Our Hauntingly Fun Weekend

We had quite an adventure with our special friends from Houston, Brady, Cash, Nathan, and Nolan. In the mommies' attempt at getting some time to actually see each other and have a conversation, we decided to rent a really old farm house in the middle of nowhere so the kids could play outside and run free. The fact that a really old farm house could potentially be super creepy never occurred to me until we got there and went inside. The place gave me the serious creeps. I put on a brave face, but I will now admit that I was thisclose to packing up the entire household each night and driving us all back to our house to camp in the backyard. Kellie and Kelley, I suspect, felt the same way, because none of us was particularly interested in going to bed either night. And when we finally did, I stayed awake all night waiting for the ghost I was sure would be walking across my bedroom.

Other than one little girl's voice calling for mommy from upstairs (when my little girls were fast asleep DOWNSTAIRS), we didn't have any mysterious visitors. Instead, we probably scared them with all the running amok that went on. It was pretty cold, so our attempts at getting everyone outside failed a lot of the time, but Kelley saved the day with lots and lots of great crafts to keep the kids busy. Even though I was utterly exhausted by the end of the weekend, we had a wonderful time with our wonderful friends. Claire is still talking about living in the house with Nathan and Brady and wonders when we can do it again. Next time, however, I think I'll be voting for a resort with child care.

Craft Time


Big Boys


(Not so) Little Boys


Having a great time


Hot Chocolate!

Madeleine is Eleven Months Old!

Thanks to Miss Magoo's mandatory monthly updates, we're back on the blogging train. Be expecting lots of pictures (as well as a status update on our move) soon.....

But, in the meantime, happy eleven months, Miss Madeleine! You are becoming quite a big girl!

You:
*are all leg - 9 month shirts and 12 month pants are your current sizes.
*still fit into a size 3 diaper.
*crawl at super-sonic speeds.
*stand for a good bit of time all on your own.
*have taken single steps here and there for the last couple of weeks, and yesterday, you took two!
*started a Little Gym class and love it.
*can say "Hi, Daddy" and wave.
*call Claire "Claaaaaah", and Mommy "mamamam".
*still say "num num" for food.
*love to clap and say "yaaaaaah!" when things get exciting.
*use a separate, sing-songy voice when you talk to the pets.
*are very curious. Nothing can be left undiscovered and put together nicely.
*can go up stairs very well, but going down is another story. You're slowly figuring it out, and at least you've stopped taking headers.
*have figured out that certain things are off-limits, like the electrical outlets. When you get close to one, and I tell you to stop, you turn around and flash me the most ridiculously cute smile. And then you proceed to keep going.
*definitely have opinions, and this face is one we see a lot now:
*are really not that into your happy (our word for pacifiers). You will use one only if you are really tired, but otherwise, you'd rather be eating.
*have discovered that Yoplait Greek yogurt is delicious. As well as Chick fil A (oh, how standards change for second-borns!)
*are so sweet and love to put on a show for an audience.

And, now the reason you visited in the first place - pictures!

Aggieland

We checked off another item of our "Bucket List" this weekend - taking the girls to College Station for a game day. We headed out Saturday morning and arrived in town just in time for lunch at CJ's BBQ in Bryan, which was surprisingly empty. Then we headed to campus. We walked all over, showing the girls all things Aggie:

Finding Great! Grandpa Scott's name on the wall at the Association of Former Students:

Watching the Cav parading around. Claire got lots of practice at Gig Em-ing.

Playing under the Century Tree:

Posing with Sully:

And strolling the halls of Zachry:

By the time our tour of campus was complete, we were ready for step-off on the Quad. We found some of J's buddies and caught up with them while watching the spectacle. Neither girl was crazy about cannon booming, but Claire was tickled with her chance at petting Reveille. We walked with the Corps to Kyle, petting Reveille every chance possible, then continued on to dinner at Mi Cocina. (Either they've gone way downhill, or my standards are much higher now....) We got back to our car right at kick-off. I can't think of a better ending to our fun day than the sound of 90,000 Aggies yelling in the background.

Oh, and for the record, the Aggies beat OU 33-19. Whoop!

Halloween

Claire was lucky enough to have two different costumes this year. She was Sleeping Beauty for her school party, then transformed into a pink kitty for trick or treating.

