Happy Halloween!

From our little punkin!

The Pumpkin Patch

(Also titled 'Mommy Fail #21567')

After last year I was determined to get Cora to an actual pumpkin patch this Halloween season.  This morning, I found myself up against an impossible time clock with too many things to do before this weekend and not enough time to get them all done well.  Methinks this is sometimes the story of my life!  But, I work best under stress and deadlines. . .hah! Needless to say, we did not make it to one of the several lovely pumpkin patches in our area.  We did, however, have time to go to the cute little church pumpkin sale that we went to last year.  Last night I laid out her outfit, planned out our morning, and prepared for a calm, cool photo op at the local charity pumpkin sale.

FAIL!


It all looked so promising. . .

We drove up and the patch was open.  There were lots of kids and lots of photos being taken.  Suh-weet!

I got Cora out of the car and started to walk over to the patch when all of a sudden, an authoritative looking man comes running up to us waving us off frantically.  This apparently was a special event for a local school.  The patch was not open to the public until noon (or as we like to call it nap time!)  As I walked Cora back to the car, she kept turning around and asking me "What about the punkins?"  When I put her in the car, she cried.  Uuugghhhh!  Breaks momma's heart!  We put in an emergency text to John who dutifully tried to locate another patch close by, but it was for naught. So, I decided to throw caution to the wind, finish running our errands and come back when it opened at nap time.

Honestly, it was not a terrible experience.  But, it was clear that Cora was pretty much over having her picture taken.  (That last statement would imply that there are occasions where she is actually up for getting her picture taken!  She has proven time and again that she is more of an action shot kind of girl!)

Loved this smirky smile.  She looks like she's supremely uncomfortable!

The funny thing about this picture is that she kept saying "And, smile!"  But, I could not for the life of me figure out how to get her to look at the camera. . .or smile!  Did I mention she has a mind of her own?!

She was pretty obsessed with the big pumpkins.

Here she is with some of her favorites.  She kept saying over and over "Punkin is so heavy!"

And of course, because she was such a trooper, we bought her a baby pumpkin in addition to our family pumpkin.  She was so excited to pick one out for herself AND to be able to carry it all by herself.  Little miss independent!  

Cora and her personal pumpkin.

All in all, I suppose it was not a total fail.  We'll try again next year!

Daddy's Little Helper

The other evening John decided to wash his car.  Cora thought she should help.

So of course, the next day, it rained!  Guess she'll have to wash the car again!

And, Finally, Something About Carys

I realized that short of telling you that Cora will be a big sister and letting you know that Carys is, in fact, a girl, I haven't mentioned anything about the wee babe.  I'm 28 weeks along as of last week.  So, we have only 3 months to go.  It feels like it has gone by very quickly (probably because my days are filled by chasing a busy 2 year old)!  When I was pregnant with Cora, I used to call her my little soccer player because it seems like she was always kicking at something.  With Carys, I'm fairly certain that she is my little kick-boxer.  I have seen my belly undulate in ways that I didn't know were possible!  It probably has to do with the fact that tiny baby girl loves carbs.  With Cora, I used to crave meats.  But, Carys is an all carb, all the time kind of girl.  At least once a week, I've made pancakes or waffles.  I've made so many batches that Cora has become totally sick of them.  This is on top of the other sweets that I've been making or buying like pumpkin bread, chocolate lava cake, and brownies.  (One of my pregnancy symptoms, clearly, is lack of self-control!)  So far, the only discomforts I am having are normal for this stage of the pregnancy.  Praise be to God for that!  So, everything is going very well up to this point.  I'll have more to report soon. . .someone will be moving into her new room this week!

October 15th

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.  Please take a moment to pray for those who have experienced the loss of a child.

Sweet Jesus, we remember
Benjamin
Emma
Gage
Taylor
Audrey
Cora Paige
Kayleigh
And, all of the other precious little ones who are with you now.
Thank you, God for each of these precious lives.  We look forward to the day that we are all reunited in heaven.
Amen

Cora in Wonderland

The other day, Susy and I took the girls to the magical place known as Inflatable Wonderland.  Talk about an amazing business plan!  What do you need?  Big vinyl pillows and air!  Voila!  You have a fabulous playground that you can charge the big bucks for kids to go and jump on.  Let me tell you - it's totally worth the admission charge!

As usual, the girls spent the majority of the time playing with the toys that are most similar to the ones they have at home. . .

Eli dancing by the play kitchen.

Cora, of course, loved the slide.

This lion took a bit of abuse from my little jumper.

Finally, we got the girls to try out the inflatables.  Much inflatable hilarity ensued.

And, of course, I had to throw in a couple of pictures of my little girl looking so big!  Totally worth it!

The New Soundtrack to My Brain

I used to be cool - or at least cooler.  I used to listen to cool and popular music. I think I must be old. I just can't wrap my brain around why some young popstar must wear a dress made of meat or poor un-stuffed Muppets.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still up to date on it all thanks to a certain subscription to my little guilty pleasure aka People magazine.  (No really, I read it for the human interest stories!)

