Spiderman and Little Miss Bee

Happy Halloween! We had a pretty good day today and of course had fun trick or treating this year with Luke. We managed to score H1N1 vaccines for the kids this morning so they both got the shots for what it is worth! Luke had to be poked twice since he was kicking, screaming, and flailing... but he was fine right afterwards. Charlotte already had a runny nose but hopefully it won't turn into anything too serious. Aunt Kathryn came home for Halloween and we visited with her in the afternoon. Then we all went to Amy's house for pizza and pictures before trick or treating! It was very cold and windy so Luke didn't last very long trick or treating before he announced, "I'm done." It was too cold to take Charlotte along so she stayed with my mom to help pass out candy. Here's Luke with his loot... (Charlotte wanted to check out the candy as well!) he wanted to take a bite of everything and then just give it away or put it back. He doesn't seem to like a lot of the candy he bites into haha But he does like M&M's and most chocolates! He started getting a little hyper haha but I guess that's what Halloween is all about when you are 2! Here is a video of Luke's first solo trip up to someone's door. He said the trick or treat and the lady confirmed for me that he did say thank you all by himself haha I'm such a nosy mom! You can tell from his walk that he was proud of himself!

Busy Baby

Charlotte's been a busy baby in her 7th month of life. She started eating some finger foods (and refusing baby foods...), started pulling herself up to standing, walks along furniture holding on, claps her hands, imitates "da-da-da", and all while fighting off a nasty virus earlier this month! Her mommy is very proud of her. Her little personality shows through more and more each day. She does the cutest little laugh when she holds your hands and thinks she is walking. She definately gets to where she wants to go, although she still prefers to be held and carried a lot! :) I can't believe how "big" she is getting although she still seems like a little peanut when she is standing up! She still does a belly crawl but really only crawls to something that she can pull herself up on and stand. Luke didn't pull himself up until around 9 months I think so I wasn't quite prepared for this! If I am remembering correctly I think Luke babbled a little more whereas Charlotte often seems pretty quiet still. She's been spoiled in the sleeping area in that her crib is still in our room and she often shares our bed halfway through the night. She is getting a little bit better about letting us lay her down for naps in her crib and staying asleep for longer stretches at a time.

Take a Hike

One of the reasons we bought our house was for the location (the house has been a "money pit" and we have had all sorts of woodland creatures invading us) but we are on a small no-motor lake with a game preserve across the road. We love to be able to just walk across the road and take small hikes in the woods. Luke loves this as well, however during the summer we had to avoid the woods because of too much poison ivy and too many mosquitoes! We kept promising him once it gets colder the buggies won't be so bad and we can take walks in the woods. Well, finally today everyone felt well enough to be able to get outside for some fresh air and take a little hike together. It was also nice to do something as a family that we all enjoy because sometimes that just doesn't seem to happen very often anymore! I had yet to try Charlotte in the Ergobaby carrier on my back. Now that she can hold her head up good, it was a perfect fit. I wasn't sure if we had her in right at first, but she never cried and fell asleep pretty fast so I think that means she was in okay! I loved feeling her little arms around me. We hiked back to the dam and looked at the water rushing through and then we climbed up onto a high ridge where you can see more ponds out in the game preserve. The cool, crisp autumn air felt good in our recovering lungs. We saw some wood ducks flying away with their weird squeaky call and a couple blue herons flew over the water. I wished we would have had an extra person to take a shot of all four of us on our first family hike into the woods. Maybe Aunt Kathryn or Nana can tag along next time and try to get a good shot of us all together!

Grummies

Well, we have our first case of the grummies for the season. Luke woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and coughing. Of course, I watched an informational program on the swine flu last night so I am freaked out! I'm sorry, I mean the h1n1 flu! I don't care what they say... swine flu is just catchier so that's what I continue to call it. If they wanted to get away from the idea of pigs and people being afraid to eat pork then they should have come up with a snazzier name than h1n1. So right now I am wondering whether to call the doctor. Luke's technically in a high risk group of under 4 years old and I read that you should call the doctor when you see symptoms for them. He has a gunky sounding cough, fever, runny nose... hard to tell with 2 yo if he has a headache or body aches. Charlotte has a dry cough every once in awhile so I am keeping an eye on her closely. I pray she doesn't get it as well, no matter what it is! Right now, Luke has some tylenol in him and he is laying on his new spider man foam fold out couch (I couldn't resist!) and he is happily watching the movie Bolt. Charlotte is napping in her crib after having gotten up at 6:00am still. Let's hope we are all healthy soon!
Back to mommy duty...

More Than Corn

There's more than corn in Indiana... but there sure is a heck of a lot of it around right now! Getting into the Fall spirit, Nana and I took Colin, Luke, and Charlotte to a corn maze. The boys were already approaching naptime so it was a gamble on how the afternoon would go! They had a great time running through the corn and deciding which way to go next. Colin (who is notoriously clumsy at times) tripped at least 4 times in the maze. I can still here his loud "aghhhh!!" everytime like he couldn't believe he fell down again! Then we snuck through some thick corn to reach the pumpkin patch! With all the pumpkin vines in the patch both boys were tripping... but still having fun. One of the best things about this farm was that in addition to the maze and pumpkin patch they had a pumpkin sling shot to shoot little pumpkins into a pond, a tricycle race track, and a big slide going down a hill. Even though the boys were getting tired, they perked up for shooting pumpkins out of a slingshot and Luke did the slide first with me and then by himself about 4 more times! He loved the slide!

The weather has been so cold, rainy, and dreary this weekend so it was nice to get out and enjoy some Fall activities while the sun was out! It definately helped wear out the two toddlers and they have some fun new experiences to talk about now.

Like the New Look?

You may have noticed that my blog started to look a little bit different lately! Through Twitter I met Nicole a.k.a the Grudgemom who was offering to help people redesign their blog! I took her up on the offer and she has been working hard over the last month on a new design and I love it! I didn't give her much to go on as far as a design theme and she did a wonderful job. I like to call it my "big girl blog" since I have a more updated layout with links along the top for reviews and giveaways (If I ever have those opportunities come along!). She is also a mom of an adorable little girl named Penny and a great advocate for breastfeeding. Check out her blog and some of her other design work along her right hand column. Thanks Grudgemom!