Happy Halloween!

Our second Halloween was a smashing success--and so much fun with a very excited little racecar driver (who took the opportunity to tell everyone in the neighborhood that he was wearing a hat...they were very impressed :).  Charlie learned to say "Happy Halloween" (sounds a lot like "Happy Happy"), says a great "Boo!", and made a good effort at "Trick or Treat."  Tonight was extra-special because we learned today that our little girl is going to be born (via c-section) tomorrow at noon, so this was our last night as a family of 3.  Halloween was SUCH a fun way to celebrate this occasion, and we definitely made the most of it.  Charlie loved trick or treating--especially at the houses with dogs.  And Clint and I loved getting to see/meet all of our neighbors.  We love, love, love our new neighborhood and this was no exception--there were kids out everywhere, which made the night so fun.  Despite feeling very nostalgic about Charlie's last night as an only child, I am really excited about tomorrow. :)

Ready to get some candy!

Since we haven't really explored the wonders of sweets with Charlie yet, the sticks were much more enticing than the candy.  Charlie LOVES finding sticks.  When he finds a good one, he dubs it a "BIG stick" and waves it around proudly. :)

Charlie and his Dada.

Charlie and his very pregnant Mama.

Charlie and his sweet grandma Ali (Ahhh), who drove up from Seguin as soon as she learned that baby girl is coming tomorrow.  We are SO glad to have her here!!

Charlie and his entourage.

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Yesterday was full of Halloween festivities as well.  We first went to a neighborhood party, where Charlie learned the real benefit to his costume--the silky fabric sends him shooting down slides!

Then we headed to our church fall festival, where we met up with Ann, Brad, and baby Colin ("Ca").  He was the cutest little bee I've ever seen!

The jumping castle was the big hit of the evening.

But the little trick-or-treating village was pretty fun too. :)

Hope everyone had wonderful Halloweens.  Can't wait to meet our baby girl tomorrow!!

Ready to Pop!

I am officially ready to pop--and SO ready to meet this baby!  I have been having cramps, lower back pain, and contractions the past few days, but it still hasn't turned into anything regular, so I'm not getting my hopes up too much.  I know baby girl will come when she's ready, but waiting sure is hard.  Luckily, we've had a lot to keep us busy this week/weekend, with lots of Halloween parties and carnivals, a Choo-Choo train birthday party, a petting-zoo birthday party, a couple of dinner parties, and, of course, Halloween itself.  I feel so lucky to have such a fun little boy to celebrate the holiday with.  If his little sister doesn't make it out for this Halloween, we'll just celebrate a little extra with her next year! :)

Here I am at 38 weeks, 4 days.  Figured I better get one belly shot before baby girl makes her debut!

Baby Girl's Nursery

I am definitely in "nesting" mode, and finally got my act together and put together baby girl's nursery.  I was nervous about getting it done and ready for her arrival, but it is just about there now and I love it!  It is still a little sparse, but I feel like she will accumulate enough stuff over time, so it's probably better to start her off with less rather than more. :)

Charlie has been quite a big helper in the baby's ("bebe's") room.  He loves running around in there and "helping" with all of our little projects (putting together crib and dresser, putting up wall shelves, hanging pictures, etc.).  Charlie now likes climbing in her crib, but it made him very nervous when it first arrived (hence the paci he needed to calm himself down in the pic below :).  I think he just did not like idea that we might need another crib in the house--to Charlie, we're getting by just fine with one, so why mess with that?  Since we've gotten the crib put together, however, we've had a few friends' babies over to sleep in the nursery, so now Charlie's much more comfortable with it.  I think he now views it as just a baby guest room for his friends...we'll see if things change once its little occupant is home to stay... :) 

Picking Out Our Pumpkins

Clint, Charlie and I headed to the Arboretum last week to pick out our pumpkins for Halloween.  As always, Charlie had a blast at the pumpkin patch, and loved having his Dada there to chase him around and up the excitement level a bit.  We each picked a pumpkin, although I must say, I am a bit more picky than my two boys. :)

Here's Charlie, with his chosen pumpkin.  He looks very bossy here. :)

The boys spent quite a bit of time chasing squirrels.  They never caught one, but they tried hard!

After we retrieved our pumpkins, Charlie led us on a walk/jog around the rest of the Arboretum.

We made sure to stop and smell the flowers once or twice...

