Happy Halloween

October 31 has everything to do with our sweet, spunky first born and little to do with Halloween. So, I'll do a Halloween post today.

We had a bunch of errands to run today and just as we were ready to leave, I looked out the window and saw that it was snowing. The weather reports had predicted snow but I didn't think it was supposed to start until the evening.

When we got back from our errands, Abby was dying to play in the snow.

Because of the "dangerous" weather conditions, the Halloween party at the church was cancelled. The party was going to be a chili cook-off, and our friends had already made a big pot of chili, so they invited a bunch of people over for a mini-Halloween party.

We put our girls in their costumes and they sure looked cute!

Sam and I threw together last minute costumes because our orginal plans fell through. I was a reindeer. Sam was a stocking (a costume I have from a high school assembly). There's no picture of Sam in the stocking because he looks a little woozy in the only one I took.

It was a fun alternative to the big party but we're still pretty bummed it got cancelled.

As we speak, Abby is up way past bedtime sledding with daddy and the Flemings. Sometimes, staying up past bedtime to go sledding is just what a little girl needs.

Looking Back

After posting about Freddy Hill Farms yesterday, I thought it would be fun to compare pictures from our previous trips.

Abby sure has grown up. But, she still gets just as messy when she eats ice cream.

Freddy Hill Farms: Take 3

We made our third visit to Freddy Hill Farms today. It's crazy to think that we've been in Philadelphia long enough to participate in a seasonal activity 3 times, and it's even more crazy to think that we'll only have one more shot at it.

We had a rocky start to the day. Abby decided to wake up at 3:30 a.m. and never went back to sleep. She wasn't fussy or crying. She just wanted to play. She didn't even wake up like that as a newborn. It was INSANE. Sam hadn't even gone to bed yet because he was up late studying. I felt so bad for him.

We got all ready to go in the morning. I really didn't want to reward Abby's unusual behavior with a fun day but I had been looking forward to it as much as she had so I wasn't willing to back out.

On the drive to the farm, Abby told me her tummy was hurting. I thought she was just hungry because she hadn't had much for breakfast so I gave her something to munch on. She kept saying her tummy hurt and then she puked. A lot. It was super sad and stinky. This stomach ailment may have contributed to her mid-night antics.

She seemed to feel much better after she got the puke out and I knew she would be devastated if we didn't go. Plus, I was riding with the girl who organized the whole activity. So, we decided to go for it.

When we got out of the car it was cold and windy. Abby had pretty well demolished her sweatshirt so I improvised and just wrapped her in a blanket. She smelled a little bit like puke all day but it didn't seem to bother her.

We loaded up our wagon for a fun hayride to the pumpkin patch. It was fun to snuggle two sweethearts this time.

It was muddy and a lot of the pumpkins were soggy because of the insane amount of rain we have had this year but we managed to find some good ones.

Luckily, the sun came out and the wind died down soon after we arrived at the pumpkin patch.

After choosing our pumpkins, we went through the corn maze--with no wrong turns I might add. Our ride down the slide was more brisk this year. I must have been wearing better sliding pants.

We finished off the morning with some delicious homemade ice cream. Abby slipped in a few orange slices between licks to help me feel better about feeding her ice cream before lunch. (Who am I kidding? I didn't feel the least bit bad.)

Then and Now

And by now, I mean a month-and-a-half ago, but ya know, close enough.

Me and Clara. Megan and Josie. Tiffany and Abby. Sarah and Claire. Kimberly and James.

Just Playing

It's strange to me to realize that I spend the majority of every day playing. Most grown ups aren't so lucky, so I should count myself blessed!

Abby has had fun revisiting her infancy and playing with the baby toys.

We gave Clara a piece of graham cracker to nibble on. You can't really tell in this picture, but it was all over her shirt.

Oh heavens, she is a cutie. But, that's just my totally unbiased opinion.

How big does Abby look!?! I can't believe she will be 3 in 2.5 weeks.

Clara's favorite thing to do lately is unload all of the toys from her box into her lap. When the box is empty she grumps until we put all of the toys back in.

I love this picture because it shows off her constant moving, stretching feet. I think they stay so tiny because she is constantly working them out.

My girls enjoying their after-nap milk. Why do they always have cute moments when Abby is covered in sweat?

It truly is a blessing to play with these girls all day, even though I'm occasionally convinced I will drop dead if I have to play Play-Do or watch another segment of Elmo's World. (Does anyone else find Mr. Noodle totally disturbing?) My girls are so much fun and I dread the day when they won't want to play with me anymore.

Sitting Pretty

Clara started seeing an occupational therapist once a week to help catch up with the development of her gross motor skills--the big stuff like rolling, sitting and crawling. She has low muscle tone in her core which makes doing those things more challenging. She is improving quickly and is getting really good at sitting up by herself.

She tends to sit by locking her legs rather than using her tummy muscles so we are working with her to have better posture.

I am still pumping as often as I can and topping her bottles off with formula. We call it the Clara Cocktail. My milk supply hasn't really increased at all but she keeps growing so we are grateful.

The girls have more fun playing together these days. They love to make each other laugh. We will hear them both giggling in their bedroom when they wake up in the morning.