*VIDEO* Mia Singing

This toy only has one volume...LOUD! and its horribly annoying, but Mia loves it. The only reason it hasn't made it into the trash is that she has started to try to sing along with the songs and it is SO CUTE!

Mia carved out her 2nd pumpkin

Current mood: accomplished

I don't know what it is about the need to get Mia full of pumpkin guts and seeds but I just HAD to have her go nuts with her pumpkin yet again this year. I had her clean out her own pumpkin last year but she really didn't get to dirty. This year I prepared for a disaster, and though she still needs some work on making a big mess .. she did much better.

With the help of my Dad, we prepared the kitchen table for the pumpkin mess. We laid down some plastic and dressed Mia in an old black shirt of mine. At first she really didn't know what was going on and really didn't seem interested in the pumpkin carving tradition at all ...it wasn't until Grandpa helped her along.

At first he took her pumpkin (which I already cut the top off of) and talked to it and played with a bit. Then sniffed it, then had Mia sniff it, once she did that she was all into the pumpkin and wanted to touch it and smell it some more. Eventually we got her on top of the table so she could have at it.

At first she just kept taking the top of the pumpkin off and on, she would sniff it then put it back on. I then gave her a GIANT spoon to play with and right away she knew to scoop the guts out of the pumpkin but she didn't know what to do with them afterward. So Grandpa grabbed a plate and showed her how to put the guts on the plate with the spoon. Thats all it took, soon Mia was a pro, scooping pumpkin guts from the pumpkin and piling them on the plate. She loved doing this so much she refused to do anything else. My Dad and I both wanted her to grab some guts with her hands and really experience what pumpkin carving is all about but she didn't want to. It took some coaxing, again by Grandpa, and she finally put her hand inside her pumpkin and pulled out some guts. "Ooooooh" she said and she pulled more and more out, then she started to put them back inside the pumpkin! OH NO!!! I let her though, she seemed to have fun until she realized her hand was sticky and dirty! (The thing she HATES the most) thats when all the fun ended and she insisted we "wash hands" and soon seeds went flying as she tried to shake her hand clean and later tried to get off the table!

When we couldn't entice her to play the pumpkin anymore, Grandpa took her off the table and washed her hands. Alex had woken from his nap so I had to tend to him and pumpkin carving was over.

Later I was able to actually carve faces into both her and Alex's pumpkin and she got all excited again. She kept poking the eye holds and putting her hand in the pumpkins mouth all while saying "How cuuuuuuuuuute!". She really liked her pumpkin.

Well this year went better than last year, thats for sure. She was covered in pumpkin guts a little more... I am sure next year will be worse! haha I can't wait!

*VIDEO* Mia singing with Elmo 10-31-10

Mia LOVES to sing with her Elmo toy. My Dad was recording her singing but what we didn't know was what Mia had in store for us after her song was over...

Week 120

Current mood: exhausted

Happy Friday Everyone! Wow another eventful week we had! Mia is officially 120 weeks old! That seems like so much compared to her baby brother who will only be 3 weeks tomorrow! haha

This week has been pretty decent though. A bit rough at first since I wasn't getting enough rest and was soon becoming edgy but my Dad came down to the rescue and I have since gotten a tiny bit more rest. Hey a tiny bit goes a looooooong way!! haha

One thing we have noticed this week is, although Mia is adjusting to Alex extremely well... she is having issues with Adrian holding him. She REFUSES to allow that to happen and often times screams and cries if he picks him up. She only wants me to hold the baby and for Adrian to hold her. I know its a jealousy thing, I just hope she gets over it soon. She also does this with my Dad as well, however, yesterday was the first day she seemed to allow it... for a little bit.

Speaking of my Dad, he is here for a few days helping out while we get adjusted to Alex and so I can get some rest. Needless to say Mia is on cloud nine! She has been going EVERYWHERE with her Grandpa, to the store (where she got a free cookie from the bakery because the clerk thought she was so cute), the park, and right now shes at the post office! haha She is having a great time with her Grandpa.

Daddy took Mia to the pumpkin patch (with the jumper) earlier this week too and shocked us all by going on the giant inflatable slide they had!! She taught herself how to climb the steps and slide down at least 15 times!!! I am so proud of my little dare devil!

We also had a family outing, our very first! and it was to the mall to get the kids pictures taken in their Halloween costumes! Man that was a fun semi-disaster but at least we got a few really good pictures of them. Not sure if we will do it again but I am glad we at least did it once! haha Mia loved the mall, especially Sears where they had all their Christmas stuff out already. She loves Christmas trees and got so angry when we had to leave.

We went to the pumpkin patch this week too! I LOVE pumpkins so the pumpkin patch is always extra fun for me. I wasn't to comfortable with taking Alex out but since the weather was a warm I made an exception. Mia, who needed a nap BAD, was alittle fussy at first but soon was having fun with her Grandpa, throwing straw in her hair, running up and down slopes, and tossing pumpkins everywhere.

Thats about it so far, I know I will have more stories to share, especially this weekend since it is Halloween!! YAY!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Current mood: accomplished

It's that time of year again! PUMPKIN season!!! WHOOHOO!! We have been trying to make it to the pumpkin patch before Alex was born (I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable taking him out as a newborn) but it never worked out. Then Alex came early and it was too late. So now that Halloween is this weekend, time is running out to hit the pumpkin patch! Its one of the family traditions of ours to go and I hated the thought of not going. Especially since I couldn't decorate the house like I normally do this year. So when a warm day happened I made it a point to try to make it out to the pumpkin patch regardless!

My Dad is down for a visit so he got to join us! It was a huge treat for all of us, and though I was a bit nervous about taking Alex outside, I knew he would be ok as long as we kept him bundled, with his hat and mittens and it was still really warm outside.

We went to the pumpkin patch Adrian and I have been going to since we moved here back in 2005. It isn't the most fancy patches in town, infact its pretty small but its our own little special place and since this is the final year we are here in Riverside, Alex's first trip to a pumpkin patch and Mia's 3rd time going... we had to go to the same ol' patch.

We got there a little later than expected but it was still ok. I had Alex in his Orange Giants shirt and pumpkin hat with matching mittens I made him. Mia wore the same shirt she wore last year (which was to big on her then and to small on her now) but it had a pumpkin on it and the only Halloween type shirt I had.

We got the kids out of the car and off we went. Mia was scared at first, no sure why, and since she needed a nap BAD her mood wasn't the greatest. She wasn't listening, a bit whiny and refused to pose for any pictures. However, Grandpa did work his magic on her a bit and soon she was running around, throwing hay in her hair and tossing pumpkins everywhere! haha She was having lots of fun. Alex slept the whole time and only woke up a couple of times to cry but then knocked out again.

We went all over that patch looking for the best pumpkins, however, since its so late in the season there were no big/medium pumpkins left so we ended up coming home with two little pumpkins, one for Mia and one for Alex. We posed for some pictures here and there and when it got dark and cold we loaded up the kids in the car and went home. Unfortunately, Alex woke up MAD and screamed and cried the whole way home. Once we got home I ran him in the house to check his diaper and sure enough he had another poopie blow out!! OH NO!!! So off went his clothes, and into the tub he went for another bath, oh well haha

I am glad we managed to make it out to the pumpkin patch this year. It really did mean alot to me. Although, it was kind of a bittersweet goodbye to the patch we always went to, I was happy that I was able to take Mia AND Alex there at least once. Plus having my Dad there to experience one of our little family traditions was an extra treat. We will see what patch we go to next year when we are in Sunny San Diego!