Halloween 2014

Time has f.l.o.w.n. by the past few weeks.  Not really sure why but I'm guessing cause it's the holiday time, I've been ramping up at work, and both Fogg and I have been traveling a lot.  I was gone all last week prior to Halloween.  It was a crazy week, at the Marmot sales meeting.  It was so great though and such a confirmation that I'm doing exactly (like exactly) what I should be doing.  I'm so happy to have found the job that was tailor made for me.  I am working with the right people in the right company with the right product.  I had a great time getting to know more people, learning about the product and the company.  

Before I left, we watched Gracie for half the day.  Gracie is one of my best friends daughters and we are so lucky to have them all in our lives.  She did so great, playing great with the kids, going potty and being happy.  At one point, the kids wanted to dress up, so Gracie is the cowgirl and of course my Spiderman and Elsa.

I got back the day before halloween so I was able to go to Reed's class for his party there.  The kids were to wear either PJ's or their costumes.  Reed wore both.  He wore his spiderman pj's under his spiderman costume.  They had treats and did a little trick or treating around the classroom, then played some games.  Here is most of his class:

Funny Faces

Later that afternoon, we had friends over for our now Annual Soup T or T.  People bring soup to share and some sides like bread and salad.  We had some yummy soups - some sausage thing, clam chowder, butternut squash and chicken quinoa.  Little Raylee came over and Nora spent the entire night "taking care" of her.  She wanted to hold her (and she did like 5 times) and bring her toys and cover her up in a blanket.  She was in heaven.  I think my little pink loving, princess obsessed little girl can add babies to her favorite things.

 Spiderman and Elsa collecting some goods

The day after Halloween is a perfect time to pick up next year's costumes cause they are on clearance.  And they can play with them all year long as dress up!  Reed chose Batman and I chose Dorothy for Nora (cause she doesn't know who that is).  I explained the concept of the movie - Dorothy was in a storm and bonked her head and had a crazy dream about walking on the yellow brick road with a tin man, a lion and a scarecrow so she could meet the wizard to send her home.  So Nora put on this costume and kept faking bonking her head.  Oh and called her Dora.  Oh well, she was cute with her red shoes and basket with Todo.  I think this costume might double as Alice in Wonderland.

And finally, Nora has a bestie at school - Addi.  Addi already at 3 years old, decided that she wanted her and Nora to wear the same shirt on the same day.  So she gave Nora a new shirt and they both wore them today. How cute are these two little twinners?  They were both so very happy.

Cheers~

Was Blind, But Now I See

For about 26 years, I've been wearing glasses or contacts.  I remember sitting in my second grade class and squinting to the point that you probably couldn't see my eyeballs anymore at all.  The front row just wasn't close enough anymore.  I think the call went to my parents when I would walk up to the board to see what was written on it.  I actually didn't really mind my first pair of powder pink glasses.

But then it was kinda annoying when I would be playing basket ball and they would get hit.  Or I was running and they would bounce on my nose.  Or they would break and I was lost to see anything.  When I was going into 8th grade, I got my first pair of contacts.  I loved not having glasses so much that when I lost one contact, I went around wearing one (and getting pretty dizzy!).

Every single night, I have taken my contacts out.  I put my glasses on to go to bed.  In the morning, I put my glasses on to walk to the bathroom to put my contacts back in.  I would go out and about and tear a contact, and be up a creek.  Every time I travel, I had to bring my glasses, solution and an extra pair of contacts just in case.

I've wanted to get LASIK for some time now but my funds and frankly, my resolve, were not there to do it.  But a good deal came along and the hubby suggested that it was time.  So the appointment was made and glasses were worn and I was getting myself ready to do it.

I was scared out of my brain, and as the time crept closer, I got more anxious about it.  Everyone kept telling me "it's so fast", "best decision ever", "it's no big deal at all".  Didn't mean anything to me as I thought about how they were going to prop my eye's open and cut them and burn them.  I of course went through with it.  I spent the entire weekend sleeping, mostly from the stress of the whole thing came down on me.  And I still had to do lots of drops and my eyes didn't work amazing yet.

But after a week of taking care of myself, I can see better and better every day, the irritation goes down.  I still reach for my glasses in the morning and still feel like I need to take my contacts out every night.  I am nervous of every single bump or close call.  I'm sure one day, I'll wake up and I won't even think about it, I'll just go on with my day, several hours later realize that I didn't think about it.  That is the day that I will be amazing.  Until then, I'm still scared.

No more of this!

Nora's Birthday

Nora's teachers made her this adorable sign for her birthday party at school.  Each kid put their handprint on it.  She told them she wanted pink. I brought it home and hung it on her wall for her for a bit.  So cute!  They also had Frozen cupcakes and each kid had a lot of blue frosting all over their face.  Reed got to get out of his class to come to her's and have a cupcake with them.

After school, we picked up the kids and went to Black Island Farms (the pumpkin patch) to play.  We waited for the hayride and I took some adorable pictures of the kids.

