{Snuggle Wagon}

This weekend we had visitors.
Josh's parents, Nina and Grandpa, came to stay with us for a few days.  (Both my mom and Josh's mom wanted to be called Nana, but Miss O somehow morphed that into "Nina" over the years and it stuck!).  When Josh's parents come to visit, it almost always involves working to finish the basement.  We have outgrown our house much faster than we anticipated, so there has been much work going on over the past year or so to finish the basement to give us more room (slow and steady wins the race, right?).
Well, this weekend was quite to the contrary.  We relaxed and played at home, mostly because both little monsters were running fevers, and poor Baby B was so congested she could hardly breathe!  It was a nice change of pace, to be able to spend time with Nina and Grandpa without feeling like there was work to be done on the house.
Nina even brought a turkey and my favorite party potatoes (look for the how-to under the "recipes" tab!) for dinner, since we're not sure we're going to be traveling home for Thanksgiving.  It was very thoughtful, and quite yummy!
Since Miss O wasn't feeling quite herself, she and Nina decided to put together a little bed in her wagon (yes, we have a wagon in our living room).  They piled pillows from the couch into the bottom of the wagon and gave her a big comfy pillow for a backrest.  She laid in the wagon with her blanket and baby and read books, watched Toy Story, and just relaxed.  It was the cutest thing!  When I asked her if she wanted to cuddle on the couch with mommy she answered, "No, thank you.  I'm in my snuggle wagon".  How adorable is that?

{5 Months}

My baby is growing so fast!  B turned 5 months on October 24th.  I know, I know, that was a few weeks ago, but I'm still going to post a few photos for your viewing pleasure. 

Here she is!

Here's what B has been working on this month:

• she sleeps throught the night!
• she makes all kinds of sounds; gurgles, sputters, coos
• she giggles and laughs!
• she is very attached to her mommy
• everything she touches goes straight to her mouth
• she is very alert and inquisitive when she's awake
• she recognizes herself in a mirror
• she sits with support for longer periods of time
• she rolls over and moves in all directions
• she grasps toys (and hair) with great aim



{Trick-or-Treat}

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! 
It was the first time The Divine Miss O was really able to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and understand what was happening. 

She wasn't really into carving pumpkins, so Daddy and I ended up doing that.  She sat in her chair for a while and made scrunchy faces at the pumpkin guts as we scooped them out and dropped them onto the table.  She told us it smelled funny and even gagged a few times (which, I thought was pretty funny!  She has an extremely sensitve gag reflex and does this quite often at the smell or texture of foods she's not very fond of).  She ended up playing with Buzz and Woody, reading books, and entertaining Baby B for the majority of the pumpkin carving experience.



Lately, Miss O has been very uncooperative when it comes to getting her photograph taken.  She always has a sad, pouty face, or she's crying when I want to get a good photo.  This evening was no exception.  She wanted nothing to do with mommy taking her picture with the pumpkins.

Baby B was much happier to humor mommy and even smiled for a photo with the jack-o-lanterns!

On Halloween evening, we had to wait for Josh to get home from basketball practice before we could go trick-or-treating, so we got a bit of a late start.  We got both girls all dressed up, and again, Miss O was averse to having her picture taken.  Go figure! 

We got off to a rough start - there was some throwing of things, some tears, and a time-out - and that was before we even rang one single door bell!  But, once we got going and she started to understand what this trick-or-treat thing was all about, she had a change of heart.  She quickly became very adept at saying "trick-or-treat" in her adorable high-pitched voice and everyone thought she was the cutest Jessie the Cowgirl they'd ever seen!  Baby B was also dressed as Jessie in her little onesie and stocking cap.  B is so easy going, she was just along for the ride that night, taking everything in. 

My parents, Nina and Papa, were visiting and I think they had just as much fun as the kiddos did!  My mom pulled Miss O in the wagon, and my dad carried Baby B around.  The weather was so nice, we ended up sitting out on our driveway handing out candy to the swarm of trick-or-treaters at our house when we were all done.  All in all, it was a good day.  Lots of fun, lots of candy, lots of memories.