Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! We've had a few fun days!! I guess that's one nice thing about having Halloween on Sunday, the fun gets drawn out longer!

We went to my sister's the other night and had some fun with Molly's cousins. We had dinner, decorated cookies and watched "How To Train Your Dragon".

Molly was so excited to see Mitt and Major. We told her if she was really good going potty, she could see them. Unfortunately she had an accident there! I'm sure it was because she was having so much fun she realized too late. Oops!

Before their house, we took the girls trick-or-treating at the law school. They do it every year. They decorate the doors and hand out candy or have a bucket with candy.

Look how cute this quilt is! And even better is the bucket with candy on the chair :)

Ha, I really liked this door: I'd turn back if I were you. Danger! Beware! Dean's office.

Some professors let you into their offices.

Last night we went to a little ward party where they have a light dinner, read some Halloween books, have a little fashion show with costumes and count down to go trick-or-treating.

I even dressed up as Snow White. You can't see my red skirt, but it was my Grandma Ruth's! I think I look a bit like Katy Perry in this wig! Ha!

Isn't Molly's wig awesome? My mom found these wigs in a box at DI that she bought for $1!! We got a steal! There are 5 princess wigs in it!

Emily and Zack made a quick show at the house as thing 1 and thing 2. Lovin their blue hair!

This morning I made pumpkin pancakes. Pretty good if you like pumpkin!

Happy Halloween!

baby shower

Aren't baby showers so fun? I got to help with one this past week that was actually a double shower for two girls in our ward due around the same time. My mom helped decorate and I made some punch and a couple receiving blankets for the gifts.

Pink punch:

2 cans of rasp. lemonade (thawed)

1/2 gallon of raspberry sherbet

2 liter bottle of sprite, 7-Up or Gingerale

Put the lemonade in a large punch bowl first, then the sherbet. Add the sprite last and you're done. Easy and yummy!

Aren't these fun fabrics?

I thought the pink and black was fun since pink and brown are so in and I'm sure she got pink and brown outfits along the way!

But it was also fun to not have pink at all. With a girl, you are sure to get pink, so this was something different.

I took pics of the set up, but we are probably going to use the same stuff for my sister Emily's shower in a couple weeks, so I'll show you pics later of that!

Potty Training Update

Yesterday we needed an intervention with Molly. She had accidents all day and didn't seem to care. I asked her why she was having accidents and reminded her that we would give her a prize if she went in the potty. She said, "I already have prizes." Smart girl!

So we decided we needed to implement some consequences! We first made sure we showed her what the prizes were. She must have thought we were lying about the prizes. We also told her we would take away her new toys if she had an accident. So she had an accident after our discussion and I took the toys away. She was definitely sad.

This morning she went potty so she could get her toys back! Yes! She went potty all day long and only had a couple of small accidents. We took half of her toys away and she wanted to be sure we did in fact follow through. She is definitely getting it! Yay!! Its been a long week, but we are getting somewhere!

Potty Training: it's hard work!

So here we are. Just finished day 2 of our 3 day potty training program. Wow! I've been mentally preparing myself for about a week, but at the end of the day, my patience is pretty much shot!!

Day 1: no success. She never made it to the potty in time.

Day 2: today. She came into my room when she first woke up and told me she had to go potty. Yay!!!!! I took her and sure enough, she went! Hooray, she got a prize. After I talk about how excited I am and proud of her, she pees again but this time on the floor. Oops! We have another accident, but then she goes on the potty 3 more times! Yay! I feel like she's getting it. Then everything goes downhill. She has only accidents until I put her down for bed. Boo!

Day 3: tomorrow. Let's hope she gets it tomorrow!!

She needs your help!

My sister Emily has asked that I enlist your help with a contest she has entered. It's R.C.Willey's Scariest Couch contest. If her couch gets the most votes, she wins a free couch, love seat and end tables!! So she really, really wants you to vote! (Keep in mind that her hubby is finishing up his undergrad and has applied for med school next fall)

Her couch was first bought by her in-laws soon after they were first married and has been handed down to each of their married children. Her hubby is the youngest of 7, so it has been very loved! To see a picture of her couch and to vote, here is the link below. It takes about 2 seconds to vote and she would really appreciate your help!! The contest ends Friday, so please vote by then! Thanks!

http://www.rcwilley.com/dp/Scariest-Sofa-2010-Vote.jsp?entry=27

Growing

I was anxious to see the doctor today to see how big my girls are getting!! The doctor just laughed when she saw Alison, she couldn't believe how big and healthy she looks!! She said she has exceeded her expectations, so I felt good about that!

Here are their stats:

Weight:

Ali 18.5 lbs, 40%

Molly 30 lbs. 42%

Length:

Ali 28.94 in., 87%---yep, she's super long!

Molly 38.39 in., 79%

Head:

Ali 17.7 in., 76%

They don't measure Molly's

Molly's BMI is 14.3, 10%

Both healthy, happy girls which is the main thing.

Also, Molly has been doing leaps and bounds better with eating her dinner! I'm a bit surprised that we are still spoon feeding her pretty much every night, but she is eating the food we make for us and that's what counts! She's eaten broccoli, green beans, pork, tostadas, an egg roll, spaghetti (no, she really wouldn't eat it before), cauliflower, chili and on and on.

