(knock knock) Trick-or-Treat

Vail has been practicing her "trick-or-treat" for a couple of days now. She was so excited when she got woken up by Stella and Georgia (in costume) and realized it was finally Halloween!!

Once she knew what was going on, she couldn't wait for daddy to get home so we could get in costume and meet Uncle, Auntie C, Eli and Emily to go trick or treating.

She was also excited that Daddy was dressing up as Where's Waldo! (we love those books)
Momma got to be butterflygirl who is one of Ladybug girls best friends :)

Peanut Butter (Grey) got to dress as a ladybug too, just like Big Sister :)

Grandma and Papa dropped by to say hello and drop off the huge golf umbrella since we were expecting a lot of rain while we trick-or-treated. Good thing because we got lots of it!

Soon we met up with Uncle, Auntie and cousins. Emily and Vail were so cute holding hands as they walked through the neighborhood. Both so excited to get lots of candy!

Eli was adorable and got the hang of things real quick. He would always say "thank you" after they gave him candy.  So sweet!

After spending 2 hours trick-or-treating, we headed to Chris and Aimee's house to say hello. Chris was dressed as Blake the fireman and Aimee gave Vail a BIG sized candy bar. Lucky girl! Vail helped Chris and Aimee hand out candy to all the kids who knocked on the door. She loves spending time at their place and soon Grey will too!

Looking for Charlie Brown Halloween movie

Chris and Grey

being a mommy

this is my world right now. its a lot of work, they come first before anything and i often don't get a break but i wouldn't trade it for anything. there are so many good things that come from having children. i love these little ladies so much. 

First 30 days as a family of 4

1.  Loving the sounds Grey makes when she nurses
2. Adoring long lashes, the perfect little nose and gorgeous lips. I think she is a beauty 

3. Spending lots of time nursing 

4. Hearing Vail sing songs to Grey
5. Cooking healthy again. Time to get on track
6. Enjoying walks in the crisp fall air. This is my favorite season 

7. Changing lots of diapers, I mean lots. My online shopping has gone from Nordstrom.com to diapers.com :(
8. Hearing the first coos and seeing the first smiles from baby Grey
9. Learning to be patient
10. Having some really GOOD evenings

11. Then there are some hard evenings. Not bad, just hard. 

12. Being a proud momma as I watch Vail become more and more independent. 
13. Saturday mornings = soccer practice

14. Theo let's me sleep in on the weekends
15. Loving my quiet time with Grey during our night feedings. 
16. There is nothing sweeter than having your baby fall asleep on your chest. Ahhh, my heaven
17. Having day dates with just momma and Vail. We love our quality time together

18. Finding an hour in our day (usually at 10pm) to enjoy being husband and wife
19. The sounds that fill my house. Laughter, crying, how comes???, singing.
20. Needing my mom more than ever. So thankful for our friendship 
21. Grocery shopping with two kids. I think I'll add amazon fresh to my online shopping.

22. Teaching baby Grey to put herself to sleep. Hard one to do but I think she has it down :)
23. Feeling guilty that my dogs are neglected. I keeping telling them it's just a moment in time and it will get better
24. Playdates with my brother and nephew. Never thought we would be pushing strollers down the sidewalk together. We laughed in the moment. 
25. Missing my sister. Thank goodness for FaceTime 

26. Feeling good in my skin. Taking little breaks for myself and not feeling guilty about it
27. Being so in love with my kids that it hurts
28. My heart still jumps a beat when I look at Theo
29. Crying on my moms shoulder. It's hard being a mom but it's the best job I've ever had. Sometimes you just need to cry and have your mom take care of you for a day. 
30. Being in awe of the life I have. Loving husband, healthy kids, our dream house in our dream neighborhood, good friends and my family. I feel so blessed

10 days old

as i look back at photos of Grey i can't believe how much she has changed. when she was just 10 days old, she was wearing premie clothes, was smaller than i could have imagined, still had the marks on her tiny feet from getting her blood drawn to test for billirubin. it was so heartbreaking to see her get poked so many times. 

i miss that newborn feeling with her but by that ending, a lot of new wonderful things seem to come along. when you have your first baby, i feel like you are always looking FORWARD to the next step. this time i am enjoying each step, not looking forward to the next until it is the present.

premie clothes were too big for our sweet baby

my sweet love. still yellow from her billirubin 

the softest thing ever. those baby feet feel like silk. brings tears to my eyes looking at this photo because it shows how new she is.

those little marks are reminders that its hard being a parent. hard to do the right thing for your child even if it means it might hurt. thankfully theo is a little tougher than i am when it comes to the things that need to get done. i however cry like a baby when these moments happen. 

baby Grey sure has some lungs on her. she is sweet and strong willed. i can't wait to see her personality come out.

calm