The Best Halloween Ever

I definitely have to say this year was my best Halloween ever. This is the first year that Danielle could really even try grasping the concept. She liked her pumpkin costume and got to go trick-or-treating with her dear friends, Halliday, Grace and Noah. She held Daddy's hand walking down the street for quite awhile. She would even go up to people's front doors and say "treat please" and then "thank you much". Oh, it was so adorable and fun. We lucked out with a beautiful fall evening. Danielle didn't eat too much candy but she did stay up pretty late! I'm so thankful for such a precious kid to experience all of these things with. I got some fun photos, too, and even one with me in it!

Today was also our ultrasound for our baby on the way. It was wonderful to see that the baby is growing well. Danielle wasn't as excited as we thought she might be but it is difficult to see much on the computer screen.

God is so good. We feel so blessed.

Carving pumpkins

Tonight we had friends over and carved Danielle's first pumpkin. She was most excited about it when we brought it home. When it came time to do the carving she wasn't into it very long. Daddy carved a great face and Danielle liked the finished product. On Halloween night we will probably go to some friends houses and do a little Trick-Or-Treating there.

We have been spending as much time as possible outdoors lately. It's chilly in the mornings but the afternoons are warm and so beautiful. Soon it will be cold all day long so we are enjoying the warmth while it lasts.

Ready for Halloween

I took these pictures of Danielle the other day. She was trying on her pumpkin costume and loved it. We wanted her to be a pumpkin for Halloween because her nickname is "Pumpkin". Daddy called her that from the beginning (he also calls her "little lady") so we thought the costume was extra special. Maybe next year she can be some sort of princess or a girly costume but this year she's our pumpkin.

Evening entertainment

I knew being parents would mean things were never dull...what I didn't know is how the littlest things would make us SO happy. We try to go for a walk every evening and Danielle now wants to walk part of the time. It means we go pretty slow but it's a good chance for us to relax, enjoy the beautiful place we live, and be completely entertained by Danielle. She loves to dance with her shadow, point out airplanes & birds in the sky, and kick pinecones for Duke. One evening on a walk she had her hands in her jacket pockets and looked over at me. I had my arms folded across my chest and after seeing me she folded her arms the exact same way. Hilarious! Speaking of hilarious...her latest phrase is "it's so funny". Anytime she laughs, thinks something is funny, or hears someone else laughing she says it. She doesn't use sentences a lot but when she puts one together it is usually very cute.

The above pictures are Danielle and Daddy playing together the other evening. She loves it when Daddy gets home. She brings him a book and says "Daddy read" or brings Duke's favorite toy so she can watch a game of fetch down our hallway. She also loves to watch Daddy mow the lawn and says "Daddy lawnmower, cut grass".

I have a friend with a 3 month old baby and I read her blog and love seeing the pictures of her little girl change. For me the first year was all about the changes in appearance, the cute looks, and amazing physical accomplishments, etc. The second year and probably the next few are all about the changes in personality, the clever things they say, and the amazing development into their own little person. Life is definitely different every day. It's the best.

Daddy turns 31

Jeff's birthday was on Tuesday and Danielle really enjoyed it! We went to the florist to pick out balloons for Daddy. On the way there I asked her what color balloons we should get for Daddy...she said "pink"! We compromised and got blue, green, yellow and a dark pink that looked more like red. Then we had a relaxed evening, BBQ, and then cards with my family.