BOO!!

Did I scare you?! Haha!

Happy Halloween!!

Even though I hate thinking of costumes (and sure as heck can't make them) and hate paying a fortune for a cheap thing you'll wear for just a few hours, I still love Halloween. There's just something about it....being something out of the ordinary for a day, lit up pumpkins, kids' voices on the streets at night....

I get excited for the kids to come around trick-or-treating. I sit and watch out the window for the first ones to come and love seeing their costumes when they come to the door.

Of course now we have our own little one to dress up and take out which makes it that much more fun!

Here are our pumpkins we did this year....
Gabe's (awesome huh?!):
and mine:
We got pizza for dinner then got Avery all geared up in her costume. We planned on taking her to maybe 3-4 neighbors and that's it. We figured we'd go early and get it done so we could come back, hand out candy, get her to bed, etc.

And she totally figured out how to unzip her costume:

Ready to go! Trick-or-treat bag in hand....

Look how stinkin' cute she is....doesn't she look like a big girl?!

walking up the driveway:

Crossing the street with Daddy:

This was our last planned stop at our neighbors next door. They took a family shot for us:

So after we did the 3 houses we planned on doing, we got home and Avery was not happy-she did not want to come inside! Let me tell you that it had to be in the low 40s (if that) and was raining/snowing out!

For this child only being 16months old, she totally figured out the whole trick-or-treating concept after the first house. She saw the candy hit the bottom of her bag and she was sold! So when we got home, she kept wanting to go back out. I stayed home to hand out candy and Gabe decided to take her to one more house. They came back after that....he goes to take off his coat and she starts crying and pointing at it! So he puts it back on, they go to one more house, and come back....she still wasn't done! It was so funny! His parents ended up coming by just as Gabe was taking her out again-so they went to a house with her and then they all came back in the house. Having them here helped distract her and then she was just interested in doing "cany inventory"...empty the pumpkin, fill the pumpkin...repeatedly. When his parents left, she pointed out the door and was grunting like she still wanted to go out for more! We told her it was time for bed and took her up.

I just got a kick out of it-I totally thought she would be clueless and would not be interested in trick-or-treating! We were laughing because it was so crappy outside and Gabe kept taking her out to more houses...I told him "anything for free candy!" and we joked that she takes after me in loving free things!

Next year will be a blast I'm sure!!

Madness at the Museum

Yesterday I took Avery to the Strong Museum for their tots Halloween party. We wanted to go last year, but she ended up having a cold so we didn't go.

Oh.My.God.

They open at 10am and I decided to get there right when it opened so we could stay about 2 hours before it was time for lunch and her nap. The party ran from 10-2.

I pulled in right at 10...it was pouring rain out and the line was out the door! Now I have been to the museum a bunch of times-weekends, weekdays, morning, afternoons, etc and I have NEVER seen it like this.

Getting the stroller out and her in it in the rain was interesting then we had to wait outside for about 5min before they got smart enough to wrap the line around inside. Luckily the line moved pretty fast, but we still didn't get checked in at the desk until around 10:15-10:20ish. It was nuts!

They had a lot of people dressed up as different characters: Mother Goose, Old Mother Hubbard, Little Bo Peep, a wizard, a detective, a scarecrow, Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, a chef, a princess, a pirate....just to name a few! They had a few stations (maybe 10?) where the kids could do a game and then get a prize (this was their version of trick-or-treating). Of course most of the games were way over Avery's head so I had to "help" her get her prizes-she got crayons, a coloring book, stickers, a tattoo, a spider ring. They also had a few stations where they gave you a gold coin and then at the end, you turned in your coins for a prize. They had a treasure chest full of glow sticks and Earth balls. Avery chose a ball. The only candy she got was on the way out-we got some tootsie rolls and smarties.

Overall it was fun, but a little too chaotic. I felt like she really didn't play much because it was just so crowded and you had to wait in line for things. It was fun seeing all of the costumes though-some kids looked super cute!

We met my friend Jen there and her two boys, Nicky (3 yrs old) and Ryan (1yr old). We didn't get to spend a ton of time together though since we spent most of the time chasing the kids around! But I tried to get a few pics of them together (which was really hard!): I have no clue why the color of this came out weird:

Nicky saying "cheese!"

