Halloween 2009

Halloween was a blast this year. We had three lit up pumpkins in the house that we had to turn on as soon as we walked in the door or woke up. It was a little earth shattering when I finally had to put the pumpkins up until next year. Does anybody know where I can find a light up turkey?

The festivities started with a Halloween party at Miss Melinda's Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, that was not the best experience of Julia's life because I took her and John met us there. I kept trying to explain to her that we were only going to Miss Melinda's to enjoy a Halloween party and not for me to leave her. She cried and clung to me the entire time we were there, oh yeah, that is until we put her down at the table in front of her cupcake and cookie! The leaving her at the sitters has not gotten much easier for any of us.

Her favorite part of the party was the spider ring that was on top of the cupcake!

Halloween Day, Mom, Julia and I headed to Memphis to go to Emmy's Halloween carnival. We had a great time. And here's....Tinkerbell!

Notice the Halloween bag on her arm that accompanied her everywhere for a few days. Not because it was so cute, but because there were five lollipops in it that kept her interest.

Tinkerbell plays soccer....

Tinkerbell was all fine and good for a while, but then it was time to get comfy. She LOVES this sand table at Emmy's house. Our car looked like we had been to the beach when we got home...full of sand.


Then we went trick or treating at Jee Jee and Pappaws. Julia walked in the front door, sat in her Elmo chair and said, "Wanna watch Elmo." I think she forgot that she was there to trick or treat and not hang out....

Then we went trick or treating at Kristen and Nicoles. They were decked out for Halloween and had the scary fog machine going at the front door. This is Julia helping Nicole hand out candy.

Check out this scary table!

Last, we headed to Neall and Becca's house. We had a great time. Julia feels right at home there and jumps right into all the fun. It usually takes her a while to warm up to everyone, but not there!

Why is she having not one, but two cupcakes you ask? Because Becca said she could!

There was some role reversal costume changing going on as it got later. Here is Sol sporting Julia's Tinkerbell wings!

That night, Julia laid in bed and played with this light up toy that Kristen and Nicole gave her for what seemed like hours. John took about a hundred psychedelic pictures of the light show that I will spare you of. It was a great day and I thought many times throughout the day about how grateful I am to have my sweet Julia. She makes all the holidays so much more fun!

Sunday, John, Julia and I hung out at the John Hayden Smith park. She is getting so big that we can actually sit in the swings and just let her go on the playground. Until now, we always had to hold her hand and help her get around.

She loves the slide!

Heading home with baby, blankie and those two fingers....her basic necessities in life!

Officially Ours!

Our girl is 23 months old and I would say "and where has the time gone?" but I won't because isn't that what every mom says? She is a blast and I love listening to her talk and am fascinated by the words and sentences that come from her. We spent a lot of time walking by and driving by the blow up Halloween decorations at Eldridge Court. This girl LOVES a pumpkin!

Emmy got to spend the night with us one night when Tara was gone on a business trip.

Julia likes to gather up sticks and give them to ShyAnn to chew. They could do this for hours.

Sweet girls!

Julia and I play flashcards. She picks them up and asks me, "Mommy, you wanna play?" How can you say no to that?

You got it.....High Five!

My very favorite part of every weekend are in the mornings when John goes to get Julia from her bed and brings her upstairs to spend some time in our bed. He has to bring Julia, "all these books", her blanket, and her milk which trust me, is quite the load.

Julia has been having fun picking up "popcorns" in the yard, counting them and moving them from place to place. I kept telling her that they were called acorns and not popcorns. She compromised and has given them the final name of "apopcorns." Thats the way its going to be and she is sticking to it.

Well, after almost 2 years, Julia is officially paid in full.

I guess that means that now, she is officially ours.......

Fall Fun 2009

Julia and I dressed in our best Halloween outfits (I know, I swore I wouldn't dress my daughter in those stupid themed outfits....) and the three of us headed to Parker Pioneer Village last weekend.
Parker Pioneer Village has a festival every fall and they celebrate the way that things were done in the past. This was my first time to go and we had a blast. The kettle corn alone was worth the trip!

I don't know why we buy expensive electronic toys. Julia counted these beads for at least 20 minutes before I pulled her away!

Julia making some corn meal the old fashioned way.

The highlight of this trip was the seesaw. She laughed so hard and talked about the seesaw for days!

This past weekend, Julia and I took a road trip to Fayetteville to visit our friends and go to War Eagle arts and crafts fair. We had a great time and everybody especially loved the pumpkin patch.

Little Daniel Carey!

Julia and Mattie in the wagon looking for the perfect pumpkin.

Julia and I drove to Little Rock to spend the night at the Peabody with a friend of mine from work. It is becoming a tradition to stay at the Peabody and go to the Komen Race for the Cure every year. Once again, it was a great and very memorable experience! The picture above is sweet Emily helping Julia color.

Race for the Cure....I hear there were over 40,000 people there!

Even the Peabody ducks came out and walked on pink carpet!

Julia enjoying the music and an apple at the Race

Sunday was my favorite day of all because we didn't get out of our pajamas! Here's Julia helping me carve the pumpkin.

She loved squishing the insides of the pumpkin!

Ohhh, she loved this pumpkin! She gave it a bunch of hugs and kisses and wouldn't let me put in outside. It had to stay inside and go wherever she was.

It did turn out pretty good! I love a pumpkin carving kit!

