Halloween Spirit

I love holidays so I always look forward to them.  I love the ABC Family 13 Nights of Halloween and this year it just so happened to kick off with Monsters Inc.  Elle is a big Monsters University fan so I figured she would love this one as well. We had family movie night, all ate dinner in the living room and watched our favorite monsters.  A surprise favorite this year was Toy Story of Terror.  Elle would ask to watch her Halloween movie everyday leading up to Halloween.

One night I came home from work with Monsters Inc. pictures to paint and a silly Frankenstein to hang up.  Elle loved painting and is so proud of her pictures.  They are proudly on display in the kitchen.  "Monster Man" ended up being a tad scary at first but she grew love him.  He is actually still hanging in our laundry room and she will say "hi monster man" whenever she walks by.  I tried to take him down to start Christmas decorating and Elle found him.  She walked through the house holding him up on different walls and saying "Mommy, cute spot!" as if we were redecorating and trying to find the perfect place for him. :)

One day at my parents house Elle and Henry made these cute Halloween houses with PawPaw.  Elle loved this thing!  She would point out all the stickers on it, she was so proud that it was her creation.  I love it...it will be a part of our Halloween decor forever.

We spent one Saturday at Boo at the Zoo.  The weather was so nice, actually almost a bit too warm.  The night before I asked Elle what animal she wanted to see, to my surprise she said "turtles".  Not sure where the turtle love came from.  She falls asleep every single time we go to the zoo...her nap usually starts at some point on the train.

 

 Thanks to Truman Tiger her fear of characters has gone down.  She still needs mommy there holding her but she is excited to say hi.  Henry wanted nothing to do with them!

 

 

 I love that Henry is heading for the "Please do not touch" sign in this picture. 

 

He stopped and posed and ask KayKay to take his picture.  Isn't he the sweetest?!

 



 

Mary, Henry and Elle enjoyed a carousel ride at the end of the day.  Bear and I decided to sit this one out.

The next day (Sunday) we took the babes to a pumpkin patch.  We met Mary, Henry and Charlie for a Mexican lunch to decide which pumpkin patch to hit up.  We started looking at one in Wright City and Henry was yelling in the restaurant "let's go to WRIGHT CITYYY" it was hilarious.  So off to Wright City we went. Henry and Elle loved the sandbox and Elle was excited that they had turtles you could hold...I was less excited.  She actually tried to grab the turtles head and pull it out of the shell.  #turtlemurderer Those dirty little fingers from the sandbox kill me, I have a lot of adjusting to do before I become a boy mom!

Henry helped me pull the pumpkin wagon and even picked out a pumpkin for baby Hylton.  Elle picked out a big family pumpkin for us to carve and a smaller one for her.  We ended the day with fried oreos...Elle was a huge fan.

For anyone who doesn't know green and orange are Henry's FAVORITE colors.  He loved that they were in green and orange cars.  If anyone says they love those colors too he will say, "no, Me's favorite colors!".  He has these colors claimed so don't even try it!

We spent one night the week before Halloween pumpkin carving/painting/stickering.  I carved the big family pumpkin, Elle painted a pumpkin for her and one for brother, then she put silly face stickers on another one.  Eric was on a mission of baking pumpkin seeds which ended up tasting a lot like popcorn.

Don't mind the dead mums int he background, I can't seem to keep those alive for longer than a weekend.  Eric doesn't understand why I buy them every year when they go brown days later. :)

The night before Halloween Elle and I got to work baking Halloween cupcakes to take to Mary's house for Halloween.  She of course loved the icing and was great at adding sprinkles.  She loves getting on her step stool and helping me in the kitchen!

Successful Halloween season :)

October 2014

I love October.  I'm always determined to squeeze in as much fun as possible.  Elle is at a really fun age where things are exciting and fun for her.  She has preferences and opinions on what we should do.  Our routine is the same every weekend.  Wake up, make breakfast, lounge in our pj's while watching one of her movies then call MiMi, Henry and Charlie to make plans for the day...I love it and Elle does too.