In one area they also had a DJ set up playing music....you can see Avery checking out all of the kids dancing!

Sixteen Months Old!

Yesterday Avery turned 16 months old!!

Last month I posted about her canines coming in...well, I finally got a good look in her mouth just the other day. She's officially up to 15 teeth now! She has one more canine that has to break through and then we're done until the 2 year molars come in.

She's still eating well these days. Her favorite foods are pasta, grapes and apples. After her 15 month appointment, we did give her peanut butter. She's still on the fence about it. She loves toast with jelly on it so when I make her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I tell her it's toast with jelly and she eats it. Gabe tried giving her just peanut butter and she wasn't too thrilled (she must not be our daughter!).

She's still on the same sleep schedule-11/12 hours overnight with one nap in the afternoon. We occasionally get a night here and there where she'll wake up, but not too frequently!

She likes doing airplane when she eats...she will take the spoon from me or Gabe and will make an airplane sound and whirl it around in the air-it's pretty cute! She has also started tickling people now! And her latest thing? Belly buttons! She always plays with hers and will want to see ours from time to time! She has also figured out how to close her eyes when we ask her.

She says a few more words now: "Dora", "more", "Papa", "apple", "hi". She loves when we're out somewhere now and all she does is say "hi" to people! And she says it repeatedly to the same people-it's funny!

Here are a few pics I took of her yesterday....eating a banana holding it all by herself!

Hugging her bear:

And our usual monthly pics:

Looking at her book:

My Mom bought her this Halloween hat last year and now it's super tight on her!

After I took it off of her, she started trying to put it on herself:

She got it to balance!

My favorites:

and this was what she did for a half hour yesterday while I was starting dinner!

Weekend Recap

We had yet another busy weekend!

Saturday the library that we go to weekly for story hour had their Fall Festival so we decided to take Avery and check it out. She was a little young for most of it, but it was pretty impressive what they had for no charge....yes, it was all FREE!

Here is Avery and Daddy right when we got there (she's totally doing the side-eye here-she would not look at me) A quick family shot:

They started with a parade at 10am-all of the kids and parents paraded around the grounds before the actual events started.

The library is connected to the town hall and police department so all of the buildings were involved in the festival.

In the police department, they had a room with games set up-bean bag toss, ring toss, and the choose a duck game (she loved picking up the ducks!):

They also had a police officer present to talk to, face painting, and a magician doing some tricks. They had a hallway that you walked through to take you to the town hall....in there they had a trick-or-treat room which was a clever idea. They had all of these "haunted houses" set up with a person in each one handing out candy/treats to the kids. It was a cute idea!

Upstairs in the town hall they had some doughnuts and cider for refreshments. Right outside on the front lawn of the town hall they had pony rides. Avery loved looking at them but she's a little too young to do that yet. Maybe next year!

They also had some story characters walking around-some mouse (Lily?) and Curious George. Here is Avery meeting George:

Then we made our way to the library. Every family received a small pumpkin that the kids could decorate with huge sharpie markers. Yep, that was something we didn't do! They had a few coloring stations set up as well where kids could color a large leaf or pumpkin. They only thing we really did there was look at the animals they brought over from the zoo. They had a small snake, which I didn't get a picture of. Then they had this nasty millipede:

Yeah, the girl held it...gross!

They also had an armadillo. Avery loved the thing-she didn't want to leave!

Avery watching it run around!

I have no clue why this is turned but its Avery watching the armadillo run around.

After Avery napped, we took her to our gym to go swimming. We haven't taken her in a few months (she was in her anti-water phase) so we thought we'd try again. She was a little unsure at first but did very well! We ended up having her in the water for about an hour and she did awesome! Granted, she wasn't all excited, but she did splash a little and did some kicking which is definitely an improvement from where she was!

Yesterday we went to Buffalo since it's been about a month since we last went.

We met my Dad and Colleen for breakfast/lunch at the Olympic. Avery had a good time with her Papa!

Then we went to my Mom's for the rest of the day. Of course we had to break out the Halloween costume so Grandma could see her and take some photos! My Mom got her a little pumpkin so we had a prop for her pics!

My Mom also got her a flashlight pumpkin that blinks so we got a pic with that as well.

