Halloween Fun

To begin the festivities, Travis and Grace carved a pumpkin on Thursday night. Grace was so interested in helping, but once Travis started pulling out the "guts," she exclaimed, "Ooh, Daddy! That's disgusting!" It took some convincing, but then she stuck her hand inside the pumpkin and went to town. She had so much fun! Here's a picture of the final result. Not bad, Trav! Friday was a very busy day, starting with Grace's Dora birthday party at the little park. She invited all her neighborhood friends and their nannies for lunch, cake, a bounce house and a pinata. Gabby and Dori did a great job pulling it all together, and I think the kids had a great time! Then, that evening, we started getting trick-or-treaters around 6:00. We were eating dinner, but Grace insisted on running to the door each time the doorbell rang to pass out candy. As usual, sweet Ella was ready for bed by 7:00, but I couldn't let her go without getting some pictures in her fairy costume. We didn't let her eat any candy, but she had fun playing with it. Here's are some shots of Grace's first Halloween... And, here's one family picture. Ella was DONE at this point. Once Ella was in bed, we headed off for our own candy gathering. Grace was a mermaid, although she didn't keep the wig after I finished snapping pictures. We made her go up to each door and say "trick-or-treat" without assistance. She did so well and got lots of compliments on her costume. Most people thought she was a princess, and when they said so, she'd promptly turn around and stick our her mermaid tail. Too cute! She did not want to wait until we got home to dig into her candy, so she ate most of her candy between houses. A highlight of the evening--touching the neighbors' spider web after weeks of anticipation! After making the block, we decided to call it a night. After all, her birthday is tomorrow!

Important Stuff

This is such a critical time in our nation's history. I believe that that this election is bigger than tax plans, the war in Iraq, and social policies. As a Christian, I believe there is only one choice for president. While I didn't plan to get political on this blog, I believe that our next president will have a lasting effect on my family. And that's important stuff to me.

I also wanted to share with you this video. It's powerful stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8

The Pink Sweater

Yesterday, I came home with a new pink sweater to keep Grace warm on these chilly fall mornings. Of course, she loved it, and immediately put it on, hood and all. Ella took one look at her and started smothering her with kisses. She must have liked it, too!

Brushing Teeth

Tooth #4 has popped up! Ella has the cutest gap between her front teeth, just like Grace did at that age. Yea for more teeth!

Random Pictures

Grace wanted her picture taken, and then insisted on taking Ella's. Too cute.

Early Halloween

Have I ever mentioned how amazing our nanny is? Gabby truly is a blessing and is so good to our girls. They spend lots of time at the neighborhood parks and have gotten to be friends with a group of nannies and kids. They have parties a couple of times a month, and yesterday, they had an early Halloween party. Here are a couple pics Gabby was able to snap.

A Childhood Dream Come True

Travis will probably make fun of me for this post, but I can't help myself. This has nothing to do with Grace and Ella, but it brought me back to my own childhood. Last weekend, Genny, my sweet girlfriends Amanda and Michelle, and I went to the New Kids on the Block concert. Yes, we did. We bought tickets months ago, about 10 minutes after they went on sale, so we were very excited about the big night finally arriving. After a yummy dinner at The Porch, we headed over to the AAC. There were tons of girls dressed up in NKOTB t-shirts, huge buttons (remember those?) and 80's clothing. The place was packed with a huge majority of 25-35-year-old females who couldn't wait to hear/see their favorite childhood group reunited. As they got ready to make their entrance, the screams were deafening, and you could feel the excitement in the air. Once they stepped out on stage, the entire place went crazy, and I turned into a different person. Really, I did. I became one of "those" girls who can't breath and starts crying and can barely stand up. One of those girls who screams at the top of her lungs for almost the entire concert. I can only explain it like this--when Travis and I went to NYC for the first time and saw our first Broadway show (The Lion King), I was so overwhelmed because it's something I had wanted to do for such a long time. And, it was awesome. So, I cried. Same thing with the New Kids. My favorite album, "Hangin' Tough" was released in 1988--20 years ago! I was only 9 at the time, but after all these years, I still remembered every song. So did everyone else, and the deafening screams only got louder as the night progressed. It was so loud that we couldn't hear when it was over, and my ears were ringing for two hours. Plus, they're even cuter now than they were then. Especially Joey, who was always my favorite. Although I've been to better concerts as far as musical talent (namely, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles), it was definitely the most fun I've ever had at a concert. Those boys can still sing, and they can still dance. They put on an amazing show. And, they made me feel like a kid again (although I'll refrain from putting their posters back up on my walls). To top it off, I screamed so loud that I lost my voice. Seriously, it took several days for me to lose the raspy voice. What a great night!

Ella Loves Bubba

Ella lights up when she sees her Bubba. How cute is that?

Hives

These pictures don't really do them justice, but Ella has been breaking out in hives lately. After two trips to the pediatrician, we ruled out a food allergy and were told that it's an after-effect of the cold virus. Guess her teething wasn't the only reason for her runny nose, fever and cough. Poor baby. At least they're not itchy, and it's a sign that she's on the road to recovery. However, now Grace has a double ear infection! I don't like for my babies to be sick.

Sic 'Em Bears

Grammie made the girls these precious green and gold dresses that are just perfect for pictures. Ella has little patience right now because she's battling a cold (I think), but here are the best ones from our first attempt. I'll try again later. I LOVE this picture of Grace.

Although I won't force them, I think it would be neat if our girls ended up at Baylor. It was such a great school, and without it, they wouldn't be here!

Ella is 11 Months Old!

I wish I could have gotten some better 11 month pictures, but Ella is still feeling icky and wouldn't cooperate. Here's the best I could get, but I'll try to get some new ones when she's feeling better.

Ella continues to amaze us with her development. Her newest words: ba-ol (bottle) and uh-oh. She finds it very amusing to pick up just about anything, hold it up, then drop it and say, "Uh-oh!" She'll do it over and over again and just crack herself up. It's cute, and she loves it when we clap for her. She still loves to read, and "Ba Ba Ba Ba" (Brown Bear, Brown Bear) is still her favorite. She has taken an interest in the big animal picture books and seems geniuinely interested in all the animal names and sounds. She likes to lean down and kiss each page with a big "mwah" sound. Just precious.