 

 

Elle is still really into taking care of her babies, they need bottles, binkies and diaper changes.  I think she is going to love helping with her little brother, at least I really hope she does.  I was trying to run to Old Navy really quick when Elle insisted that her baby and stroller come with us.  Once inside Old Navy I was picking out clothes for her and sowing her things saying "isn't this cute" pretty soon she was picking clothes up and saying "Mama, cute!".  She is such a fun shopping buddy.

Sometimes she will intentionally act like a baby.  Pretend to cry "waah waah" or ask for a bottle.  When I remind her that she is a big girl she taps her pointer finger on her cheek and says "no, this is a baby right here".  It is the cutest thing in the world and I end up agreeing with her, "your right, you are my baby".

There have been some interesting days at MawMaw's house.  I'm always so curious if the babes have had a good or bad day.  Bad days are definitely sprinkled in.  Elle is learning that saying "no" when my mom asks her to do something is wrong. In the car on the way to my mom's house Elle and I go over that she should never say no, only "yes, MawMaw" "Please, MawMaw" "Thank you, Maw Maw" "No Thank you, MawMaw".  It's so cute hearing her in the backseat repeating everything.  At dinner every night I ask her about her day and she usually makes up stories about things Henry did during the day.  Such a little stinker!

Elle will now request songs in the car.  Typically Elmo's Ducks, Let It Go, Who Let the Dogs Out or What Does the Fox Say.  I'm hoping to get her interested in Christmas music to replace some of these during the holidays. ;)

She loves to color and now pays attention to the picture she is coloring.  Before it would just be scribbles across the paper (which definately still happens) but now some of those scribbles are focused directly on the images on her coloring page.

We ran in Costco one day and Elle fell in love with this little pony.  She would sit on him and say "giddy up, Buddy!". She even told the pony that she would ask "ho ho" if she could have him for Christmas. Killing me with cuteness! Needless to say it will be sitting under our tree Christmas morning. I had Eric back in Costco 2 days later picking one up before they sold out.

Elle is so talkative but super shy if she is around anyone new.  When she is comfortable she will talk your ear off.  She uses her hands all the time when talking and purses her little lips together.  My favorite is hearing her and Henry argue, it is adorable!

Elle loves my baby bump.  She is always hugging my stomach and talking to "brother".  She will put her little face against my belly and say "hi brother, it's sissy Eleanor" and then my heart explodes.

Aunt Jen and Harper came over for a play date one day.  I was at work so I missed the fun but Eric said Elle was so great about sharing all her toys with "arper"

 

 

I love these little toes, I think I kiss them 100 times a day.

 

 

Cheering on Unc's team with PawPaw and Daddy!

Mary and I took the babies to KoKoMo Joe's one night when the guys were out of town on a fishing trip.  The miniature bowling alley was too much for Eleanor to handle...she would just grab the balls and randomly throw them down any lane.  On our way out the door the babes rode this little carousel and few times and then we all stuffed ourselves into a photo booth for some hilarious pictures!

 

 

Henry and Charlie came over one morning and I put Henry to work cleaning the kitchen. ;)

Fun times with MiMi and Uncle Nick at the pumpkin patch while we were in Chicago.

October was also filled with lots of Halloween fun but I'm saving that for another post.  All in all it was a really fun month.

Cheers to 6 years

After our fun apple picking adventure Eric and I hit the rode for Chicago Saturday morning.  Actually our first stop was Mary's house to drop Elle off for a weekend of fun.  She rotated between Mary's house and my mom and dad's over the weekend.

Our first stop in Chicago was IKEA, of course!  I love IKEA, I could spend all day there...Eric doesn't share the love.  He was a trooper and shopped with me, we left with a new bed for Elle's big girl room, a step stool so she could help in the kitchen, little side table, chalkboard easel for Elle for Christmas and some Christmas decorations.  Successful shopping trip...for Elle at least!

