First Halloween!

I didn't realize it had been awhile since I updated! The last week or so has been exhausting and it doesn't look like things will slow down anytime soon. I'll try to give a play-by-play of what's been going on, and I'll end with some pictures.

--Halloween was okay. I'm not a big fan of it...I hate dressing up in costumes and as an adult, the thought of an entire holiday in which kids go door-to-door and get complete strangers to give them candy seems pretty absurd. (I know, it's almost like I'm a cranky old woman trapped in an almost-30-year-old's body... ;o) But, whatever...I'll get into it for my kids, I suppose--this being Ava's first Halloween, we didn't do much: I borrowed a ladybug costume from a friend and she wore that over a shirt and jeans...I didn't even get black pants to make it match. It stayed on for maybe two hours. Anyhow, I DID get some cute pictures! There were a lot less trick-or-treaters this year...not sure why. Usually I buy a bunch of really good candy so that I have good leftovers to snack on, but I didn't feel like spending the money this year (and there's usually little left) so I bought the gigantic bag of cheapo candy and....we have most of it left. Ugh...thank goodness for teaching, I can take it to work and give it to the kids! I think the best part about Halloween was that at Ava's bedtime, we put a note on the door requesting that people knock quietly and not ring the doorbell and EVERYONE was kind enough to respect our wishes--they even whispered when they said "trick or treat!!" I put "baby sleeping" on the note as well and one little girl said, "I hope your baby stays asleep. I LOVE babies!"

--Ava helped me vote on Tuesday! It's so funny, I remember after the 2004 elections I said to a friend that the weirdest thing would be that at the 2008 elections, I'd probably be dragging a kid along when voting! Indeed...
Anyhow, we were very fortunate that there was NO wait. None at all...only about three people were even there...the most time we spent was talking to the workers, who were gushing over the youngest voter they'd seen that day. (Ava...not me! ;o)

--Only two weeks until the family arrives for Thanksgiving! Thus far it will be my parents, Billy, Lauren (Billy's girlfriend), and I have my fingers crossed that Michael will be able to make it as well.

--We've chosen colors for the siding, trim, shutters, stone, and brick on the house, as well as picked the style of window...they should be breaking ground any day now! This whole process takes forever and involves a lot of fighting with stupid builders who are trying to get out of building the house according to the blueprints we agreed upon, and now probably won't be done until April or May. What a pain....I just want to be moved already!

--Ava's favorite thing is a little blankie we call "Duckie." Duckie is a soft little blanket (about 1 sq. foot) with a duck head on one end...it's like some new thing so that babies don't carry around big old mangy security blankets, I guess. We try to restrict Duckie to the crib, but will sometimes bring it out if we want Ava to settle down in preparation for bedtime...it's like a signal to her that it's time to go to sleep, and she'll cuddle it and suck her fingers. Well, the original Duckie was given to us by Craig's Aunt Liz, and was purchased at a little boutique up in MA where she lives...so when I set out to find another one as backup I had no luck! Anyhow, Pat (Craig's mom) asked Liz about the duckies and she was kind enough to go back to the shop and find/send us two more! I gave all three Duckies to Ava at once and she was overwhelmed...she immediately started sucking her fingers and grabbing at each of the duckies! Ha!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Craft Ideas