Halloween Party Recap

10 adults, 4 toddlers and 4 babies gathered to celebrate Halloween on the weekend. It was a lot of work but worth the effort. So much fun!

The decor:


The food:

The costumes:

Friday Night Leftovers

• I'm having issues getting the FNL picture loaded so no pic today!

• I have to clarify last week's post where I said I caved and cut Sammy's hair. I should have said I caved and got Sammy's hair cut. I didn't cut it myself. Nope...I have zero hair cutting skills. Just ask Shawn. He's been on the receiving end of my special haircuts. "GASP!" and "OOPS!" are not things anyone wants to hear while getting their hair cut!

• I read in a parenting magazine that 81% of 10 year old girls worry about gaining weight. How completely and utterly depressing.

• We're having a Halloween party tomorrow. Costumes are mandatory. It should be lots of fun! Pictures to come.

• I'm starting to plan Presley's birthday party. I ordered super cute invitations last night. How can she be almost 1??

• Yesterday, Sammy told Pres she was so smart and then said, "now give me a kiss" and planted a big wet one on her forehead. It was so sweet.

• I made this for supper last night. It's quite possibly one of my favorite recipes lately. Even Sam ate lots and she's usually a vegetarian. I've made tons of recipes off her blog and they're consistently fantastic.
  

• After yesterday's post, I decided I was going to immediately take Sammy back to her room every time she visited us. That went well. We were up from around 12 till 430am.
  

• Hungry for more leftovers? Head here...though I'm not sure she's doing it but go there anyway and see how cute her kids are!
  

Are You Afraid?

Sammy went through a phase around Spring where she was afraid of random things...grass, lawnmowers, shrubs, etc. She quickly outgrew it and we haven't had any issues with "fear" since then.

Until now.

Now she's afraid of the dark. She refuses to go into a room if it's dark. She sleeps with a night light on but still races to our room crying whenever she wakes up. It's exhausting. I can handle the daytime fears but the ones that make me get up more than I did with a 1 month old are starting to burn me out. Any suggestions?

Wordless Wednesday (Picture Recap, September Edition)

Tell Me Tuesday - Concert Wish

Hosted by Canadian Mama
Last week I asked you what was the best concert you ever went to. I loved the answers. They ranged from Green Day to Willie Nelson to Tim McGraw to Iron Maiden. It got me to thinking...

What concert(s) would you love to go to? (doesn't matter if they're dead or alive)
1. Johnny Cash
2. Queen (not the current version, the real version with Freddy Mercury)
3. The Misfits (original version)
4. The Ramones
5. Elvis Presley

Weekend Highlights

• My movie date with Sammy went fabulously. It was such a fun morning. We only had to wait in line around 5 minutes. There was face painting and balloon animals. Sammy was a bit afraid of the dark theater but was perfectly happy on my lap...and who can say no to snuggles from a normally busy toddler! We saw Yogi Bear in 3D. Well, I saw the movie in 3D. Sammy saw the movie in 2D (and slightly blurry!) since she refused to wear the glasses. We had popcorn and M&Ms. She made it through the whole movie. Ever since, she has been talking about Yogi Bear, the theater and basically the entire experience. A huge hit!
  

• Presley got her first nose bleed this weekend. I don't even think Sammy has had one yet! She got a bit enthusiastic with her climbing skills and fell out of a play car.

• I took Sam with me to get an oil change in the van. In hindsight, it's not really a kid-friendly activity. Duh, no kidding, right?! They gave her a colouring book and crayons. She coloured the book...and then her jeans. We visited the Mr. Lube restroom twice. I brought some snacks in anticipation. The van looked like we'd gone on a week long road trip when we got home.

• Presley slept through the night all weekend! Sammy didn't. So neither did we.

• We went for family pictures on Saturday evening. The girls lasted about 30 minutes. The weather was great, the leaves were beautiful...hoping for some good shots. I'll settle for one!
  

What was the highlight of your weekend?

11 months!!

Our sweet Presley is 11 months old today. I could cry thinking of how fast time is going and what's already passed...but I'm also so excited for all that is to come.

At 11 months, Presley is still using crawling as her main mode of transportation. Just in the past couple of days, she's started to purposely try walking to things instead. She'll use one hand on the wall if it's further than she's used to. I think it won't be long now before she gives up on crawling all together. She adores climbing things and is obsessed with stairs. She now knows how to get down the stairs backwards but still needs to be turned to get started. She claps and waves now as well.

Presley is really vocal lately and is mimicking sounds all the time. She still has only said "mama" but it sounded like Shawn got a "daddy" the other day. She has been signing and does "all done", "more", "milk", "bath", "poop" and "eat".