And even got to play in a covered wagon.  What fun! :)

Now that we have our pumpkins, we just need to carve them!

Playgroup Halloween Party

We had our playgroup Halloween party this week and it was so much fun to see the kids dressed up in their cute costumes.  I didn't get pictures of everyone, but I did get a few cute ones.  As we all know, Charlie is obsessed with driving right now.  So, naturally, he is a race car driver for Halloween (the other top contender was a truck driver, but the costume just wasn't as cute :).  Charlie LOVES his costume--it satisfies his obsessions with driving and with hats and he thinks the silky fabric is just wonderful.  I love watching him strut around in his new outfit.  I'm guessing we'll get quite a bit of wear out of this. :)

Charlie with Kendall, the sweet little ballerina.

The race car driver is hot stuff, but he still finds time for mundane things like chewing on baseballs.  Notice Woody (Bo) behind Charlie.  I wish I'd gotten a better pic of his cute costume!

George didn't want to wear his adorable panda costume, but he did indulge in the Halloween cookies. :)

Reese was the cutest strawberry ever.

And James made a pretty adorable pirate.

Cute family!

Harper didn't want to wear her costume, so she settled on pajamas instead.  Costume or not, this girl knows how to strike a pose!

A few of the moms...

Charlie spent a large portion of the party mowing.  Glad I brought such a good helper along!

We were so lucky to have the Grays stay with us for a couple of nights.  The playgroup girls threw a little dinner party honoring me, Abbey, and our baby girls after the playgroup on Monday night and it was such a nice evening.  We felt so special and I loved getting to focus on baby girl a bit--those times are so much more rare with the second pregnancy.  And Charlie, Clint and I loved having the Grays stay over.  Charlie and George had a blast--they played together, made each other giggle, shared food, and loved getting to take baths and read stories together.  I think Charlie is going to want more sleepovers! :)

Charlie's Trip to Seguin & the Guadalupe County State Fair

While Clint and I spent two nights in Austin for my college roommate's (Sarah's) wedding, Charlie went down to Seguin to spend some quality time with Papa and Ahhh (Ali).  It was the weekend for the Guadalupe County Fair and Rodeo, so it was a great time to be there.  Charlie loved seeing his cousins, hanging out at the fair grounds, driving tractors, riding rides, and watching the rodeo.  I feel so lucky that Charlie has such fun grandparents--and enjoys his time away from us so much!

Here is the little man with his all-time favorite, Papa, at the fair.

He was giddy to find that Addie, Bryan, Jack, Julia and Katie were in town.  Charlie LOVES his extended family, and it's so fun now that he's developing his own little relationships with them.  On the drive back to Dallas, Clint and I heard lots of "Dede. Addie. Jack! Juju. Katie." from the backseat.  It was too cute.

On Saturday, Clint and I joined Charlie in Seguin and met up with my cousin Amy, her husband Jack, and their three cuties at the fair.  Charlie was really, really excited (see below :) to see Samuel and Jane Ann.  They are so sweet to him! 

He loved getting in the petting zoo with Aunt Meg.

And all 3 of us had fun riding rides.  Not surprisingly, however, the "baby" rides weren't exciting enough for our little daredevil (notice the bored expression on his face :).

Now this is more like it!  I was terrified the first time Clint took Charlie down this slide, but they both loved it.  Charlie had the biggest smile I've ever seen when he arrived at the bottom, and every time they'd get down, he'd say "Again! Again! Yes! Yes! Pwease! Pwease!"  So we ended up doing the giant slide many times. :)

The carousel was very cute, but again, Charlie thought it was a little beneath him.

Samuel and Meg rode with him, and made the ride much more fun. :)

The rocking boat was a huge hit.  Again, it looked a little rough to me, but Charlie was in heaven!

After the fair, we met up with the Skaggs and Megan and Elec at my parents' house.  It was so fun to see little Elec again.  He is growing up so fast and I love for him and Charlie to get some playtime together.  Charlie, Elec, and Charlotte are funniest little threesome--Charlotte is the youngest and smallest, but she totally holds her own with the two boys!

We tried to get an artsy shot by the old shed, but Charlie didn't exactly cooperate.

Playing with Amy's portrait lens here, and love it (even though it isn't a great photo).  Notice Uncle Graeme in the background--Charlie was a bit obsessed with him and wouldn't leave his side after he arrived. :)

So good to see everyone!  Can't wait for the next family gathering--hopefully with baby girl!