Trick Or Treat?

Happy Halloween!!!

I am a complete lover of fall and all the holidays. Halloween is just the beginning!

We started trick or treating at my friend Amanda's house. Her hubs, Randy, came to the door in an extremely scary mask. That pretty much ruined it for Abby!

This was how she spent the rest of the night. Fingers in the mouth.

Then, we went to about 5-6 houses and got to meet some of our neighbors which was awesome.

We bought TONS of candy, but since we were out trick or treating as well, by the time we got back, it was late. We only had about 5 kids - they got lots of candy!

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I just wanted to share something I said recently that I never thought I would say,

"No Abby, we do NOT paint our fingernails with ham!"

True story, people.

Yet Another Festival

Abs and I hit yet another fall festival this weekend. We seriously have enough candy to pass out tomorrow night and then have leftovers!

But the girl just can't get her face painted enough. I have created a monster.

She is obsessed with pumpkins on her cheek.

I love this picture! I can't believe that I convinced her to stand behind this all by herself.

Playing corn hole.

**Regarding her outfit - I was over Minnie's ears. So I dressed her in regular clothes. She did insist on a tutu though. Funny thing, it is the same tutu from 2 years ago that ended in disaster - see here.**

Braving a hay ride with Poppa.

She was probably the most excited about a balloon that she got. She clung to it the whole way home.

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I also spent some time today snuggling this little bundle of love!

Elizabeth Ann.

She was born last Wednesday to one of my besties and I have been dying to get my hands on her. It did not disappoint as she was super sweet!

Her big sister loved showing off her new Peace sign (She was in the middle of a science experiment complete with goggles).

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Complete goofball - putting stickers on her belly before bathtime.

Love that smile!

Keeping Busy

We like to stay busy on the weekends, it keeps us from getting bored!

Abby and I went to Barnes and Nobles this morning for a Halloween book reading and crafts.

Abby was concentrating on drawing her ghost face.

She was so proud when she was done (although she is showing it backwards).

After lunch with JD and Jessie and naps, we were all set to go to another fall festival.

Posing in her Halloween dress. I bought this dress two years ago and it just now fits!

I love it and I am pretty sure that she is wearing it to school on Monday.

So we get to the fall festival and there are literally a thousand people there. We didn't even park, we just kept going.

Instead we went to wash Daddy's truck. Abby was not loving it.

We did go out to eat and for ice cream regardless of the cold weather.

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Here are a few more random pictures (I am really trying to do better with pictures).

Abby showing off her headband and her letters J and I.

Her treat bag that she made at school.

School Party

Abby had her Halloween party at school today.

She went as Minnie Mouse, her favorite character.

She was so incredibly proud of her outfit.

Grinning from Minnie ear to Minnie ear.

A little bit of a fake smile.


But I think she is just too adorable.

We got that tutu made locally and I am so in love with it. The rest is just standard stuff that she can wear again.




Tonight we went to the Fall Festival at her school.

They had Truck or Treat, a train ride, and lots of fun games.

And of course face painting.



**There were 2 people doing face painting, a guy and girl. Abby refused to let the guy paint her face, she patiently waited on the girl to get done. She even let kids in front of her to avoid the guy. She is so funny.**


She got her favorite, a pumpkin!

Abby and Daddy in the train. She was so thrilled.

Daddy was less than thrilled as his head was freezing!

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I was so glad that we got to go tonight. We got to talk to her teachers more and meet some of the kiddos in her class.

I had a very interesting talk with her teacher. She said that Abby is an extremely quiet child (I had to double check that she was talking about OUR Abby).

She also said that she is a very obedient child. But that when the teachers gives the class instructions, Abby waits for them to personally address her.

For example, if the teacher asks the class to sit down at the table, most of the kids will generally meander toward the tables. Abby won't follow, but if the teacher says, "Abby, will you please come sit down?", Abby will promptly stop what she is doing and sit down.

Isn't that so interesting?

I am writing this all out to remember it, but also to see how she changes the more that she is in school and comfortable working with a group.

What Happened Next

On Wednesday, Abby was sick and came home from day care.

Then we had a great weekend.

Saturday night, it took a turn for the worse. Abby was coughing periodically and when I went to check on her, she was on fire! I immediately burst into tears and took her to the ER.

She has/had croup and a middle ear infection. Her poor temp was 102.6.

When they gave her the antibiotics, she promptly threw that up all over herself and me. It was NOT fun.

But she is better now, after a few days of rest.

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So, we have been home exactly 5 days together. I pretty much took no pictures until tonight.

There was alot of crying, whining, meltdowns, a smidge of potty training, and too much HGTV.

Luckily, she is feeling a little better tonight and the forecast is back to school (and work) tomorrow.

We even played around with hair tonight and did high ponytails!

How cute is she!!

Hair coming down after the ponytail.

Fake smile time!

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I have been very grateful for having sick time so that I can stay home with Abby, but staying home with a sick child is hard work! She has wore me down!

Weekend So Far!

It has been a loooong weekend! With Abby out of day care on Thursday and Friday, we have bonded!

Showing me that she is still strong! In momma's socks and shoes!

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Today, we went to Cannonsburg and hung out.

