Happy Halloween! part 1

Carving Pumpkins

Today had it's ups and downs but overall we had a great day. Leah woke up last night with a fever and wouldn't go back to sleep unless I was next to her so we moved her into our bed, and Logan slept in her bed. So I didn't get a very good night's rest because I was worried about her. But thankfully her fever went down in the morning, and her spirits went up. So we continued with our Halloween plans for the day.

We carved pumpkins during Cameron's afternoon nap, and I tried to get Leah to take a nap or have quiet time but she refused. She enjoyed helping with her pumpkin but most of the time we wouldn't let her use the knife so she just watched as Logan carved it for her. Her main criteria for her pumpkin was that it had to be a "girl" pumpkin.

















































Logan was excited to find a pumpkin that was tilted so he could use the stem for the nose. I think his turned out great.





































Here is my pumpkin finished. I picked a really tall one, but didn't realize until I started carving that I picked the pumpkin with the thickest wall to cut. My arm was sore after I was done. And Leah thought my face looked sad. Cameron's baby pumpkin is sitting next to mine, and I was so tired after mine that I didn't feel like carving another one.

















Here was the lighting of the pumpkins. (Sorry if it's a little blurry)

Monster Mash

Our neighbors posted this on their blog, and we thought this was so fun that we decided to do it with our faces. We used Logan's sister Jenna's face to do the last one. Happy Halloween week! Enjoy!

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Ward Halloween Night

It's been a busy day trying to get my chili ready, make cupcakes, and get the kids in their Halloween costumes in time for our Ward (local church) Halloween Night. My chili was part of the Chili Cook-off where there were over 18 people who submitted their chili. And mine was picked for one of the four finalists. I was so excited! They gave out free tickets to the Hale Center Theatre in Orem, and we can pick any play we want to go see. Free date night and it's just a few blocks away from our house.

The party was really fun. But getting there was a different story. Cameron napped earlier from noon to 2 p.m. so by 5;30 when I was getting ready to leave, he was cranky. So I put him down for a quick nap, ran across the street to drop off my chili, raced back home and woke him up, and went back over to the church.

Leah had fun going to the different decorated rooms to trick or treat and picking out a cupcake for the cake walk. And I was so busy with the kids that I didn't take any photos while we were there.

And I forgot to take a picture of Cameron in his lion costume. Oh well! Here he is doing one of his favorite things - looking at books. I'll take more pics when we go trick or treating on Saturday. Logan actually got off of work around 7 p.m. in time to get some food and play with the kids at the party.




















Leah wore her Cinderella costume again this year. She has grown since last Halloween and wasn't tripping over the dress this time. I curled her hair but it was already looking limp an hour later. Her hair just does not keep the curl in it.







I decided at the last minute to look for something to dress up in. I found this fun headband at a Halloween store and painted my face with some old paint we had laying around. I thought it turned out pretty nice. Logan was surprised to find me with my face painted at the party since I wasn't planning on dressing up.


















Leah kept saying all night "You look like a kitty!" Yep, that's what I was going for.

Pumpkin patch and playing at the park

Yesterday we went to a local nursery and picked out pumpkins for Halloween. I think Leah was more excited to do it this year than last year. She wanted to pull the wagon, and she found her perfect pumpkin pretty fast. She wasn't really picky.


































Cameron kept pointing to the pumpkins and grunting meaning he wanted one, so we let him have one on his lap in the stroller. He tried to take a bite a few times but realized his little teeth were not strong enough.





Logan's sister Jenna spent Friday and Saturday with us and helped a lot with the kids around the house and while we were out. She was such a great sport when Leah wanted to play a game, paint at the table and play outside. She even drew a picture of Shrek and Donkey for Leah (she just watched Shrek for the first time this week). We're glad she came down to hang out with us. She even snapped a family picture for us at the pumpkin patch.

















After the pumpkin patch, we took the kids to a nice park in Provo with a duck pond. It was such a beautiful day and almost too hot when you were sitting in the sun. Leah was making silly faces while I was trying to take her picture at the park as you can see in this one.

















Leah wanted to pick up these little red berries on the ground, and she said she going to take them home and make "cherry juice". She has seen Logan pick grapes and make grape juice so this was just natural for her to pick up the berries. But she stashed them in the little pockets on her pants.







































Here's me and my girl snuggling for a picture.


