Happy Halloween

Addie's first Halloween...
Had a costume all ready for her, but never put her into it. It was just too hot for a fleece bunting peapod costume this year.
So she donned her brother's old pumpkin hat and just was as cute as a... well, a pumpkin!

Addie's Clothesline

note: emergence of super spiffy pink legwarmers.

Halloween Party

Last weekend we went to a halloween birthday party for Rowan (3) and Lila (1). There were about 90 people there and we had a lot of fun! Even Ariel came (hired by Ana and Thom for their daughters... what a treat!)

Thom, Anamara, and the birthday girls all dressed up as mermaids. Thom made a pretty good King Tritan!

Dylan (dalmation puppy) brought his girlfriend, Rowan, some daisies for her birthday.

I went as a bunny. I searched high and low all over town for a pink grass hula skirt to complete my ensemble. But there were none to be found. Next year I'm going as 'hula bunny' - so watch out world!

Ryan went as 'Joe Sixpack' which was just hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing on our way to the party in the car. Dylan just thought Ryan was going as a 'hairy man' with the mullet wig, which cracked me up.

Keira and Jacob were just too cute for words.

And here is Addie's nanny, Bonnie. She's from Alaska. Went as Sarah Palin with her husband as her 'moose'.

unsolicited advice

Today after church we went to Target for a few things.
While Ryan went to another part of the store, I took the kids towards the checkout area...
Granted the kids were tired and fussy and Addie was crying.
One woman came up to me and commented how sweet a baby's cry is and how I should enjoy even these moments cause they are gone before you know it, sharing that her 'baby' is now 18 and asking for gas money. It was encouraging and I plodded along with Dylan helping me push the cart and negotiate around the clothing racks enroute to the checkout area.
Then another woman approached us. She came up quickly and asked in a panic if everything was ok with my baby. Asked if I was SURE the baby was ok and told me she was 'very concerned with her crying' as if I was a 12 year old who had no clue what I was doing with a crying baby in a store. It's not like Addie had been crying for 30 minutes. It had been about 5 minutes and she was just tired.
I tried to be polite to that second woman, but my patience was clearly running low. I finally told her through clenched teeth that yes, my baby was fine. And when she pushed me on the issue, I nearly lost my cool. Nearly. But I was in Target and my baby was tired, and I was tired, and I really didn't have time to deal with that silly woman.
What is it with people and unsolicited advice? UGH!

3 months

Addie is 3 months old. She coos and smiles when she sees her mommy or daddy's faces, loves to be held (hello seperation anxiety!), and is gaining weight nicely now. She's right between the 10th and the 25th percentile for weight now, which means a lot. She still is primarily breastfed, but gets about 2 ounces of formula per day most days to add some calories.

Her eyes are still mostly blue, but changing ever so slightly now more to a greyish hue. She's got a sweet temperment, but really doesn't like being set down. It takes stealth-like skills to transfer her from my arms to the cradle some days for to get her to take a solid nap.

Dylan adores her, but is still learning about what she can and cannot do. The other night he spent about 5 minutes preparing her swing for her to sleep in. He laid out her blankets and pacifier and dolly on the swing in a very particular way, making sure it was 'just so'. He loves helping her calm down when she cries. He turns on her swing to play music (often to my dismay, but strangely it seems to help her when he does it and doesn't when I try). He gives her the pacifier. He sings her songs with me in the car. And he tells me to go to see the baby when she cries, saying 'she needs you mommy'. He rarely is jealous and when he is, we try to help him label his feelings and ask for attention in a positive way. I'm sure as she develops more of her personality and is awake more, we'll run into more of the 'jealousy' for our time, but for now I'm proud of him. He's a good big brother. And he loves his sister. What else can you ask for with a three year old?

Plus, Dylan is nearly all potty trained! GO DYLAN!!!

Ryan has stayed home with Addie a few times while I've gone back to work. It has been lovely to see how Ryan has 'risen to the occassion,' making up his mind to enjoy the day with his daughter instead of complaining about what he could be getting done at work. He's brought her to me at lunch so I could nurse her and see her halfway through the day. And he sends texts with sweet little pictures of her and notes updating me on what they are up to, which is just the reassurance I need (hello worry-wart mama!). He's a fabulous husband and father. And I'm thankful that they have had that time to bond together on their own.

facebook

Ryan and I got hooked on facebook this past month. Needless to say, our blog posting has dwindled and I'm sorry. I've got a bunch of new Addie pictures to post and some sweet stories and such, so hang in there. Ryan is super busy with work and he's my 'photo uploader' so as soon as I can get those up here, I'll be my regular post-happy-self.

Addie's Clothesline

This past week's wardrobe...

Bento Box

Have you heard of a Bento Box? Well, I got one to try out with Dylan's lunches.
He heard me talking about 'bento boxes' with some friends and decided that his toy bin was a 'bento box' and has been practically living in that thing this past week!
Playful little boy, in his Bento Box.
Tonight I made his first round of treats for his box to take to preschool tomorrow. I figure if nothing else, I can try to fancy-up his meals and get him to try new things. This time I did carrots, salami and cheese in star shapes, butterfly crackers, and spinach-cheese pinwheels. I'm pretending that he'll actually try the spinach. A mom can hope, can't she?

What does Dylan think about the election??

So, Kathy (who else??) got us these, and Dylan had some fun. What does the 3 year old think about the candidates? He seemed to like Obama ok,...
...but not enough to spare him.
McCain? Looks like an endorsement, but he actually ate some of him yet couldn't stomach finishing him. He's still in a plastic bag in the fridge (morbid?).
Palin? It doesn't look promising for her...
Then this. There's soo much symbolism here. What does this mean??!!
It can't be good based on how he finished up with her.

Biden? Based on the above, he should consider himself lucky we didn't have a cookie for him!