Halloween Countdown Day 4

Last night for day 4, the final day of our Halloween countdown, Bryce and I carved our pumpkins. We popped a big bowl of popcorn and watched a few episodes of the Twilight zone while we carved away. Bryce carved the big pumpkin with the initial L for Leishman. I carved the polka dot one and Claire's little baby pumpkin. I made sure to add a little bow so it would be a baby girl pumpkin. It was the perfect way to end the countdown leading up to Halloween.

Halloween Coundown Day 3

Yesterday, for day 3 in our Halloween countdown Bryce had school really late, so it was just Claire and me.  We watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and ate pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that I had leftover from the young men/young women Halloween carnival.  Then we read a few Halloween books and I made sure Claire wore a pair of her Halloween jammies to bed.  Claire really likes looking at pictures on the computer so I showed her all of mine and Bryce's costumes since we've been dating.  I thought it would be fun to post all of our costumes from the past few years:

Halloween 2011- This was our first Halloween together after we had started dating.  We dressed up as Peter Pan and Wendy. 

Halloween 2012- Our first year married we dressed up as "Beauty & The Beast" Halloween 2013- Last year when I was pregnant with Claire I dressed up as a bun in the oven and Bryce & Rory were bakers.

I love Halloween so much.  I can't wait to post pictures of our costumes this year.  I think this year's are the best ones we've done so far!  Only one more day.  Now we are off to carve our pumpkins and watch a Halloween movie for Day 4 of our countdown.  Happy Hallow's Eve!

Halloween Countdown Day 2

A few weeks ago at the costume party we went to we met the cutest couple!  We were sitting by them and we got talking and found out we both had golden doodles.  They have a mini-goldendoodle named Charlie.  It was really fun for us, we showed each other pictures of our dogs and talked about all the funny things they did.  I was so excited to meet another couple who are extreme dog lovers like we are!  We exchanged numbers and planned to get together so our doggies could have a play date.  A few days ago I got a text from the girl inviting us to go to a doggy trunk-or-treat at the dog park with them.  I was so excited and told Bryce we HAD to go.  So that is what we did yesterday for day 2 of our Halloween countdown.    
We decided to go to the trunk or treat all decked out in our costumes.  Bryce is in young mens and I am in young women's for our church callings and we both had to go to a Halloween carnival afterwards.  It worked out well since we needed to be in our costumes anyway.  Besides that Rory's costume doesn't really make sense unless Claire and I are in ours too. We took hers off after we got there so she could play with all the dogs and not ruin it.  I didn't take any pictures of all of us in our costumes, so you can't really tell what we are supposed to be.  Consider it a sneak peak until I post pictures of our full costumes on Halloween.  

When we first arrived at the event Bryce was a little embarrassed because we were some of the only "humans" dressed up.  Almost every single dog was dressed up but just a few of their owners were.  Then our friends showed up dressed up as Dorothy, the tin man, and they shaved their golden doodle like a lion so he could be the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz.  It was so cute!  After they arrived Bryce felt a little better. 

We had a blast and Rory was in Heaven getting to play with so many dogs!  Claire absolutely  loves dogs so she was totally enthralled watching them run around everywhere.  Bryce and I kept laughing at all the dogs dressed up.  There were some pretty funny costumes.  It was our first time at the dog park and we were bummed to find out it closes for the winter on Saturday.  We are, however, planning to make frequent visits there when it reopens in April, probably just not in our costumes for future visits ;).

Halloween Countdown Day 1

I decided this week leading up to my favorite holiday (Halloween & my birthday!) we would celebrate with a Halloween countdown.  I have planned something "Halloweenish" for us to do everyday to really get us in the Halloween spirit.  Claire and I started off Day 1 of our countdown this morning watching "Curious George Boo-Fest" and shared a chocolate chip cookie.  
After Claire's morning nap we took a trip to the library.  We checked out a stack of Halloween & fall themed books to read together all week.  I try to read to Claire before every nap and before she goes to bed.  I love this part of our day  so much and she seems to be enjoying it more now that she is getting older.  She will even sit still through two or three books sometimes!
My fellow Taylor Swift fans may already know this, but every time Taylor Swift has released an album she has released it at the end of October.  I am a big Taylor Swift fan!  I actually met her at a concert about a month after her first album was released when I was 17.  This was when she was still an opening act and wasn't famous yet.  I had been playing her cd on repeat and I was so excited when I found out she would playing in Utah!  It was a pretty cool moment for me.  I even have this horribly grainy photo above for proof!

Every October since then that she has had a new album, I have purchased it the day it was released!  You better believe I was first in line at Target today to purchase the deluxe edition of her new album 1989, (deluxe because bonus tracks!).  October is so good to me, I swear it loves me as much as I love it.  We proceeded to play her new album all night while I cleaned, cooked dinner, and gave Claire a bath.  I'm pretty sure Claire already knows the lyrics to tracks 1-4.  Bryce came home while we were listening to it and he was thrilled ;).  All in all, I'd say day 1 of our Halloween countdown was a success!

