big girl room.

we moved emme in to her big girl room some time around labor day.  but, it's really only now that i can call her room almost finished.  sigh.  projects take a long time around these parts.  i've been way too exhausted in the evenings to get much done these days, and the weekends are like a whirlwind.

in any case, her room was live-able, just not done.  and now, i think it's fairly close to both.  probably 94%.  which is about as much as we complete anything, sadly.

i was torn on the issue of moving emme to a real bed so early - over 2 months before her second birthday.  but, she had slept on pallets on the floor at my parents, and in a real bed while we vacationed in vermont, not to mention the nap mat at school, so i figured she could handle it.  i also wanted to give her plenty of buffer before small smalls was born so she didn't associate him/her with being kicked out of her crib.  finally, the room we moved her in to is right next to the kids' bathroom and i was hopeful that would be a help for potty training.

so.  it was a slow process.  we started talking to her about the room, telling her what things we would put in there, etc.  i picked out fabric for her quilt, which i hoped would be the base of her loose color scheme.  i'm not a theme person, nor am i one to adhere super-strictly to a pallet of any sort, but i knew there needed to be something somewhat cohesive with the room, so i hope i achieved that.  we painted. we dragged in some furniture and bought a couple of other items at target and ikea.  we debated whether to just leave the mattress on the floor - the montessori method recommends that - but ultimately, we thought it really needed to feel like its own space within the room, so we got a low frame from ikea.

the other stuff i wanted to do with the room were things like keeping it super minimal (montessori style), etc.  well, that didn't exactly work.  all of ek's toys were in our living room (the one that has no furniture in it) before, so it was more important to get all that stuff out of the common area than it was to keep her room sparse and monk-like.  it worked out.  i do need to work on de-cluttering some of the stuff that's no longer age appropriate, but for now, i think she's pretty ok with having all her goods at her finger tips.  she's also more than happy to drag it all throughout the house and leave quite the wake. let's just say i sing the restore song a lot.

and, that's it, i guess.  the pictures are all from today on my iphone.  her bed is not usually made (i wish i could lie and say it was), mainly because i can't deal with the belly and the reaching into the far corner, and emme is not big/skilled enough to make her own bed, and justin doesn't care about made beds at all.  but everything else is mostly as it usually is.  emme has done amazingly well with her big girl room.  it took 2 or 3 nights to adjust to the new sleeping sitch, but since then she has loved every second of it.  she still calls us to come get her in the morning/after nap instead of getting out of bed, which i love.  she's potty trained except for nights, and it's great having her bathroom right there.

please excuse the blown-out christmas tree and table lamp, and the darkness of the photos.  i'm doing the best i can....

 sitting area with blocks, puzzles, and (currently) christmas tree.

 bed!

 more books (they are taking over our lives - i love it), justin's old brio train set in the toy box.

 animals on shelves...probably need a few more shelves as it's pretty crowded up there...

giving thanks.

i'm hoping santa starts delivering new imacs some time in december because we really really need one so we can get back to posting all the pretty, nice pictures that justin takes.  our 1 TB hard drive is completely full and he's got all kinds of video projects (the paying, work-related kind) on there, so our family photos have taken a side seat since like june.  sigh.  anyway....for now i will keep posting iphone and instagram photos when i make the time to write. 

last week was thanksgiving.  my favorite holiday.  i love that there are no presents and the whole holiday is about eating and resting and spending time with those you love, reflecting on all the wonderful-ness in your life.  or at least, that is what i try to make the holiday about. 

this year, we spent the day at our friend wendy's parents' house in marble falls - a little texas town on a lovely lake in the hill country.  it's about an hour drive from austin, so it was perfect.  wendy's mom and aunts and uncles cooked up a feast like you wouldn't believe, and we got to relax inside and outside without having to cook or clean or really be responsible for much of anything.  it was kind of amazing, really.  the highlight of the day for me was when the boys were all shooting (and missing) a bb gun at this bell.  i was ready to leave (er, emme was ready to leave), and justin was taking his time.  i asked for a shot and hit the bell on the first pull.  it was a great moment for me - i love showing people up.  haha. 

my parents had a wedding the day after t-day, and i had lots of work and am 33 weeks pregnant, so since it didn't work out to spend the weekend with them, we were really delighted to be included in another family's festivities.  of course i missed my own mom's cooking - especially the cornbread dressing! - but we more than made the best of being apart. 