After Ikea we checked into our hotel downtown then headed out for dinner.  Cheers with beers and root beers. :)

When we were walking back to our hotel from dinner a group stopped us and asked if we wanted to come into the church and light a candle.  I had been suspicious of the church being the one in My Best Friends Wedding so I was up for it...and I also wanted to say a prayer...it wasn't all about the movie set. Honest.  I'm still not 100% sure if it was the church from the movie but I'm thinking it was, wish I would have taken a picture.

The next morning we walked to breakfast where Eric may of had his most favorite breakfast of his life.  Actually it was the meal I ordered (Santa Fe Fritata) but he was obsessed and talked about it the rest of the trip.  We had lunch reservations at RPM, I have been wanting to try this restaurant on our last couple trips to Chicago.  It's the restaurant owned by Giuliani & Bill Rancic.  The pasta I ordered came with a raw egg on top and a little man that personally sliced and diced it to shreds right in front of me.  We were dying. 

I always say this little bbaby in my belly is going to be a mini Eric Russell and even the foods I'm craving are some of Eric's favorites.  Like spaghetti, I hate spaghetti but ended up switching plates with Eric because his meal looked and smelled so yummy.  There is a mini Italian baby making all food choices for me these days.

After lunch I hit up Michigan Ave for some shopping (after walking a million miles in the wrong direction, my poor prego feet were awarded with new boots :) and Eric hit up a liquor store to stock up on some of his favorite beers that aren't sold in St. Louis.

I had started reading Gone Girl on our drive to Chicago in the car and was determined to finish it so we could see the movie while away.  I don't think Eric and I had been to a movie together since before Elle was born.  We had tickets to a dine in theatre so we planned on eating dinner there.  On our walk back to the hotel before the movie we decided to pop in M Burger and share a snack since we were starving.  Our snack turned into sharing a bacon cheeseburger, fries and we each got an ice cream.  Mine was this delightful peanut butter crunch dip cone.  I've been dreaming about M Burger ever since...again the mini Eric Russell I'm growing, I would normally never order a cheeseburger...ever!

Monday morning we got up early and hit the road, we were both excited to see Elle...who probably wishes we would go out of town more often, she was having the time of her life with her MiMi and MawMaw and PawPaw.  She got to go to my cousin Cordie's baby shower, hang with her best buds Henry & Charlie and go to the Pumpkin Patch where she rode a pony.  She's a very lucky little lady...and so am I for having a husband take the time to plan something special for our anniversary.  Now if I could just get him to drive the 5 hours to M Burger because I'm having a craving. :)

Apple Picking

One chilly Friday morning in early October we decided to take Elle apple picking.  Eric and I were both off work since our anniversary was that weekend.  We were actually supposed to be boarding an early morning flight to Nantucket but plans changed, flights filled up, so late late late Thursday night we scratched that idea and decided Eckerts for apple picking was the next best thing. :)  Actually we decided Chicago was but didn't plan to leave until Saturday morning.  Which gave us a fun family day out with Elle Belle!

 

We took the Ferry to Illinois and made a stop at a restaurant on the water for lunch.  As soon as I opened the door to get her out of her car seat she she said "apples?", she couldn't wait to start picking.  At lunch Elle was fascinated by a bird that was flying around inside the restaurant, girl couldn't focus on anything else.

 

 

I had never been to Eckerts or apple picking, since it was a Friday morning we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  We started with a hay ride to the apple trees.

Once we got there all I could picture was the Wizard of Oz and the trees slapping our hands for picking their apples...the weird places my mind travels.

 

 

Elle absolutely loved it!  She was great at picking the low ones and sampling the goods.  I don't know if it was just the excitement of picking your own apples but they were delicious.

After we filled two bags we went to the little country store to pay, Eric and I were both on an apple high so we also left with Apple Cider, Apple Butter, Pumpkin Butter and a new scarf (I was cold :).

They had a cute little area with rides and some animals (chickens, pony's, etc.) but the wind was blowing so hard and it started raining (which again made me think of the Wizard of Oz, this time the tornado scene) so we made a mad dash to the car.

Elle had such a fun day, I want to make sure a trip to Eckerts lands on our to do list every fall.