Halloween

Happy Halloween! The trick or treaters are gone, the baby is sleeping, and the dogs are finally done whining/barking. Whew! I really do enjoy handing out candy, and will miss it when Jocelyn is old enough to go trick or treating. However, I will wait at least one more year, because she won't be able to eat any anyway, so I'll have to eat it, and that's just not a good idea. My favorite comment tonight was from a little girl who said to her friend, "Cool! She gave me two pieces of candy and one was a really long Tootsie Roll!"

Jocelyn really enjoyed her first Halloween. She loved watching all the kids and knew to stand at the door you had to have the candy bowl too! Calvin's family comes over every year to help with passing out candy. This year it was just his mom as his dad and brother were off hunting. Calvin had to go to work, so it was just the three girls. Kailee stopped by earlier in the day so we could all see her in costume. All in all, a fun day!


Carving pumpkins last weekend. We bought 3 when we went to pick them out a few weeks ago. However, someone stole 2 of them! Isn't that just awful?! Right off the front porch. Sad. So we had to go pick out 2 more, but of course there weren't many good ones to choose from.

She loved eating the chunk of raw pumpkin...

But didn't like the guts as much.

The finished product. Mine, Calvin's & Kailee's

Kailee at her school's Halloween parade yesterday

The cute little lady bug!

A cat & a lady bug

Ama & her girls

This one has nothing to do with Halloween, but this is how she slept for her nap today, and it was too cute not to share. That isn't a blanket she's cuddling with, it's the pad from her changing table! She loves to pull it off while she's putting herself to sleep.

New toys

Who needs real toys? Jocelyn has discovered that boxes are really cool. She likes to push them around, sit in them, put toys in them and get pulled around in them. We make a 'brrm brrm' nosie when we push/pull her around and she really wants to copy it, but hasn't quite figured out how to make her lips vibrate yet - it's pretty cute. Yeah for free toys!

So big!

Kailee pulling her around - she attached rings to the box handle so she didn't have to bend over the whole time - she's a good problem solver!

I also got out a chair that I had when I was little (as you can probably tell from the gorgeous orange fuzzy fabric), and she loves that too! Every time I sit her in it she smiles. She's not very good at sitting in it, it's more fun to climb all over it, stand on it and tip it over. She's definitely not a fragile little girl!

Our first vacation!

We survived our first vacation away from Jocelyn! Calvin and I went to California for a long weekend for a wedding Calvin was in. We left Thursday morning, and got back late Monday night. Our plane was delayed out of Minneapolis, so we missed our connection in Denver, but it all worked out okay and we were just a few hours later than planned. We stayed with my sister and her husband on Thursday night - they just moved to the San Francisco area about a month and a half ago. Calvin headed up to Bodega Bay - the wedding location - on Friday morning to do groomsmen stuff. I stayed with Katie and hung out with her, then she brought me up to Bodega Bay later on Friday. It took both of us much longer than anticipated - traffic is a little more of an issue than I'm used to! We had the rehersal dinner on Friday night, and the wedding was on Saturday on the beach. It was much less stressful hanging out with boys on a wedding day - I don't think the groom got in the shower until 1/2 hour until he had to be to the beach! It was a beautiful wedding - it could have been a little warmer and less windy, but the sun did come out halfway through. We had a blast hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones! It was a Green Mill crew, so that's always a super fun time. Sunday Calvin and I headed back to Katie and Jonathan's house to do some more sightseeing, and then we flew out Monday afternoon. It was so wonderful getting to see Katie and Jonathan and spend time with them.

It was so wonderful having time to ourselves - I didn't realize how much we needed it! And we knew Jocelyn was in good hands with my parents, so we didn't worry about her at all. It was actually easier being away from her than I thought it would be. Obviously we were so excited to get back and see her, but to not have to change diapers, work around nap schedules, or be responsible for anyone else for 5 whole days?! I think we'll need to take at least one long vacation each year. Plus, with grandparents fighting over who gets to take her, we don't feel too guilty leaving. However, she changed so much in the short time we were gone. She really understands a lot more and just seems older. She was going down the slide by herself (a small, inside one), knows where her ears are, plays 'So big!' way more on command now, and throws the ball for the dogs. Oh yes, and we missed the dogs too. I think she missed us, she just stared at me this morning when I came upstairs but then came right to me. She smiled a big smile for Calvin when she saw him. It's good to be back with our little baby!