When I was cool, the random, happy music that I hummed could probably be found on some top 40 list.  Now, I am entangled firmly in the 4 and under list.  Brace yourselves for embarrassing secret number 2:  I really like it! Get up now and go, go!  Go, Go! oom-boppa, oom-boppa! (Thank you, Kiki, Shout, Marina, and Twist!!  For those of you who are throughly confused by those last few statements, don't worry, your day is coming!  You may think that you're going to be the cool parent, but I know from experience, resistance just makes the fall that much harder!)  I can't help myself.  I can't hide the inner geek anymore!  During the day, I find myself rocking along to various Nick Jr (or Mick Jr as Cora calls it) songs bouncing around my brain.  And, this is a BIG problem.  Cora has her dad's musical ear.  So, even in my off-key, sad little attempt at humming, Cora will recognize the song and promptly ask for that show.  It's times like that the On-Demand feature clearly does not live up to its name!  I mean, we need instant access to Dora and Diego and Fresh Beat Band!

The fun part about my whole sad little scenario is hearing Cora (attempt to) sing the songs.  Sometimes I hear her singing under her breath "Dora, Dora, Dora di Dora."  or "What's gonna work? Tee-work (teamwork)!"  (Don't deny it parents of preschoolers;  you know you're singing along!)  And, now, whenever she wants to go outside, she asks to go in the Backyardigan.  I should be horrified, but I find it terribly cute.  I make no apologies.  It is a million times easier to make dinner while Cora is involved in Wonderpets and Fresh Beat Band.  Besides, how else am I going to hear my new favorite songs?! We had a great day! It was a super way to spend some time together. . .

Because There Just Isn't That Much to Say

It has been over a week since I've posted.  It's not that we haven't done anything.  We've just done all the stuff within the normalcy of everyday life.  Plus, Cora's poor momma has gotten busy with work.  For those of you new to ye olde blog, I do have a job outside of the home as well.  I work with first year and clinical (student) teachers through an alternative certification program.  It's an absolutely fabulous job.  I set my own hours, and it is only about a day of work per week - that working out perfectly with the fact that Cora's daddy is off work every Monday. Perfecto.  But, my point is that Mondays are a little hectic right now.  And, then, the rest of our week is consumed by our regular weekly activities.

Soooooo, all that being said, we just haven't done much that I felt was blog-worthy.  (And, if it was blog-worthy, someone, ahem. . .me, seemed to forget to take pictures!)  For example, the other weekend, we took Cora to the San Antonio Zoo.  She loved it!  Her favorite animal this trip was the jaguar.  One of them was right up next to the viewing window, and she went nuts over it. She calls it 'jag-you-are.'  It's so very British of her!  So, of course, John indulged his little girl and got her a cute little stuffed one.  She likes to sleep with it, but throughout the day I hear her saying "Wet's (let's) go see baby jag-you-are!"  (And, yes, that brings our total of items in the crib up to about 348,791.  She does not do anything half-way!)

Hmm, what else. . .we've been working on identifying letters.  She has a bunch of them down pat - A, B, E, G, K, L, O, and Q.  And, she knows several others about 50% of the time.  She knows all of her basic shapes and colors.  And, as mentioned in a previous post, she can identify lots and lots of vegetables even though she refuses to eat a single one!  So, to wrap up, (for those of you who are still reading this tedious post), I will purpose to do something excitingly blog-worthy for next time.  Thank you, and goodnight!

Sewing Binge

I've been binging on crafts lately. . .and Dove chocolate.  My pregnancies are always marked by lack of self control!

Cora has been the beneficiary thus far.  She's getting a little tired of playing sample model for me.  We were at the cutting counter the other day when the sweet lady asked her if she wanted another dress out of the fabric she was cutting.  Cora replied, "No!"  Good thing I bought two yards of two separate fabrics.  There's enough for dresses and pants and skirts and rosettes and bloomers and smocks. . . Did I mention I'm binging?!

It started with the dress on the right.  Then, it progressed the the bloomers and top on the left.

Then, a few days later, I did this little pants number.

I put a little too much elastic in the back of the top, so I want to try this little top again.  It's a super cute pattern.

And, then, because it wasn't enough just to make clothes from existing patterns, I decided to attempt to make my own pattern.  Here's the first attempt:

I think it's a little circus-y, but to class it up, we'll call it 'boutique.'  I think it might make a better top than dress.  I didn't put enough width in the dress, and it's a bit restrictive.  So, when she gets older, we'll try it with a some cute leggings.  I am, however, totally in love with the rosette that Susy showed me how to make.

Here's the second attempt at my own pattern making.  I am in love with this dress.  Yay, me! (If I do say so myself!)

The fabric is a nursery rhyme toile.  I lurve it so, so much!

The third attempt, I'm not even sure that I like.  But, the pink was some of the $2 a yard fabric, and I had the white leftover from some other projects.  Can't beat that!

You see, the problem with cheap fabric is that the pattern isn't always square.  Hence, the wonkiness of the bottom of the dress.  I think this houndstooth will be better for bloomers and things that will disguise the lines of the pattern a little.  

