Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween festivities started on Thursday morning, when Chloe's preschool had a Halloween Party. Chloe was so excited to dress up in her costume a day early, but acted shy as soon as we walked in the door.

She hid behind me for a few minutes, then slowly made her way to this couch and sat with her hands over her eyes for a few more minutes. Her sweet little friend Kennedy sat and talked to Chloe on the couch, while this cute little boy stood guard around her and defended the princess's honor until she was ready to party.

Here is the whole preschool class. A cute bunch.

Mitch was our sweet little pumpkin. Chloe wore this exact same costume her first two Halloweens. Maybe he'll fit into it again and wear it next year, too.

Our beautiful princess Chloe! We found other really cute costumes for her that we wanted to get, but she kept telling us that she really just wanted to be a princess (again. She was a fairy princess last year). We decided to enjoy this stage of not needing to buy a costume and just using her cute dress up clothes- things we already have= easy and free.

And yes, that is a black eye- our battered princess (the real Cinderella story). She and Mitchell had an unfortunate accident this week involving the back of Mitchell's head and Chloe's eye- ouch!

Outside and ready to hit the streets!

Chloe was excited to collect all the candy, but she refused to say "Trick or Treat" all night. She would get up to the door and stand there silent or with her hand over her eyes, fingers in mouth, while Ben and I lamely said, "Trick or Treat" 3 million times. At one point, as we were walking to the next house, she said, "We can be done. I have enough candy...." She said that only because she didn't want to say Trick or Treat at the next door. What an internal struggle for her- she desperately wanted the candy, but would do anything to not have to ask for it.....

Mitchell was a trooper and was as good as can be. He watched in awe as we walked to house after house and were given candy. Ben and I hauled him around all night and after seeing many people with their pre-walkers in strollers, we realized we should have done the same thing.

Check out all the candy! We sometimes complain about having to live so close to so many people in such a small space, but on Halloween, this comes in handy! In just an hour's time, and in just a few blocks radius (if that), we got enough candy to last us for weeks. Growing up out in the country, we could only go on foot for the few neighbors that lived close. For the rest of the evening, my mom would have to drive us around out in the country, stopping the car every few seconds, all evening. We did everything on foot tonight and only had to walk a very short distance. There are definite advantages to living where lots of people are! (And our neighbors give out great candy too!)

Enjoying her candy, even though we had threatened her that she couldn't have any for not saying "Trick or Treat."

We decided to let Mitchell go hog wild and eat all the candy he wanted tonight. He loved his birthday cake just 2 weeks ago, so we thought he'd go crazy over all the sweets. We really haven't fed him too many treats, at all (he doesn't know what he's missing, so we don't usually offer), but when we do sneak him a bite or two here and there of sugary things, he loves it. But tonight, he took a few sucks on a sucker.......

And maybe 2 bites of chocolate, but then kept spitting any candy out we offered him. I'm not sure if he was full from the large dinner he ate, or if he just wasn't liking it.

What he did love to do was just play with all of it all night- it was like handfuls and handfuls of new toys. That was fine with us. More for me!

Happy Halloween!

Snack Time

As I mentioned in a previous post, our kitchen floor is almost constantly covered in food, mostly because of the large amounts of food Mitchell throws/drops during meals, and some to the crumbs and spills of Chloe.  One of Mitchell's favorite things to do now that he is a crawling, mobile baby is to crawl into the kitchen when he is hungry and help himself to a "snack" on the floor.  (Gross, I know, but I can't prevent it all the time).

Today, he was being quiet and I couldn't see him and asked Chloe to check on him.  She peaked into the kitchen and reported, "Mom, he's just eating an apple on the floor."  This is the apple that Chloe ate at least a day ago, if not more, that naturally ended up on the floor.  I came into investigate and found this:

Apparently, eating this snack was exhausting and he needed to rest while doing it.

Even after running to get the camera and having a good laughing at him, he still just laid under his high chair for quite some time, quietly gnawing on his apple.

He is my snuggle baby and will crawl around the house and if he finds me sitting on the floor, he will crawl over and lay his head down in my lap and snuggle with me.  I've noticed lately that he now will just randomly lay down on the kitchen floor as well, as he demonstrates here.

Our kids teach us many new things, some that we have never thought of before.  Today's Tip:

If anyone is looking for a new way to spice up your snack time or a midnight snack attack, I suggest enjoying it belly down on your kitchen floor.  If you're looking to curb your appetite and cut back on snacks, this approach may be what you're looking for.  I'm guessing that eating on your tummy will decrease your appetite for a number of reasons: 1) You'll see how gross your floor looks up close (especially if it's been awhile since a sweep or mop job), which will disgust you and ruin your appetite. 2) With your belly being smashed, you'll have less room and desire to fill it up or stuff yourself, thus leading to less chance of overeating.  3) Once you get down on the floor, you'll realize how hard (and perhaps painful) it is to get back up, which will decrease your chances of continuously getting up to get more snacks.

As an added bonus, chances are that while you're down flat munching away, you'll find a special treat to enjoy for tomorrow's snack time.

Memories

AS A COMMENT ON MY BLOG, LEAVE ONE MEMORY THAT YOU AND I HAD TOGETHER.  IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU KNEW ME A LITTLE OR A LOT... ANYTHING YOU REMEMBER!  NEXT, RE-POST THESE INSTRUCTIONS ON YOUR BLOG AND SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE LEAVE A MEMORY ABOUT YOU.  IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY COOL (AND FUNNY) TO SEE THE RESPONSES.  IF YOU LEAVE A MEMORY ABOUT ME, I'LL ASSUME YOU'RE PLAYING THE GAME AND I'LL COME TO YOUR BLOG AND LEAVE ONE ABOUT YOU!

Birthday Boy

It happened- our little man turned one!  I didn't think it would happen (or perhaps hoped it wouldn't really happen) but it did.  He still seems like my baby, though.  Maybe it's because he has a busy 3 year old sister or because he's so sweet and cuddly. Either way, he doesn't really seem old enough to be one.  Despite my denial, we did celebrate his big day. 

We started off his day with a pumpkin muffin for breakfast.  He loved it and was enthralled with the candle.

Later that morning, Chloe enjoyed helping me make the cake.  She sports a chocolate goatee after licking the bowl.  (She looks thrilled, I know).

Here's the birthday boy, ready to party!

He was being really quiet, so I was curious if he would even get into the gift opening.  

He thoroughly enjoyed it, and strategically (and engineeringly) opened each gift.  Gift opening is not just fun and games anymore.... 

He had a great time and at first was more interested in tearing into the next gift then playing with what was underneath the wrapping paper.

My mom sent this little baseball player Beenie Baby toy.  Ben wasn't sure what to think of the "man doll" and didn't even like the word doll for it.  He especially didn't like when I asked Mitchell to give it "loves."  (Whoops)

But Mitchell was obsessed with the.... uh, plush figurine, and kept crawling over to it all night.  At one point, he picked it up, took off the toys' baseball hat, looked it right in the eye and yelled "Dada! (Dad).  How can Ben not love it now?  Apparently, it looks just like him.....

 He loved crawling around to play with each new toy all evening.

After a swing like that, we've signed him up for T-ball this spring.  Get the Yankees on the phone.... we've got a ball player here.

With his new loot.

To keep with the baseball theme, we went with a few baseball cakes. 

The baseball one was for him to tear into.

Daddy helping him blow out the candle.

Digging in!  I was especially excited to see how/what he would do with his cake.

He went at it slowly, at first....

And got bigger and bigger handfuls....

He finally started to get aggressive with it.  He was loving the chocolate and sugar so much that at one point, his lip was quivering due to the sheer enjoyment.

Things started to pick up at this point- until he realized he had had enough.  Notice in the picture his tongue is out and he's spitting out the cake.

He was full and extremely satisfied and we thought he was done.

But then he realized how much fun it would be to bathe in the cake and started rubbing it all over his head.

Apparently Mitchell and I are more alike than I originally thought.... Bathing in chocolate is a dream of mine too!

Ready to hit the tub!

We had such a fun day with our Mr. Mitchell and an even more wonderful year.  I was a few days overdue with him and it was the longest few days of my life at the time, but he was worth the wait!  What a sweet, lovable joy he is in our life.  He brings such a wonderful spirit into our home and makes all of us want to be better just by being around him.  Here's to another wonderful year with our Mitch Man (if it doesn't go by so fast!)  

And thanks to all who sent gifts/cards for his special day.  He really does love them all and we appreciate you remembering him.

Here Comes Trouble!

My baby is becoming very mobile and trouble has started brewing in our house as a result......

It all started with some delayed crawling.  The trouble is, I now can no longer leave a room and come back and find him in the exact same spot.  (That was fun while it lasted).

The crawling gave him the confidence to try kneeling, which allows him to enjoy more toys.

The other trouble with crawling is that it has allowed him more freedom to explore the house, which includes the kitchen!  He loves my cupboards and is thinking about throwing a Tupperware Party soon.

Chloe, at this same age, would empty my tupperware out almost every day.

The kneeling led to pulling himself up to stand, which, lucky for me, took longer than I thought it would (he's been much slower at milestones than Chloe).  This was just delayed trouble.  He loves my utensil/miscellaneous drawer as well.

Lots of messes, but it does keep him entertained!

Chloe also loved this same kitchen drawer at the same age too.  

Feeding himself is so cute......

Until THIS happens........ trouble, trouble, trouble.

He loves playing with Chloe now, which is so cute and fun for me to watch.

He's becoming quite the pretend chef too.  He makes a mean plastic waffle.

The trouble is- I now have two little people that can completely tear apart a room in 5 minutes flat.  And by the end of the day, it's not just one room, but 3 or 4.  That's called double trouble.

And with the pictures above of feeding himself lead to this trouble...... food and mess all over my floor.  I know this is disgusting, but this is what I swept up off my kitchen floor last night.  And this is just 2 days accumulation!  I need to sweep everyday to prevent my floor from looking like the city dump.  Regardless of how long its been since I swept last, all of us are constantly walking around with little (or big) crummies stuck to the bottom of our feet, which is so annoying.  And the crummies conveniently come right off your feet when you step on the carpet, leaving my family room looking like a well littered beach.  Luckily I love vacuuming, which I now need to do 3-4 times a week as well.  Of course in my often delayed efforts to sweep and vacuum, Mitchell crawls around and enjoys a nice snack off the floor or carpet in between meals.  Waste not, want not, right?  Trouble.......

I didn't have a picture of Mitchell, but here is Chloe at the same age right after a meal- food all over the floor.  

But how can anyone be too much trouble when they are doing this in between all the trouble making?