The view of San Franciso from a beach in Alameda where Katie and Jonathan live.

Katie and I hanging out on Friday - it was a gorgeous day, so we did a lot of walking, shopping and exploring. We went to a park by the ocean, and there were a million squirrels. Not the type of wildlife I expected to see in California!

Calvin and I at the rehersal dinner

At the wedding ceremony

At the reception

We went to a vineyard on the way back to Katie and Jonathan's on Sunday. I was expecting a tour, but it was just a tasting room, and I had tasted enough wine for one weekend. So, we only stopped at one.

At the Golden Gate bridge. It wasn't very nice out, but got clearer later in the day. It's so foggy out there.

At Pier 39 - that's Alcatraz in the background. I was expecting it to be farther away from shore, but it's really not (at least it didn't seem to be).

At dinner Sunday night. Calvin really wanted good seafood, so Katie and Jonathan found a cute little place that was very good.

Hiking thru a redwood forest on Monday before we left.

Calvin and Katie by a really cool moss covered tree

A gross slug. I haven't seen one since we lived in Seattle!

This video we took on Sunday at Pier 39. These are sea lions, and hundreds of them! They live on these docks, and it's turned into a marine protected area. Boats can still drive thru, but they can't be moved, and no one feeds them. It was really loud and really stinky. They were funny though, pushing each other off and playing King of the Mountain!

Fall Fun

Today we went and picked out pumpkins - not at a pumpkin patch, but at the grocery store! They had boxes and boxes of pumpkins, and since I knew we'd be outside for about 5 minutes (since it was 36 degrees) I decided a quick trip was enough!

We also got out the Halloween decorations this weekend. Kailee loves to decorate for holidays, and has been asking to put them up for 2 weeks now! It's funny because Jocelyn was napping when we put them up, but when she woke up she noticed all the new things! Most of them are on the fireplace or tables where she wouldn't normally notice things - I guess she's observant!

This is a mask that my parents have had forever. We inherited it a few years back because Kailee loves it. I wasn't going to get it out this year because I thought Jocelyn would be scared of it. But Calvin put it on, and she wasn't scared at all! She just stared at him with a straight face until he started talking, then she smiled and laughed. I hadn't put it on yet, but I tried it today, and she did the same thing with me. Then she wanted to wear it! What a goofy kid!

11 Months

It's the last month before my baby turns one! I truly can't believe how fast the time has gone. Her new skills this month are standing alone for longer periods of time, and I think doing it on purpose. She'll let go now knowing she's standing on her own, whereas before she'd just get so interested in looking at something she had to use 2 hands to look at it! No walking yet, but we were playing last night and I stood her up about a foot away from me, and she took one step towards me, but then fell into my lap. She thought it was a funny game. She's also pointing a lot more to indicate what she wants. No words yet (that we can decipher anyway). She enjoys reading, dancing, listening to music, playing with toys - putting things on her head and around her neck are becoming funny, and climbing on everything. She's still just a happy, smiley baby!

What a difference a month makes! If you remember, her 10 month pictures were taken in a t-shirt and capris. This is what we woke up to this morning....

She started to crawl off the blanket towards me, but then got snow on her hand! She wasn't quite sure what to think about that - she stared at it for a while.

Miss Independent

Jocelyn's starting to show a side of her personality that hasn't been seen too often yet - her independent side. She's been a little stinker the last few days, wanting to do her own thing, getting in to trouble and knowing that she has the skills to get into way more than she should! Of course she's still so stinkin' cute, because she smiles the whole time she's doing it. It's amazing to me how much they know about human behavior and reactions when they're so tiny. She's a little too smart for her own good!

Trying on her winter hat - she wanted to keep it on and keep her pacifier in too!

Getting ready to be the next American Idol

Eating supper tonight - she's getting to the point where she doesn't want to be fed from a spoon anymore - she wants to do it herself. She kept pushing the spoon away so we finally just gave her the bowl and a dipper to see what she would do. She actually ate some of it with her hands, but I don't think much got in her mouth. However, it was mashed up veggies, cereal and milk, so maybe it just tasted gross.