Micky and Minnie

Hot dog, hot dog, hog diggity dog!  For all of you who watch the Disney channel, you know that's the theme song to Mickey Mouse's Playhouse and that is just what my two little munchkins were for Halloween - Mickey and Minnie! Absolutely adorable...

 Although, Ashtyn is dressed as Minnie, she actually wanted to be Mickey - she refused to even dress up unless I referred to her costume as "Mickey" - The 2 year old thing - so this year she was Mickey along with her baby brother!  Nana made Ashtyn's costumes and with a string of luck I found Eli's costume at the Disney store - Mickey Mouse for an infant - PERFECT!  On Saturday, we headed to Longmont to their annual Halloween Parade.  The weather was wonderful and it was perfect for celebrating the holiday with little ones.

Eli was so CUTE in his costume and actually didn't mind being all dressed up.  The ears he wore actually made a "squeak" sound when you pressed them, and Eli would giggle when he heard the sound - it was hilarious!

Nana, Robert, Ariana, Robbie, Bengi, Grandma and Emily joined us for the parade as well.  Robbie was so cute in his tiger costume.  He didn't roar but he would SCREAM really loud...

After the parade was over we walked up and down Main Street "trick or treating" at all the businesses. Ashtyn of course LOVED this part - anything to get candy.  She was a little shy at the beginning, but by the end she was saying "Trick-or-Treat" and "Thank You" to everyone.  She did pretty good filling her little pumpkin bag up with all sorts of goodies.

It was a great day to enjoy a parade and do some trick-or-treating!  My babies looked so cute in their costumes.  I wonder what they will be next year?  Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Carvin'

Another year of carving pumpkins and once again it was left up to me and my dad.  Ashtyn wanted nothing to do with carving pumpkins.  She doesn't like or really understand the idea of ruining a perfectly good pumpkin - she likes them to remain whole.  We made sure not to carve the pumpkin she picked out from the pumpkin patch - but as for the other ones my dad and I took care of making them look good.



 Here is Ashtyn watching her TV avoiding the carving process at all costs...

 I did ask her, once the carving was complete, if she would like to help clean out the pumpkins with me and she replied "I don't want my hands to get dirty" - so I was left to clean them out on my own.

 Maybe Eli will be more into carving pumpkins then Ashtyn - we will see next year.  He did have fun though sitting in his bumbo watching us - However he did not enjoy the loud noise when Papa was using the jigsaw!

We bundled up the kids for the BIG reveal...Ashtyn still was not impressed!  She just wanted to go back inside and finish watching her show.

I think they turned out pretty cute!  Still thinking Halloween is just not Ashtyn's holiday!

Pocket Full of Sunshine

The other day I went to a kitchen design appointment and met the sweetest old lady EVER! I sat there and talked with her for an hour about life, kids, husbands, careers, and one thing she told me stuck in my mind and has inspired this blog post. When I told her I had a 2 year old little girl, she smiled, and then told me to get a journal and write down all the cute sayings I was hearing from Ashtyn - because one day when she is 16 you will want to kill her and all you do, instead, is just pull out your journal and read those precious little sayings! I at first laughed and then totally agreed. Ashtyn is full of all kinds of cute sayings and it would be a shame not to remember - after all that is what this blog is all about - Capturing those moments I will soon forget...

"What that word for?"

"I poopin' right now"

"I wuv you baby bruder"

"Ok, mommy, I think that sounds like good idea"

"I hold my hair, or wind blow away"

(while holding onto her hair tie)

"Do bunnies like em'?

"Oh Butch, you so silly"

(while covering her mouth)

"I miss you so much"

"These pepperonis so spicy"
"I like sugar - do you?"

"Stop buggin' me right now"

"Where we are goin'?"

"Hmmm, where dat come from?"

"Hey! Wait a minute"

"I too busy right now. Just wait couple minutes."

(Wonder where she heard that from?)

"That such a great adventure"

"What's that smell - cows farting?"

"Daddy, dance me!"

"Color me, read me, play me!"

"Oh, look it baby one - it so cute!"

(referring to anything small)

"Explorin' right now - ok?"

"I don't want to go to bed. I stay up all morning"

"I stay my jammies all day?"

"Kevers my best buddy"

"I fine mommy. Don't worry 'bout it."

(when I need to change her diaper)

"Ok mommy, thank you mommy!"

(she says this right before she knows I am going to loose it because she has pushed my buttons, and then I can't help but laugh and smile)
"Mom, are you irrated (irritated)?"

In a nut shell Ashtyn is my "Pocket Full of Sunshine" - I am sure one day this will put a smile on my face or even make a tear fall from my eye out of pure love for this little girl - probably at the same moment I want to strangle her! I love you Ashtyn Faith - you keep us laughing with your sweet spirit!

