Fall Fun

After what has been a couple of weeks of absolutely spectacular fall foliage...the leaves are starting to drop from the trees. But that has created quite the fun for Miss Ella.

Hope everyone is having a peaceful and enjoyable fall.

Big Announcement!

For those who have wondered why I've been so absent from the blog, here's the official excuse:

BABY #2 IS ON THE WAY

We're about 15 weeks and couldn't be more thrilled. Some of you may know we tried for quite a while after having some initial "issues". It was disheartening because Ella happened so easily.

But the bottom line is everything looks good so far. I was sick as a dog for about 13 and a half weeks. Now I'm just tired...most of the time.

Sorry...no complaining or whining. We've been given a wonderful blessing and I believe it was sent from a very special angel.

Our due date, and you know how those go, is May 4th. I'll try to do a better job of keeping you updated as I'm feeling better.

Ella by the way, since this is her blog...at least for now, is very sweet about the whole thing. She kisses my tummy and says she loves her "sister". We don't know what we're having yet but we hope to find out sometime around Thanksgiving.

Until then...YAY!!!

Trick or Treating

No family theme this year...but at least we all had fun. Ella, for the second year in a row, went as a bug...a lady bug. She was too cute.

Daddy, if you couldn't guess, was the King himself, Elvis. And Mommy was something creepy, not quite a ghost, not quite a witch. The entire motif could not be pulled off because part of the costume would not fit. Mommy's packed on a few #s.

Ella tried to keep up with the neighbor kids but took too long inspecting her loot after each house so she fell behind. Then she literally fell and had a major meltdown at the bottom of the hill cul-de-sac. Mommy managed to calm her down and wipe the snot enough for her to go to a few more houses. Then, she was pooped and Mommy had to carry Ella and her big, full bag of candy up the long hill. Mommy is thinking Daddy will take her next year and she'll stay behind and hand out candy.

School Parade

It was appropriately cold as a witches t*t on the day of Ella's school parade. But we made the most of it.

Her class shivered out in front of the school and mad a sad attempt at singing a song then returned to their warm classroom. Babci and Granddad joined Mommy for the parade and party. Daddy was out of town. Mommy was a little bit more than perturbed that she was the only parent to bring supplies for a party. At least they had Halloween cups and plates and napkins on which to eat their "usual lunch".

Everyone is busy...come on people!!

Anyway, they all looked adorable and seemed to enjoy looking at each other all dressed up.

Carving Pumpkins

It's a labor of love, the ooey, gooey mess and joy that goes with carving pumpkins. This year Ella really got into. We made her the keeper and sorted for the pumpkin seeds. It was a job she took quite seriously. As Daddy and Mommy scooped out the guts and helped sort out the seeds Ella collected them into pile after pile. Once the mouths were carved she decided the seeds needed to go back in the pumpkins. We somehow spared enough to roast after Ella had gone to bed. Daddy burnt most of them so it was an effort in futility.

This is hard work, if you do it the old fashioned way, and trust me we were working at scraping them as thin as possible. Mommy got a pumpkin that looked like it had warts all over it. Turns out it was a gourd and could not be carved. It looked creepy anyway.

Daddy's Birthday

We won't dare say his age...because he's suddenly decided he looks and feels old; officially. But Daddy had a pretty good birthday.

He woke to presents and birthday cookies. He was feeling a little sick from having too much adult beverage with Uncle Rob the night before but that's another story.

After Ella's nap we went over to Babci and Granddad's for a costume party complete with jump houses. Then we had a yummy dinner and cake! Chocolate on chocolate from Publix, just like Daddy requested.

Black Icing

I don't even want to begin to know how the bakery concocted black icing, but Aunt Stephanie brought some Halloween cupcakes over for an after dinner treat one night. As usual Emma ate very daintily and well...Ella did not.

Disney on Ice

What a spectacular show!!

Sorry it has taken me so long to post any pictures. It's been a busy, busy month.

We took MARTA (Atlanta's mass transit rail system) downtown to Phillips Arena where we watched Disney on Ice. Ella was completely enthralled for the first hour...the last thirty minutes produced a bit more fussiness but she was really good and seemed to love it.

She also loved the "choo choo" train ride. On a quick train change she got to speak with a nice lady conductor who tooted the horn for her!!

After the show we went next door to Mommy's work and said hello to friends and colleagues.

It was a really nice family day!!