Last night we finally carved our pumpkins! The kids had a great time and Daddy was on hand to help where it was needed. (Or maybe did most of the work, however you want to look at it.)

Rory didn't know what to make of the inside of her pumpkin!

Shortly there after she was eating the insides - Disgusting!

Max was all about scooping the gunk out himself.

He'd get very upset if I even held a spoon near his pumpkin and would yell at me "No spoon Mama!" and then he'd point next to his pumpkin where he wanted me to put my spoon. It was really funny, and I was fine with that, Daddy could do the work and I'd take the pictures!

Didn't Daddy do a good job?

The pumpkins turned out very cute. We couldn't call them scary or Max would get terribly upset. Dusty told him he was going to make scary teeth and Max's little lip pouted out and next thing you know he had big crocodile tears and wanted to cuddle with me. So Max and I told Daddy we were not going to have scary pumpkins this year and Max settled down. Although he did repeat, numerous times, "No scary Daddy!"

Afterwards we had a little fun with a wig I have and Dusty's beard hat. How can I not share those fun pics?

The kids are having their Halloween party at daycare today. I made sure to send Starbursts. This mom doesn't hand out Tootsie Rolls or Almond Joys! (Not that they're gross, there are just too many of them at Halloween.) I love that Halloween is on Sunday this year, that gives us a whole weekend to party. Happy Halloween everyone!

Last Saturday it was just me and the kids as Dusty had plans. I told them I'd take them to the park but of course we didn't get loaded up as quickly as I'd hoped and it started raining as soon as we pulled out of the driveway. It looked clearer towards Stillwater and after a quick phone call to Dido to confirm it was still dry there we were racing to get to a park before the rain got there.

I took them to Pioneer Park and we had the whole playground to ourselves! On top of that, it's beautiful on the top of the bluff where the park is situated that overlooks the St. Croix river valley. I took the kids over to look at the Stillwater Lift Bridge on the south side of the park. Max was excited to watch all the cars driving on it, and also upset that there weren't any boats in the water.

Once they got bored with that we were off to play at the park! We spent a lot of time on the swings, as it is so rare you can get two swings next to each other and not feel rushed because there are other people waiting. Like I said, we had the whole park to ourselves, so we had lots of time to perfect the art of an underdog!

We had a really fun time, and were able to play for almost an hour before the rain finally showed up. I'm looking forward to next year, as I won't be stuck holding Rory's hands to help her walk or carrying her around. (And I may not have to go down anymore tube slides that are just a bit too short for me to sit comfortably!)

I have to update from yesterday's post. Apparently Dusty and I had a miscommunication and the doctor is treating Rory for bronchitis because he heard a "crackle" while listening to her chest. He said it is very rare for a child that young to get bronchitis so he didn't diagnose her with that.

Now, if you've read my blog in the past, then you know that Rory has already had bronchitis once in her life, (at 2 months of age at that) and there have been 3 other kids in Rory's class that were out with bronchitis, so I don't know how I feel about this doctor's opinion. To cut out on future frustrations, I will be taking Rory to any doctor appointments that aren't for standard illnesses like pink eye. I wish I had more answers here.

Let's focus on happy thoughts!

This past weekend we were able to celebrate Auntie Rosie's birthday. The food was amazing as always, the company was some of the best, and Rosie was even able to blow out her candles without any little kids trying to do it for her!

Happy Birthday Auntie Rosie!

Cold and flu season has finally hit our family.

I was getting pretty anxious as more and more people started complaining about getting colds and we had yet to see anything. Of course, I was also congratulating myself on my excellent hygiene and hoping that all my cleaning would keep the bugs away but that is never going to happen with two small children!

Rory started coughing and we took out the nebulizer and started giving it to her in the mornings and the evenings. Then she missed daycare because she woke up with a fever on Thursday. According to our neighbors, who took our sick girl in so Dusty and I could continue to work - thanks Chantel, she was fine all day and was warm but not really hot (99's). All weekend she was great, and then Monday she gets kicked out of daycare at 10am because her fever comes back again. Next step? Ship her off to the doctor and sure enough she has the bronchitis that most every kid has had in her room now. So we're back to using the neb every 3-4 hours and giving her antibiotics. Good thing I know how to multi task and can hold that mask down, read a book and make room for Max!

