Today's Change of Plans

Here's what I had on the agenda for today:
Early Morning Family Photo Shoot
Lizzie's Soccer Game
Birthday Party #1
Birthday Party #2
Finish Carving Pumpkins
Trick of Treating
Dinner by Jack-O-Lantern Light

Unfortunately Lizzie woke up with a high fever, sore throat, and body aches so instead of the fun busy day I had planned, we have spent the day napping, watching cartoons, and applying cool cloths to her forehead.

Luckily we did some seasonal celebrating
BEFORE Liz got sick:

This is the first year Liz and I made any Halloween decorations (better late than never right?). She really enjoyed making ghosties and spiders and designing jack-o-lanterns for Drew to cut out. She also enjoyed decorating our van for last night's trunk or treat. I spray painted a couple boxes for a witch's house and Liz concocted a story about an evil witch who trapped animals (her stuffed toys) to eat later. She also decorated a couple tombstones for a "deadless girl."

After school one of Lizzie's classmates hosted a Halloween party. Liz was excited about, but fell asleep en route and was difficult to wake up. I suppose this should have been my first clue that she wasn't feeling well, but I thought she was just tired because I dragged her to my book group last night.
Finally awake, and dressed appropriately--Liz is a witch, Lainey is just festive--the girls had fun at the party.

However, they DID NOT have fun during my attempted photo shoot.

Later in the evening we to a Halloween party at church (#2 of #5 possible parties this weekend). It consisted of a dinner, carnival (lots of games for the kids), and trunk or treat. Incidentally, I have hardly any pictures of Liz because I hardly saw her. She mainly roamed around with her friends. Alaina stayed by my side of course, but I was pleasantly surprised when she happily walked in the costume parade:

For trunk-or-treat Andrew passed out candy by the van and when Liz filled her own bag she joined him.

I took Alaina around to some cars. She definitely didn't get the whole concept, but she seemed to enjoy carrying her pumpkin around (oh, and she liked the glow sticks).

As usual I dressed up as a witch and Drew refused to wear a costume. Next year I plan to branch out and I'm hoping Andrew will participate as well.

Alaina wore the same costume Liz wore for her second Halloween and when I looked back at the picture I was surprised by who much they look alike (it helps that their hair is covered).

............................Alaina................................

..........................Elizabeth..............................

Thanks Nana!

Liz didn't want her picture taken, but I did my best.

She loved the outfit though.She looks so distressed because she's watching some little boys "be mean to the trees" (a.k.a. knock leaves off the branches).

Celebrate/Commemorate

We finally celebrated Jacob's birthday tonight (only two days late). Liz insisted on a different frosting color for each cupcake. As she inserted the candles she explained to us that before we blew them out them we needed to "make a wish that we can be close to Jacob." What a sweetie.

Back to the Grind

Well, the cruise was fabulous (more on that later). We got back Sunday evening and two days later I'm a little closer to my old routine.

We had a bit of a bumpy start. Yesterday morning when I rummaged through Lizzie's backpack I found a reminder note about our parent-teacher conference that started within ten minutes. Andrew was ready for the day, but I had to race out in my pajamas. . . .

Along the same lines, I had a surprise dental appointment today (by "surprise" I mean I forgot I scheduled it six months ago). Laina came with me and behaved wonderfully. She cried bit when the chair moved, but otherwise she was fascinated with the hygienist's work and she liked to babble and wave at him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our first night back Alaina helped us get back into the swing of things. There's no "easing in" when your toddler's licking marinera sauce off her dinner plate:
Speaking of Alaina, while we were gone she learned to walk (& turn around while standing & stand up without pulling herself up & squat down and then pop back up). She also started to say "oh uh, " wave instead of point at people, and point at noses. My parents were surprised by how much Laines ate and how loud she was.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday admist the unpacking and loads and loads of laundry and school meeting and seeing my parents off, the girls and I visited Nalls' pumpkin patch. It was nice. Alaina loved riding in the wagon and Liz loved pulling her.

Finally . . .

We are packed (over-packed really) for the cruise and ready for bed. As usual it took longer than I thought it would and I wasn't able to do all the extra curricular things I thought I would have time for today, but I'm too excited about our trip to really care.

In other news: Alaina has started walking (a few steps--she still mostly crawls & scoots), a couple of her molars have come in, and she finally started drinking cow's milk and waving (as opposed to just pointing at people).

Published

Lizzie's artwork made it into an article on for the Department of Defense News.

So Far, So Good

So far we are surviving soccer and Liz seems to "hate it" less each time. She had a reprieve last week because she fell asleep on the way to practice and we were camping during the game. . . . Last night went relatively well even though Liz took an elbow to the mouth (that made her bleed a bit, but unfortunately did not knock out any of her loose teeth). In the shot below she is receiving post-injury comfort from Daddy.

Sneak Peak

Nana & Papa, here's a sneak peak of what you'll be dealing with in a little over a week:

Camping

Last weekend we went "camping" at Prince William Park (in cabins not tents) with the members of our old babysitting co-op (I sure miss that co-op). It was really fun until we tried to sleep. We spent the night listening to Alaina cry (NOTHING calmed her) and acorns drop on the roof. The co-op moms and the latest set of babies:
The kids started the evening with a scavenger hunt (thanks Sarah):

The co-op kiddos:

Again, the mamas and babies:

The little babies. They held still for like one second.

The wagons were great for hauling our gear and our kids:

Cox Farm

Cox Farm. It's an annual tradition and I love it. I actually kind of want to go again this year.

Puke

So, Alaina has started to insist on using utensils herself (hence the mess below). I'm not looking forward to the sponge baths I'll have to give her after every meal now. . . but she did drink some cow milk today (finally!) so it pretty much evens out.

On a somewhat unrelated note, she totally vomited down my shirt (by "down," I mean inside my shirt) at her one-year photo shoot today. It was a relatively small amount of puke, but it was still chunky and gross, and happened not two hours after I showered. Also, I wasn't able to change my clothes till about three hours later. Yuck. Being a mom is so unglamorous.