Halloween Overload

Do you like Halloween?  I think I like it in theory.  I always get excited about it when it's still a month away - when people start pinning cute recipes and costumes on Pinterest and I always get the itch to throw a costume party so I can serve all the yummy (and spooky) dishes.  But usually, by the time the actual day gets here, I'm way over it.  This year was no exception.

Our Halloween festivities started a week early with our neighborhood Halloween parade.  I worked all night on Katie Wynn's homemade costume...a hot air balloon!  Remember those gigantic balloons I used for her 2nd birthday party?  Well she loved playing with them and that's really how the idea of her costume popped in my head.  When I ordered them on Amazon, one of the suggested items they had to go with them was a net that would hold it to a flower arrangement.  Or, in our case, a basket for a hot air balloon.  :)

The basket itself has a hole cut out of the middle for her body to go through, and it has strings attached that act as shoulder straps so she can easily wear it.  I cut all of those tiny letters out of felt to make her sign, and then just attached the giant balloon in its net.  I was so pleased with how it turned out.  So stinking cute, right?

Guess who disagreed and had a cow when it was time to put it on for the parade?

Our ride for the parade was waiting on us so we didn't have time for a meltdown.  Luckily, I knew there was a cheerleading outfit in her closet that she got last year for her birthday, so I ran and grabbed it and changed her on the golf cart.  What cheerleader doesn't have a bow and pom poms?  Mine, apparently.  Oops.  We got to ride on the back of the cart with Queen Elsa of Arendelle!

Did I mention that it was blazing hot?  That's why Thomas wasn't in his costume.  We were all sweating by the time the parade was over.  It ended at the lake in our neighborhood where they had games set up for the kids and lots of food and candy.  Katie Wynn found a balloon on the ground and snatched it right up!

Please check out the little girl behind Katie Wynn dressed as Richard Simmons.  That's her real hair.  Is that not awesome!?

Hey there, cleavage.  Why would a size 2T outfit be so low cut??

We didn't stay long at the neighborhood party because we had another Halloween event to get to.  This one was with all of my bunco friends and their families.  Last year we did Zoo Boo but this year we decided meeting at someone's house would be much better for our little ones.  The Earls hosted us for "Costumes and Cameras" and we munched on hot dogs and chili and other goodies.  

The first order of business once everyone had arrived was getting a group picture of all the kids in their costumes.  Katie Wynn had another cow when Matt tried to put her in the hot air balloon.

My kids totally rocked it out for the group pictures.  I mean, they're like mini professional models.  #sarcasm

So what if he was falling over?  Couldn't he have still smiled at the camera?  #kidding

Thomas was dressed as a pilot to go with Katie Wynn's hot air balloon.  It was a last minute purchase but ended up being great because it was just like a pair of pajamas.  He wore it with no problems and didn't get way too hot in it.  Since K-dub wouldn't wear her costume, we put Thomas in it (away from the crowd) for pictures in it.

Of course, Katie Wynn had to make sure he knew that it was hers.

Here are some of our friends from the party.

Caroline the lady bug with Henry the teddy bear

Olivia the bumble bee with her mama, Meghan

Cliff and Stephanie with Liam the dragon

Teddy Bear Henry with his parents, Jenny and Darrin

Me and Jenny with our boys

Liam the dragon

Snow White Wesley

Sock Monkey Everett

Olivia the lady bug likes the hot air balloon!

Actually touching her costume!

Grant protested against his costume too.

Sock Monkey Everett with his parents, Chris and Allison

Olivia likes to swing as much as KW does!

While making the sign for Katie Wynn's costume, I also made a Pin-the-nose-on-the-Jack-O-Lantern game.  Basically just a big orange pumpkin with lots of black triangle noses.  I thought it might be a good idea to have an activity for the toddlers.  They were really into it for about five minutes, which is longer than I thought they'd be!

The week leading up to Halloween was one of those crazy dress up weeks at daycare.  I have mixed feelings about this week.  I like that they're doing something fun and different for the kids, but at the same time, it was really hard for me to put KW in pajamas in school when I spend so many mornings telling her she can't wear pjs to school so that she'll get dressed.  Tricky.  Thankfully, she has not asked to wear pajamas to school again so maybe she won't remember.

Monday = Hat Day.  She wouldn't wear hers but still won an award for cutest hat??

Tuesday = Mix Match Day.  So very hard for this matching mama to do!

Wednesday = Pajama Day.  Skeleton pj's with candy corn in the belly were perfect!

Thursday = Pink Day for Breast Cancer Awareness.  Also known as just another day for Katie Wynn.

Friday = Costume Day.  Thankfully we had overalls in her closet for a makeshift farmer/cowgirl costume.

Guess who had skeleton + candy corn pj's to match her on Wednesday?  Nope, not Thomas...it was Charlie!