Her favorite toys are books. She will sit with books and "read" for a long time. She will grab one and go to the little rocking chair, pull herself into it so she can sit there while she reads. Adorable! She loves pushing things, especially Sammy's bike outside. She also really likes a toy I made her out of a sour cream container and scraps of fabric (a post to come on that later!).

Her favorite activities are going for walks and going on the swing. She enjoys being in the stroller and the Beco.

Presley is a dream eater. She gobbles up anything I prepare for her. It is such a treat for me! Her favorites this past month are grapes, pears and meat prepared anyway. She has 6 teeth to help. She is still breastfeeding and gets around 5 feeds a day.

Sleep is all over the map. She rarely sleeps through the night anymore (cue baby proving me wrong anytime!) and needs rocking to sleep some of the time. She usually only gets 1 nap a day (due to morning activities) so makes up for that missed morning nap by having a 4 hour afternoon nap.

Presley weighs 18 pounds and 6 ounces. She is 29 inches long. She wears 6-9 month clothes and is in size 2 diapers.

Things I never want to forget:
-how she copies us. We regularly ask questions like this: "Who wants pancakes for breakfast?" and then everyone responds, "meeeeeee!" and raises their hand. Okay, when I wrote that down it made it sound really geeky but it's cute, I swear! Anyway, Presley now does it as well and it's the sweetest thing.
-how she will fall asleep nursing and how I get to snuggle her uninterrupted. It's one of my favorite moments of the week when it happens. I've been known to stay in her room for much longer than necessary to soak it all in.


Pictures didn't go so well this morning! She finally noticed the sign this month (as you can tell my the wrinkles in the paper!) and did not want to be sitting.

Friday Night Leftovers

• I finally caved and cut Sammy's hair. I was trying to grow out her bangs but she refused to wear anything in her hair so she just ended up looking like a kid who can't afford a haircut. Here it is before:
  

• And after:

• Now Sammy is all ready for a Mommy Sammy date on Saturday morning. Cineplex is having a free movie event with proceeds going to the Starlight Foundation. It will be her first time and I'm really excited to take her. I'm going to make it an event and get every junk food group. Yes. Even though it's at 9am. What's a movie without treats?!

• Presley now has a few 2-piece pajama sets. They make her look way less like a baby and more like a toddler. Sad but cute at the same time!

• When we were at the corn maze last weekend, we took a hayride. Also on the ride was about a dozen Boy Scouts and their leaders. They were very rambunctious which is totally to be expected when you have a group of 11ish year olds. When the hayride was done, they bulldozed us (with our young children), an older gentleman and another family in order to get off the wagon first. Where is that Boy Scout courteousness??? I don't really expect 11 year olds to think of women, children and seniors first...but shouldn't their leaders be doing that for them?

• Hungry for more leftovers? Head here!
  

Climate

"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather."

-Goethe

Upon first glance, this might seem like a self absorbed statement. I suppose you could read it this way, if it weren’t for one little word. That word is “frightening”. There is a certain amount of humility when you recognize that things don’t happen TO you, but rather WITH you. You have the power – and it is immense in its nature – to take anything that comes your way and handle it with grace, humor, and dignity.

No matter what happens to you, you always…always have the power to choose your reaction to it. Which means that you have the power to create a beautiful climate in your home or a stormy one. The choice is up to you.

-Hal Runkel, LMFT, Author of ScreamFree Parenting and ScreamFree Marriage

I received this in an email Tuesday morning and I've been thinking about it ever since. I find so much truth to this statement. Do you ever find yourself reacting differently to whining, tantrums, meltdowns, frustrations and stress based on what your mood at the time is? I know I sure do. On good days, I can remain calm, cool and collected...even if doors are being slammed and the crying seems to have no end. On bad days, well, the slightest thing can set me off and I wonder where my patience has disappeared to.

So, knowing all of this is one thing...but how do we keep a beautiful climate in our homes? I imagine it's different for everyone. For me, I need to do things for myself. I need to recharge my own batteries before I can be effective for the rest of my family. I drag my tired butt to the basement for a workout at 6am...whether I've been up once, twice or 4 times with the girls through the night. That hour is my own. I shower, put on makeup and get dressed and start the day fresh. Even with those best intentions, the climate can still turn stormy for us. Take yesterday. I was up from 3am on with the girls (nice of them to take turns!). I knew I'd be tired and irritable so I made sure I still worked out to release some tension and got ready for the day. Yet by lunchtime, Sammy was testing boundaries and I was rising to the bait. So, even realizing that I have power over the mood of the house, I still mess up.

What works for you? What helps you stay calm when everything is chaotic? How do you recharge?

Wordless Wednesday (Corn Maze Edition)