Pumpkin Craving Fun

This weekend we started vamping up for Halloween.  Jake finished up his home made costume, we attended a Halloween party for the kids, and we carved our pumpkins.  We didn't want to start carving until later in the afternoon, but Skylar just couldn't wait and decided to color her pumpkin first thing in the morning.  We kept telling her to color all over the pumpkin, but being the stubborn girl she is, she refused and only colored in the same spot with different colors.

Last year I remember Skylar was really interested in watching Jake and I carve our pumpkins.  I was feeling guilty that we started carving while she was napping, so I went and woke her up so she could participant.  You would think by now I would know not to wake her up from a nap.  As she wasn't in the mood to carve pumpkins with us and really didn't have any interest.  She even got very upset with me when I was showing her all the pumpkin guts.  Bad call by Mom!!  

Jake is an amazing pumpkin carver and being the great Dad he is, he did Skylar's favorite cartoon character at the moment...Dora the Explorer.  I on the other hand ended up having trouble with my pumpkin and carved out the wrong parts so it didn't quite turn out like it should have.  Thank goodness when we lite it up, it didn't look quite as bad.

(My child refuses to wear a shirt sometimes)

We are really excited for Halloween tomorrow, as we are going to have a ton of family in town and our neighborhood is just insane with trick or treaters.

Pumpkin Art with CJ

Jen (CJ's Mom) was so sweet and picked up a pumpkin art project for the girls to do together.  Jen took care of painting the pumpkins for the girls as we didn't want to deal with toddlers and paint.  She got them matching cat's to decorate their pumpkins with.  The girls did a really good job and had tons of fun.  By the end the girls still managed to get paint on them and were both covered in the black glitter, but it didn't matter after seeing how much fun they had.  

Bring on the Food

Last week Madden had his next milestone...solid food.  We started with rice cereal and he seemed to enjoy it.  He would have his mouth wide open with each spoonful I would feed him.  I feel like rice cereal really has no purpose but to teach them how to eat off a spoon.  My plan is to keep him on it for about a week and then start oatmeal, and veggies not long after that.  

Skylar was eating her breakfast at the same time and was getting jealous that Madden was getting his picture taken.  She kept saying, "take a picture of me Mama."

Once she finished eating her cereal, I let her give me a hand and feed Madden some of his cereal.  She is such a helpful big sister!  

Pumpkin Patch - 2012

After going to Bates Nut Farm last year, we wanted to start a family tradition and go every year.  Last year we went on the weekend, later in the month, and it was just insane.  The lines for the kid activities were extremely long and even getting a wheelbarrow to pick pumpkins was nearly impossible.  So this year, Jake and I decided that going during the week would be best so Skylar would be able to experience all the Farm has to offer.

We arrived early afternoon on Friday and decided to bring sandwiches and enjoy lunch before we started roaming around.  Skylar was too anxious to eat and just wanted to get tickets to ride the ponies.  She picked out a pony named Cowboy to ride and she couldn't of been more excited.  She looked so cute and had the biggest smile on her face while riding Cowboy.  At one point she wanted Madden to walk around with her and her pony.  Since there was barely a line for the ponies the handlers gave the kids a extra long ride.  I was starting to get dizzy going in so many circles, but of course, Skylar could ride forever!

Next stop was the petting zoo.  Skylar was definitely a little more timid with the animals and didn't really want to pet any of them.  She would only touch the little bunny that Jake was held for her.  She enjoyed just staying close to Dad and looking at the animals from a comfortable distance.  Madden was having a great time in Papa's arms watching his sister admire all the animals.

Not only was there a small designated petting area, they also have huge pens with Llamas, ducks, chickens, pigs and goats that you can feed.  Thank goodness my Dad had a handful of quarters because Skylar loved feeding the goats.  She was nervous at first but once Jake had her put her hand out there, she loved it.  She keep asking for more coins to get popcorn kernels to feed the goats.  Madden even loved getting up close and personal with them... He wanted to grab their noses.  Skylar did not want to leave the feeding area, so we made sure before we left the farm to give her one more quarter to feed the animals.

After playing with all the animals and making a pit stop to the nut shop, we figured it was time to start picking out pumpkins.  We easily got two wheelbarrows and started loading them up.  We roamed around the field looking for a "Big Mac" Pumpkin to take home. Meanwhile, Skylar searched for the two pumpkins, one for her and the other one to take home to CJ (her best friend).  We tried to get Madden down for the perfect pumpkin picture but he was starting to get fussy and was not having it.  Fifteen pumpkins and $93.00 dollars later we had enough pumpkins to decorate our entire front porch.

Before we left it was family photo time at the Bates Nut cut out picture stand.  My Dad hid behind the photo stand and held Madden in his spot and Skylar stood on top of a haystack while my Mom took the picture.  I love now that we can fill in all four holes.   I'm excited to take this picture every year, to see how much different it looks as the kids grow.  Skylar requested one last pony ride, which we allowed, but she of course had a break down when we told her she couldn't ride it for the third time and she left crying.   I think we made a great decision to go during the week so Skylar and Madden could experience Bates Nut Farm to the fullest!

Skylar's 1st Dentist Appointment

I decided now that Skylar is almost two and a half, it was time to take her to the dentist.  She loves to brush her teeth at night and always wants "BIG" toothpaste on her brush.  Her brushing skills have improved a lot.  When she first started, it was mostly just chewing on her toothbrush, but now she brushes them herself and then allows us to finish the job.  

A girlfriend gave me a recommendation for a great pediatric dentist nearby so I set up the appointment.  Jake has been the better parent when it comes to teeth cleaning so he wanted to be there to make sure her teeth were in tip top shape.  

The dental assistant was great!! First she sat with Skylar and showed her all the utensils she was going to use and let Skylar touch them.  Skylar was having so much fun touching all the parts and was giggling with the assistant.

When it was time to start the cleaning, Skylar put on headphones and watched cartoons from the TV on the ceiling.  She picked out the chocolate toothpaste, but when she started cleaning, she developed this disgusted looked on her face.  They switched to strawberry and that was much better.  Skylar did perfect with the cleaning and seemed to enjoy it.  After the cleaning, she got her teeth flossed and even had fluoride treatment.

Skylar came out of the appointment with an excellent review on her teeth.  They told us that she was has one last molar that is making its way in.  The dentist is a success when you leave with two stickers and a princess wand!