Like I said at the beginning of this post, by the time it we needed to get ready for Trunk or Treat, I was so over it.  I didn't even try to get her to wear the hot air balloon since I knew that would just be another meltdown.  I did talk her into wearing her bandana around her neck to be a little bit more convincing as a cowgirl.  I don't think many cowgirls wear white keds...

The temps dropped fairly low so our church moved Trunk or Treat into the gym and rented a big bouncy house for the kids.  There were tables set up for them to trick or treat at.  The event was open to the public and it was kind of a big, chaotic, sugar fest mess.  Katie Wynn was, like always, too shy to do anything other than cling to us, so we only stayed long enough to hand out our candy.  While she would not actually trick or treat, she had no problem filling her bucket up with candy from the basket I was trying to empty.

Thomas was happy-go-lucky when we arrived but all the chaos proved to be too much for him.  Poor little guy feel asleep sitting up in his Poppy's lap!

By 6:15, we were in the car and calling it quits on Halloween.  And I was A-ok with that.  Maybe next year we'll actually try to go door to door for candy!

Rotten Pumpkins

Have any of you ever tried to get a good picture of a 2 year old and a 4 month old together?  It's hard.  Like, insanely hard.  In fact, it might not even be possible.  

Let me take you through one of our recent photoshoots.  These pictures were taken on a Saturday afternoon after they'd both woken from naps, a time when they're generally in a good mood but still sitting semi-still as they really wake up.  I asked Katie Wynn if she wanted to have her picture made with Thomas in their matching shirts and she excitedly said "Uh huh!!" and climbed up in the chair.

I sat him in the chair too and we were ready to start.

But obviously the blanket and paci needed to go.  When I took those away from her, her body stopped working.  She could no longer sit up on her own.  

So I sweet-talked her and promised her a treat and wrestled her back into an upright position, but by then Thomas was mad.

She stole her treat - a blueberry muffin - off the side table and consoled Thomas as if she hadn't just had a meltdown herself.  

I'm not exactly sure what happened next but I think she jumped down and ran off and Thomas fell over, because when the pictures start again they've switched spots.

I tell her to sit up so I can see both of their shirts.  She gives me this.

Followed by this.

And then she jumps down and runs off again.  I give up and take pictures of Thomas who is much happier without his crazy sister around.

He doesn't even mind sitting up if he doesn't have to worry about her jumping over on him.

Sister returns and wants back in the game.  

"Oh, you want to lay down?  Yes, that's a good idea!  Let's lay down! Isn't this fun!  Wait, where'd you find that paci?"

I take the paci away again because we haven't met our quota of meltdowns yet.

Dangling the paci overhead like bait for a smile doesn't seem to be working.

Yes!  Now all the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch are crying!

I give up.  Where are the plugs?  Everyone gets a paci.

The blanket returns and we're back at where we started.

My precious little rotten pumpkins win again.

Katie Wynn

I've decided to break my next installment of random pictures up into two posts - one all about Katie Wynn and one all about Thomas.  Katie Wynn is my first born, so she gets the first post. 

Like I said in this post, her actual birthday was pretty much just another normal day.  She got to eat cupcakes, but that was about it.  But, her paternal grandparents arrived the next day so we invited my parents over to join us all for birthday cake and presents.  I was hesitant since I knew my parents couldn't come until 8 and I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep her up that late, but I'm so glad we did.  She had the best time opening gifts and blowing out her candles with all of her favorite people! 

When Thomas was born, I let her open every gift that was brought to us for him, so she's gotten really good at opening presents.  Maybe too good...I have to hide gifts from her that are for other people and don't need to be opened!  Below, she is opening a very cool gift.  It's a bracelet sent by Matt's sister, Jill.  The bracelet was given to Jill by her grandmother and since she had boys, she is passing it down to KW.  Isn't that so sweet?  We will have to take very good care of this special piece of jewelry.

Pat made "Matthew's Chocolate Cake" and brought it with her.  She makes this cake every year for Matt's birthday and it is so good.  I tried to make it once and I pretty much failed.  Matt suggested she make it for KW's birthday...probably so he could have an excuse to eat it again!

She sat and stared at the candles while we all sang and waited to blow them out when the song was over.  I was impressed!  Maybe they do this at daycare?  I really don't know; I figured she'd have no clue what to do.  And, as expected, she loved the chocolate cake too!

During the present-opening and cake-eating, Frozen was on the TV.  We tried to pause it to her but she melted down into a puddle on the floor.  So the birthday girl got what she want and we left Frozen on...

Her two big gifts came from each of her grandparents and were a matching stroller and baby crib.  She was incredibly excited to see them!  My mom made bedding for both that matches her room and makes them even cuter.  She spends most of her free time rocking babies to sleep or pushing them around the house.