Don't worry too much about her though, she barely lets on that she is even sick. She's back to playing and wrestling with Max and Daddy as soon as that mask is off!

Oh boogers, if only we could find a way to give you a healthy immune system!

Rory did not give up her bottle without a fight. I have no idea how long it took for her to fall asleep - I went to the bar. Yes, that sounds like horrible parenting but I needed a few hours away from home and got to spend time with my sisters while Dusty took care of helping Rory adjust to being a big girl. I can tell you she is now going to sleep like normal and seems to enjoy her bedtime stories, so I think we'll be alright!

I can't complain too much about losing my baby either. I ended up having to giver her a neb before bed so I got a good 10 minute cuddle in as we rocked, read stories and sang. (Really anything to keep her occupied so she doesn't swipe at the mask!) So until she stops freaking me out with her cough, I shall continue to get a cuddle in during the evenings while we use the neb.

We also enjoyed the full moon and our visit with Auntie Ta-Ta by going outside for a night time swing!

Yes, it was hazy out, but it was still fun to be outside in the moon light and the kids seemed to really enjoy this little treat!

Today is the first day Rory will not receive a bottle. She doesn't know this yet, since she had been weened down to only an evening bottle at this point, it won't be apparent until bedtime. I'm hoping all our practicing at reading a bedtime story after her bottle will have worked and there won't be many tears.

I do, however, expect some tears. We're talking about the little girl that would come crawling over at full boar whenever we even got close to the kitchen sink and would throw herself flat on her back at your feet waiting for you to hand her a bedtime bottle.

I no longer get to look forward to Max running into Rory's room and climbing up on the bed saying "I give Rory bottle!" I no longer get to snuggle my baby girl as she holds her bottle in one hand and pulls the hair on the top of her head with the other.

My baby, and if things go as planned, my last baby, is no longer a baby today.

Yes, I think it will be a tough night.

I've got some more small stories to share today!

Story #1:
Max was sent home with a field trip permission slip from daycare two weeks ago. It needed to be turned in by this Friday and there are notes all over daycare reminding parents to turn them in. I wrote the check and signed it this weekend, but kept forgetting to bring it in with me from the car. I finally remembered yesterday and gave it to his teacher joking that I was waiting until the very last minute to keep them on their toes. Lo-and-behold I find out that I am the FIRST parent to turn in their slip!

It's so nice to hear that I'm not the only scatterbrained parent, that I really am normal, no matter how much I seem to think that is not the case. Heck, I can even claim to be better then normal since I was the first! (For Max's small classroom that is - lets not compare me to all the parents at daycare, I'd be scared to see the results.)

Story #2:
Friday evening I decided to do some house cleaning since it was just the kids and I at home and we had guests coming Saturday. Max has always been quite the helper and likes to help me push the vacuum around, vacuum up the dirt pile I've swept up from the floor, and other little things I can find for him to do. After a while he got sick of helping me vacuum. So I told him to go clean up the bedrooms so I could vacuum in there. Next thing I know he is running out of his bedroom yelling at me to "Go there!" while he runs into Rory's room. Sure enough, he'd picked everything up off of his floor and was rushing to pick up all the toys off of Rory's floor while I vacuumed his room. What a great little helper I have!

Story #3:
Rory has decided that walking just isn't her thing. Her teachers at daycare have all been laughing as they each tell me their own version of how stubborn Rory is and how she'll pretty much look right at you like she is going to walk towards you and then will instead just squat down and crawl in a completely different direction!

Last night I was teasing her and would stop her from squatting and then would back up so she had to take a step towards me. It only took a couple of steps for her to catch on to my little game and instead of doing what I wanted, she would just launch herself forward fully trusting that I would catch her, instead of walking towards me. She is such a silly little girl, at this rate she'll be crawling when she's 3!

Story #4::
Don't you wish you had a husband that did a good majority of the cooking and looked this good in an apron?!

Dusty and Max were originally wearing the aprons, then I took Max's and put it on to lots of giggles and squeals. Naturally I decided it was the perfect photo opportunity. Don't let the apron fool you, Dusty was cooking, I was playing with my babies.