Happy Halloweek!

And what a week it was! Kicked it off by celebrating Violet losing her umbilical cord, finally! (Or her baby jerky, as my friend Monica's husband has deemed it. I like it. I am going with baby jerky.)

So our big girl got her FIRST "real" bath! (No more sponge baths and alcohol swabs!)

She also grew right out of NB sized diapers and is now in 1s. I am devastated by this. Wasn't I just coming home from the hospital with a 7.5 lb. baby yesterday? (Yes, she dropped 10 oz. after birth.) She has had her first doctor's appt. She is up to 8.3lbs. now and looks different everyday. New facial expressions, new movements, new sounds, etc. I know everyone goes nuts over their baby, but wow! I believed them, but experiencing this all first hand is mind blowing! I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I do wish time would go a little slower, at the very least!


We brought her to the cider mill, but did not stay long. It's been chilly here in PA! And yes, I totally wrapped her up in a cashmere pashmina.


Oh yeah, this is Violet in the back seat. I took a picture of her in her little mirror. She waved, of course! :P


Violet's first Halloween was a hit! This little lady was Princess Leia. Daddy was Chewbacca (sort of and I was sort of a cat.) We even found Mike's Ewok, Wicket, from when he was a wee tyke for Violet to hang out with.


Our families came over to celebrate with us, some to meet V for the first time and to enjoy food, fun and each other's company. Halloween is our favorite holiday by far and Mike would like to treat it as if it were Christmas, almost. He wants to teach V about The Great Pumpkin. (We watched this twice in the last two days and Mike read the book to her. The party in it is thrown by a girl named Violet! heehee!)
The Great Pumpkin (Mike) brought her a Glow Worm! It really was such an amazing day. Everyone was so helpful, not to mention generous. We only got three trick-or-treaters - it was so cold out - our two next door neighbor kiddos and another little girl. (Neighbors were Velma and Scooby

and the little girl was a purple crayon...hello Violet's SECOND Halloween costume! How fitting!) Needless to say, these kiddos lucked out and got a boatload of sweets out of us. Hyperactive, sugared up little ones! Sorry parents! We will be in your shoes before you know it. After everyone left and we were winding down, the neighbors came back. They gave us money and a scratch off lottery ticket that was already scratched off and was a $5 winner. (The neighbor said that her uncle gives out winning scratch offs as treats!!!) I can't believe how kind and sweet they are! I love them and their daughters. So good to know we have such warm, caring people around us. (Not bc we like presents - it's too gracious and we do not ever expect these things - but bc of how thoughtful everyone is. Melts my heart!!!) My mother bought her four Dr. Seuss books, along with huge stuffed characters from the books. (Yup, the Grinch and Max are included in this new posse!) See? Her first Halloween has already been like Christmas, right? Our other relatives hooked her up with adorable clothes and goodies. We definitely said no gifts and to just come and party, but wow! We more than appreciate it!

Violet also received her first international package, care of our former roommate Kelly, all the way from Belgium.
She also received a gift from her friend *A* from Florida!!! He is a wee baby, too!

We celebrated Uncle Thom's Golden Birthday (27 on the 27th!)



We also have a new nephew and are extremely excited about this! (No picture, as we would like to respect their privacy, but we assure you he is gorgeous and we are over the moon/on cloud nine!!!)

As you can tell, we've been busy people! October is certainly our month!

***check the albums on the side of this here blog for updates! We will try to add more, more frequently!

<3