Halloween pics....finally!

I am finally adding my pics from Halloween. We got to dress up twice, once for school on Thursday, then again on Friday. As teachers, we have to dress up too. Fun! I wanted to have some sort of a theme, so, Maddie was a pink poodle, Isaac was a dalmation, and I was a veterinarian. Mine was easy, as I already had the scrubs, so I just added Maddie's play stethoscope around my neck, and off we went. I found the idea for Maddie's costume out of one of my fabulous parenting magazines. It looked really cute, and we're decorating her room, one step at a time, in the "Gigi" theme from Bombay Kids, so she's into the little french poodles. Her costume consisted of bath poufs, rubber bands, a shirt, pants, 2 pairs of socks, a hanger, and some tape. Sounded easy enough to me! No sew is always my preferred method! :) Here's the results:




Below is the picture from Maddie's class party that I got to run up and take a pic of her and her oh so beautiful pumpkin she decorated:


Then, on Friday, we went to old downtown McKinney square where the shop vendors sit outside their shops and we go walking around from store to store and trick-or-treat. This is something we've done every year since Madeline was 4 months old. (She actually fell asleep in her stroller then and they took a picture of her sleeping and put it on the front page of their paper, of course that's in her scrapbook and not saved in my computer). But last year and this year, we've gone with our best friends, Jessica and Alan and their children, Kayla and Brayden:

Arbor Hills

On Monday, some friends, the kids, and I went to Arbor Hills Nature Reserve for a little playdate. It's so beautiful there, and so close to home, which is nice. We met at the playground first for some play time, followed by a picnic lunch, then on to a walk on the trails. It wasn't supposed to be as hot as it was, but we were troopers through it and the kids didn't complain about it! Amazing! One of my friend's little boys kept running ahead and saying he was seeing "porcupines," but we figured out he was calling piles of twigs, those. Funny. Maddie was saying, "I don't like porcupines. They bite," and she'd shiver like she was scared. Whatever. She's such a drama queen. She enjoyed playing and running with the boys. Isaac was really good and happy just to have a ride outside in the stroller! They both slept forever when we got home and I got some relaxation time as well. It was much needed. Here are some pics of our day:

Some awwww moments:

Well, I have laid off taking pictures lately because we haven't gotten out and done much due to the fact that it's so miserably hot. But, I did find capture some sweet moments between Isaac and Madeline. He is really starting to adore her and is constantly amazed at her every movement. She, of course, has noticed this and takes it a little far to the point of entertaining him specifically. She sings and dances and giggles with him and he is just smiling at her the whole time. It's super sweet for me to see as their mom. I remember when I was just about due with Isaac, I cried and cried, heartbroken over the fact that Maddie was going to have to share our love with another child. I felt like I was going to be responsible for the anger that I thought for sure she'd have towards us. But to my surprise, she really embraced him with big open arms right from the beginning. In fact, she's always said he's her baby and not ours. Just the other day, she told me to carry the baby doll and she was gonna carry her baby. I told her the doll was her baby and she went over to Isaac and said, "This is my baby." I asked her if that was so and she responded, "yes, but I'll share him with you momma." Precious. :) Moments that definitely make this worn out momma smile. Little does he realize how lucky he is to have 2 ladies fighting over him at such a young age!!! :)

Silly kids

Isaac is now getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth, ready to crawl. If only he could figure out how to move his arms with it, he'd be off. I don't mind him not crawling yet though. :) Maddie is such a big helper to him. She gets on the floor and demonstrates the crawling and tells him "come on, you can do it!" He just adores her!

Sweet Siblings!

Okay, I'm new at this blogging, so be nice to me. I thought this was a good way to start....with my children looking like they love each other! :) When I try to get ready in the mornings, I will lay Isaac down on this playmat you see here and he loves to watch the little farm animals move and hear the music. Well, of course, big sis can't miss out on any of the fun! She somehow managed to wedge herself in there with him and she points out the animals and likes to tell me, "Mama, he's happy!" Okay, if you say so Madeline! Isaac is not allowed to have any fun without her wanting in on it. Oh, sibling rivalry....and so young! Oh well, it's at least teaching him tolerance. :)