Halloween Belles

Halloween was a big hit. Rebekah was Princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast--and she was not alone. Every three-year-old girl we saw at the church Fall Festival was a Disney Princess. Coordinating with her sister's yellow dress was Bananabelle, who seemed to enjoy the festivities, too. Her costume was a hit, but the Chiquita label did not hold up well to the excessive drool :) And by the way, please pardon the snotty nose in every picture--it was unavoidable. She conked out before we left the church and did not make it to the trick-or-treating portion of the evening. Fortunately, even though Rebekah is old enough to insist on trick-or-treating, she is young enough that three houses satisfied her. Exhausted, Rebekah has passed out on the couch. Annabelle, refreshed by her late evening nap, is up for another round.

Sunday project: fairy castle bedroom

All of us were pretty much stuck at home today because we are sharing one big cold--just in time for the girls to start their new daycare/preschool. I did manage to get a project done. I created a fairy castle bedroom for the girls out of a Wallies paste-up mural. I have been looking at them online and when I saw them on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $14, I couldn't resist. The kit had a big castle and a little one, so it was perfect for the girls' shared room. Take a look:

Rebekah's side

Annabelle's crib

the window between their beds--Granmommy made the letters on the window

Annabelle's side

Punkins!

We've been to two pumpkin patches in the past week, and we may be going back this weekend. Rebekah is in love with pumpkins and Halloween in general. She keeps asking if she can go trick- or-treating, and then she follows it with an explanation so we'll know how to do it: "If I go and knock on someone's door and say 'trick-or-treat' then I will get lots and lots of candy." I keep reminding her that it only works on Halloween--otherwise it's just begging. I have told her that we are going to our church Fall Festival for Halloween, so she says she will knock on the church door and say "trick-or-treat' and get candy. I can't wait to show you their costumes next week. Last night we painted our pumpkin family. Everyone did his or her own pumpkin, except for Annabelle, of course. I painted hers, complete with one dimple and one tooth. She held it yesterday for a picture, but since we used washable (and non-toxic!) paint, she ended up with green all over her mouth. Below is a close-up of Rebekah's pumpkin. It actually ended up with a face, albeit a small one. Her first concern was to use every color of paint, and once she accomplished that, she was ready for the face. If you look towards the top, you can see two dots for eyes, a dot for the nose, and a straight-line mouth. Above the face is blue hair and below it are feet. It also has ears with blue earrings. She did a good job for her first pumpkin, and she is awfully proud. To see details of the pictures, just click on them.

return of angel baby

Going through hand-me-down baby clothes, I once again found the cutest pajamas ever. I love seeing Annabelle in the clothes Rebekah wore so I can relive some happy memories while making new ones (I know it's corny, but it's true). Stay tuned for pictures of the cutest hat ever--it will be making a comeback as soon as the weather gets cold.

More Annabelle action

Annabelle had her six-month check-up, and she's still in the 90th percentile for height and weight. Adding to her list of accomplishments, she can also pull herself up to standing. Once she gets up, though, she can't go anywhere or get back down, so she just stands there and cries until we come to help her. We have let her fall back down, but she doesn't land on her bottom as she should--she falls head first and lands on her face. Last night we discovered the tiniest ridges of her first tooth poking through her bottom gums. We were so excited and called the grandparents to share the news, but that mood changed when her emerging tooth combined with a fever from her immunizations kept her up all night. Poor baby! (and poor Mommy)

settling in--and Annabelle crawls!

We've moved into our new house. The settling in process is long, especially since every one of us got sick while we were moving, but we already like our house, and everyone is sleeping a little better now. I was worried that Rebekah would have trouble since she's been sleeping in my bed for the last two months, but she was so happy to see her own bed again that she took right to it and hasn't complained (about the bed, that is--she has found plenty of other things to complain about, but that's just a symptom of being three). We had a great visit with family before we moved, and Shannon was happy not to be rushing back to work. He starts his new job on Monday.

In the midst of all this, Annabelle starting crawling--not scooting on her belly, but real actual crawling! She started about three days before she turned six months old. She is all over the place now, which is not the best timing for a move. We keep having to catch her to get things out of her mouth. Rebekah seems to have taken her sister's new mobility as a threat and has launched a preemptive strike, showing that baby who's boss. Most of the time she is sweet and hugs and kisses and plays with her--even as we speak, Bekah is putting on a puppet show and Annabelle is giggling with delight. But several times a day, we have to rescue the baby because Bekah has pushed her over, dragged her across the carpet by her head, or STOOD ON TOP OF HER! We are on high alert because never know when the sweet Bekah will slip away and Bekah-monster will take her place.

Woo-hoo!

Shannon has a job offer for a management position at a bank. We won't have details until the end of the week. Today is his last day at his old job, and he's pretty excited, especially since getting the call this morning. The timing has worked out well, too. He wanted to take a vacation this week to visit family without his cell phone ringing all the time with work problems, and he'll be able to do that. It won't be a real vacation for me, as I will still have to beg, borrow, and steal work time throughout the week, but it will still be nice to see everyone. I hope Shannon will log on and actually post something about this whole thing himself, but based on previous experience, I have to be laid up recovering from childbirth for that to happen. I have some news for Shannon, too. Tomorrow he can sleep in as long as he wants and enjoy his time off. But he better relish it, because no more late nights working means no more sleeping half the day. (And since the girls wake up at 6:00 a.m. every day, 9:30 is sleeping half the day away to me.)