then Big Sister wanted to show Baby#2 what a big kid bath looked like:

Baby#2 was entertained... 

For a few minutes, until she conked out:

Then yesterday another first- a bottle.  Again, MiniM.E. had been waiting a very long time for Baby#2's first bottle.  Like months.  She's been practicing with all her dolls... 

Both girls did a great job:

Surprisingly, MiniM.E.'s arm held up through the whole feeding and I didn't have to help at all, except with the burping-- but even then, I only held Baby#2 up and MiniM.E. did the patting.

Other exciting news, MiniM.E.'s halloween costume arrived in the mail:

I'm not sure where the idea to be a nun came from, but it is HILARIOUS.


Yesterday we went to a playdate at a friends house, got tattoos, played outside, cuddled a kitten and helped with some yard work.

School Field Trip and Pumpkin Rolling

Friday afternoon MiniM.E. and her preschool class went on a field trip to Ellms.  It was less a field trip and more a "why don't all our preschool families drive separately even though we have to have a bus and we'll all meet at a designated location where we will attempt some group activities". 

The bus was late, the weather was less than favorable and we only had time for a couple activities before the bus had to leave to go back to school.  MiniM.E. also didn't like that anyone from school was involved in a trip to one of her favorite places, so it was not quite the afternoon we were expecting.  BUT we had a good time on a hayride, picking a green pumpkin, going on the roller coasters and of course, eating cider donuts!  We're going to Ellms again today to get one last moo-choo-bounce-pillow-zip-line-fix since we didn't get to do them Friday.

Saturday we went to the much anticipated Fall Festival downtown.  MiniM.E. had her first pumpkin racing experience last year and has been talking about it ever since.  Anytime we pass the street where pumpkin racing was held she asks, "is this the hill we rolled pumpkins down?" and "can we do that again this year?"  So it was an event we couldn't miss.  And it didn't disappoint!

There was also a petting zoo, trick or treating in many of the stores, pony rides and musicians and magicians, but MiniM.E. was really only interested in pumpkin rolling and the carousel.

And I must also include adorable photos of my girls!

drinking shower water

loving the swing

watching a bath

sleepy cuddles

more cuddles

testing out the new tub

and more cuddles!

Out and About

My mom stayed with us after Baby#2 was born to help out.  Which we desperately needed since MiniM.E. is a full time job for at least one person and I needed to recover a bit and we all had to get used to having all the extra responsibilities of a baby.  MiniM.E. and Gram and Daddy had been keeping busy while Baby#2 and I spent a lot of time learning to eat and changing diapers.  

Finally over the weekend we were all ready for an outing so we went to the mall.  With three adults and one sleeping baby we had a great trip and MiniM.E. had all of our attention.

My mom left Sunday and we've been getting used to it being just the four of us.  Fortunately Bob has this week off so there is an extra pair of hands at home during the day.

Sunday we took a family outing downtown.  MiniM.E. wanted to show Baby#2 all her favorite downtown attractions:

ice cream @ Plum Dandy

the carousel

and the ducks 

MiniM.E. had a great time.  (Baby#2 had a great nap!)

Monday I took both girls out by myself for the first time.  We went to our usual library playgroup.  MiniM.E. was glad to get back to our normal activities and it really wasn't as hard as I thought since Baby#2 still sleeps pretty much all the time.

Yesterday we went to a friend's house for a playdate.  It was so cute to see the girls with the baby since they were all just babies when we started having weekly playdates.

Add in some snacks and some kitty cuddles and it was a fantastic day!