Next week: Potty training!! Wish me luck! I know I'll need it!!

Castle Rock, CO

Justin had fall break this whole week so we knew it was time to get out of here and go have some fun! We went to visit some of our most favorite people!!

We have missed my brother Ryan and his wife Becky and their girls! They lived so close and now they are so far away :( bummer for us! It was an 8 1/2 hour trip, but we made it! The girls were really good, we got lucky. When we got to Ryan and Becky's, the girls were soooooo excited to see each other! It was so cute! They were screaming and giving hugs. They loved it.

We mostly let the girls play and have fun. We also went to the park, went to Lexie's soccer practice (Molly was allowed to play too, although she would come over and see us every few minutes!), we went to the Disney store, went out to dinner, ate yummy food and treats, had a Halloween party, went shopping at the outlets, the boys golfed and we enjoyed each other's company and relaxed (which was so nice!).

We had some nice days! Colorado has so many parks and walking trails, it's so nice!

Becky was my crafting buddy so I really miss her! Look at the adorable outfits she made for her girls! So cute!

She made matching bows for her outfits, so I figured I might as well do one for Molly's :) Becky is my bow go-to girl!

We had a fun Halloween party. The girls played pin the hat on the witch, read a cute Halloween book and decorated Halloween cupcakes.

I love the witch hats!

My mom sent treat bags for all of them and Becky made some too. They were so spoiled!

Ryan and Becky, thanks so much for everything! Sorry the girls woke each other up at night and got up early! Thanks for all the food and the non-stop fun! We miss you guys!

Before I went to Colorado, I talked to a couple friends who also live there and we were able to meet up for lunch! They live on the way to the other friends we were going to see, so it worked out perfectly. It was so fun to see them! I've known all these girls since I was 8 years old!

Whitney, Sara, Lori and me. Whit, thanks for letting us come to your cute house and for feeding us!

Ft. Collins

After visiting Ryan and Becky, we drove north to visit our good friends Seth and Christine. We had a lot of fun!!

We ate a yummy mongolian bbq place the night we got there. The next day we checked out the Swetsville Zoo. Everything there is made from car parts! It's definitely an interesting place, but we enjoyed it!

This was one of my favorites. I love the hub caps!

On Friday we went to the butterfly pavilion. They also had a bunch of creepy crawler bugs and spiders, and some things that live in water in addition to the butterflies! We got a bit creeped out after seeing the huge cockroaches and a tarantula that some employees were holding and showing to those who wanted a close look! Yikes!

The butterflies were really cool! You walked into the atrium and it was like you were being transported to Hawaii or something, the plants were so pretty and tropical like! And it felt all humid.

We had a fun time there.

Friday night was Claire's birthday party. We were so lucky to be there for the big event!

Doesn't it look like Claire is 3 years older? She is one tall 4 year old!!

The party was a tea party and they were encouraged to dress up, so we brought the princess Aurora dress up. Christine had a crown for all the girls and they loved it!

Look at the cute cupcakes!! The crowns were rings.

And adorable goodie bags!

The girls loved it. Molly was the youngest one there, but didn't have any problem talking and mingling with the other girls. I think Molly might have thought it was again her birthday! The girls played musical chairs, Simon says and duck duck goose. Molly was hilarious. When one ofthe girls left they were playing Simon Says and Molly said to a girl, "bye Simon!" Then she said, "I hope Diana comes to my house to play!" She had so much fun!

Thanks Christine and Seth for all the fun! The only bummer of the whole trip is that Ali now thinks it's time to wake up at 4:30 am! Yikes! So we are going to be crying out a few mornings here and we are NOT looking forward to it! The girls were great travelers...so we can't complain there! It was such a fun trip and we really enjoyed ourselves!

Molly is 3!

Dear Molly,
Happy Birthday! Today you are 3 years old!

We are so grateful to have you as part of our family. You are so fun and full of life. You are a happy little girl! We often have people tell us that you have the greatest expressions and are so expressive! We think you could be an actress one day. You love to sing and learn new songs. Some of your favorites are the family song, the temple song, follow the prophet, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, head, shoulders, knees and toes, and hickory dickory dock (and the list goes on).

You are sassy and spunky and always keeping us on our toes. Lately you listen to our conversations and tell us things like, "Mommy, say sorry to daddy!" and "does that work?" and "I do that all myself!". You are becoming very independent and want to try everything yourself. You love to put your toys in bags/purses/wallets, or anything that can carry them. You love princesses and you love dress ups! You ask several times a day for me to change you into a different dress or outfit.

You are very helpful with your sister. You try to make her happy and talk in the highest voice to her because you hear us do that when we talk to her! She loves you! You can make her smile and giggle just by playing or looking at her. She already looks up to you.

You are still particular about food, but you eventually try what we give you and we think you are making progress! You love to eat fruit-apples, peaches, strawberries and raspberries especially. You love marshmallow cereal as you call it. You love peanut butter and honey sandwiches and ice cream just like your mom and dad!

You are learning to share well with your friends and how things work. You love to read books. You love to play with princesses and dolls that have clothes and you are always changing what they are wearing. You are a beautiful girl and such a joy to be around. We love you so much!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy