Trick or Treat!

Last year we decided not to go trick or treating because we thought C was too young, but this year we were ready! Benicia has trick or treating on 1st street (at all of the shops) and this year it was on Saturday morning. We got together with a bunch of friends and went to get the kids prepared for the big night. Wearing the costume an extra day was a bonus! I really thought Caroline would be nervous to go into the shops and say "Trick or Treat", but she was a champ! She loved it!

Getting ready with Daddy! (I had bags personalized for all the kids)

With Trena and Sierra

Caroline and Mimi going to lunch on Sunday

On Sunday evening, we invited a bunch of our friends over for dinner before Trick or Treating. It worked out really well because the kids got to go out together. We left the house around 6 and were home by 7:15. Perfect for the little ones. My mom came over to pass out candy while we were gone because with all of the kids we get here, I was afraid they would burn down our house if there was no one here with candy! :)

Filling up!

Everyone brought glow bracelets/necklaces and Caroline couldn't get enough! I think she had on 10 before we actually left the house.

Ready to go!

Trick or Treating in style. :)

They were so brave. Caroline loved knocking on all the doors. She would race ahead of everyone so she could be the one to knock. :)

By the end, Trena needed the wagon more than the kids! :)

School Halloween Party

Minnie Mouse all ready to go!

With Maddie at school

Working on some play-doh

Yummy lunch with friends

"What? I get a cupcake???"

Digging in :)

30 Months

I looked at the calendar the other day (being a stay at home mom, I don't always know the date) :) and realized that my baby, my beautiful little girl is 2 1/2! These years, months, days, hours, and minutes have flown by way too fast. Caroline has become such a charming, intelligent, and lovable little girl. Scott and I are constantly blown away at what she knows and can do. I am so happy that we have been able to have so much time with her as an only child before her baby brother is born. Getting to be with her all day, every day has been such a gift.

At 2 1/2, Caroline:

-is about 27lbs and 90th percentile for height (I'm not sure how tall she is these days)
-wears a size 8 in shoes
-wears between a size 2T and 3T. She has super long legs and a small waist which makes buying pants exhausting....she gets it from her Momma. :)
-is a super picky eater. Getting her to eat something new is a huge chore.
-responds well to bribes! The only way to get her to eat her dinner is with the promise of a dance party with Daddy after.
-loves dancing! (especially with Daddy)
-can identify all of the capital letters and tell you a word for each letter
-can count and identify numbers to 20 (although she has been known to skip 14 or 15 when counting)
-knows basic shapes and colors
-is about 90% potty trained. This child WILL NOT poop in the potty. Any tips?
-remembers things from months before and will pull random things that we have told her out of thin air.
-loves spending time with all of her friends and family
-has just now started being a little aggressive when pushed and is having a harder time sharing her toys
-finally got rid of the paci. She only had it in the car, but loved it. We had her give it to a friend's new baby and she got a special toy for making such a big girl choice.
-still LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba and will be attending the live show soon with Mommy and Daddy.
-loves learning new songs at school and remembers them even after we get home.
-loves baby dolls and Fancy Nancy
-is really into Mickey Mouse and wanted to be Minnie for Halloween (pictures coming soon!)
-loves cupcakes and ice cream
-is looking forward to a baby brother who she has named "Baby Go-Go" and kisses him goodnight every night.
-likes playing pretend
-loves her books and puzzles

I'm sure I could go on and on, but I will stop there. We are so proud of the independent, caring, and thoughtful little girl she has become. We feel very lucky to have such a healthy and happy daughter. She is definitely the light of our lives!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch for Caroline's school a few weeks ago and the kids had so much fun. They got to learn about pumpkins and how they grow, take a tractor ride, taste pumpkin seeds (which my picky eater loved), and finally pick out a pumpkin to take home. It was a busy day, but the kids had so much fun.

Maddie, C, Sierra and Carter getting ready for some fun!

Caroline and Sierra were super busy on their laptops in the car on the way there. :)

Bubbles!

They found the perfect pumpkins!

My little rockstar

Caroline has been really into guitars lately...or "tu-tars" as she calls them. :) She has a Yo Gabba Gabba guitar and likes Daddy's Wii guitar. Sometimes Daddy even lets her play his acoustic guitar. She definitely has the stance down.

A day at the farm

There is a great pick-your-own produce place in Fairfield that we went to a few weeks ago. You can pick your own, or just buy the super fresh fruits and vegetables at their little market. We thought the kids would have fun picking tomatoes, but it was a lot of walking and the tomatoes were picked over from the weekend. At least we tried!! We ended up shopping at the market and IO got 2 huge bags of great produce for $10! (Heirloom tomatoes for 89 cents a pound!)
If you are ever in Fairfield or driving through, Larry's Produce is definitely worth the stop.

Maddie, C, Weston and Sierra

Ready to pick some tomatoes with their buckets!

Our trip to NC!

Being considered high-risk for this pregnancy has limited our travel opportunities. I wanted to make sure I got in a trip to see Amy in NC before it is too late for me to travel and before the craziness of having two kids begins! Scott was a really good sport about encouraging us to go, even though he couldn't make it this trip.
Caroline and I went for a week, which seemed like a really long time, but it went by super fast. We were able to see a lot of our friends and even made a trip to Rashkis to visit friends and past students. Being able to spend so much time with Amy and Mia (especially our many trips to Barnes and Noble!) was the highlight of our trip.

Here is my big girl reading books on the plane. She did really well on the long flights, especially considering the fact that she WILL NOT SLEEP on airplanes. :)

Having lunch at one of our old favorites, Brixx with Jennifer!

Ice cream at TCBY in Chapel Hill, another one of our old favorites!

Caroline was really good about sharing with Mia

Amy's cat, Abby. Caroline loves cats and followed poor Abby around the entire week.

We read lots of books...big surprise. :)

Grandma Sue even came by for a visit!

Hairbow madness! Amy's mom owns a hairbow business (hairbows.com) and came over with huge bins of ribbon. We left with another big bag of new bows!

Getting ready to go over to Erin and Mikes

Playing dress up at the Hollingsheads. Erin had a princess dress for Caroline (which is amazing considering she has 3 boys) but Caroline wanted to be Spiderman

With Erin and Little Mike

Caroline and Jack

Silly goose

A wagon ride in the rain with Mia and Jimmy

Caroline and I had an amazing week and we loved spending time with our friends. Thanks again Amy, Jimmy and Mia for letting us visit!