She also opened the cutest pair of yellow rain boots and a matching yellow raincoat.  To top off the outfit, she also got a cute clear birdcage umbrella!  Admittedly, I was probably way more excited about these gifts than she was, but she was a good sport and tried them on for me.  :)

Matt and I both had to work the next day but Lala and Poppa were brave enough to keep both kids at home by themselves.  Katie Wynn got to pick out her hair bow for Lala and below, you can see what she chose.  Lala is way nicer than I am and humored her by putting a few in! 

I think they got to play babies a lot that day.  Sometimes Katie Wynn was the mama and sometimes she crawled into the stroller so she could be the baby.

They played outside too where Katie Wynn grilled up some food to feed to Thomas.  She helped him eat some corn on the cob and a chicken leg...

...and then he got to wash it down with some good ol' yellow mustard.  Tasty! 

After her birthday party on Friday night, we waited until Saturday morning to open even more presents.  She opened this tiny baby doll that came with its own food and bottles and oh my goodness! that baby gets fed a LOT.

We went to a "Pajamas and Donuts" themed birthday party later that morning.  Katie-bug didn't really know anyone there so she spent the majority of the time clinging to me.  I was able to peel myself out from underneath her at the end of the party when she found this puzzle.  She still hovered against the wall but she worked so hard on putting Logan's letters in the right spots!

She is pretty good and roping her Lala into playing games with her.  :)

Bath time got a lot more colorful with these new foam letters she opened!  They stick to the wall so we've had fun spelling out her name and picking out colors.  (Orange is still the only color she really knows.)

We have acquired a swing for Thomas and when he's not in it, you can bet some of Katie Wynn's dolls are.  The picture on the right shows her love of ranch - just like her mama.  But what these two pictures really show is how long her hair was...

...until we got it chopped off!

I had been wanting to get her hair cut for a while to even things up a bit (it was pretty scraggly on the sides) but put it off so that she could still have pigtails for her birthday party.  Now I kinda wish I'd done it sooner because she is rockin' the cutest little bob I've ever seen!  These were taken right after we left the salon.  She did not do a great job of sitting still for the hair stylist, but she seemed to really like it after we left.

Her new 'do didn't affect her love for wagon rides!

It finally rained about a week later so we got a chance to try out the new rain gear!  I put on my rain boots and rain coat and grabbed my umbrella too, but Katie Wynn wasn't easily convinced.  She did put hers on but I couldn't get her to jump in a puddle for anything!  She thought it was hilarious when I did it though, and I'm sure I looked like a big fool to all our neighbors.

After church on a gorgeous fall day.  "I wunnin'!"

Sometimes I take pictures of her before school and send them to my mom so she can see her in her new clothes.  I loved this outfit!

She has started wanting to sit in the big kid swings but immediately wants out when I push her too high.  And then wants back in.  And then out.  And then in...

On the right, she's having a pretend meal by herself in the dining room that we never eat in.  I love her imagination.  :)

This is the most recent picture I have of her so that officially gets me caught up! I took these this morning before school for two reasons.  First, I wanted to send my mom a picture of her outfit.  My mom has been busy making her ruffle pants for this fall/winter so I wanted to show her they fit ok.  Her t-shirt is size 24 months and I had to roll the sleeves up three times.  I have been buying 2T clothes for fall and they all swallow her!  At yesterday's doctor's appointment, we learned she weighs a whopping 25 pounds.  I know one-year-olds that weigh that much!  Also, she was excited to wear her new "el-fint" shirt with the floppy ears. 

The second reason I was taking pictures was to get a shot of her scratched up nose!  She had a little tumble on our brick stairs the night before and used her nose to break her fall.  It bled a little immediately afterwards and I just knew she was going to have black eyes in the morning.  So far her nose is a little red but no bruising yet.  Fingers crossed it doesn't happen!

Next update is all about my T-man!

Polka Dot Party

On Friday, September 26th, we had Katie Wynn's second birthday party.  After last year's petting zoo blowout, my only goal for this year's party was to keep it simple and have fun.  I promised Matt that I would majorly scale back, and I kept my promise.  I did not go overboard but it was still very cute and we had so much fun!

I bought three enormous red and white polka dot balloons (these) and centered the theme around that.  I only got three because at $7 each before helium, it's all I could afford.  Who knew balloons could cost so much?!  I found some cheaper solid red ones that were almost as big and used them to fill in.  I think helium ended up being my biggest expense for this party - even more than the food!

We hired a photographer to take pictures throughout the party, but I forgot to tell her to capture the details.  That's ok, though, because there weren't many.  I'm sure you can picture red and white polka dot plates, napkins, cups, and streamers to go with the balloons.  That was about it!  We had the party in my parents' backyard since they have a playset and just set up a few card tables and scattered around some outdoor toys.  I wheeled out our red wagon at the last minute and it ended up being the biggest hit among the kids!