RIP Spooky Shepherd

Our 16 year old cat Spooky died this morning. She was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago and has had three surgeries to remove the lumps. We knew our time with her was quickly coming to an end the past couple of weeks when she stopped eating and was really slow to move around. John and I had decided last night that we would take her to the vet this afternoon when we got off work to put her out of her misery. Thanks goodness, she died peacefully early this morning at home and we buried her in our backyard. RIP Spooky!

Just for fun, the Spooky story.....

In 1993, I was going to college and we were having a terrible mouse problem in this substandard housing that we were living in. A girl at college told me she had some baby kittens that she needed to get rid of. Thinking that I could solve the mouse problem, I asked her to bring me one the next day. She did and she was a sweet little six week old black kitten. We named her Spooky because it was close to Halloween and because she was black. When I got home, John was SO mad....he does not love a cat. Spooky did solve our mouse problem and we quickly grew to love her. She slept by my head for many years and she was like family. Spooky's peaceful life became a little chaotic when Julia came along, but she learned to love Julia and would still cuddle with the three of us on the couch. I could tell Spooky stories all day long, but its still a little too painful to talk much about her. She gave us 16 years of happy memories and we will miss her dearly!

Not a great picture....but this is healthy and happy Spooky a couple of years ago looking down at us through the stairway railing.

This picture was taken last night from her hiding spot under the bed in Julia's room.

RIP!

Again, Again, and Again....

I have been picking Julia up from Miss Melinda's (where she is staying Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays) and from my parents (where she stays on Wednesdays) after work. Our ritual is to get in the car and start our drive home with the song C is for Cookie. Then, we listen to the rest of the Sesame Street CD. Julia screams, "Push!" very loudly from the backseat when one of her favorite songs comes on which means, "Turn it up!" I have to skip through the songs when she says, "No like it, this song!" When we get home, she wants to play outside until John gets home. She loves to push her baby in the stroller, play in her house, and slide.

She likes alot of repetition. The day that she was letting the baby slide and then her sliding, she did it over and over again....I am guessing at least 25 times.

It's tough going uphill in the grass!

Just had to show off one of Julia's many talents. She likes to wear my shoes around and this day she had on one incredibly high heeled boot on one foot and still managed to get around a little. I did notice some scuffs around the heels on my boots when I wore them the next day!

We celebrated Dad and Sarah's birthday this week by cooking some chili at my house. I thought Julia would enjoy coloring some homemade cards for the two of them but she was too busy counting the colors and hauling them around to actually color.

Funny how even when its someone else's birthday in our family, we all still sit around and stare at Julia. The true birthday honorees get lost in all of the attention that Julia steals!

I love this picture because she staring at that cake with those very wide eyes! She was in rare form after she ate her piece!

Mom, Ms. Nina and I went to Little Rock for a couple of days this week to attend the Hospital Auxiliary State meeting. Of the 380 attendees, I was by far the youngest person there and I would guess the average age was around 75. It was a good time and we even snuck over to Robinson Center to see Mamma Mia which just happened to be in town when we were there! How lucky were we! It was just as fabulous the fourth time as it was the first!

A Whole New Level of Cuteness

Fun, Fun and More FUN!

Julia turned 22 months yesterday and she is getting to be more fun by the minute. We have had a blast lately doing all kinds of kid stuff. She is speaking in sentences now and I thought I would list some common phrases that we are hearing around here....

"I told you I be right back."

"That was a good movie." This Richard Scarry movie about counting....she is obsessed! We have to watch it every night before we read books before bed. The last thing she says every night is, "That was a good movie."

"Are you ready to eat?"

"No like it."

"Sit right here you."

"I want a blankie/milk."

"Wanna play bwocks (blocks)?"

"What choo doing Daddy/Mommy?"

"You hear it Mommy? Daddy playin titar (guitar)?"

"Want read it again." We are now reading the same books over and over again at least three and sometimes even five times. Tonight was the exception. We read a book about pottying and she only wanted to read it once....lol.

Our sweet Sol turned two in early September and we celebrated with a Yo Gabba Gabba themed party. The jumpy was the deal this year. I have decided that all of us parents should just go in together and buy one and just move it from house to house.

I have to admit....the jumpies are fun. I would love to have a few minutes in one all by myself. For now, Julia is my excuse to "have" to get in there because she is a little shy and scared at first. She warms up fast though!

Julia getting ready to go to the PTA Fall Festival. She has her necklace on and eyeshadow ready.
Cute Julia! Thought I would post a picture of this dress because it will be the last time she gets to wear it.

Because....she accidentally got some paint on it while painting these pumpkins!


I had a moment of realization when I sat her up on that bench to paint....she is getting to be such a big girl and really didn't need or want my help at all!

All of the painted pumpkins waiting to dry. Julia's is in the far right hand corner. She used a lot of green in her piece of art.

She had to get in all four jumpies. Notice that this time I am not in there with her!

On the hayride.....

Leaving Fall Festival with a concession. PTA Fall Festival is at the top of my list. It was so much fun and was a little like stepping back in time. I am so happy that I have Julia so that I don't have to miss out on all the kiddie fun!

Sunday, Julia, John and I headed to Jonesboro to the Crowley's Ridge Nature Center. There was lots there to touch, see and hear. Julia's favorite thing was to push the buttons to hear the different bird sounds. She also liked the giant moose that was hanging on the wall.

Mesmerized by the fish and turtles

Learning about bison

Touching the mushrooms on our hike

Holding Daddy's hand on the hike