my baby.

this is my baby.  hi, baby!

except...  she doesn't look like this anymore.  this is how she looked back in may.

back when her pink squeaker shoes were all the rage.  with her.

except...  they don't fit her anymore.  it was a sad, sad day.  i don't know if it was sadder for her or for me though.

this is my baby fast asleep.

except...  this was how she looked fast asleep back in june.  that shirt, which used to be allie's, doesn't fit her anymore either.

this is my baby "waked up".

except...  you guessed it, those jammies don't fit her anymore either.  they did back in august.  which is when i took this picture.

but the good news is that this pillow with this pillowcase is still her very favorite thing in the world.  she never took to a lovey like her big brother and sister did.  no, but she laid claim to this particular pillow that i had originally bought for phil.  it's memory foam and squishy yet supportive.  just what a two-year-old needs.  when i tried to do the switcheroo on her and replace it with a regular pillow, she'd do the push-down-hand test and know right away what i'd done.  and immediately switch it back.  phil (who had declared it to be the best pillow he's ever had) willingly gave it to her and she's had it to sleep with ever since.  the pillow even comes with her when we travel.  and when she's feeling a little low, she'll bring it out of her crib to lay her weary head down.  wherever the mood happens to strike- be it on the bedroom floor, the hallway, or in the middle of the kitchen floor while i'm cooking.

and the pillowcase?  that's one of two that phil made for me (hand-sewn even though he doesn't know how to sew) back when we were dating in college and he had given me two down-pillows for christmas (cuz i said i'd never had one before).  the other pillowcase was a print of little doggies all over it.  he went to joann fabrics, found prints of two of my favorite things, and made pillowcases out of them.  eleven years later, that thought still makes me smile.

this is my baby showing off her new shirt.

except...  though the shirt still fits, it won't apply for very long as she'll soon be both a lil sis AND a big sis.  she doesn't know this yet.

this is my baby who makes me smile and laugh and brings me so much joy every single day.

except...  maybe when she's crying and whining and pouting.

but this is how she looked last month.

this is how my baby looks today.

and it would be perfectly fine with me if she stayed exactly this way forever.

forever my baby.

halloweekend.

this year, halloween kinda snuck up on us before i was even aware that the month of october was already in full swing.  we didn't get to do the usual things one would do in october-- no visit to a pumpkin farm, no pumpkin carving, no attempts at fall-ish pictures whatsoever.  we just ended up at a grocery store last saturday afternoon to let the kids choose a few mini-pumpkins and pick up a bag of chocolates just in case some trick-or-treaters might stop by.  (which phil warned me beforehand was likely not to happen as we are surrounded by chinese neighbors.  chinese neighbors who do not believe in handing out free candy to strange small children.)  still, i wanted to be prepared just in case.

sort of a let-down in terms of ushering in the fall this year.  but then again, today's temp was 90+ degrees, so it's kinda hard to feel all autumn-y while still wearing shorts and tank tops.

but ready or not, halloween weekend was upon us and it was filled from top to bottom with activities.  so we made it through mikey's halloween parade and party, allie's pumpkin party, a spooky bash, and two fall festivals.  and lived to tell the tale.  aided by a steady stream of halloween chocolates since, as phil predicted, not a single trick-or-treater could be seen in our 'hood.   

alright, so the weekend o' fun started on friday morning with mikey's school party.  kindergarten may be all kinds of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, but they still sure do know how to throw a party!

lauren and i got there just in time to see the costume parade get started.  who could that masked jengo fett be?

ah, none other than my sweet mikey!  who was very concerned after his dad let him know that jengo fett is actually a bad guy.  (hey!  how was i to know?  besides, it was the last costume left in his size at target when i picked it up the day before!)  so he informed me that he was the "good jengo before he turned bad".  i said that was a perfect idea.  and he was satisfied.

mikey's teacher.  who is way cooler than i ever was.

mikey's big buddy.  who is way cooler than i'll ever be.

lauren just learned how to do this latest trick.  and insisted on wearing these tights because her big sister was wearing tights that morning.

she loved going to see mikey at school.  and insisted on staying near him the whole time.  she's been wanting to go to school too and saw this as her big chance.

alright, so we didn't carve pumpkins this year.  but mikey was just as happy drawing on a pumpkin face with his classmates.  no cleaning of pumpkin guts + a kid who didn't notice = win-win in my book.

lauren and i had to get going and so weren't able to stay for the games and party, but mikey later came home with a bag full of goodies and reported that he had a great day.  and best of all, no homework!!