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 40 Weeks

Claire turned 40 Weeks old today.  This week has been the week of teething!  She cut her third tooth on the bottom, so she now has a total of four teeth; three on the bottom and one (almost two on top).  Her top right tooth has been soooo close all week, but it just won't cut through.  It has not been fun for her.  She's been much whinier than usual and her sleeping schedule has been thrown off a little.  She used to always sleep in until 6 or 6:30 if I was lucky.  This past week she has started waking up at 5 or 5:30.  No matter what time she goes to bed she won't sleep any later.  Hopefully as soon as her other tooth cuts through she'll have a break for a while and get her sleeping schedule back to normal.  She has been walking with her little walking toy a lot this week and has stood for a few seconds by  herself.  She doesn't have very good balance and isn't quite strong enough yet to take any steps on her own, but I'm sure she'll be there pretty soon.  We are excited to celebrate Halloween all week with Claire.  We plan on reading lots of Halloween books, watching Halloween movies, eating lots of treats, going to a few costume parties & trunk or treats, and of course taking Claire trick-or-treating for the first time on Halloween!  It should be a very fun week.

   

Flu Shots & Squeaky Toys

 Yesterday we had Claire's nine month well check up appointment with her pediatrician. I was planning on it being a fun easy appointment since they don't have to give babies any vaccines at their 9 month appointment, then the nurse came in and asked if I'd like her to get a flu shot. As much as I didn't want her to have to get a shot, I am all for anything that will possibly prevent my baby from getting sick so I decided to have her get one. The nurse administered her shot at the end of the appointment, and Claire made sure to let all of us know she was not happy about it. I picked her up and she clung to me tightly while peering over my shoulder with a severe scowl, wailing at the nurse. It was a tiny bit comical. The nurse left for a second and came back with a squeaky giraffe toy that she gave to Claire.  I held it in front of Claire's face and showed her how it squeaked.  She immediately stopped crying and broke out into a big grin.  The day was saved by a little giraffe squeaky toy.

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 9 Months

Dear Claire,

Today you are 9 months old.  You have officially been alive on the outside as long as you were on the inside of my tummy.  All I can say is that I wish my pregnancy would have gone by as quickly as the first 9 months of your life have.

Some exciting news is that today your third tooth finally cut through!  You have been working on cutting your top two teeth for a few weeks now, and today your top left tooth finally cut through all the way!  You haven't been napping very well lately, and you have woken up in the middle of the night a couple of times this past week, which you never do, so I'm pretty sure your teeth have been bugging you pretty badly.  Hopefully your other top tooth will cut through in the next day or two so you can start feeling a little better. 

I think you are on the verge of walking.  I don't know what I'll do when that happens, you already keep me busy enough crawling everywhere and getting into everything all day long.  You love Rory's dog crate and you crawl in there at least once a day.  You crawl to the furniture all over the house and pull yourself up so you can stand and walk.  You really love to hold my fingers and walk around the house with me.  You get so excited and you smile and squeal happily the whole time.  We borrowed a walker toy from one of your cousins and this past week you started pulling yourself up to it, and pushing it around the house all by yourself.   

You are down to taking two naps a day.  Since we cut your third nap you have started going to bed around 6:30 now and sleep until about 6 am.  You sleep best in your crib, and you are very attached to your baby quilt that I made for you.  You love to clutch it in your hands and cuddle it by your face as you go to sleep.  It is so sweet to watch.

You are a good little eater still, but a couple weeks ago you broke out into a rash around your mouth.  I took you to your pediatrician and he was pretty certain it was a food allergy/sensitity, so we had to cut out a lot of foods and go back to really basic foods until we figure out what is causing it.  I think it is either dairy, or really acidic fruits.  Your rash is almost all the way gone, and as soon as it is I'll reintroduce some of those foods and see if anything causes it to come back.  

You can do a few little tricks on command.  You shake your head no, clap your hands, and give "kisses" (open-mouthed slobbery ones).  You've started to try and copy things that we do now, like blowing raspberries with your lips, nodding your head, and you do this little yell thing at Rory after she barks trying to copy her.  Every time I get you out of your crib I always greet you really happily in my mommy voice and say "Hi".  You've started doing it back to me when I come into a room and you see me.  This one is pretty new so I'm not sure how intentional it is from you, but it seriously sounds just like you are saying hi to me.  I love it so much!

You went to your first costume party last weekend.  You were definitely the star of the show.  Your dad and I went with a bunch of other couples, and we were the only ones with a baby.  Everyone thought you were pretty adorable.  You got to try out your Halloween costume and you looked so cute!  I can't wait for everyone else to see you on Halloween when we take you trick-or-treating.  

We had your nine month check up and you weigh 17 lb 2 oz, and are about 28.5 inches tall.  You are still a little skinny thing!  You are in the 32nd percentile for weight and 79th percentile for height.  Your doctor said you are just built like your mom and since you crawled super early and started pulling yourself up to stand early you are burning more calories than most babies your age.

October is my favorite month of the year and I have been having so much fun sharing it with you this year.  We've gone on lots of walks and looked at all the pretty leaves, baked and shared yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (which you love!), made a few trips to Beus pond, and watched some fun Halloween movies.  I'm planning on taking you to the library this week to check out a big stack of Halloween books to read before the the holiday is over and we're going to try to go to a corn maze/pumpkin patch with you.  I am also excited you get to celebrate my 25th birthday with me on Halloween. This has, by far, been my most favorite year yet.  Getting to be your mother is the best gift I could ever ask for.

I love you too much sweet girl!

Love, 

Mom  

Fall Family Pictures

Last night with the help of Bryce, my tripod, and my little brother, we finally took some family pictures. I think they turned out pretty well, other than we could not for the life us get Claire to smile in the family shots.  We got maybe one good shot with a half smile from her.  She was pretty unsure about my brother, and she can't ever decide if she likes the noise the self timer on my camera makes so she usually just has a confused/grumpy look on her face.  Oh well, I guess that's how it goes with babies! Here are some of my favorites from our shoot: