Happy Halloween a Day Late!!!

Alexis and Tyler are waiting to get started.

This was too cute so I just had to take a picture.

Patiently awaiting the "messy" part.

EWWWWWW!!!!

These were our pumpkin creations.

We had a great time carving our pumpkins and trick or treating. Alexis loved playing in the shmootz from the pumpkins. She was our cleaner and Dean and I did the carving. I still think she's a little young to play with knives. On Halloween night, Alexis and I went out trick or treating with my neighbor and her son while Dean stayed home and passed out candy. They had lots of fun except Alexis was a little frightened from some of the costumes and I had to carry her almost the entire time. I guess I can figure that I got my exercise for the day.

Pecs

So you all know the story about Alexis feeding her babies from her pecs just like other mommies. Well we were able to catch a picture and couldn't help but pass it along. I just really hope that none of these feeding practices are being done at school.

Big girl bed

So we decided to make the jump from the toddler bed to a full size bed about a week ago. Alexis seems to have transitioned well. Instead of running into our room every night taking up half of the bed, she is actually staying put in her bed all night. The only thing that we need to do is leave her door open and every light on in the house. It's a small price to pay for a good night of sleep. I don't know what it was about the toddler bed, but she wasn't sleeping well. She seemed to have all of these night terrors about snakes and crocodiles and didn't want us to leave the room. It was pretty pitiful. The last thing she would usually say before we left was "protect me mommy". Talk about feeling guilty about leaving Alexis alone to sleep in her bed by herself. She sure knows how to make a point. Where do these kids learn these tactics. It's like they know exactly what buttons to push. Anyway, the nights are less painful and I seem a little more rested. Hopefully her excitement about her new bed will last for a while.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we decided to make our way to the pumpkin patch for our annual fall excursion. This place is pretty cool. They have hay rides, inflatable jumping games, hay mazes and painting. The weather cooperated today too with the sun out and only a cool breeze, not a frigid frost. Here are a few pictures of our fun day.

Obsession with babies

Alexis continues to be quite the lover of babies. My sister-in-law Lea recently had a new baby boy about 3 weeks ago and that is all Alexis talks about. "I want to hold the baby!", "I want to go and see baby Niko". Alexis is very observant too. Lea is feeding the baby and boy Alexis is right there, watching. Tonight, she and I were sitting on the couch watching a little tv when she takes her baby, pulls up her shirt, and says "I feed the baby with my peck". I really couldn't contain myself. I tried to pull it together but it did take a few minutes. I am really starting to worry about what she does at school. Hopefully she's not being too friendly with any classmates.

More recent pictures

The above pictures show Alexis and mommy at
the beach and her first excursion to the putt putt
course.

The pictures below show Alexis with her favorite
type of people---babies.

The others are of Alexis enjoying her time at
a playground while in Naples with Nana.

Another Trip South

This past weekend, the three of us made our way down to Naples to visit the folks. We had a great time and of course the weekend went too quickly. Mom and dad always enjoy playing with Alexis and it's quite nice because Dean and I get a little break. Alexis had a great time swimming, playing with Casey (the dog), playing with uncle Todd and reading books. Since my mom is a teacher, I think there are roughly 500 kids books in my parent's house. Alexis will read them but as of late she has been stacking all of her books as high as she can before they fall over. It keeps her entertained for quite a while. We made our way down to Olde Naples and took a stroll on the pier. We were able to see a few dolphins in the water. The weather held out most days until the afternoon when the thunderstorms would hit.
The trip home was another story. Dean had to leave and go directly to Houston for training which meant Alexis and I were on our own. We've done it several times before, however Alexis was much better behaved. I figured the time of the flight would be perfect. Right around nap time and that would mean Alexis would sleep, right? NO of course not. She fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport which meant once she has been woken up, there is no other sleep to be had. Once we made it through security, we made our way to the bathroom. Alexis did not want to use the potty and she did NOT want to be changed. She screamed so loudly that I think people thought I was beating her. I mean it was blood curdling. I didn't know what to do and I really wanted to stay in the stall until the bathroom emptied. But we didn't and I think we got a few looks. I wanted to say, What the ____ am I supposed to do? Anyway, we made our way onto the plane. It started out okay. We had a dvd player with The Wiggles movie so I thought we'd be set. 20 minutes into the movie, the video went out. So much for that. Now what. I have crayons but they wound up all over the plane. Then the bad behavior really started. I must say I can usually keep my child from hitting and biting when I have a corner to put her in for time out, but how are you supposed to discipline a child in a small seat with strangers staring at you wondering how you're letting your child get away with this. I really wanted to throw her out the window. Okay not really but I did want to pull my hair out and scream at the top of my lungs. Lets just say that was the longest 2 1/2 hours of my life for a while.
All things considered, we had a great trip and enjoyed our time. I know I am always ready for a vacation.