his very favorite thing from his goody bag.  because max from "max & ruby" wears the same teeth during his favorite episode.

that evening, the kids donned their costumes again to go to both their schools' nighttime parties.

my pink 50s girlie.

she picked out the pink frilly deal to wear in her hair.  and i'm now noticing that it's time to get her hair cut again.

and my pink 50s baby.  hello, my baby.

she just loved her 50s pink glasses.

even if they did keep sliding down her nose, librarian-like.

bowling with a plastic skull.

me and my girls at allie's school.

and then halloween day was upon us and on went the costumes once more.  it was just after naps and allie wasn't quite ready to give up her 'b' (blankie) and her drawing.  lauren wasn't quite ready to give up her medieval hatchet.

cousins j and j (along with their parents) joined us for the evening's fall festival.  one quick group picture before things started going downhill.

mikey and his friend j were inseparable at our church's fall festival.  they had a blast.

allie and her friend a (j's little sister) were also inseparable that night.  and lauren did her best to tag along with the big kids. 

towards the end of the night, uncle johnny and cousin j found the best seats in the house.  right near the bathrooms and the snacks.  soon enough, we all congregated around them.

and came home feeling like this was the best halloween ever.  :)

the end.

san diego.

so the very next weekend after we got back from seattle, we (correction: I) packed up again and we took off for san diego.  phil was attending a conference there and we decided to make a family trip out of it.  but let me tell ya, all that weekend traveling was crazy tiring and i feel like i'm still recovering from it all.  there is definitely something to be said for quiet weekends spent at home, too.  perhaps i'll have something to say about that when we actually have one of them.  : p

but on to the post at hand!

the kids were suuuper excited to be going on vacation and didn't even care that it was only for three nights.  in fact, that seemed to be just about the perfect amount of time for them.

daddy's conference was in downtown san diego.  but they ended each day in the early evening, leaving just enough time to do some sight-seeing.

while window shopping, daddy found a necklace in a toy store for allie. 

since mommy got one the week before.  she wanted to wear it right away.

and was feeling pretty happy about it, i think.

not to worry, the other two kiddos also got presents too.  but allie-girl...  she just holds a special place right in the center of her daddy's heart.

the next day, my brother's family joined us for a day at the zoo!  (thanks to joanna's tip that kids are free on sundays in october.  with three and soon-to-be four kiddos, the savings here are HUGE!)  yep, this is in fact my family, y'all.

it appears that we brought the seattle rain back with us as it was drizzly for much of the day.  thankfully our dollar store ponchos that we just happened to have in our stroller came in handy.  one by one, we slowly succumbed to the poncho and were all wearing one at one point.

we saw plenty of animals that day, but for some reason the best pictures i have were with the animal statues.  i wonder why that is?

behold the power of the poncho.  and i think perhaps my kids have spent too much time in front of the camera.

look what just popped up!

mikey fell in love with this baby polar bear.  (but see what i mean about the statues?)

well, at least these koala bears were being still as statues.

even if my cuddly koala bear wasn't.

happily, the rain cleared up for the kids to enjoy some time at the playground.  the kids wanted to go down the slide all together and this is what i like to see...

a nice, orderly, not-fast progression...

down to a safe landing.  everyone has a good time, no one gets hurt, and mikey even gets to pretend he's a rocket at the end.

but this one?  this is what i very much do not like to see.  there's no order, no safe progression, and impending doom is imminent.

but thankfully daddy is right there to come to the rescue.  thanks, daddy.  (btw, i love how cousin j has enough sense to stay back and preserve himself from the danger).

psa- no kids or daddies were harmed in the making of the above pictures.

once all my monkeys cleared off the slide, baby j and her mommy got a turn.  which she loved!

after a full day at the zoo, we headed back to our hotel to relax and unwind.  witness the mesmerizing effects of the chipmunks movie on tv.  uh, close your mouth, my son.

meanwhile, baby j got a chance to do what she loves best- crawl around everywhere!  lauren came down to check on her.  the kiddos just adore their baby cousin.  :)

and of course the requisite jumping on the beds also took place.

alas, our little trip came to an end much too quickly.  on our last day, we stopped to see the midway ship and have lunch before heading back home.

allie wanted a picture next to the princess in the white dress.  she didn't believe me when i said she'd only be about the size of the princess' shoe.

and whaddaya know?  the kids got a chance to run around and play with autumn leaves, too!

yay for fall!