And, finally, I followed this tutorial and made this shirt dress.  I added the ruffles and didn't put the waist band.  I also turned the dress backwards.  I'm super excited for Cora to wear it.  So cute!  I think I'm going to find her some colorful stripe-y leggings or tights to go with it, so she can wear it all through the fall.  

So, that's all for now, but I have three other lovely fabrics just eating a hole in the creative part of my brain.  I'll surely have something new to report soon!

The Spider Monkey's New Perch

Cora is part spider monkey.  I'm pretty sure of it.  It would explain why she loves climbing on precarious things.  And, why she is such a little dare devil!  This is Cora's new favorite perch.

Yep.  She has figured out how to get on the counter by herself.  She loves to sit up there and eat snacks and watch Dora the Explorer.  She also loves to use the fruit in the fruit bowl as a drum set. . .sigh.  If I'm cooking, she loves to be up there with me commenting on everything I'm using.  "Mommy, you see broccoli?" or "Mommy, that's carrots!"  Should my ability to recall the vegetables I'm using to prepare dinner ever fade, I know she'll be able to swoop in and save the day!  Incidentally, her snack in the picture is saltines with peanut butter which she calls 'cheese sandwich crackers.'  Don't ask! ; )

The Preggie's Best Friend

John and I recently picked up the Love Dare (again).  We started it several years ago when our pastor did a sermon series on it.  The last time, we made it to day 3{. . .she laughs nervously.}  We are determined to finish it this time.  And, I'm happy to say that we're well past day 3!  But, I must say, if I had to pick any day to do repeatedly, it would be day 3 - surprise your spouse with a gift.  Suh-weet!  Look what my brilliant husband picked for me:

How can something so sinfully good be so heavenly??  (And, yes, I totally opened it and ate about 4 of them before I managed to find the camera!  John told me later that these candies are actually not that bad for you because you can eat 5 of them before you get to 200 calories.  My response:  "Sweet!  That means I've only had like 1200 calories worth of chocolate today!"  You know, 'cuz Carys needs chocolate. . .yeah, that's it!)

Our gifts turned out to have almost a Gift of the Magi type effect.  I had bought John a new pair of jeans because he rarely gets any new clothes for himself.  And, I know he liked them, but he wasn't nearly as excited about his gift as I was about mine.  He told me later that he felt a little guilty because he didn't spend as much on my gift as I did on his.  (What, are you crazy??!! It's Dove chocolate!!)  Hah!  I guess that's why they say it's the thought that counts!

Things, They Are A-Changin'

I don't think Cora realizes how many changes are coming her way in the next few months.  I have a mental list that I'm checking off as we go.  We're taking these big changes pretty slow, but I believe that might be more for my benefit than for hers.  On Sunday, John was watching me struggle to get Cora out of her car seat when he dropped us off at the church door.  Little Carys has a way of impairing my movement, ha ha!  Up until this point, Cora was still rear facing in her car seat in the middle of the back seat.  So, very gently, he suggested that we may want to consider going ahead and turning the car seat around.  And, very reluctantly, I agreed.  John spent the better part of 30 minutes wrestling with that beast, but he got it very securely turned forward behind the driver's seat.  When we took Cora out for her first joyride with this new perspective, she was very uncertain about this new arrangement.  I put her in the car so she could climb into her seat, but all I heard was a chorus of "No! Nokay!"  Fortunately, after letting her play in the car for a few minutes, she climbed into the seat by herself.  It may or may not have had anything to do with John putting the dvd player in front of her seat and turning on 'Clues.'  The funniest thing was that as we started driving down the road, she started yelling "Wheeeeee!" and "Ready go fast?!"  So, I guess she likes it!  And, I'll admit, it was so much easier getting her in and out of the car for grocery shopping today. I guess we'll be hitting the potty training hard and heavy next.

Duckies!

My pantry has a way of hiding things from me.  The other day, I found three bags of bread that just had the heels and maybe one other piece.  Believe me, I'm not one to discriminate against bread and bread products!  The pieces seemed a little crispy to make poor John a sandwich out of, so I decided it would be fun to take the bread to the little park near our house and feed the ducks.  Cora and I chose a day that John could come with us because somewhere locked in the deep recesses of my brain, I have a slight recollection of being chased by a goose when I was in kindergarten.  I also have a memory of being made to eat cat food a la the Fancy Feast commercials during that same kindergarten year. {insert nervous laughter}  I'm thinking some of my memories may have been slightly embellished by an overactive imagination!  (My kindergarten teacher was AMAZING by the way!  She's one of the reasons I became a teacher.)  Wow, chasing rabbits a bit, am I??!!

So, we headed to the park to feed the ducks.

"Ducks, come 'ere!"

Apparently, we have very well-fed ducks in our neighborhood.  They were not at all interested in my slightly crispy bread.  I guess they get enough bread thrown at them that they have developed discriminating palates!

We did finally get a couple of them to take a few bites.

But, we mostly ended up feeding the turtles (Hi! Junior Junior!)

and the fish.

So, we decided to head for the park. It's fun to see how adept Cora is at the playground equipment now.  

She climbed through the tunnel by herself several times, and loved going down the slide 'all by yourself' as she calls it.

WHEEEEEEE!

My big girl!