Trick or treat

Today is Taylor’s very first Halloween. Which means starting tonight and lasting until she makes us stop, we will be dressing her up in ridiculous costumes and letting her know that for once a year it’s totally okay to accept candy from strangers. As long as you give your Momma some of your candy. Lots and lots of candy. Mmmm… candy.

And two nights ago, after Taylor went to sleep, Chris and I opened a bottle of wine and carved our pumpkins on our living room floor. And mid-carve, we realized that we needed this pumpkin practice because next year Taylor’s going to be old enough to help. Which means that Daddy is totally going to be Mr. Pumpkin Guts Remover for the next umpteen years. The stringies gross me out. We had a blast and created our best pumpkins ever. It’s fun to have fun.

Finger licking good

Well, we are on week three of solid food and it’s clear to say that Taylor is still LOVING her sweet potatoes.

She loves them so much, as you can see, that she devours her hands after each spoonful in order to savor every bite. Which is flattering for me, because I actually cut, steamed, peeled, pureed and froze these morsels. But it also concludes that we’re going to have start saving for etiquette lessons.

Mama, I’m coming home

That’s right, bloggers. The Famous Amys traveling band will be visiting the motherland for Thanksgiving. I haven’t been back to Iowa since January, and that was just a quick solo trip in order to have my parents rub my preggo-belly for good luck. And now that Libba and Dirk have confirmed, it’s going to be a good old fashioned Young family throw down. I can’t wait to show Taylor the farm and introduce her to her Uncle Will, while Chris is looking forward to hunting birds and drinking Fat Tire, and Ruby is eagerly awaiting the chance to run, run, run to her knee and heart’s content. Cross your fingers that she’s healed. Do it. Cross them.

SO. Who else of my sassy blog buddies will be back in Pirate territory for Thanksgiving? I’m still pretty bummed that I missed some of you at the Doxtad-Vollmar Wedding aka the Wedding of the Year aka A sneek-peek of James opening for ACDC. So maybe we could meet up for adult beverages? At a kid-friendly arena, of course. There are a lot of itty-bitty cheeks out there I am looking forward to squeezing, and I’m sure most of you have been itching to get your hands on these…

Come waste your time with me

Five years ago today, Chris and I stood on the side of a mountain and promised to love and honor each other for the rest of our lives. There in front of God, our families and closest friends, we exchanged our vows and began to mold ourselves into the friends, spouses and parents that we are today.

And let’s not forget the party afterward. I’m pretty sure Homewood is still reeling from that Midwest invasion.

Happy anniversary to us.

The sound of Chris's heart melting

I wonder if it will have the same affect on him when she's sixteen and wants to borrow the car.

So a ladybug and a duck walk into a bar…

Today was one of those beautifully perfect autumn days that are usually reserved for postcards. Leaf season in Asheville is to die for, and watching the trees turn into pops of yellow and red help remind me exactly why we live here. And since Chris was working, Paige and I decided to make a few mommies-special-coffees, dress the girls up in their Halloween costumes and find some pumpkins for a photo shoot.

And while the concept of our little munchkins hamming it up in their costumes sounded like a good idea, we were hard pressed to get very many smiles out of them. I’m sure they were uncomfortable in their gear, but we had to have some sort of a trial run before Halloween. I mean, baby’s gotta work the charm to get Momma some candy, right? Not to mention that Taylor’s ladybug costume is almost too small for her. Looks like we’re on baby slim-fast for the next few weeks.

By the end of the hour, Elliot had ripped her hat off and Taylor was eating her shoe. And while the babes didn’t have a blast, the Moms did. Maybe it was the coffee.

Sippy, sippy

Now that my Taylor-tot is six months old and eating real food, everything I’ve read says that I should start introducing water into her diet. I’m all for it, especially if it helps resolve some of the digestive issues that have surfaced as a result of the sweet potatoes. Moms, you know where I’m coming from right now. Grossness.

Anyway, the books and experts all suggest using a sippy cup, and not just putting water in her bottle. Because using the bottle would be way too easy for me. Yes, now that I’m juggling her newfound mobility and the never ending need to be entertained, let’s also coerce her into learning how to drink from a new and totally confusing sippy cup.

This is obviously something we’re going to have to work on. After a few days of practice I can finally get her to put the spout in her mouth, but instead of drinking the water she blows back into the cup. Resulting in water shooting out of the airhole and up her nose, and then her throwing the cup on the table. But at least it’s spill-proof. And apparently Taylor-proof as well.