Halloween 2016: Cinderella & Co.

Cinderella has long been Sarah's favorite Disney movie. We watch it all the time, and we have been reading her the story for bedtime since she was tiny. She knows all of the songs and often requests them for bedtime too. Cinderella was the obvious choice for Sarah's first princess Halloween costume. Mommy got to be the fairy godmother, and Daddy and Chris were the mice. The baby was an adorable Gus, and Daddy made a perfect Jaq. 

     We spent the weekend before Halloween in Baker City, so we got to have a bonus trunk or treat before Halloween with my family there. Sarah caught on to the joy of Halloween candy and it quickly became her new favorite holiday. 

      Monday was Halloween, and my parents were planning to come to Fruitland to spend the evening with us. Unfortunately, Dad got stuck at work, and it didn't look like they would be able to come. On top of not having Grandma and Grandpa coming to play with us, we realized we had left Sarah's costume at their house. Never fear.  A true Cinderella lover has a back-up Cinderella costume (or 2 or 3 in Sarah's case.) I fixed up another dress I had picked up at a yard sale for a quarter, and Sarah was set to go.

 Cinderella is always losing her glass slipper.

The beautiful princess ready for Trunk or Treat

As we were leaving for the church, my parents surprised us with a call that they were pulling into town. Yay! We had a great time at trunk or treat with Grandma and Grandpa, and Sarah had her best Cinderella dress back. 

 After trunk or treat, we did some neighborhood trick or treating with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Examining her hoard. The good news is that Sarah hates peanut butter, so I inherited all of the Reese's and Snickers (and plenty of other things while she wasn't looking). Sarah can't wait for next Halloween. In the meantime, she makes me dress up as the fairy godmother every time she dresses as Cinderella.

Family Fun in October

October is a beautiful month. Fall has been very mild here this year, and we have been having all kinds of fun as a family.

 We made a visit to the pumpkin patch in New Plymouth. It was so much fun!

 Sarah loved the petting zoo. She got to pet goats, a donkey, and a sheep.

 This is how Chris spent our whole visit. 

 Sarah's favorite part was the horse-drawn hay ride. She went twice. She also got to go on a train ride and a zip line. What a fun day!

 Of course, we picked out a pumpkin to take home with us. We chose a green pumpkin to turn into a Frankenstein jack-o-lantern.

 Sarah and I enjoy taking our babies for walks. She is on a mission to rid our neighborhood of dandelions.

 Sarah is a wonderful big sister. She especially loves bringing the baby his pacifier and tucking him in.

 3 weeks old- getting chubby and loving to snuggle.

 Sarah's pillow is one of Chris's favorite places to sleep. He hangs out while big sister and I play. It works well.

One of Sarah's favorite games lately is giving baths to all of her toys. Some mess usually results, but it sure keeps her busy. 

Chris has also finally come around to the idea of bath time. Now it is his favorite time of day.

 It is so interesting to watch Sarah play. She lined up all of Grandma's blocks in a perfect row and told me it was a train.

We have two ugly sprinkler boxes located directly in the middle of our yard. Kelson concealed them by building me an enclosed wildflower garden. Kelson has been very excited about landscaping our house. He has planted all kinds of things that will come up in the spring. I can't wait to see what our yard looks like in a few months.

 We spent the last weekend of October in Baker with my family. Chris got some good Grandma snuggle time. Who could resist snuggling this little guy? He's so precious when he is sleeping and not screaming.

Saturday morning snuggles with my three favorite people

The leaves in my parents' yard were about a foot deep. The kids had a great time playing in them on Friday, and then we spent most of the day on Saturday removing all of them. It was quite the job.

We took a break from leaf raking to walk to a restaurant around the corner for lunch. A fairy princess with an umbrella and cowboy boots came along. It was not raining. 

Saturday night was pumpkin carving night. The orange one became Nemo and the green one became Frankenstein. 

 Kelson did such a great job!

Halloween post to come soon. October was a great month!

Chris: 1 Month

Chris is 1 month old!

 Our boy is growing like a weed. He already weighs about 10 pounds and is growing out of his newborn clothes.

 Chris is being a little slow to smile. This is about as close as we get so far.

 This is more often how we see Chris. I'm afraid he is a bit of an angry baby. 

 Angry or not, we love our little angel and can't wait to see who he becomes!

Our First Few Weeks With Chris

The last few weeks have been an adventure adjusting to being a family of 4. We just love our new little addition!

 I just love watching Kelson with our babies!

 Chris's first bath at home. He does not like bath time. Or diaper changes. Or changing his clothes. Mostly, being naked is very bad. Sorry if you heard him screaming 3000 miles away from here. He has some serious lung power.

3 days old, snoozing on Daddy

 Sarah spent about 5 days at my parents' house after Chris was born. It was very helpful to be able to focus on recovering for a few days. Chris and I rode over to Baker City with Kelson to pick Sarah up, and Chris got to have his first trip to Grandma's house and meet his cousins. 

 Sarah had to test out the baby's rocker, swing, and changing table as soon as we got home. She is a great big sister and loves helping with the baby. Sometimes she wants to be a baby too, though. 

 Aunt Katy was in Baker later in the week, so we took Chris over to meet her. My kids are so lucky to have such good aunts and uncles!

I just had to capture this moment during our day at Grandma's house - Sarah and both of her boy cousins playing nicely and sharing together with no one screaming! This does not happen often.

 This was on one of my first morning's home with both kids, about a week and a half after Chris was born. Big sister was busy playing, so I got to play with my sleepy baby doll and take some newborn photos. 

 My Aunt Kerri made this amazing quilt for Chris. It is perfect for his nautical nursery!

 Chris was relaxing on Sarah's pillow while she and I read books and he fell right to sleep. Apparently Big Sister's bed is more comfy than his.

 Everyone was grumpy one sunny morning, so we headed outside. Both kids were instantly happy. This was Chris's first time relaxing outside.

 Sarah has had lots of extra play time with Dad while I've been recovering. Dressing up Daddy is always a fun pastime. 

Sarah's first time holding baby brother. She is a great big sister. She loves getting him his pacifier, tucking him in with blankets, and telling him not to cry because everything is okay. She tells everyone that he is "baby brother Chris". I love these two munchkins so much!