Ladybugs and spiders

This year was Reese's first trick-or-treating experience, which was helped by having a professional standing by in Mason. I have to say that Reese made the cutest little ladybug ever.

Mason and his little friends, Caden, Cohen and Zander.
Mason leading the way showing Reese how it's done.
What cracks me up is that Mason is usually very shy even around people he knows. But, if there is candy involved, he apparently knows no strangers. He was out ahead of everyone, the first at each door, the first to ring the doorbell and the usually the first to say "happy halloween!". He even went another hour after our group was finished trick-or-treating and he and Gary walked the majority of our neighborhood. Reese threw a fit when I took her ladybug outfit off. Poor little girl was tired after all that walking. Can't wait for next year!

My favorite walk

I look forward to my long walks on the weekend because I usually follow the same route. Today was no exception as I did my 8 mile trek. A little more than a mile into the course (and again at mile 7.5 today), I round this one particular curve in the path and come across this...and every time I think what a beautiful place for pictures and I would imagine the kids running around under the canopy of the trees on the incredible green grass. Well, today I had Gary meet me with the kids at the end of my walk and we did just that.
And if I do say so myself, today's photos didn't disappoint. They turned out exactly like I pictured in my mind.
They didn't stay still for very long at all, but it was long enough to get this picture, which happens to be one of my new favorites.

Mason took the time to teach Reese how to blow on a dandelion, but doesn't quite understand about the making a wish part first.
So now when I walk past this particular spot I won't have to imagine the kids running around under the trees anymore.

It was such a beautiful day!

Kleenex alert

I don't know this lady, but as a mother, I couldn't help but want to share her story. Warning: you'll need some Kleenex.

Random updates

Ignore the fact that he colored a Hello Kitty page (Reese's girly stuff of course), just look at how well Mason stayed in the lines. Seriously, he went from coloring all over the page last week to all of a sudden coloring in the lines with different colors.
Halloween preview: Spiderman
Ladybug (the cutest ladybug ever I might add)
This was Mason's first ever drawing. It's a picture of me, can't you tell?
They love Candyland right now. Reese got it all out by herself.

So they tried to play it together, but they didn't get too far by themselves.

As of today, Mason, Reese and I all have strep throat so we are just hanging around the house trying not to go stir crazy. It's only day one so I think it may get worse before it gets better. Like I keep saying, it could be much worse. We are so thankful!

Full fat yogurt

So most of you know we have been trying to add some calories (good calories, not empty calories) to Reese's diet to help with some weight gain. I recently found some awesome yogurt for her, Liberte Mediterranee, that has 250 calories in each 6 ounce serving. We previously used Yobaby Yogurt, but it only had 110 calories in each 4 ounce serving. I was excited when I found it because there is no high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavoring added at all. I will have to say that it is not the cheapest thing out there, but it's manageable at $1.19 each, especially when I usually give it to her every other day. This girl loves all thing dairy and would live off of yogurt ("ya-ya" as she says) and string cheese if she could.

Warning: do not eat what she doesn't eat, afterall it's full fat yogurt.

These two...

...are loving playing together now. Their current favorites are hide and seek, reading books, and making tents. I came home today to find that Gary had rearranged our couches just to make an amazing tent for the kiddos. They love picnics in the living room, helping me clean anything they can reach with wipes, and putting stickers on the floor.

He...has mastered some new speech sounds. He can say 'w', 'f', and 'l' sounds now which has made a huge difference with his intelligibility. Unfortunately, we had to stop his speech therapy after learning our insurance didn't cover it, but we seem to be making great strides even after stopping therapy. He has alsolearned how to manipulate us (mainly daddy and grandma & grandpa because it doesn't work on me) by using Reese. A typical conversation may look like this:

Mason: "Let's play duck, duck, goose!"

Us: "No, not right now bud, maybe later."

Mason: "Reese, do you want to play duck, duck, goose?"

Reese: head nod here with "eh uh"

Mason: "Reese, you do? Yeah!"

Mason to us: "Reese wants to play duck, duck goose".

She...has gained a pound. Yeah! We have been fattening her up with lots of butter, cheese, and some Kid Essential Boost to her milk. Her shoe fascination has grown to include my heels. Surprisingly enough, she can actually walk in them. Too cute! She is scared of the play-do spaghetti maker. For some reason, it freaks her out when Mason pushes the play-do through it.

Celina pumpkin farm pictures (warning: picture overload)

Wow, it was a beautiful day! We took the opportunity to get out and head to the pumpkin patch in Celina. Mason had been to one 2 years ago, but this was Reese's first time. She loved it! They both loved it! Even when the hayride we were on got stuck in the close to 2 feet deep mud ruts and it took about 15 minutes for us to be rescued by another tractor. Even when the hayride had to be cut short after getting unstuck when one of the tires came off. Even when the lady next to us threw a temper tantrum about her kids getting yelled at so she in turn yelled at the pumpkin patch owners. We had a great time!












Hope everyone had a wonderful day too!