Cameron enjoyed walking around the park with Logan's hands and playing on the park bench while we were waiting for Leah to pick berries. He is such a good smiler. We had such a fun day enjoying the outdoors, and then we had Logan's family and some friends over to watch the BYU-San Diego State game. I love fall time!

Our Sunday

This morning we slept in until 8 a.m. when Leah finally came in to tell us that Cameron was awake. We both didn't want to get out of bed but our church started at 9 so we hustled around the house to get ready and made it five minutes late.

But when I went to get Cameron out of bed Leah wanted to get into his crib with him. They are both so cute together in the morning. Leah will go in there and keep him happy while we sleep a little bit longer.

















Then after church I actually got a cute picture of them in their Sunday clothes. Cameron had on this adorable shirt and vest that Logan's dad gave him for Christmas last year. And now it finally fits him. He looked so grown up and handsome.

It's hard to get him to sit still long enough for a picture.

Leah and Cameron at 10 months old

Cameron now likes to cross his legs at meal times. He used to stick them straight out, but now it's cute how he crosses them. He will also do this when he's sitting down.






























Leah's foot is poking into the picture.























I haven't posted any old pictures of Leah at the same age as Cameron is now. Just thought you might want to compare.

Cameron turned 10 months

It's been a busy time with Cameron turning 10 months, trying to walk and getting into almost everything. He loves going into the bathroom and opening every drawer, pulling down the toilet paper, climbing up to the toilet, and pushing down the trash can. So we usually keep the door closed unless we're in there with him. He also loves walking around the house while you hold his hands. And he will get mad if you try to let go of his hands.

















He now has six teeth: three on top and three on bottom. And we still can't seem to get rid of the dry patch on his cheek. I've tried creams, ointments and lotions but his skin right there never stays dry long enough to heal. And that's because of his excessive amounts of drool. We don't know how this kid can drool SOOO much! He just never closes his mouth long enough. This week he's had a continuous runny nose that probably started from teething but hasn't stopped. The snot just adds to his face being wet all the time.

As you can see from the pictures, he is a busy boy. He's starting to imitate gestures that we do with him such as clapping, giving hugs, waving goodbye, shaking his hands for "all-done", growling like a dinosaur, and just yesterday he started signing "more". I know we need to keep up with the signs because he understands more than we think he does.

Cameron loves reading books, playing with and following Leah around the house, following Logan around the house and whining until Logan picks him up, and he still loves nursing and waking up at night. He doesn't use a pacifier anymore (stopped at 7 months) so he wants to be comforted by me when he wakes up. He really is old enough to not be hungry at night. So we need to wean him off of that.

Most of the time he is a active, happy and smiley boy, and we can't believe how big he is getting. He is starting to wear 18-month-size clothing and he's only 10 months old. We are glad that he's our little "bubba" and loves to play with Leah.

It's official...

Leah is a non-napper. She has been skipping naps on and off for the last couple of weeks, and I am tired of exhausting myself to try and get her to nap. It has been taking too long, and I can't really keep Cameron in there with me because he is too noisy. So she just stays in her room and has "quiet time" for an hour and a half. It still gives me some relaxation time away from kids. And then she goes to bed early at night and gives me more time to watch my favorite shows. I think it works out for both of us. And I'm not as worried that she will be too overtired in the afternoon because she is a little older. She is usually in a good mood which helps me out.

Overall, I feel good about getting her to nap for 3 years. Some moms don't have as much success with nap after two years old. I can still get her to nap on the weekends when Logan is home, but some days it's just too hard.

Interview with Leah

I copied this interview from my friend's blog who has a 3 year old:

What is your favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite movie? Snow White (she's only watched parts of it)
What is your favorite candy? Pink candy
What is your favorite food? Mac and cheese
Who is your favorite princess? Snow White
What are you going to be for Halloween? Ariel
Who is your favorite Cameron? Cam-key (a made up nickname for Cameron)
Where is your favorite place to go? To the mall (we might be in trouble when she gets older)
What is your favorite game? The Ducky game (a board game she got for her birthday)
What color eyes do you have? Blue eyes (she first tried to say pink)
How tall are you? 3
What is your favorite toy? My ponies
What is your favorite song? Heavenly Father Loves me
What is your favorite drink? lemons
Do you like mom or daddy? Mommy. I like Daddy too.