Oatmeal...Not so much!

Feeding Eli has proven to be a constant battle - and tonight was no different! I thought maybe it would be fun to try introducing Eli to Oatmeal with Bananas for his evening snack, hop on the solids train, hoping he would love it, eat it like crazy and gain some much needed weight! NOT SO MUCH...the following pictures display his reaction...

Hey mommy, what you doing?

hmmm, what's this new thing coming toward my mouth...

yah, not sure I know what to do with that right now...

what the heck did you just put in my mouth...


maybe I like this - just need to figure out how to swallow it first...

starting to swallow...

swallowing the first spoonful of yummy Oatmeal with Bananas...

After this picture he threw it all up along with his previous bottle of formula all over me and himself! Yep, did not like it at ALL - completely made him gag! Maybe he is just not ready - obviously! I probably ruined the taste of Oatmeal for him forever. So, I guess we will try again next month. I really hope this boy learns to eat, because it is starting to drive me insane and really starting to make me feel like an unfit mother! God, please help...

Spooky Cookies

Today, Ashtyn helped Nana make Halloween cookies! My mom loves to make sugar cookies and decorate them which we typically do around Christmas, but we thought we would start a new tradition and start decorating cookies for Halloween to give away to our cousins and friends! We made pumpkin cookies and decorated them with orange frosting and sprinkles.

I was very impressed with my little artist! She helped Nana roll the dough, cut the cookies and then of course she did a wonderful job decorating. She was very careful of what she put on the cookie - Most kids just dump the sprinkles on in a big pile - not Ashtyn, she slowly placed each sprinkle one by one just where she wanted them! It was so cute! I love how much attention she has for details - just like her mama!

Ashtyn also enjoyed eating the cookie dough and the sprinkles and the m&m's and the icing! Let's just say she had tons of sugar today! I think the cookies turned out very cute and now we can give them away for Halloween presents - there is no way we can eat all of them. Ashtyn will definitely be ready for Christmas cookies this year - she is so fun now that she can actually take part in these activities and enjoy them! Eli, however just played on the floor trying to stick his feet in his mouth - but I am sure next year he will dive right in! Thank you Nana for the fun day!

Little Pumpkins

We visited the Rock Creek Farm Pumpkin Patch again this year and had so much fun. We picked a wonderful fall day to go - it was actually a bit hot, but made it nice to pick the perfect pumpkins and enjoy the farm. Ashtyn knew exactly what to do this year and LOVED every minute of it. She had no interest in finding a big pumpkin which is typically my goal - No, she wanted to find the smallest pumpkin there was - so we found the smallest pumpkin we could find and she held on to it the whole time - she even slept with it that night.

Eli just hung out in the baby carrier and watched his big sister run around! I am sure next year will be tons more fun for him, but he sure looked cute...

After pumpkin picking we went to visit the animals - Ashtyn loves to sing "Old McDonald" all the time, so this was just the coolest thing in the world to see all the animals hanging out. Of course her favorite were the pigs - they even had piglets which just made her day. She actually fed and petted the big mama pig! But as we were watching them she kept asking me "Mama, what's that smell?"

Ashtyn loved picking pumpkins and petting the piggies, but probably her most favorite was the jumpy castle! Which I don't blame her - I LOVE jumpy castles, yes at 30 I would have loved to been in there with her! She jumped for a good hour, before we had to force her out and carry her home - of course not without a big fight! Everyday she keeps asking me "Mama, can we go to pumpkin patch?" So I am thinking she loved it this year! She still is not on board with the whole "decorating" her pumpkin thing - Last year she had a break down when we carved the pumpkins, so maybe this year we will just leave them be!

It was such a fun day spending time with my little family I love so much! Each year will just get better and better as my kids get older and enjoy these little outings. Now off to finish the costumes...Happy Halloween!

Sisterly Love

As many know, Ashtyn had a hard time welcoming her baby brother into her little world. Slowly, month by month things have gotten better. We have been asking her for months if she wanted to hold Eli and each time she would say "Maybe later" or "When he gets bigger". Well, finally a couple nights ago, Eli was being fussy and I just casually asked Ashtyn if she could hold him for a minute and she said "Sure!" - Shocked, I jumped at the chance and lied him right in her arms - the minute she was holding him, Eli stopped fussing - AMAZING! I had to of course run and get the camera since this was the first time ever holding him and capture the million dollar shot! It definitely brought a tear to my eye! I hope they always love each other - I know they will fight and argue like all brothers and sisters do, but I really hope they will be close forever and share their lives with each other! I know what a pain in the butt little brothers are, but I think Ashtyn is really going to enjoy having him around - especially to boss around. I love my babies so much - XOXOXO!