Carving our Jack-o-lantern

We went to the pumpkin patch this weekend, it was now time for the carving. We actually got Abby to put her hand in the pumpkin this year, so we had to capture it on film (though she still didn't like it). I love the family picture of us. Another pregnancy picture for posterity's sake.

Abby also insisted that her pumpkin had eyes like hers: "ovals". She did not want triangles. (I compromised a little)  She also required it to have ears, so we obliged.

Rocketships

Scene- Abby and her Mommy sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast before leaving for Preschool.

Abby: Mommy, do you think it would change my life if there was a rocketship at Preschool?

Mommy: It would be pretty cool. What do you think?

Abby: Yes.

A Photo Session

It is cold! We pulled out Abby's hat and mittens from last year for the first time today and they all fit. Yay- less money to spend. She decided to put on a photo shoot (can you say total ham?)...

Hmmmmm, Where do they get these things?

This is a picture of Abby playing last night.  She says she is a "blueberry picker".   ??  She says it is from Sleeping Beauty (the newest movie in our collection).  Hmmmm.

The Pumpkin Patch

Here are a few rememberances from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch this year...

Banished

Today we had our carpets cleaned. I only had the high traffic rooms cleaned, and I also had our couches shampooed while they were here. That means that our living room is off limits because not only is the carpet wet, but so are the couches where we would sit to watch TV. Bummer. Poor Abby and I have been banished all day from downstairs (except the kitchen) and now that Matt is home we are finding things to do upstairs. The only room upstairs that we had done is our bedroom, so the carpet is damp, but we can lay on the bed and hang out- but no catching up on DVR for us. Hopefully tomorrow will be back to normal.

The good news is that the carpet looks soooo much better. It had gotten really bad in the living room. It was to the point that spot cleaning felt like a waste of time because you couldn't narrow down which spot to clean. Our couches are nice and clean too. When think of how many times Abby has spit up, thrown up, or spilled on the couch since she was born... Yuck. Now we are ready for the next round of spit ups and such from #2.

Out of the mouths of babes

We just returned from a visit to Matt's family in TN. It is approximately a 7 hour drive, with a meal stop. We made really good time today. I smartly took my camera so we could get some pictures of Abby and her cousin Kyle while we were there. I "un-smartly" never took the camera out and took any pictures. Duh.

One of the nights we were there, I took Abby upstairs to get her into her nightgown and comb her hair. She got the comb out of the toiletry bag all by herself, so I praised her for being so big. It went a little like this:

Carrie: Abby, you are so big! How old are you? Six? You must be six.

Abby: I'm not six-y!

Carrie: No. No, you're not. (laughing my head off)

If only she could have understood how hilarious what she said sounded. (If you didn't catch it, say it aloud.)

OCD?

I'm not sure what this tells us about Abby: That she likes things in order and organized? She's borderline OCD? Her parents have warped her into being organized?

It's a girl!

We had our "gender check" ultrasound today and it is official- it's a girl! We are all excited and happy. I'm already looking at bedding sets and all that fun stuff that is easier to buy if you know what you are having- even though we have no money to do the actual shopping! :) There is a set at Target that I really like, and I have to admit I browsed the sales at the Pottery Barn Kids website. We'll see! I have a friend who is a designer at a local architecture firm who has offered to help us with painting this time so I think we may try some cool, wide stripes in this baby's room. I was always too nervous to do it myself (and didn't want to take the time).

So much planning to do now!

One step closer

We are one step closer to having a room for our unborn baby.  Today, a group from our church came and took our futon and old papason (?) chair to donate.  We are trying to open up space in the loft/playroom for us to move our home office to.  It opens it up quite a bit, but it is still going to be tight when we move the office out there.  

Matt and I are having a date night tonight and one of the things we are going to do is look for some new artwork for the playroom to replace what is there already.  We currently have some framed posters up, so we don't need frames, just new posters.  I would like to find some that are super kid-friendly and cute.  Also, I'd like them not to be outdated in a year, so that is something to think about, as well.  The walls are yellow, so that shouldn't be a hard color to find in kids posters.  I'm kinda excited about how something that little will change the feel of the room.

Wordless Wednesday-Kinda

So, I'm cheating.  Though I'm calling it Wordless Wednesday, I do want to explain a little of the picture.  The nightgown is the one that Abby got this past weekend.  She seriously thinks it equal to a full out Belle princess dress.  She gets excited to wear it, so putting jammies on is no fight.

On her feet, for the first time, are her Ariel Halloween shoes.  They are her first "dress up" shoes with heels, and the heels even light up when she walks.  It was so funny to see her stumbling around in them.  It was hard to get her to take them off.

Halloween Costumes

So, we are planning for another Halloween.  It will be Abby's fourth, but really only her third costume.  The first year she was still a newborn so we didn't do much.  As we started talking about costumes with her, we narrowed it down to Disney costumes because we had a rewards card we could spend at the Disney Store.  I pulled up the costumes on the computer and we looked through them.  At first, Abby was certain she wanted to be Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.  Then she wanted to be Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.  We were pretty set until we actually went to get it this weekend.  She changed her mind completely and decided she must be Arielle from the Little Mermaid.  This should come as no surprise to family who knows that she adores this movie as much, if not more, than Cinderella.  she is very excited about it because we even bought the fancy shoes and crown that goes with it.  As a backup she got to get a Belle nightgown that she loves.  She dances around the house in it and it does look adorable.  Here is a backwards retrospective on Abby's Halloween costumes.

Halloween 2008:  Coming soon!

Halloween 2007: A Dragonfly

This was the first year that she "got" trick or treating.  We also went to Zoo Boo, which is where this picture is from.  I love the true grin.

Halloween 2006: A Chicken

I'm pretty sure she didn't really understand what was going on, but she was so hilariously cute in her chicken costume.

Sunday Dinner

On Sunday, around 4:30-5:00, Matt and I started asking each other what we wanted to do for dinner. We were very close to ordering pizza when we decided to try to cook a new dish I had saved the recipe for after seeing it online: Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu. We also made cheesy hash brown casserole, and baked apples. Abby got to help out. As you'll see from the pictures, it was a hit and plates were scraped clean.

Before baking...


Abby helping...


The Finished Chicken Cordon Bleu... (Yummo!)





Obviously, we had trouble choking it all down...