happy halloween

so we had a halloween party at work on friday... i went as a zombie.



is that bad?
(sorry mom. do i at least get creative points?)
i won the contest, for what it's worth.


at any rate, happy halloween everyone.

i went all out this year with my house. and by "all out" i mean, putting out more than just jack o lanterns and a cool halloween mat on my front porch. i have friendly ghosts, a pumpkin made of lights, a crazy skeleton guy hanging on the door, spider webs with a billion spiders.... i even made a bunch of bats that i hung over my porch. they're actually my favorite part. (thanks martha).

beth went to our church halloween party as a peacock. i wasn't sure how she would take to the costume, but she actually did really well and didn't seem to mind wearing it at all. she just walked around and looked at everyone like they were crazy while she got lots of oooohs and aaaahs. it was so cute. i'm thinking i'll put it on her again tomorrow just to be festive and fun (she's too young to trick or treat still and really doesn't need all the candy). so i think we'll do it just for fun and to get pictures. it's pretty dang cute, i'll be honest. so we'll see if she'll do a take two on it. i hope so.

well friends, i hope your halloween is as festive as we anticipate ours to be!
don't get too spooked out there...

fall festive-ness

as i write this, there is snow falling outside my window. it's light and there isn't much - it just barely started sticking to the ground. nevertheless, i mention it to illustrate the contrast from both my last post and this one. 75 one day, snow the next. crazy colorado. but i love it. colorado weather keeps you on your toes!

anyways.... as mentioned in the last post, we spent some good quality time outside last weekend while the weather was still warm and delicious. in fact, we hit up the ol' pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins for halloween.




it looks like we made out pretty good, but really it was kind of a bust. we thought we were going early enough but actually so much of the patch had been picked over... we felt like we picked the best of the worst of them. so we just got a couple and decided we'll head somewhere else to finish off our quota. even though we weren't entirely successful, it was still an awesome way to spend the last of these gorgeous golden days.

and now, with the snow falling outside, we enter the world of fall-winter-ness. for a month or so anyway. then it will just be straight up winter. i'm hoping it holds out until after thanksgiving. then it can snow all it wants...

by now, i have fully embraced the fall. i am loving all the colors, itching to bake anything with pumpkin or cinnamon in it, craving football, trying to layer in hip pregnant fashion, and intentionally step on the fallen leaves just to hear them crunch.

i was fighting it for a while there in september when i just wasn't ready for the summer to end. but now, i am eating it up. i love the fall. and it's such a fleeting season... five, six, maybe seven spectacular weeks of it? and then it's over. then it becomes a mix of fall and winter. but the just fall part, the pure part, is always totally enchanting and i love it.

beth and i have played outside a lot these last few days - getting it in while the weather is still warm, playing with the leaves and walking to the park. today was 72 degrees. 72 degrees! the high on wednesday is 32 with snow. that's colorado for you. probably our last 70+ degree day this year. so we took advantage of it and spent some quality time outside. i soaked up every minute of it.

i asked her to show me her belly button

she loves to show me her belly button. and she loves to poke and tickle mine and anyone else who will let her raise the bottom of their shirt up to where she can see it. it cracks her up and in turn cracks up the belly button owner as well, which is most often me.


and this picture...





this picture makes me melt. she is looking over at her daddy, who lately she calls "babe" or "baby" just like mommy does. i think it drives hank crazy. i also think it's really funny. sometimes if i say to her, "beth, let's go find daddy" she'll start calling out "babe! ...babe! ...baby!" and then we'll find him and it's "hi babe". once i say "there's daddy!" she'll start calling him daddy again, but until then he's her babe as much as he is mine.

they have this thing he'll point at her and smile and then she'll point back at him with this huge smile on her face.





it is just so endearing and cute. and they'll do it several times before either of them get tired of it. she loves her daddy so much. almost as much as i do. (i know... barf-o-rama. but it's true) and i am increasingly excited for #2. just sayin... i can't wait for this little guy to get here. we have officially entered the last trimester. yessssssss.

okay. over n out.

the game

so lately beth and i have this game. she likes to call it "nigh, nigh". the routine goes something like this:

we get home from work/daycare and go to my room so that i can change into some comfy clothes for the night. beth plays on the bed, running from the foot of the bed to the head of it, throwing herself into the pillows and cracking herself up.

i finish changing. she notices.

then she lays her head on one of the pillows and calls me, patting the space next to her with her tiny little hand, and says "nigh, nigh".




i lay down next to her and she is already starting to giggle.

i then say "night, night", close my eyes and pretend to be asleep. she giggles some more, waits a few seconds, then puts her hand on my face which is my cue to "wake up" and scare her with a tickle to the neck and a the roaring sound you make when you're telling a kid what a lion sounds like.

she laughs and laughs.

repeat.

repeat again.

and again.

and again.

and if i fail to take the initiative of falling alseep, she will nudge me by saying "nigh, nigh" and impatiently wait for me to close my eyes and do the whole thing all over again.

we could probably do this for hours. rarely does it feel like we do. i welcome the new routine and this little bit of time to play together before daddy gets home and before we rush in to the kitchen to throw some dinner together (not nearly as quality time). i love to hear her laugh. it's a part of my day i can't stand to not have. that, and her bedtime hugs.

and now, it's time for me to go "nigh, nigh". i am wrecked.

check out the new toy

our new toy was delivered today. and let me just tell you... i am excited. not because she's the prettiest thing you've ever seen and not because she's already in perfect working order. no. but because it's just the beginning of a long beautiful life together that started with a dream many years ago. i fell in love with these things back in the day (college) and have wanted one ever since. it just so happens that hank really likes them too. well, it finally happened. we got us a bronco baby. a '75 302 v8 beaut. she's a little rusty, but she's ours.





now before you judge me and get all crazy, let me just say a couple of things: #1) these things are freaking rad for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it's a big bad machine that is hard core AND that the top comes off. the number one reason i want it. because the top comes off and that makes for some amazing summer drives. #2) hank is selling his truck (know anyone who wants a '72 primer gray ford truck for a steal?). so no, we will not have two pieces of junk at our house, just the one. this is our new project and toy. and it's fantastic.



it wasn't really running when we got it, but it worked out perfectly that hank's parents are in town this weekend, so he and his dad kept their heads under the hood all day and got this lady runnin. a sweet, sweet sound. just a few (okay, kind of a lot) more tweaks here and there and she'll be burning rubber in no time.




i know some of you think we're crazy, but i'm telling you... when i'm the one cruisin' along those curvy canyon roads, blasting some DMB with the top off and wind blowing through my hair, you will be wishing you were with me. yes friends, it was a good day. the fun begins today. aawwww yeah.

the kitchen sink...

...is exactly where i let beth hang out while i was quickly trying to cook dinner tonight.






listen. the girl does not let me cook. if ever i'm facing away from her toward the stove or the counter or the sink, she will come up and pat my legs and say "mommy, mommy!" and pull me away from the stove or counter or sink while simultaneously pushing herself between it and me. then she puts her hands up in the air and begs me to pick her up and hold her while i cook. "while i cook". (read: distracting me entirely from finishing the task at hand). most of the time i put her in her highchair and feed her dinner while i make mine and hank's, and occasionally i can get away with setting her on the counter near me while i work frivolously to get things done, involving her in this and that and finding a gadget or two that i hope will claim her attention. but when neither of those work, i'm in trouble.

tonight was one of those. she just had to be held.

that was, until i turned on the water to de-thaw the chicken. i set her on the counter near the sink and as i was turned away for no more than 4 seconds, when i looked back at her she had both feet in, both hands under the water and a giant smile on her face.





well? it worked for me. i was under a time crunch so i decided to let it ride out.

15 minutes later she was soaked but still happy, dinner was done, and i was perfectly content to dry off every inch of both her and the kitchen floor that had gotten wet in exchange for uninterrupted cooking time.

i've decided that sometimes, you just gotta roll with it. win/win/win.

3 1/2 x 12

that time again already. the end of the month somehow creeps up on me so fast... i cannot believe it's already october. september flew by. i feel like i say that every month... do i?

to be honest, i can barely even remember what we did this month, other than take a trip out to grand junction. that, and buy room decore for the little man's room and all new furniture for beth's room, so that we could take the baby furniture from her room and put it in his room. it's is all painted and ready for furniture and the decor - i'm trying to get it done before i hit 7 months... before i hit uncomfortable and unwilling. well, less-willing. :) and actually, i am super excited for both of their rooms. it will be fun to make beth's room a "big girl" room with a toddler bed and furniture that allows for toy storage and more of a place for her to play. and his room is going to be awesome. i can't wait for the reveal, which will come to all of you as soon as i get it done.

it's kind of weird making this whole transition. maybe a mental thing... beth really isn't a baby anymore, and crazy to think that we're going to have a new one soon. that we're going to be starting all over with another little person. (a humanoid, as hank likes to call them. just teeny tiny human beings, just arrived to earth that have no idea what they're in store for. and yet, we've been entrusted with another... yikes.) so you know, i guess this post is appropriate for the september 3x12 as i really began to notice - and let it settle in - that beth is turning into a little girl. she has so much fun personality, loves to tease and play, loves to talk and sing, and the communication line between us has... i don't know how to explain it... ultra opened up lately. i can say so much more to her and she totally gets it. it's like, the coolest thing. i don't have to act everything out, or say it a hundred times anymore. i can just say things once and she responds, and does, and obeys (mostly), and it's amazing. almost a relief in a way. and yet so fun. because we can talk to each other now and that's what makes it so rad. we can talk to each other and i love it.

so yes, it's weird to think that we'll be starting all of that over. don't get me wrong, i'm stoked and all. i think that innately it seems weird that we've made all this progress with beth and now... back to the beginning. back to sqaure one. only with someone else who is going to be totally different. will i know how to do it differently? i barely knew what to do with the first one! it's a little nerve-racking, no? ...anyone? ...anyone?

something that someone said to me last week about it all hit me and has stuck with me since. they said that since beth will only be 22 months when the little man comes, she will quickly forget when she had us all to herself and for the rest of her life never remember not having a little brother around. at first, i both liked this and didn't like this. our time together has been so special! and it's the only 22 months ever in her whole life that she's going to have that! it was just us and it was so good! but then i thought, you know what? that's why we wanted them so close together - so that they would be close and always be a major part of each other's lives, and always know that the other was there. that's the way we wanted it. i've been really nervous about how she's going to take him and handle not getting 100% of our attention. but i think it will be okay. it might take some time, but i think it will all work out. just the way we wanted it...


pictures of both of the rooms to come soon. hopefully within a month. if we're brave enough to put beth in her toddler bed that early... eek!