We all got to pick a pumpkin

After the hayride, we played in the main play area of the farm.  I didn't take any pictures, but they had fun on the slides and such.

Then we headed to a quick dinner then home to open the rest of her presents.  Reed gave her the one he picked out for her first.  It was an Anna (from the movie) doll.  She loved it.

He gave her a hug

Next she opened a few gifts from me.  She was not thrilled with my book and clothes and bear that I got her.  She opened the clothes and goes "clothes" and then pulled them all out and threw them on the floor.  HA!  

Grandma and Papa Fogg got her what she asked for - an Elsa dress.  Boy was this hard to find, but finally found one that was so darn cute and of good quality.  As she opened it she kept saying "Elsa dress.  Elsa dress. Elsa dress".  

Of course she put it on immediately

 

But in the end, it was the Anna doll that Reed gave her that she said was her favorite gift.  She clutched it as she went to the sleep each night since.

 Thank you to everyone who sent gifts, she truly appreciates them and we are working on Thank you notes this week.  She said she loved her birthday!

Nora's Frozen Party

Nora's third birthday is today.  Three whole years old.

We are in awe of our little girl every day.  She is so stinking smart, so very independent and makes us laugh almost every single day.  She loves her brother, she loves the movie Frozen, wants to be a baby when she grows up, and loves math.  She is either super happy or super grumpy. We love having this little girl in our family.  She has her daddy wrapped around her pinky finger.  He acts tough but she can win him over pretty quickly.  She really does know every letter and number and color, loves to sing songs and is starting to play a lot with her babies.  I love her smile and her little giggle is about the best sound ever.

This morning, she was mad at me for "not getting her" and asked to come snuggle in bed with me.  So we did and I said "happy birthday!".  She said thank you and that two year olds are babies and she is now a big girl.  Then Reed crawled in bed too and they gave each other hugs after he told her happy birthday.  Then she got grumpy and didn't want to go to school.  They made her a big banner and I brought Frozen cupcakes for her to share with her class.  Reed wanted to come have a cupcake with her in her class so hopefully they do that for them both.  Nora cried when I dropped her off and was asking for "Reed-o" (that's what she calls him).  Sweet girl.

Day she was born

1 Year Old

2 Years Old

3 Years Old

Nora asked for a Frozen party for her birthday.  We invited her friends that are around the same age.  She is jumping on the tramp with her friend Addi (her twin from school).

 Her Frozen cake

Lala gave Nora a fantastic Frozen themed gift.  It was a roller bag filled with Frozen stuff.  She literally gasped when she opened it.  Loves loves it.

I wished I had caught it on camera, but she had this "O" face almost every time she pulled something new out.  She was in little girl heaven.

This afternoon we are going to the pumpkin patch and a few more gifts from us.  More pics tomorrow I'm sure!

Happy Birthday Baby Princess!

First Real Haircut

Well, my baby girl might just not be a baby anymore.  Fogg has been asking me to cut Nora's hair for at least a year if not more.  I just couldn't stomach that thought of her hair being cut.  Dumb, I know but it's just my thing ok?

Anyway, Nora's hair has grown and grown, but the ends were starting to get a bit snaggly and needed a trim.  I've been cutting her bangs for a while now, but never the back. I had to take Reed to get a trim, so I thought, I'll do Nora's too!

She didn't really want to do it, until we walked into the salon and then she was like "I want a hair cut".  She didn't have any emotion at all during the whole appointment but she also didn't cry or have any issues.

Before:

After:

Cute girl! She is a big almost 3 year old now - no more paci's, diapers, bottles. And most importantly, I did ok with the haircut, no meltdown for mommy!

Lately

The above picture is sort of special to me.  Here is why: There is no changing pad on top of that dresser and there is no diaper pail next to it.  This is the first time since we were preparing for Reed's arrival that this room hasn't had either of these things.  That dresser has always had a changing pad on it.  But as we know from the previous post, times have changed.  I'm pretty excited about this fairly small thing in my life, it's very changing for me.

I also got to rearrange my purse/bag. What a joy to not carry around diapers.  Or to worry about making sure they are always there just in case.  I am finding stashed diapers everywhere now!  The diaper pail outside the front door is gone too!  Nora is only in overnight diapers for accidents while she sleeps, which is not bad and we can take those straight to the can once a day.  Freedom!

We were without Fogg this week as he was in Maine for his grandmother's memorial.  We got to have a dinner with Nana and Papa because the kids have been asking for them lately. 

Nora just loves her Nana.

They both love when Papa tells them stories.  Here he is telling them some story and showing pictures on his phone.  They were mesmerized.

I got the kids new fun Halloween PJ's.  They glow in the dark which is kinda fun.  Too bad I couldn't get a picture of it.  But I wanted to do a before picture and here they are.  I just love how Reed leaned in to his sister.  They just love each other!  After this picture, they insisted on sleeping in the same bed so that they wouldn't be lonely.  Adorable.

Next up is Nora's birthday - 3 years old!  Crazy!