Trick-or-Treat!

The weather this Halloween was amazing! We were out without coats, when just earlier in the week, I had to drag out our winter coats. Overall, it wasn't exactly our typical Halloween at all! First off, Jeff forgot it was Halloween when he made the schedule at work and scheduled himself to close that night. By the time he had realized what day it was, it was too late to get anyone to switch with him. Everyone had already made plans. Of course I was mad because none of his staff has kids, which to me, is the whole point of Halloween in the first place! They just wanted to go out and party. I was ticked. I mean, they could have been out of there by 10pm at the latest and still made it to their parties anyway. Where we were done with the festivities and ready for bed by that time. Whatever - it is what it is. I got off of work at 2pm and Jeff dropped the kids off to me so people in the office could see them in their costumes. Then we stopped by my mom's work since her job is 10 minutes from mine. Then we stopped by Greg's work so he could see Patrick in his costume. I felt like we were in a parade with all of these stops! LOL Then we went to my mother-in-laws house to do our trick-or-treating. This church near their house had this festival-type thing going on in the parking lot where all these cars lined up and had their trunks open. They decorated the back of their cars and we did car-to-car trick or treating. You just walked up and down the rows of cars and got your candy. I've never seen anything like it - it was genius! No more wasting your time at houses where no one is home. No more waiting for people to come to the door. It was quick and easy! And it was at a church, so I felt a little more at ease. I didn't have to worry about some stranger grabbing my kid and running off. I know that's a little extreme, but the fear has crossed my mind at some point. We ended up having a really nice time. On the way home, we stopped at Dairy Queen so I could try the fabulous Pumpkin Pie Blizzard (thanks a lot, Tiara)! LOL I was not disappointed at all! It was delicious! Anyway, here's my troop - we have a grim reaper, Scooby Doo and a butterfly:

Sweet Victory!

I know I just had a baby only eight weeks ago, but I'm still feeling like a fatty. On September 1st, I decided to go back on Weight Watchers. I figured it would be a good way to start off the month and the week, since it happened to fall on a Monday. I had been on WW for three months before I got pregnant with Cheyanne and had successfully lost 19.2 lbs. After just a week of doing it on my own, I weighed myself this morning and I've already lost 6.8 lbs! I thought I was seeing things! I must have re-weighed myself 12 times. I did the same thing with my starting weight though, but that's just because I couldn't believe how LARGE that number was! LOL Anyway, I still have quite a ways to go, but I feel good knowing that my efforts are making a difference. I haven't officially signed back up with WW, I'm doing it on my own for now. Once I go back to work, I'm going to sign up for the "WW at Work" program. The new 12-week session just so happens to start back up the day after I return from maternity leave. Now that's what I call serendipity! And if I attend 10 out of the 12 weekly meetings, my company will reimburse me for half of what I paid. So there is no excuse for me not to do it! To be honest though, I don't mind being on WW. Sure, it can be a lot of work calculating points all the time, but the end result is so rewarding. Plus, I get 10 additional points each day because I'm breastfeeding! I can't wait to start fitting in my clothes again! I return to work 4 weeks from today and my goal is to lose 12 lbs by then. I think I just might be able to do it!

Paint-n-Party

Yesterday, Austin accidently broke his beloved Hershey's taxi bank. Anytime he finds a coin, he always wants to put it in his bank. It's the highlight of his day sometimes! We've been putting money in there since he was born, so needless to say, it was getting pretty heavy. For whatever reason, his three-year-old mind decided he needed to take it off the dresser to put money in it this time. Not realizing how heavy it was, he dropped it. The beloved little taxi now looks like it was in a fender bender and is beyond repair.

He immediately got over the fate of his taxi cab when I suggested we go to the store and pick out a new bank that he can paint himself! This was the most exciting thing to him. It even served as a bribe to get him to nap today! After dinner, we went to the mall to this neat little store called "Paint-n-Party." Austin got to choose from a wide selection of banks. He went with the school bus (he's always talking about how Patrick gets to go on a school bus). He sat down with Daddy and got to painting. He painted it all by himself and even picked out his own colors. He had the option to add glitter to it and went with it, of course. After about 20 minutes, it was dry and ready to go home. When we got home, he immediately went for his pile of money so he could start putting it in his bus bank. He got really excited each time he found a "big one" (quarter) as he put each coin in, one by one. It's almost full. I'm thinking Mommy needs to go to the bank to deposit most of it in his account. I'll have to leave some so he doesn't freak out that it's empty. While we were there, we let Patrick choose an item to paint too. He went with a really cool dragon. He took his time and did a really nice job! It looks as good as their display dragon.

Babies, Babies, Babies!!!

Today is Labor Day and we decided to go visit my Aunt Lynnie since she hadn't gotten to see Cheyanne yet. I dragged my mom out there with me, which was good for her to get out of the house. I got to meet Ayden (my cousin Matt's baby) for the first time. He's such a cutie! I have to say though, it is kinda' weird seeing Matt play that whole daddy role. Never thought I'd see the day! LOL My cousin Megan was there too with her to little ones, Isabella (Izzy) and Tristan. And I can't forget about my cousin Ashley and her daughter Kaidence. My cousin Mikey stopped by too, but he wasn't around long enough to get any pictures of. And Patrick was there, but he was busy being a hermit in the house (love this age!). It was so good to see everyone. We ate good food (bbq) and just hung out playing "pass the babies." Austin & Kai-Kai played all afternoon, which worked out well since she's only about 8 months older than him. Izzy is about 15 months old and Tristan & Ayden are four and a half months old (just 5 days apart). The day went by way too fast!
Tristan, Cheyanne & Ayden

Ashley balancing 3 babies!