C's school has a Halloween parade around the gym so everybody can see everyone else's costume. Last year, C wanted nothing to do with dressing up, and seeing some of the other teachers dressed up scared her. This year was different. She thought for weeks about which costume she should wear, finally deciding on Sleeping Beauty. She was so excited the morning of the parade and could not wait to get to school. Madeleine and I arrived just in time to get a front-row spot just as the parade started. And, to C's surprise, Daddy showed up right as she was walking in front of us! After the parade, the kids headed back to their classrooms for a pizza party and cupcakes. Even Madeleine joined in to eat, but all the costumes kept her firmly seated in her stroller.



Next up was the night C had been waiting for - time to trick or treat! She watched out the front window for most of the afternoon, looking for any early birds. Finally, it was time to head out. The girls put on their costumes - C as a pink kitty, M as a black one - and away we went. We only did our street, but C had a great time. She's already planning what she wants to be next year - a Super Kitty, whatever that means.

Day Trip to Fredericksburg

We checked off another item from our Texas Bucket List with a day trip out to Fredericksburg with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jamey, and Uncle Jeff. We played at a playground, did some shopping, ate at the brewery, then finished off the day at the Becker winery.

4-Year Stats

Claire had her dreaded 4-year check a couple of weeks ago. All I can say is, thank goodness she doesn't have to get another shot until she's 11. She knew going into it that she'd have to wear special headphones and listen to sounds, look at a poster and tell the shapes she sees, and get shots. And she was very brave going in to it. But before the exam could even begin, things started going downhill. The nurse made her do what any pink-loving 4-year old girl would dread the most--take off the beautiful pink pants, and put on horrible, blue, way-too-big paper shorts. She finally was bribed into putting them on with the promise of a princess sticker, and she did perfectly with her hearing and vision screen. (As I suspected--the child can hear a whisper on the other side of the house. Especially when it has to do with ice cream or chocolate.) And the exam from the doctor went equally as perfectly. Here are her stats:

Weight: Gained 3.5 pounds since last year, which puts her at 29 lbs, 12 oz: 9th%
Height: Grew 3.25 inches since last year, which puts her at 39.5 inches: 44th%
Body Fat: TWO percent. Lucky thing.

And then the nurse came back.....The first item was the flumist, which wasn't awful, but I think it surprised her. No tears, just a bit of shock. Then we moved her to the table, and I held onto her hands and leaned over her chest. Evidently I was also in charge of holding down her legs, which I didn't know until the first shot went in, and Claire kicked. So the needle tore her leg. It wasn't like a huge gaping tear or anything, but it was definite slice. Poor, poor thing. She wailed. And then wailed some more with the next 2 shots. She calmed herself down quickly enough to be able to leave the office with decency, but then she whimpered the whole way home. She spent most of the rest of the day in our bed watching tv because her leg hurt so much.

She's all better now, thank goodness, but ever since that day, she's been obsessed with booboos and bandaids. Every little bump needs a bandaid, and we're constantly shopping for another box of them. I'm really hoping the phase is over soon.

Madeleine is Ten Months Old!

What a special day for Miss Magoodle--it's 10/10/10, and she's turning 10 months old! She's had quite a month for herself, working hard on communication and mobility.

Little Miss Chunky Thighs is wearing size 9-month shirts and 12-month pants. She's still in a size 3 diaper.

Her hair is really starting to grow, so bows are becoming a wardrobe necessity. Too bad she doesn't think so--she just pulls them out and sticks them in her mouth most of the time.

We're also starting to get her used to shoes, which she isn't very fond of, either.

Moo waves all the time--especially to Big Sister--while she's eating. She takes a bite of food, then lifts up her right arm and waves while she chews. She's also clapping! This just started about a week ago, and she loves the attention it brings her. She has remarkable timing as well, and seems to know exactly when to start the applause.

Mooskie has graduated to professional crawler. She can really move--fast. Her balance is also becoming much better, so now she lets go of whatever it is she's pulled up on. She's still too wary to try taking a step, but she has no problem pushing toys and light pieces of furniture around and walking behind them.

We've also discovered another allergy....eggplant! She broke out in splotches again, but they weren't nearly as bad as the egg reaction.

We've been working on drinking out of a sippy, but aren't having much success. We've tried around 5 different types of cups, and wouldn't you know, the cheapest kind is the one that's giving her the most luck. I think it's because it leaks so she doesn't really have to try hard to get any water out of it.

Happy 10-month birthday, Miss Moodle!