the rest of the long weekend was incredible, even if it was nothing super special/eventful.  we took the dogs for some walks, got our christmas tree, smoked a turkey and made turkey/sausage gumbo, watched a couple of movies (brave and the new spider man), watched football, hung lights on the roof, washed a zillion loads of laundry, including baby things, and hung shelves in ek's bedroom (only 3 months later!).  we literally never have days off with no one in town where we don't have to go anywhere, so i relished the time and really really really could have used at least one (but ideally like eight) more days to finish up projects, start new projects, take naps.  ha. 

in the spirit of thanksgiving, i would like to acknowledge that i have so so so much to be thankful for, big and small.  i'm grateful for the relationship i have with my parents - they are really supportive and really helpful and i love that i am friends with them.  i'm grateful for justin - he makes me laugh all the time and watching his relationship with emme is one of the greatest joys in my life.  i'm grateful for emme - i still don't know how i got to be this girl's mom...she amazes and delights me all the time and i don't think i comprehended "love you more every day" until i met her.  i'm grateful for our good health, including this healthy pregnancy.  health should never ever be taken for granted.  i'm grateful for our warm, comfortable home - even if it's not "the" neighborhood we want to live in someday.  i'm grateful for my job - even if i hate it most of the time, i am really lucky to be able to work in a place that is safe and flexible for good money and insurance.  i'm grateful for my love of animals...pets are an intense joy for me, no matter how much i complain about pippa's meowing or etta's neurosis.  i'm grateful for books and crappy television shows and roasted baby carrots with garlic and goat cheese and internet tutorials and cold fronts and math and potty training and coffee (and decaf) and online shopping and being able to sew and friendships and flip flops and mexican food and having perfect vision and gift certificates and baths and the smell of pine and midwivery and babies and chapstick and phone cameras and naps.  it's a good life. 

 hot cocoa with cameron (still delicious, even in 70 degree weather). 

 cuddle time with daddy and all the baby dolls (he will be so pleased i posted this pic). 

 grabbing a quick (and not nearly long enough) nap on the way to marble falls.

 helping wendy feed baby dillon. 

 the beginnings of a (mediocre) turkey and sausage gumbo. 

 showing folks how it's done. 

 good boy. 

helping daddy trim the tree.  she hugged several trees over the course of this experience. 

33 weeks.

week: 33

baby stats: for fruit this week, we've got durian fruit (what is that?) and pineapple.  so, a little over 4 pounds and probably around 17-18 inches.  this week is supposedly a growth spurt week and smalls is running out of room in my uterus, according to the internet.  ha. skeleton is hardening and wrinkles are decreasing, so s/he is looking more like a newborn every day. 

aversions/cravings: i want a big cheeseburger with grilled onions from five guys.  and a few sips of coke.  and french fries.  but mostly i'm ok. 

bump: measuring exactly at 33 weeks or so, so that is nice - i guess i can assume that doesn't mean i am going to have a 16 pounder...at our appointment on wednesday, smalls had flipped to head down (YAY!), so i am excited that things seems to be moving in the right direction.  a random idiot i work with just told me i look like i'm about to pop, but i don't think i'm anywhere close to the about to pop stage. 

worries: i'm doing ok.  the holiday was stupendous for my mental state - i had a chiro appointment, obgyn appointment, massage (from my birthday gift back in august), and 5 days off with my cute family.  my blood sugar has been in check - the midwife told me the fasting levels in the morning are the most important, and there's not a ton i can actually do about those, so we will keep an eye on them and decide whether or not to medicate.  so far, i'm staying below 95 more days than not, so no meds yet.  hoping to stay that way so i can avoid an induction and pharmaceutical intervention. 

boy or girl?: emme still says girl.  i still say boy.  justin changes his mind daily. 

missing the most: being able to comfortably hold my toddler, and get up and down from the floor with ease. 

pregnancy milestone: i made it through my first holiday with gestational diabetes.  ha!  i think christmas will be much harder (and longer), but i did well for thanksgiving and it wasn't as hard as i thought it would be.  i also got almost all the bebe's clothes/bedding/blankets/etc. washed this weekend, so that is huge.  i even washed my boppy and will pick up a new cover for it and then be pretty much ready, i think.  need to set up the bassinet and find/buy a new bouncy chair and probably some 0-3 month clothes, but mostly things are getting there.  my sprinkly last week was really nice - i have some lovely friends. 