Here's the backyard before guests arrived.  (Our photographer's name was Danielle Steele, but to my knowledge she does not have a website I can link to.  All photo credits go to her.)

The birthday girl was dressed in a monogrammed polka dot outfit.  :)  She is still incredibly shy and is going through a new phase of putting her hand in her mouth around people she doesn't know well.  I hope it's a short-lived phase!

She was shy for the photographer but as all of our guests arrived, she opened up and started running around the yard with the other kids.  She was a hot, sweaty mess!  I'm pretty sure she still had no clue the party was for her, but she had a blast!

We took advantage of having a photographer present and had lots of family pics taken.  I'm not posting them all in case some wind up on Christmas cards, but we got a LOT of frame-worthy ones!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the night.  We rarely have all four kids together at the same time and definitely don't get them all looking at the camera.  This was also Wyatt's first time to ever hold a baby, and look how good he's doing!  He didn't drop Thomas at all.  In fact, Thomas started to fall asleep in his arms!  Wyatt says he's holding out and still refusing to hold Katie Wynn.  Maybe this is just a brotherly bonding thing?

You heard of Stage Moms, right?  But what about Stage Dads and Stage Brothers?  These two made sure Thomas's hair was just right for his pictures.  :)

We did a Boys picture and a Girls one but I think the Boys may have won...

Most of the guests at this year's party were family, but I did also invite three of Katie Wynn's daycare buddies and their families.  I failed to tell the photographer to get a picture of all the guests.  Next year I will have a list of necessary pics to give whoever I hire!  Here are some of the kids having fun in the backyard.  

After we'd all filled up on grilled hot dogs, baked beans, chip and dip, and fruit, it was finally time for dessert!  I made a polka dotted cake so Katie Wynn would have a candle to blow out, but I also bought an assortment of cake pops for everyone.  My cake was kind of a last-minute addition and it ended up being delicious!

Notice the hand in Katie Wynn's mouth again.  She wasn't so sure about everyone singing to her.  I ended up having to blow out her candle for her, even though we had practiced at home and she'd done great!

After digging her fingers into the cake icing, Katie Wynn ate who-knows-how-many cake pops.  I just told myself she only turns two once! 

The sun went down as soon as we'd finished cake - it was like God was watching and waiting to turn out the lights.  I told the photographer the party was pretty much over and that she was off duty.  I am more than pleased with all the photos she sent me!

My mother-in-law, Patricia, was snapping pictures during the party too.  Many of hers are similar to the photographer's except from slightly different angles.  She did get my new favorite one of me and my little guy, though.  Look at the grin on that cute little face of his!  And those rosy cheeks!  He was a real trooper during the party and didn't mind getting passed around.

We waited to open presents at home the next morning.  More birthday related pictures to come soon!

TWO!

Yesterday was the last day I could say that I have two kids under the age of two...as of today, we have a two-year-old!!!  Actually, at the time of typing this, I still have 1 hour and two minutes until she is officially two (8:51 pm).  But no, I do not plan on waking her up at her actual birth time.  Maybe when she's older!

Her birthday party isn't until Friday, so for the most part, this was just another ordinary day for her.  Mama and Daddy went to work, Thomas went to his baby sitter's, and she went to "school" (daycare).  She did, however, get to have a cupcake at school, though I'm not really sure she even knew why.  We have been talking up her birthday for the last week or so but she doesn't seem to get it just yet.  I had hoped that she would get to carry in her cupcakes this morning; I knew she would get a kick out of that and at least she'd know that she brought them.  But, the cupcakes weren't ready when I went to pick them up from the bakery so they ended up being delivered sometime during the day.  Oh well.

There were two extra cupcakes at the end of the day that we took over to Mimi and Poppy's house to share.  She "needed" one of them though so somehow she ended up getting to eat another one!  (Or at least licking all the icing off of it.)

I will have lots more birthday-related pictures after her party.  Like last year, I've hired someone to come snap photos while we party away.  I'm already excited to see them and the party hasn't even happened yet!

Happy second birthday, sweet baby girl!  I love you to the moon and back!

---

Not to be a downer after a celebratory post, but I don't think I can let today go by without also mentioning that we had to say goodbye to one of our furry family members.  Henry, the wire-haired dachshunds that lives at my parents' house, was hit by a car and passed away.  I still can't wrap my head around the fact that he's no longer with us; it still seems surreal.  I have never seen a dog that loved babies as much as Henry did, and there was no one better to snuggle up with for a nap.  He was always great at keeping my feet warm!  This is the first time in my lifetime that there won't be a dog running around my parents' house.  The silence will be palpable, I'm sure.  We're sure gonna miss our sweet "Hennie!"