Happy Halloween!!

This year we were sooo excited to go Trick-or-Treating because it is the first time we have a kid old enough to enjoy it.  Unfortunately, right when we were ready to go the sky started pouring buckets down on us.  We just brought some umbrellas and tread on through the rain.  After awhile, the rain subsided and we were able to stay dry through our door to door quest for candy.  Jesse was kind enough to stash some candy away for himself so that he could test it out for Avril.  Avril was a little shy at first and we could not get her to say trick-or-treat to people, or even thank you or bye-bye, which she usually has no problem with.  This was an entirely new experience for her and I think she was a bit overwhelmed.  She did find the decorations on people's porches to be especially amusing, especially the ones that would make noises when you walk by.

Well, enough jibber jabbering.  Lets look at the cute pictures from our Halloween Adventure!

Don't you just love our new car?  Its gets excellent gas mileage!  :)  Mommy had this idea to make Daddy a Love Bug so she went dumpster diving behind Sears until she found just the right cardboard for the project.  It was so fun to make and Dada makes the cutest Love Bug!

This is the front of the car costume.  Mommy even put little working flashlights in the headlight eyes so we could see at night.

Rear view of the Love Bug

And here we are... TWO BUGS ON A RUG!!  Get it?  I had this lady bug costume and obviously Jesse could not be a lady bug so I decided to make him in to a different kind of bug!

Ever seen bugs smooch?  Even bugs need some love!

Love my Baby Dragon Girl

The two bugs produced a.... dragon?  Guess its not too surprising since before Dada was a Love Bug he was a...

...that's right!  A Dragon too!  See the resemblance?  So cute!!

Avril the Dragon with Jordan as Jack Sparrow.  Isn't his costume cool?  He told me that his mom had to draw black eyebrows on him since his are light.  Aargh!  Avril just LOVES her pirate friend.

Some well-dressed trick-or-treaters at the door.  Check out that vampire glare from Jordan (the vampire in front is also named Jordan)

 
Can you tell who this is?  Yup, its our little Dragon girl!  We have a neighbor who is a retired professional artist and he offered to draw several of the neighborhood kids in their Halloween costumes.  It only took him about 15 minutes to do this.  Pretty impressive, huh?

I Not A Baby!...

I just remembered that I wanted to post this funny little occurrence from the other day so that I wouldn't forget when I need a good chuckle.
Our little family was enjoying lunch at Mandarin Garden when another cute little family sat down at the table right beside ours.  Avril quickly noticed that there was a cute little baby and pointed it out to us.  She loves to point at babies and tell them what they are.  "Baby, baby, baby," she'll say.  Right next to this particular baby, sat her older sister who was no longer a baby, but maybe about 3 years old.  After Avril finished pointing out to us the baby, she moved on to the little girl and pointed, "baby, baby, baby."
To this, the little girl quickly became offended and loudly voiced to Avril, "I not a baby, I'm a big girl!!"  It was hilarious.  We could not stop laughing over this for the rest of the day.  :)  Kids really do say the darndest things.  Keeps us big folks entertained.

A Win!... sort of...

Just an update on the Witch Costume Contest.  Apparently they did not think it was fair for a little cutie pie like Avril to enter in the contest or something... or maybe they didn't think she'd enjoy the gift certificate as much as an old witch.  Anyhow... lots were wondering if we won the contest.  The answer is sort of.  I tied with another witch so we each get a gift certificate for $25 instead of a $50 gift certificate.  Still I was surprised Avril wasn't the winning witch.  I can't wait to do some shopping with my prize.  What fun!  cackle, cackle.

The Good Witch and The Glamorous Witch

There is a darling little home decor store in Logan called Sugar 'N' Spice and I decided to look around at cute holiday decorations this morning.  I found out they were having a Witch costume contest this evening.  The winner receives a $50 gift card to the store.  I decided to try and throw something together for Avril and I to wear.
With the help of Nana Gayle, we came up with some fun witch costumes.  We went to D.I. and found a dress that we could finagle with and make in to a Glinda the Good Witch costume for Avril.  Mommy borrowed a witch hat from Nana's stuffed witch at her house and tried to pull off a glamorous, yet preggo witch look.
We will find out tomorrow via email if we won or not.  We had fun and got some cute Avril pics regardless.  But I can't imagine there was a cuter good witch so I'm hoping Avril wins me a prize :)

Didn't Nana do a fabulous job on this costume?  This Witch is just too adorable!!

Being a Good Witch is a tough job.  Time to sit back and relax in this nice chair.

