One nap a day? Not on purpose.

Caroline has only been getting one nap a day lately. Yeah, she's almost a year old - but I swear Soren was much older when he gave up his morning nap and we settled on a nice long afternoon slumber. But I have to keep reminding myself that Soren and Caroline, while related, are definitely opposites in many ways.

Really the problem is that I over schedule my mornings. I always assume I will have more time than I do to get done what is needed. But usually by the time we are all ready for the day, it is probably time for Caroline to go down for a nap. However, I still have to do grocery shopping, doctor's appointments, meetings, and other random errands. Some of these things are non-negotiable morning activities. Others are things I need to know I will get done before afternoon activities hit. Twice a week I babysit in the afternoons and then there is the time crunch on the other days to make sure I'm home before Soren is back from school. Anyway - it all gets stressful and messy so I just give up on the afternoons and try to pack my mornings. Which is probably stupid judging from the afternoon meltdowns Caroline has been having recently. And her continued refusal to eat like a person. Add that to trying to wean her off her bottle and our days are an adventure. And very exhausting.

I must be getting old. Or I'm just out of practice with this whole baby thing. Someone remind me why I want to do it all again? Hahaha!

Oh yeah. Cuz these little creatures are so stinkin' cute!!!

Halloween 2009

For those of you who don't know, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It's right up there with St. Patrick's Day and Christmas. In fact, those are my top 3 - in no particular order. So I decorate the house and we celebrate frequently during October. Last year I was in the hospital the last few days leading up to Halloween and most of the day of Halloween. I was also on bed rest when I returned home in the late afternoon of Halloween day, so basically my celebrations were pretty lousy last year. I didn't even get to go to our church Halloween party! SO depressing!!! Well, this year I think I more than made up for it. Here's a run down of our Halloween celebrations!

Picture heavy post below!

Our Halloween Feast looked like this:



We had dinner in a pumpkin:



Homemade Root Beer:



(with dry ice and in a cauldron - of course!)

And for dessert (like anyone needs dessert on Halloween), we had Frank:



We turned off the lights and enjoyed a dark, spooky dinner by candlelight:



And not just any candles - bloody candles and bone candles:



Afterwards we had a mess on our hands - poor Mr. Pumpkin!:



But this pumpkin was more than pleased with how things went:



We then put out our pumpkins! I painted my pumpkin - Frankenstein - and Caroline put together one of her favorite things in the world - a Kitty!



Soren and Daddy decided a puking pumpkin was apropos (they are boys after all):



But kept the cute by adding an adorable monkey to the other side of the vomit:



While Papa decided to carve a scary pumpkin (the picture does not do it justice!)!



And then, of course, there were the costumes and Trick or Treating! We have Snoopy, Woodstock, and Charlie Brown.



Unfortunately, Frieda was not able to join them this year. That's because mommy was more concerned with everyone else being dressed up and forgot about herself! Loser!!! I did wear an orange shirt that said Trick or Treat on it, though. Do I get points for that?

Overall it was an awesome Halloween! We are already making plans for next year and I couldn't be more excited! Well, maybe I could. We'll see.