Halloween 2012

We had a great Halloween this year.  Jackson and Sadie have been planning their costumes for months.  Sadie plans her costumes for years in advance...last year she was Belle, and on November 1 she told me she wanted to be Snow White next.  That's all well and good, except these princesses are the brunettes, and she, clearly, is not.  We tried doing a temporary dye on her hair last year, but it barely took.  So imagine my relief when she changed her mind and wanted to be Cinderella. Whew!  We found a cute Cinderella costume at Target (although I wouldn't recommend the costume we got, it was great in theory...removable long skirt? Awesome! Except the short skirt was super short and the long skirt never attached just right. Oh well.  Lesson learned).  She still looked beautiful (I think 90% of that was because she loves loves loves being a princess.).  We wore the costume to school but didn't do the hair and makeup and such...

Jackson started out wanting to be a wolf...just a regular old wolf.  Then a werewolf.  Then a superhero (I forget which one).  Then a Ninja Turtle...which you would think might still be available in the days of 80's retro coolness.  But no.  So one day the girls and I were in Tyler, we went to a costume store in search of the elusive ninja turtle, we saw a ninja costume that we knew he'd love and got that instead.  Luckily he loved it. (Apparently ninjas are hard to photograph...and don't smile much.)

Annabelle, as vocal as she is, did not get a vote on her costume.  She got to wear the Raggedy Ann costume Sadie wore when she was almost two.  I love this costume.  It is my favorite of all time, and both girls got tons of compliments when they wore it (although Annabelle is NOT a fan of Raggedy Ann now.  Not sure if it was the wig or the socks, but she kept telling me "I NOT be Raggedy Ann"...).  It makes me a little sad to retire it.  I was so happy to find a sweet lady in our church who makes Raggedy Ann dolls...all sizes.  She is making a kid-sized version that I can put the girls' costume on for posterity. I'm so excited!

We did our regular downtown trick or treat routine, which is really kind of a whippin but the kids still love it so we go, but after that we hopped on a hayride and did trick or treating old school!  It was so much fun and way less stressful than downtown.  

 I was amazed at how brave Annabelle was!  There were some creepy costumes walking around that night, and nothing really phased her.  She even gave the Old Man (Dado) a kiss after this picture was taken!  

Baby Girl Turns 2

Annabelle turned two on October 6!  This being our third go-round on the whole "terrible twos" thing, we thought we were prepared...only we've never been through this stage with this particular girl!  She is sweet and smart and spunky and oh-my-goodness is she strong-willed.  But isn't she cute? :) 

 If she knows I'm taking her picture, she will instantly turn into "CHEESE" mode, which does not a sweet picture make...funny, yes.  Just not sweet:

But when she's not looking...

This chick knows no fear (Well, there's this whole clown thing.  But clowns are creepy, let's just all agree on that.).  She's very verbal and wants to do everything Jackson and Sadie are doing, which can be a little scary for me...stair climbing, jumping...you name it. While she has amazing balance, she makes me a nervous wreck!

She loves school and baby dolls and her brother and sister (most of the time) ;) and our dog Jigs.

She is a great sleeper and still takes a long nap if time allows.

She knows her ABC's and can say the fruits of the spirit and her favorite color is, and I quote, "pank"...we might have a thick East Texas accent on our hands.

She entered this world with dark hair, but it soon turned to the same blond as her sister.  She still has her blue eyes, so maybe they won't change. I'm sure her Grandaddy would love that.

We love this kid to the moon and back!