32 weeks.

week: 32

baby stats: i seriously forgot at some point this week which week we were on.  i thought i lost a week somewhere, but thankfully it really is only 32.  whew.  anyway, this week, smalls is the size of a honeydew or a jicama or a squash.  the estimate from the internets is around 16.7 inches and somewhere around 3.75 lbs.  this little thumper has toenails and fingernails and hair and is gaining fat and all that other new baby goodness. 

aversions/cravings: cookies.  pancakes with syrup.  chips.  pasta with cream sauce.  sourdough bread.  cereal.  toast with butter.  decaf vanilla lattes.  hot cocoa.  rice in or on or with anything.  do i sound like a complainer yet? 

bump: i have an appointment on wednesday, so i am interested to see what's happening in this department.  i am theoretically supposed to be gaining a half pound of baby every week at this point, but i don't feel the intense growth-spurt belly that i felt with emme - at least, not yet.  i'm sure it will come.  

worries: not terrible this week.  i saw a chiropractor last week and will go again tomorrow (and weekly, probably, until the end).  getting my pelvis adjusted felt amazing, and had the added bonus of making bebe extra wiggly for a couple of days, so that was fun.  i've been doing inversions in the evening and my blood sugar has been in control, so both of those things help me think i'm being proactively helpful to this kiddo.  i went to a class for the diabetes last week, so that was also good in terms of getting on point with math for my meals, which i always love.  i am trying not to be super whiny about the gestational diabetes, but it really is much harder/more mentally trying for me than i expected.  lots of self-pitying - ha!  it doesn't help that justin's suggestion for every meal is tex mex, and that he drinks chocolate milk in front of me.  punk. 

boy or girl?: no clue right now.  i'm going to stick with boy, but i have no clue. 

missing the most: i think my lame cravings section does a good job of summarizing this...

pregnancy milestone: tomorrow night is my sprinkle (or sprinkly, as i like to call it).  my girlfriends throw a "light" shower for second babies.  though i'm not 100% wild about this idea (it's really hard for me to accept nice things being done for me), i think it will be really fun.  i wanted it to be as un-baby-shower-like as possible, so we're going to a fun bar/cafe at 8pm and i'm very excited to spend some time chatting with my ladies. 

31 weeks.

week: 31

baby stats: this week, small smalls is the size of a pineapple or four navel oranges (random).  so, over 16 inches and somewhere around 3.3-3.5 lbs.  baby's irises now react to light, and all five senses are in working order.  s/he is also turning its head as its brain continues to grow.  

aversions/cravings: i eat eggs.  and salads.  

bump: based on my appointment friday, i am measuring about half a week big right now.  but, give or take a few centimeters of fundal height is perfectly normal, says my midwife (and the internet).  i found the belly cast justin and i did of my emme belly at around 36 weeks or so, and it is insane.  this belly is shaped differently and smaller (thankfully) at this point.  we'll see where we end up!  

worries: going to see my practitioners always makes me feel approximately eleventy billion times better.  i cannot even begin to describe how much i love my doc and my midwife.  i don't think i knew a medical experience could be this awesome.  anyway...at friday's appointment, we talked about my gestational diabetes and i got some good guidance.  i'm still bummed/annoyed/worried, but they think i'm doing great and taking good care of myself.  i need to be walking more, so i am going to step that up.  baby is still breech, so i have an appointment with a chiropractor tomorrow to see if we can align my hips in a way that will make this baby happy.  ha.  there's still definitely a chance s/he will flip on its own, but i want to be proactive and do what i can to get this little one head down if at all possible.  if chiropractics don't work, i'll be scheduled for a version around 35 weeks, so that should be interesting....just hoping we get an independent flipper.  other than that, heartbeat, size, etc. all look great and that makes me much calmer in my head.  

boy or girl?: i'm less certain these days.  i am still saying boy because of the breech thing and how uncomfortable i am getting, but who knows, really?  other than my ob, of course.  ha.  

missing the most: chocolate things.  all of the chocolate things.  

pregnancy milestone: tomorrow is the "two months left" mark, at least until my due date.  that is crazy.  when i say "mid-january", it still sounds SO far away, but really it's ridiculously close.  this week, in preparation for family visitors, we got the nursery mostly in order, so i am feeling a little better about that.  still several things to do/inventory, but moving right along and i no longer feel like i have no idea where this kid is going to live.  ha.  