Visiting with cousin Christopher.

Her two cousins Christopher and Evan.


She is a face painting pro! Now that she did it once, she can't stop!

A beautiful flower.

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After that, we went to a fall festival.

Sneak peek at the Halloween costume. Sitting atop a fire truck.

Showing off her pumpkin tattoo (don't worry, it washed off!).

Our Strong Girl

I received a call yesterday around 5 from day care that Abby had a fever of 102.

We brought her home and she sounded like Donald Duck. Really scratchy throat, runny nose, coughing. It was sad.

I gave her some Advil to reduce the fever and she seemed to feel a little better before bed, but I knew she wasn't allowed back at day care (they have a fever free for 24 hours policy).

She crawled in my bed at 6:30 this morning and was hot to the touch! Her temp was about 101.4. More Advil, calls to the nurse, more medicine.

Later this afternoon, I tested her again and she was 100.6. We are getting there. I am staying home with her again tomorrow.

Here is my little angel showing how "strong" she is.

Sick or not, she is hanging in there!

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On another note, when we buy meat we normally eat it immediately or freeze it. And when we freeze it, as soon as it is unthawed, we eat it.

Tonight I made oven baked chicken (Ok, I didn't technically make it, but I did lay everything out for Stu to make it). I bought it on Sunday and the expiration date was 10/23.

Stu and I both have upset stomachs (Abby only ate a few bites). I swear that if we do not eat the meat immediately after buying it, it makes us sick.

Does anyone else have this problem? Am I crazy??

Letters

We finished Abby's letters today!

Basically I took her pink letters (Seen at the bottom here) and spray painted them completely white, then let Abby get creative.

She took the leftover paint from her room and painted them in 2-year old fashion.

I let that dry and then today, let her paint back over them with white. I blotted that with a paper towel.

These pictures don't really do them justice, but I love them.


Personally, I think they look "antique-y" or at least my version of that.

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I have been dreading today. After hearing that Abby might need a filling, I was so nervous about taking her to the dentist. That and just generally taking her to the dentist. She does much better with Stu than with me :).

Girl was an angel! She sat on the table by herself (holding my hands of course), let the doctor look at all of her teeth. Side note, he called every one of her teeth by a Disney Princess. Best.idea.ever.

Then they decided to take x-rays. She sat in the chair all by herself (again holding my hand....the asst asked if there was a chance I was pregnant....haha...no). Abby was amazing!

Luckily, this doctor said that it did look like she had stains from the trauma to the tooth, but it was not necessary to do a filling.

We will go back in 6 months for a cleaning!

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I heard Abby crying tonight about an hour after she fell asleep. We both have a little "hay fever" which I attribute to being on a farm all day yesterday (Get it? Hay? Haha....I am here all night).

I go in her room to check on her and she is laying face down in the middle of the room.

She fell out of the bed! I snuggled her for a bit, while she croaked at me.

Hopefully, she feels better tomorrow!

Fall Weather = Fun Times

I love Fall Weather!

I love pumpkins, wearing jackets, and just getting to spend time outside with out burning up!

We started our day off Saturday with a baby shower. I have to laugh at the number of baby showers that I have been to lately. This was the 6th one!

Autumn made the cutest baby pumpkins as decorations.

I really didn't take many pictures since the sweet baby below came with me.

She was just so good! We went to Michael's before and got tons of crafts and she made pictures the whole time.

Of course, we took a cake break!

I found it hilarious that my friends kept saying "She looks so different with her hair up!" as it so rare that she lets me fix her hair.

After the baby shower, I took her to a local school that was having a fall festival. Unfortunately, we arrived too late and they were closing down. But Abby did still get to see some animals.

In this picture, she is pointing at a camel saying "Too Big".

She really thought that little pony was so cute.

Petting a little pony.

I love that she didn't have any fear when petting the animals.

****There were a few sheep that weren't in pins. One of them "charged" her (he was tied up, just not pinned) and she screamed so loud the entire place looked at her. ****

Exploring a see-saw.

She loved having me and Nana push her up and down on that.

Seriously, does she not look just so grown up?

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Today, we went to church and then Walden Farms.

I was a little nervous, but Abby really wanted a pumpkin on her cheek. So we did our first face-painting!

She was so good!!!

**And yes, she has on a police dept sticker. It is from day care last week.**

She was so proud of that pumpkin! We were meeting friends there and she couldn't wait to show it off.

Next, we did sand art. We bought a duck and Abby had so much fun filling it up. This is her showing it off!

Feeding the goats.

Our friend Casey met us there and Casey's dad Dustin was nice enough to take the kids on the hay bales. Abby loved it!

After a hay ride (no pics), we ended the visit with a hay maze. We told Casey to keep up with Abby, but he totally smoked her and she was on her own. Luckily, she made it out on her own!

To end the day, we painted.

I know I posted weeks ago about re-doing her letters for her room.

My first idea was to yarn them, that didn't work. So I spray-painted them white. Next, my plan was to paint stencils on them. Didn't happen. Finally, I decided that it was Abby's room - Abby could paint them. So tonight, we did some sponge painting and the plan tomorrow we will use a paint brush. I am just ready to be done with this room!