And here is Mommy Witch.  Avril kept on pointing out that I had a spider on my face.  Yep!  And I wasn't even scared :)

 On my trusty broom!

The two Witches, so fun!

Avril was so ready to get out of her costume by the end of the night.  Ah, comfy clothes and sittin with the Papa.  Lovin it!

Crib Fun

Avril could spend exorbitant amounts of time throwing things out of her crib.  She will empty all the stuffed animals and other contents from her crib and throw them on the floor.  Then she will immediately ask you to return them one by one.  Then she proceeds to again toss the items on the floor.  If you try to interrupt this process she will shout, "more, more!"  This is a rather long video, I didn't bother cropping it at all... but from a short clip you can get the idea of how much fun this cutie pie has in her crib.  Guess there are other uses for it besides just sleeping...

Mommy Daughter Outings

It is usually not too difficult keeping little Av entertained when we go out.  I'm always trying to think of fun mommy daughter things to do each day.  As the weather gets worse, this will be much more difficult, seeing as how we can scratch park off the list of fun things to do.  Avril LOVES the park.  We have learned to spell the word p-a-r-k instead of saying it around her... or ELSE... she'll throw a fit insisting that you take her to the slide and swings.
Yesterday mommy wanted to browse through TJ Maxx to see if they had any decorations for the bathroom we recently painted.  No luck there... however... Avril sure was one happy camper.  She found the coolest little chair and absolutely would not leave.  She would find little "treasures" around the store, like the blanket she's holding, and bring them back to the chair with her.  The employees there couldn't get over how cute Avril was in her chair.  When it was time to leave the store, they asked me how I was finally able to get her to leave her chair.  I'm not sure how, I'm sure it was some method of distraction I used.  Dada said maybe we should get her a chair like this for Christmas.  We'll see...

This is the life...

Besides chairs, Avril also LOVES books.  One of her very favorite things to do is to sit in your lap while you read to her.  In fact, she will NOT go to sleep unless you read her books to her before you put her down.  This is the routine and she doesn't stray from that.  Mommy likes to take Avril to the library so we can find new books, instead of the same old ones.  When Avril goes to the library, besides pulling books off shelves, her favorite thing to do is to take mommy's keys and try to open the display cabinets.  Whenever she sees a lock on something she feels it is her duty to unlock it.

Hi Mommy.  I think your keys are broken.  I can't seem to get this cabinet open.

Don't Be Mad, Avril...

Avril, some day you may be mad at me for posting these pics, but I couldn't help myself :)  Lately Avril has been very anti-nap... and sometimes Mommy is just too dang tired to go through the whole nap ordeal... so when this happens you may find me taking the long route on a drive home.  In other words, I drive around until this happens:

Even the most adorable girl in the world can have her unattractive moments... and yet, still so cute!

Don't be fooled!  She looks like she's zonked out... but this nap only lasted 20 minutes.  She just can't wait to wake up and have more fun!

Shower for Alycia

Alicia threw a Baby Shower for Alycia.  Confusing, I know.  Some were confused and thought that Alycia was throwing a Baby Shower for herself.  :)  Despite the confusion, we had a great turnout with lots of friends, yummy food, and lots of adorable baby boy things for Alycia's up and coming little guy.  Thanks to all those who helped out, and to everyone for coming.  It was so much fun!!

Isn't the diaper cake so cute?!?  My mom and I had a great time making it...

Is there anything wrong with this picture?  Hint:  Someone who is holding Avril may not exactly fit in with all the girls...

WARNING:  Do not sit on the couch.  We think the big bellies must be contagious!

Grandpa was the designated baby-sitter for the occasion.  Here is Avril enjoying her blue-bread sandwich :)

The ladies who helped make it all possible.  We have them to thank for the delicious food.  We had the bread dyed blue for the occasion.  These sandwiches were a hit!

Miracle of miracles... we told Avril to smile for the picture and she did!  What a sweetie.

Liz and Alycia... gorgeous girls!

Told you it was contagious!  Now there are five of us with belly bumps.  Sara, in the middle, was scheduled to deliver her baby 2 days after this pic... that means tomorrow!  Good luck Sara.  Can't wait to meet Baby Boy Hansen :)

This shot shows off our bulging bellies better.  It won't be long, now!  I'm so excited for all of us Hot Mamas.

Congrats Alycia!  We can't wait for your sweet little boy to arrive.  You're going to be such an awesome mom, no doubt.  What a lucky little guy.  Best of luck... only 39 days to go!!