2 years old.

yesterday, emme turned 2.  i know everyone says this, but of course i really can't believe it.  i am baffled every day by how sweet and wonderful this child is.  she is truly a joy. 

with the time change, she has been waking up earlier, so we first heard her peeping around 6:15.  we listened to her on the monitor for a little bit, mostly because hearing the random stuff she says to her animals is hilarious.  we headed into her bedroom telling her happy birthday.  justin asked how old she was, and she gave the standard reply she's been giving for a while now "i'm almost two!".  so we had to explain to her that she is actually two now. 

anyway...she was really excited that it was her birthday.  we had made mini whole wheat zucchini muffins the night before to share with her class (even though she had to go to bed before they were done baking), and she kept talking about how she was going to bring muffins for her buddies.  what a sweet kid.  we had her two year doctor's appointment at 8:15, so justin and i had planned to take her out to breakfast.  on the way, she got to talk to jj and kk on the phone and they sang happy birthday to her, which she loved. 

we had breakfast at cafe java by our house and ek devoured her eggs, bacon, and pancake.  that kid loves a pancake.  then we headed to the doc.  they were late taking us (and we were a couple minutes late getting there), but she was such a helpful kid while we were there! 

height: 34 inches (50%)
weight: 25 lbs. 14 oz (30%)

she was proud to show the nurse and doctor her "big girl panties" with the cupcake on them for her birthday.  the doc was also really impressed by what a talker she is - haha.  i told her it's a blessing and a curse, although i admit i absolutely LOVE hearing stuff like that about my kiddo.  i also loved that there were no shots at this appointment - only the flu mist, which she didn't mind at all. 

after the doctor, we dropped dad off at home so he could head to work, and i brought ek to school with her muffins.  i got to work from home yesterday (favorite part of my job), and picked her up a little early so we could have a little bit of extra time with her.  justin got off early too and we met at trudy's for an outdoor dinner.  when i asked her whether she wanted a taco or a quesadilla for dinner, she looked at me for a minute and then said, "hmmm, maybe a muffin?". 

dinner was fun and low key.  we headed home where she got to open her presents from us.  she had a card from lolo and g-dad, jj and kk, and from grandpa browne and she liked having us read them all out loud to her.  her big present from us was the quilt i made for her room, but since we gave it to her a couple weeks ago during the cold snap, we had a few other little items as well.  she opened some cutting utensils and her own cutting board so she can help me while cooking, and some popsicle molds.  i had also sewn a diaper out of some extra fabric for her baby doll.  that was the big hit - i don't think she really understood what the other stuff was for, but i think she'll be excited when we chop zucchini tonight!  anyway...she was mostly just fired up to open things. 

the final hurrah for the evening was the singing.  we lit a candle and jb and i serenaded her with happy birthday and let her pick out a piece of halloween candy to eat.  i think that was her favorite part of the day.  we did a quick bath and put on pajamas, then read a few books before time for lights out.  all in all, not the most eventful day, but a good one nonetheless.  it's really nice having a kid who gets excited and enthusiastic about everything. 

i will write a sentimental post about everything happening with her soon - probably after her real birthday party on saturday.  i will also take and subsequently post a two year photo shoot (instead of the 2 iphone photos i took yesterday).  but for now, i wanted to record the big day before too much time passed.  we really love this little monkey. 

election day.

at some point tuesday morning, it occurred to me that in 4 more presidential terms (interestingly, the number of presidential elections i have participated in), emme kay will be voting.  i had to look it up, and her 18th birthday, november 7, 2028, will be a tuesday and an election year.  pretty exciting.

justin and i got up early and took emme to the polls to cast our votes.  i try not to get political on the internet, but i follow the issues very closely and have watched this election season with alternating fascination and disgust, and i feel like this is an historical occasion that warrants a blog post.  i'm not that old, but i don't remember a time when everything was so divisive. 

i hold deep convictions about certain issues.  education.  liberty.  protection for those that can't protect themselves.  the environment.  there are others, but i think those are the biggest four.  i believe that economic prosperity stems from a place where these issues are prioritized.   when i look at an election, at our political process, i try to think beyond what my own life and my own current reality are.  i try to think about the future of my children - what kind of world i want them to grow up in.  what kind of people i want them to meet and know.  i try to vote with my heart and with my head.  it is not always easy to do.  i cannot reduce everything i believe into one paradigm or the other - i don't even believe there are only two paradigms to fit within...i can only prioritize those topics that are most relevant and worrisome to me. 

even harder than the actual casting of my vote is dealing with the other humans in the world and their discussions about all this voting, this political-ness.  every member of my extended family, with the exception of maybe one, tends in a different political direction than i do.  every one that i work with leans a different way than i as well.  it's odd, but it makes me feel persecuted in some bizarre way.  it also makes me feel like i have to be quiet and reserved about what i hold to be true and dear, lest family and co-workers think "differently" of me. 

