Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our little dinosaur and macaw!

Trick or Treat?

We went to CB this weekend to visit Brian's family. We brought the girls' Halloween costumes since they won't get to see the girls on Halloween night. Grace didn't want to wear her costume but we managed to convince her to put it on a couple times. We went trick-or-treating aunt Great Aunt Yvonne's house and the girls got some chips and candy. We went to Memé and Pepé's house for lunch and Grace agreed to put her costume on again. Grand Memé gave Grace some new jammies and a coloring book. Grace looked at her gift and said "this is not a treat!!" She looked like she was about to cry but Grand Memé saved the day by giving her a little box of Smarties. I think that's the tough thing about Halloween - we strive to make sure Grace (and Anna) know that Christmas is not just about presents, but Halloween is pretty much just about dressing up and getting candy! At least she's really good about saying thank you (usually!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so thankful for these two little beauties

Ladybugs

I can't get over how many ladybugs we saw at our house yesterday. We were outside with Auntie Murr in the afternoon and we noticed a bunch of ladybugs on the side of our house. I started counting and there were at least 30. By the time Brian got home, there were hundreds! Literally! It was pretty cool. Brian did some googling and found that they were probably trying to soak up any heat they can get now that the cooler Fall weather is here (our house gets a lot of sun and it was a beautiful day yesterday). A friend of mine said they might not have been ladybugs but another type of beetle, but they did look like ladybugs. Most of them took off as the sun went down but there were still a few stragglers out there this morning!

This is just a small section of  our house. They were covering one side of it!

Happy Birthday to Me!

When Grace woke up this morning, I told her it was my birthday. "Now?" she asked. "Yup, right now!" I told her. She promptly sang Happy Birthday to me, complete with "and many more!" at the end, it was so sweet. Grace said and sang Happy Birthday to me many times throughout the day, and Anna was trying to say it too! Every time Grace would sing it, Anna would clap and say "ahh-pee" clearly trying to say happy! I had a great day with my little family.

More Adventures in Baby Wearing!

I don't wear Anna as much as I used to but I've had her in the Beco a few times this week, then I was informed that it's International Baby Wearing Week!

11 Months!

I realized a couple weeks ago that I forgot to do a 10 month post, so here's what's new with Anna over the past two months!

• Anna has started to sign! She's been signing "milk" for a couple weeks now. It's really motivated me to keep up with signing because I haven't been as dedicated to it as I was with Grace, but Grace has been helping me and signs to Anna all the time. She is also signing "all done" but not with as much consistency. It's funny to watch, she flails her arms all over the place.  
• She's using anything and everything to pull herself up to stand. She's also started cruising around the furniture. 
• She loves to bring us stuff. She will pick up little toys, socks, cups, or whatever she can get her hands on, crawl over and hand them to us. She always looks so proud of herself and will wait for us to say "thank you" and then she'll give us a big smile. 
• She is officially a thumb sucker. This girl would never take a soother, so we're glad she can self soothe. Generally, she only sucks her thumb when she's tired. 
• Anna is a pretty good eater. She is very independent and refused to be spoon fed from the start, but she will usually let us feed her yogurt. 
• She loves water. She will easily drink a whole cup with a meal. Of course, she also loves to throw the cup on the floor and point to it until we pick it up and pass it back. 
• She likes to play hide and seek. She will often crawl into her room and go into the tent castle that Zilla gave to Grace. As soon as I peek in and say "Where's Anna?" she comes barrelling out laughing her head off. It's so cute. 
• She's a great sleeper at night, but still not the greatest napper. She has pretty much dropped her morning nap and afternoon naps are inconsistent. I don't mind too much as long as she keeps sleeping through the night! 
• Still absolutely adores her big sister, and follows her around all the time. 
• She loves playing with books, tupperware containers, and anything Grace is playing with. 
• She's growing out of her 18 month clothes already. The pants are tight on her waist and thighs, but still too long!

Gracie goes to the Dentist

Grace had her first visit to the dentist at the end of September. She did so awesome! She was patient and played quietly with Lego in the waiting room while we waited for our turn. She listened so well and did everything the dental hygienist and the dentist asked, and she wasn't scared a bit! They counted, cleaned, and flossed her teeth and she left with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, and some stickers. Let's hope all future trips to the dentist go this smoothly!

Waiting

In the big chair!

Sporting the pink shades

Say aahhh!

Showing Grace what the tickly toothbrush will feel like

She was a rockstar!

Murr & Matt - June 28, 2013

Auntie Murr and Uncle Matt tied the knot back on June 28 (yes, this post is way overdue). It was a beautiful wedding - small, intimate, joyous and fun. Grace did awesome as one of the Flower Girls! Matt's niece Ava took the lead and Grace was happy to follow her along. Grace did great carrying her bouquet up the aisle and was attentive during the ceremony for the most part, but then we looked over and she was quietly smashing her flowers on the floor, it was so funny. Memé and Papa came up to take care of the girls for the night so Brian and I could stay for the reception and dance party afterwards. We had a blast! And, most importantly, I think Murr and Matt did too. It was such a lovely day.

The Bride & Groom

Gracie loves her Auntie Murr!

Fam Jam

The Sampson Fam

Anna wants that bouquet

Anna Banana getting tired...

Beautiful flower girls!

Sisters <3

Hats & Mitts

With the cooler weather we've been having, I've had to bring out all the hats and mittens! The girls have a huge collection of hats - mostly thanks to Zilla, who loves buying them cute, goofy, or funky hats. Yesterday was really nice but cool in the morning, and the grass was so wet I even had to put Anna's snowpants on so she could crawl around! Our backyard gets a lot of shade in the morning so it takes a while to warm and dry up. I'm not complaining about this weather, though! I love Fall! Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day. None of us were feeling very well, but the fresh air felt good. 

Anna had a hard time crawling in her bulky snowpants

Grace absolutely loves this red hat. She was very excited when I pulled it out of the bag of winter gear!

Colds

The girls and I have been sick all week. It seems this terrible cold is going around, because I know a lot of people who are sick right now. Brian has been taking good care of us when he's not at work, and he's been letting me sleep as much as possible while he gets up with the girls.
I hate to see the girls feeling miserable, but I have been enjoying Grace's squeaky, raspy voice all week. It sounds so cute!

Wordless Wednesday (How Many Teeth Do You Have?)

October

October is quite possibly my favourite month. I love fall - the changing leaves, cooler weather, wearing hoodies. And with October comes Thanksgiving and my birthday! Unfortunately, we're all starting the month with coughs and runny noses; our whole family has been hit with this cold. 

I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog so I'm hoping to post more regularly this month. Stay tuned!