Halloween 2011

      We celebrated another great Halloween yesterday.  Ashlyn really, really got into the holiday this year.  From decorating, to pumpkin patches, to carving pumpkins, she loved every single moment of it.  (She was very sad today when I told her I would be taking down the decorations.) I definitely think Halloween may be one of her favorite holidays.  We tried to make the day as special as possible for the kids.  I want my children to grow up with fond holiday memories like I have. 
      We started the day with special Halloween pancakes.  Ashlyn loves pancakes and Joey made them in the shape of witches, pumpkins, and bats.  (I wish I would have gotten a picture).  The weather was absolutely beautiful yesterday.  We were able to go out back and play.  Ashyln and Dawson had a great time riding down the slide together for the first time.  Before long, it was time for our traditional Halloween dinner of a pumpkin pizza.  We don't eat pizza a lot around here, so Ashlyn always enjoys the treat.  She always gets a kick out of the pumpkin face too. 
       After dinner, it was time to get everyone in their costumes.  Being that it was the first year we had two kids, I knew that I wanted them to have coordinating costumes.  After a lot of debating, we finally decided on a dragon and a princess.  They both looked adorable in their costumes.  Ashlyn loved being a princess.  She was going for the Rapunzel look.  I even put some purple eyeshadow on her which she just went crazy for. 
         We went Trick or Treating in Katy's neighborhood like we always do.  Most of the houses pass out candy, and they give great candy.  Ashlyn got 5 full size candy bars!  The weather was nice and Dawson and Ella had a fun time riding in the wagon.  We did a lot of walking.  About an hour in, Dawson and I headed back to Katy's house.  Ashlyn went back out with Joey and Gram.  When they came back she was beat!  We got in the car and she promptly fell asleep.  Joey carried her inside and asked her if she was ready for bed.  She said she was.  We put her in her bed and she slept like a rock all night long!  Trick or Treating really wore our girl out!!!  When she woke up this morning,  we sorted through her candy.  She definitely got some great treats this year!

The pizza we have every year. 

My princess and dragon. He wasn't crazy about the hood at first. 

Mommy and the cutest dragon in the world!!!

Dawson got a total kick out of seeing Ella dressed up.  It was cute.

All of the kids

Ashlyn kissing the dragon

Such a pretty princess Ashlyn was!

She was ready to go!  Notice her long Rapunzel hair.

He loved riding in the wagon.

How they got to ride.

Trick or Treat

This was Ashlyn when she got done.  She looks exhausted!

This was Ashlyn about 3 minutes into the car ride home.

All of her loot!

Dawson at 9 Months

     The 9 month birthday is always a hard one for me.  It signifies that your baby has now been living in the outside world for as long as they lived inside your tummy.  I can't believe Dawson is already 9 months.  He is growing at the speed of light it seems.  He is now into EVERYTHING!  I know I have previously said that, but he really is into everything now.  I have to constantly keep an eagle eye on him because he can get to things rather quickly!
      He has mastered crawling and moving by holding onto furniture.  He loves how his mobility has allowed him to explore his world even more.  He loves to inspect anything he finds very carefully.  He is such a good crawler that he had absolutely no desire to walk at this point.  He can move with a real quickness by holding onto furniture, he just has no desire to let go.  I'm definitely okay with him not walking for a bit :)
      I just discovered this morning that he is getting 4 teeth on the top at once!!!  My poor baby!  Dawson has been doing a great job of sleeping a solid 11-12 hours a night.  I was absolutely loving getting some sleep finally.  But, this week he has been waking up again in the middle of the night.  I attributed it to his cold he has, but I think I now know why.  I hope his teeth come in quickly so we can get back to our normal sleep routine again.
      Dawson continues to love his food.  I can honestly say that there has not been one single food that we have put in front of him that he didn't completely devour.  He just loves to eat.  He really likes yogurt and apples the best.  However, he will eat anything.  He is mainly on table food and we are really enjoying seeing his reaction to trying all kinds of new foods. 
       Dawson continues to be a VERY happy and sweet boy.  He is my little cuddler and loves to be held still.  He also loves to play with Ashlyn and Ella.  As I type this, Ella and Dawson are having a blast playing with each other and their toys.  They are so lucky to have each other as playmates.  Ashlyn continues to be a great big sister.  She loves to do silly things to make him laugh.  He is so happy, it doesn't take much to get a smile or a laugh out of him.  I am just having a great time watching him develop and grow.  I cherish each and every second. 
       Here are some pictures I took of him on his 9 month birthday.  Since it was a few days before Halloween, you will notice a theme with his clothing.  He goes to the doctor next week for his 9 month appointment, and I will post stats after. 

I love his face in this picture!!!  He looks too darn cute!

Trying to figure out what his sister is doing.

They love each other so much!

He puts anything he can get his hands on in his mouth. 

So cute!

Still loves to eat those fingers. 

Closely inspecting the leaf he found.

Pumpkin Carving

She was so excited to carve pumpkins. 

 
     Since Ashlyn had collected so many pumpkins this year, this weekend we decided it was time to do some carving.  Joey was in Texas visiting his brother.  I asked Katy to come over and help.  We made sure to wait until Dawson was in bed to get started.  We picked some easy designs this year as well.  Katy and I were pretty impressed that we managed to get 4 pumpkins completely carved in under and hour!  Ashlyn couldn't really do a whole lot with the pumpkin carving, so she decided to paint a pumpkin.  I got out the paint and she just went to town.  It was very colorful.  The best part was lighting all the pumpkins and getting to see the finished product.  I couldn't get a good picture of the finished pumpkins with my camera, so I didn't post a picture of that. 

She liked looking at the "guts".

Sticking her hand it to see what she found.

Eew!  Gross and slimy!

Showing off the pumpkin seed she found.

Our little artist

She wanted her pumpkin to be colorful.

Look at all those colors. 

What a colorful pumpkin!!!

Halloween Parade

Last Friday, Ashlyn's school had a Halloween parade.  It was a chance for all the kids to dress up in their costumes and parade them around the school.  Ashlyn wasn't at school that day, but we made sure that she made it in time for the parade.  I think she really enjoyed getting to see all of her friends dressed up.  She seemed to have a good time.  We walked around the school and down the street for a bit.  The kids just loved it.  At the end, they each received a piece of candy. 

Ashlyn walking with her friends.

Such a pretty princess

Dawson and I also got to walk in the parade.

Some Ramblings

This past week was full of a lot of randomness.  Ashlyn went on her first field trip to the Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday.  She was so excited to go.  When we picked her up, she said she had a great time.  We asked her what her favorite part was and she told us it was riding on the school bus without a car seat.  She picked out a very cute little pumpkin that she can't wait to carve this weekend with the 5 others that we have accumulated at random places.  The next evening, we went to her school's fall potluck.  The food was really good and we had a nice time.  They had games for the kids to play and different arts and crafts.  Ashlyn accumulated yet another pumpkin at the pumpkin walk.  (Yes, we will be very busy this weekend carving pumpkins!)Joey and I are so pleased with Ashlyn's school and she is so happy there. 

This weekend Ashlyn got to go to a birthday party at a bowling alley.  She had a lot of fun bowling and playing with the other kids.  Ashlyn is VERY excited for her birthday party coming up in less than 2 weeks.  She is having it at Chuck E. Cheese this year.  I am sure it will be a great time.  How can you not have fun there?  I am still very busy getting everything ready for her birthday weekend.  Yes, I said weekend.  There will be lots of celebrating and special surprises the entire weekend for our very special girl. 

Next week will be very fun filled.  We have Halloween which I am so excited to see the kids in their costumes.  Ashlyn is so excited to get to go Trick of Treating.  We will also be going to Boo at the Zoo which I know Ashlyn will just love.  Dawson has his 9 month appointment and Ashlyn has her 4 year appointment next week too.  I can't wait to see how they have grown.  Then we have birthday weekend.  We should be very busy!

I have exciting news too, I WILL be running the Las Vegas Half Marathon in December!!!  I am so excited that it was able to work out.  I can't wait to run another half marathon.  I am also beyond excited to run a race down the strip at night.  Should be a pretty phenomenal experience.  I was kind of looking forward to tapering down my miles now that my half marathon was over, but I am looking forward to the extra training.  It will be good for me. 

I will be back next week with a 9 month post about Dawson and lots and lots of Halloween pictures!

Ella got to have bath time with her cousins.  They had a blast!

Ashlyn was being very goofy and decided to put on her Daddy's clothes. 

Her ensemble was cracking me up. 

My cuteness eating.

Can never get enough of that smile.

I just want to kiss his adorable face!

Not sure why he looks so worried, but he looks so cute!

This is the only picture I got of Ashlyn before she went to the Pumpkin Patch.  I don't know why she wasn't smiling.  She was really happy.