that is not a comfortable position, and it's not one that i relish.  i think of myself as a convicted person who is willing and eager to stand up for what i believe in.  but, in this time of facebook and sound bites, standing up for yourself is a quick and easy way to lose friends and alienate people.  too often, if you even begin a politically-charged sentiment, people assume they understand everything about what you think and why you think it.  i prefer to believe that we are all much, much more complex than that, so i try to stay out of it (publicly). i try to give people who write blanket (and false) statements like "obama is a muslim" the benefit of the doubt. 

obama was never my candidate.  i didn't love him in 2008 and i don't love him today.  do i believe he is the best candidate available right now?  yes.  is the foundation of that belief incredibly complicated and impossible to reduce down to a single issue?  absolutely.  i worry about the environment - will the air we breathe and the water we drink be clean for my children and their children?  i worry about opportunity - will my daughter(s) have access to the same jobs as men at the same pay?  will they be allowed autonomy over their own bodies - free to make the choices that our family morals and values guide them to make, not confined to some edict issued by the government?  i worry about the people we interact with daily - will they be educated?  healthy?  i feel a sense of brotherhood and compassion for my fellow citizens, and i also feel like the whole country is elevated when we raise up the "least of our brothers and sisters".  i worry about the economy, but only as far as i worry about the deep political and philosophical divide among those in power.  i think the economic system is far too complex and interdependent for one man to do much about - the world is different now, and we need to accept that and move on rather than hankering to policies that worked in the early 80s (or never worked at all).  i worry most about education, since i believe it's the foundation of everything - will i be able to afford to send my children to school?  will they have access to teachers who care?  who are not just pawns in some ridiculous union battle?  will college be affordable and attainable for them?  for their peers and friends?  i worry about safety - when money talks, how do those without it make people listen?  children, single mothers, the elderly - who is looking out for these groups when the government is looking out for corporations?   i worry about the rest of the world - we live in a completely different reality than what existed even 10-15 years ago...are we getting on board with that reality?  are we set up for success and peace among the international community? 

at the end of the day, these were just a few of the concerns that factored in to my vote.  i'm glad that obama won, but i don't think he's the answer.  i think there is a lot of work to do.  i find it interesting that some of the political opposition have said that obama did nothing over the last four years, but simultaneously believe he is capable of completely destroying everything good and pure in the universe in the next four.  one cannot be useless and all-powerful at the same time.  i also think the hyperbole around the destruction of our country and the blatant misinformation from mainstream news media is terrifying.  these are strange times, but i am hopeful that we can all take a minute to check our motives and our biases and decide to work together for the good of the whole.  after all, i've got kids to raise in this great land...

30 weeks.

week: 30

baby stats: baby is the size of a cucumber or a head of cabbage this week, which is funny because i would consider each of those bits of produce smaller than the squashes of last week, but whatever.  we're probably near the 3 pound mark and in the 16-inch range, although all of these things are relative at this point, i think.  more brain development and fat accumulation are happening, and his/her vision is improving. 

aversions/cravings: nothing, really.  since i am being so careful about what i eat now, food is not in any way fun or exciting.  it is purely utilitarian. 

bump: the bump itself seems pretty normal, but i am getting less comfortable.  harder time sleeping, and i'm really achy in my lower abdomen.  still, i really really can't complain.  this pregnancy has taken it pretty easy on me. 

worries: my mental state hasn't been the best this week.  i'm trying really hard to keep a great attitude, and i can maintain it for a little while and then i get all wrung out again.  sigh.  i seriously have nothing to complain about, but i hate this gestational diabetes thing.  it makes me feel like a failure.  i am (still) not loving my job and i just feel like i have so much i want/need to be doing that i am just not doing.  instead of this being a challenge to me (which is how i usually like to think of such things), i just feel defeated and am nervous and anxious about everything that's not happening.  it's really counter-productive.  i also don't have a child care plan for small smalls for when i go back to work, so i am stupidly worried about that.  anyway...in general, i have all this stuff on my mind that is very unrelated to this actual baby, and that isn't cool since i want to be thinking about what a sweet little bundle we're expecting, becoming a family of four, etc. etc.  

looking forward to: emme kay's second birthday party this weekend!  holidays.  slowing it down (ha ha ha.).  doctor's appointment this week. finding out if small smalls has flipped. 

boy or girl?: boy...or girl.  this week i really have no clue.  i think that means i need to re-center and focus on the important things. 

missing the most: not thinking so much about what i'm eating.  