Grandma and Avery:

She also had fun practicing her jumping skills:

I'm in Pain and Miserable

If you cross my path in the next few days and I'm not my usual self, I apologize.

I'm in pain and miserable....

Damn canker sores.

I got them Thursday sometime and of course I have to have 2 of them. And to make it even more fun, they're on opposite sides of my mouth. One huge one on my tongue and one on the opposite side's cheek.

I can't talk well. (and I'm sure I look like an ass as well)

It hurts like hell to eat. Like to the point of tears hurt.

I've tried salt water, an oral rinse, and a debriding agent I have. NOTHING HELPS!

So until they go away, I'm in constant pain and not a happy camper.

Put on a happy face right?!

My Budding Artist

Avery and I officially did her first craft the other day! (Yes it's a spider!)

I saw it online somewhere but changed it a bit. You're supposed to use black paint and paint the child's hand to create the handprint...there was no way that was going to happen! So I just traced her hand with a pencil then went over it with a marker and colored it in. Ok so I confess that I did 99.5% of the work, but the child is obsessed with these! She wants to look at them constantly which is so cute!

Carmelized Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I found this recipe as I was surfing around online. To be honest, I can't remember where I found it. And I don't even remember the exact recipe, so I just threw this together...and I didn't measure so I'm guesstimating here!

I will confess...I've never tried the whole apple with cheese thing. I know it's popular to have apple pie with a slice of cheese on top, but I've never tried it. For some reason it just sounds weird to me and not tasty at all!

I decided for lunch today to go out on a limb and experiment with this sandwich.

Carmelized Apple Grilled Cheese
2 slices bread
cheese (however many slices you want-I assume cheddar/gouda would be best)
1 apple-peeled, cored, sliced
1 tbsp brown sugar
1-2tbsp butter

1. In small frying pan, add 1 tbsp butter and brown sugar. Heat until butter melts. Add apple and cook until bubbly and apple is tender (about 5min)

2. Assemble sandwich and cook until browned on both sides.

Notes: I had smoked gouda in the house so that is what I used. I didn't use any special bread either-I actually used an Arnold's sandwich thin for it. And instead of buttering my bread, I used spray butter on it, which I typically do to save some calories.

Verdict-this sandwich is on the sweet side-more for a dessert or snack. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the cheese/apple combo (sorry!) so I probably wouldn't make it again because of that. If you do like it, by all means give it a try! I also didn't take any photos of it so I apologize!

Zoo Boo

Today we took Avery to her first Halloween event! The Seneca Park Zoo holds their annual Zoo Boo so we decided to check it out!

Gabe and I haven't taken Avery to the zoo yet (shame on us!) so we thought this would be a good opportunity to do so. My in-laws have taken her before so she's not totally deprived :) We met a couple that I went to high school with and their 2 kids and we had a lot of fun! (Another shame on me, I didn't get any pics of their kids in costume!)

We got there right when the gates opened at 10am and got her in her costume in the parking lot.

Look at my little frog!! Daddy and Avery ready for Halloween fun!

The event was pretty cute. Since we're not members, Gabe and I paid admission (Avery was free for being under 2), then it was a few bucks for Avery to trick-or-treat. You were given a treat bag, map and stamp card upon entry.

All of their indoor buildings/habitats is where the trick-or-treating took place. They had tables set up and when you got your treat, they stamped your card to show you were there. They also had a mini maze set up to go through and you got treats going through that as well. Of course most of the stuff Avery won't be eating (PB cups, candy bars, smarties), but a few things were kid friendly like granola bars, fruit flats, tattoos, pencils. On the way out of the zoo, you turned in your full stamp card and the kids got a prize...a stuffed animal! They had a bunch to choose from and Avery picked out a nice blue elephant!

They had some of the habitats decorated for Halloween as well and of course you got to see all of the usual zoo animals...

The hyena: (he was totally posing for pics!) The polar bear:

The sleeping rhinos (don't they look silly?!):

Avery and I at the Rhino habitat:

Avery wasn't a big fan of the hood of her costume and I really didn't get a good full body shot of her. So when we got home I snapped a few.

This one cracks me up-she looks like godzilla with her hair all in her face!
My frog with her elephant from the zoo!
One Halloween event down, a few more to go!