Matty & Ayden

Tristan and his gorgeous blue eyes!

Kaidence & Austin


Izzy Gettin' Sleepy

What a Project!

So our bathroom sink has had a leak for about two months now. My not-so-handy hubby insisted he could fix it himself. Just like he fixed the leaking toilet earlier this year (NOT)! After his third attempt to stop the leaky sink, I demanded we call a plumber. The plumber came last Friday to give us an estimate. His recommendation: Get a new sink AND a new toilet! I knew this day was coming. I think Jeff did too, but he just didn't want to admit it. Can't say I blame him though. I mean, who really wants to go to the expense of replacing things like that in a place we're not even going to be living in much longer. However, it will only help the place sell. So, off to Menards we went and found a new sink and toilet. I was extremely grateful to find the deal that we did because when I was looking around online, I was thinking it was going to cost us at least $400-500 just for the hardware. We walked out of there spending less than $225! Of course, we went for functional over fancy, but as I said before, we're not staying here for long anyway. We just need something that works properly and looks decent. Anyway, below are photos of our latest home improvement project in progres. Now I need to run to the store so I can also use their restroom. Drinking a large iced coffee this morning when we're without a working toilet probably wasn't the brightest idea I've had! LOL
UNDER CONSTRUCTION:

COMPLETE:

Back to School

It's official - my baby isn't a baby anymore! Patrick started middle school today. It feels like just yesterday when he started kindergarten! We woke up early this morning to make sure he was all packed up and ready for his first day. The bus picks him up an hour earlier than the elementary school bus did. It will definitely be interesting to see how he does this school year. I'm hoping he matures a bit and gets out of this funky stage he's in right now. It's like he's stuck in between ages. He still plays with his toys (aka: Action Figures), but he wants to dress and hang out with the "cool" teenagers. It's like he has multiple personalities sometimes! LOL I know he's just trying to figure out where he fits in right now, but it is a challenge for us parents at times. Overall, he's a pretty good kid though and I realize that things could be much worse. Here are some pictures of him on his first day as a 6th grader...

Uh, Can I Get a Little Help Here?

I had asked Jeff to hold Cheyanne so I could get some stuff done around the house. Well, Austin wasn't having it! He doesn't have any issues with Chey getting attention as long as he's getting some too! LOL

I also had a moment with Cheyanne today where she "accidently" held her own bottle! I was feeding her and happened to let go of the bottle for a second to catch something that was falling and I looked down to grab the bottle real quick and she had it wedged between her clenched arms. Check it out - my baby is a genius! =)

The Many Faces...

What are you looking at? A look of intrigue...
And Finally...

She's smiling!!!

My baby girl is getting so big! I can't believe she's already 5 weeks old! She showed her first real smile on Sunday when Jeff was making faces at her. I totally missed it as I was in the other room, getting ready for church. I told Jeff that it didn't count since I didn't get to see it! LOL The next morning, she smiled for me though, so I guess we'll count the smile she gave Jeff. =) I am so in love with this little girl! My family really is complete now.

Sleeping Angels

...This is what I woke up next to this morning. Austin had gotten pretty good about sleeping in his own bed for awhile there, but the arrival of Cheyanne changed all of that! On a typical morning, anywhere between 5-7:00am, he sneaks in at the foot of our bed and wedges his way between Daddy & Cheyanne. It's actually kind of cute to see that they both sleep like Mommy with their arms strectched above their heads. Cheyanne had moved a bit when I got out of bed. I thought this was too cute not to take a picture of though.

Porky Pig

My little piggy girl has gained over 2 lbs in just a month! At birth, Cheyanne was 7lbs 11oz and at her WBV today, she weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 15oz! And I was worried that I wasn't producing enough breastmilk for her! She's very obviously getting enough to eat! The rest of the visit went fine. She's growing and appears healthy. She got a shot today, but handled it like a trooper. She whimpered for a couple of seconds and then was fine. I think I was more upset about it than she was! LOL And I love our pediatrician, Dr. Pervos. We chose him when Austin was born and I've since switched Patrick over to him too. He really takes his time with us, which is what all doctors should do, in my opinion. Plus, he's a Sox fan! LOL

One Month Old

My baby is already a month old! I can't believe how fast it has gone! She's a typical one month old - eats, sleeps and poops. And she does a LOT of all three equally! LOL I actually think she's going through a growth spurt because she's been nursing non-stop the last few days. Her 1 month well baby visit (WBV) is tomorrow, so we will see just how much growing she has done. Here are some pictures of my sweet baby girl on her one month birthday.

First "Real" Bath

After a few weeks of spongebaths, we gave Cheyanne her first real bath tonight. Unlike her big brother, Austin, she absolutely loved it! Of course, Austin had to help through every bit of it. I delegated the picture taking to Daddy.