 

pregnancy milestone: we just completed our last weekend of travel before the bebe.  yay!  we were in kansas this weekend to celebrate my mother in-law's 60th birthday, and we won't be taking another overnight adventure until after we have two kiddos.  thanksgiving is super busy and i have some work stuff that will prevent me from fully relishing the holiday, so we're staying in tejas.  and, i'll be almost 38 weeks giant for christmas, so it's probably a good idea to stick close to home.  in any case, though i will miss having thanksgiving with my parents, i am really really excited about "owning" both holidays this year.  i don't expect to go all out, necessarily, but i'm sure we will do a few things to make it special for ekb.   

 

here is a quick video from this weekend.  there's a drive-thru starbuck's really close to jb's mom's house, so we took emme there both mornings we were in town.  she had her first ever hot cocoa and i think it's fair to say she loved it.  i asked for a single pump of mocha so it wasn't so intensely sweet, but she was very serious about getting every last drop, and drank the whole thing down in what felt like a matter of seconds.  

 

 

second halloween.

emme has been hearing about halloween for weeks now and she has been getting SO excited.  i guess i didn't really think about how much an almost two year old would "get" it, but she totally got it and has been talking about it non-stop.

i wanted to make her costume again this year since i don't know how many more years she'll allow me to do it.  i also wanted her to be something cute that she liked, so i decided on an owl.  it seemed appropriately halloween-y, but still kid-like.  she came home from school one day asking what she was going to be (mental note to relish the moments where she's asking me instead of telling me...).  when i proposed owl, her eyes lit up and she seemed pretty pumped up by the prospect, so i began construction.

the costume is not the most well put-together thing i've ever sewn, but it made it through the night.  i bought some fat eighths of grey and black fabric and justin helped me cut out all the feathers.  i sewed feathers on to the front of a plain black body suit.  then, i got some basic grey fabric (i was actually going for some fleece, but the fabric store was gangbusters the day we went to buy it, so i ended up with a discounted bit of pre-cut grey velvet-ish fabric that worked just fine).  i cut out two wings and sewed feathers on them.  i attached them to the body suit with black buttons on ek's upper back (i thought about tying ribbon around her neck and realized she was absolutely NOT going to go for that). i also attached a little bit of elastic where the wings would meet her wrists so she could flap.  i found a simple pattern for a jersey pilot's cap and sewed that out of the grey base fabric as well and stuck some little ear feathers on them.  not surprisingly, the first hat i sewed (for a 24 month old, according to the size instructions) was super tight on my baby's giant dome.  so, i sewed another one.  that one ended up being a little big (flappy around the ears), but it worked and saved me from having to whip up a third owl hat.  anyway...i loved sewing the hat because i got to use a new stitch - double overlap.  very exciting for me.  we threw on black tights and black shoes, and that was the costume!  i did also make her a pair of felt glasses to get the big owl eye effect, but she wanted no part of those either.

for trick or treating, we drove down to our friends' neighborhood that goes all out for halloween.  it was quite the trek dealing with traffic - it took me and emme 1 hour and 45 minutes to get there, during which she told me she had to potty and there was nothing i could do.  i felt awful about being the cause of an accident when she's been doing so great with potty training.  anyway...we finally made it down.  justin met us and we got ek changed into her costume.  she was jazzed.  i should mention that the night before halloween, we carved a pumpkin and ate homemade chili, so she was pretty excited about seeing more jack-o-lanterns.   she loved her own jack-o-lantern so much that she made us bring it (lit up) into the bathroom for bath time.  jenny, our hostess, had sandwiches and sweet potato fries and fruit for the kiddos and delicious korean tacos and edamame salad for the adults, so we tried to get her to eat a few bites of real food before trick or treating began.

she started off in a wagon, but ended up walking most of the way holding my hand.  she was SO serious about saying trick or treat and walking up to the doors.  she would delicately take just one piece of candy and it was so so cute.  she would place it in her little bag and then run to get me and justin.  at one point, i asked her if it was time to head back and pointed back to our home base and she pointed in the opposite direction and said "maybe go this way?".  i think it's fair to say she loved it.

when we got back, she got to eat her first ever kit kat.  i'm not sure she even chewed - she loved it.  her daddy gave her a tootsie pop mid-trick or treating, and she was a fan of that as well.

this morning, she slept until almost 8:00 and woke up talking about all the fun she had.  she even told me she dreamed about halloween.

and now for the pics - some from the real camera, some iphone shots.  you take what you can get when there are that many distractions....