Happy Halloween!

Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays, but in the past few years, I've enjoyed dressing up, and dressing the kids.  This year was the first year that they both chose their own costume without some major guidance. I think that they did an awesome job with their selections.

Without further adieu, I present Goku and Grandma!  They were both a hit everywhere we went!

We started in our old neighborhood, but no one was really participating in Halloween, so we ended up heading toward a church that was hosting an event with booths and jump houses.  There were absolutely too many people there, so we went to visit another neighborhood, and hit the Halloween jackpot.  There was enough houses participating for Micah and Corrin to feel like they got enough candy without overdoing it.  We all had loads of fun, and we have enough candy to last us a while. I wonder what they will want to be next year.

Corrin also had Nerd Day at her school for Red Ribbon Week because she is "too smart for drugs!" 

Her Royal Fiveness!

My sweet little miss turns five years old today. Recently, I looked back through the blog, and reread her birth story and watched a few videos from when she was a baby. I had forgotten so many of the details. I had forgotten how afraid I was after her birth, when she refused to breathe.  I had forgotten how worried I was when we brought her home from the hospital with extra gadgets to monitor her. I had forgotten the sheer exhaustion from interrupted sleep and working full time.  I had forgotten the sadness that came from leaving her every day to commute an hour and a half to work when she was so tiny.

But I remembered the overwhelming joy that she brought to our lives. I remembered the uncontrollable laughter that she causes. I remembered the sass that lives in her.  Corrin is not afraid to live out loud.  She's not afraid to stand in her truth, and let the world know she is here. Wanna know a (not so secret) secret?  I envy her that. I envy her the freedom to know what she wants and go for it without thought of what anyone else thinks. And the mama bear in me is willing to go to the mat to protect that. 

Don't get me wrong, she can be shy and hesitant at times. Surprisingly enough mostly with her peers. I'm afraid that she recognizes that sometimes those who could be friends can sometimes hurt us.  But that doesn't stop her from being Corrin. So what's Corrin up to nowadays?

I have seen your soul and it is beautiful. 

Corrin...

· is so much fun to be around. And because she attends school in the district I work for, we are almost always together. 

· is still our silly girl, who laughs at the drop of a dime. 

· is our little chatterbox. Honestly, she never stops talking. She even talks in her sleep. 

· still has a mind of her own when it comes to what she's going to wear. That's a battle we just don't feel like fighting. Sometimes she's all about comfort. Sometimes she's a princess and only a dress will do.  As long as whatever she chooses is weather appropriate and acceptable for whatever event we're attending, we let her express herself. 

· is currently baby obsessed. Honestly, she's been baby obsessed for the past two years, but just recently it's gotten to be overwhelming.  She constantly listens to my belly (by placing her ear over my stomach) so she can hear the baby that she is convinced is in there. (There is no baby in my belly!) She constantly talks about having a little baby. She's actively praying for a baby. 

Birthday Partying!

We hosted a birthday party at a local fun place called Stars & Strikes. The kids bowled, played laser tag and bumper cars, ate pizza, and roamed around the arcade.  They had a blast!  There was lots for them to do, and there were lots of friends and family members there to celebrate our little princess.  She opted for a Barbie themed cake. (There's a story behind said cake.) All in all, we had a blast, and the birthday girl hasn't stopped talking about her party yet!

Now the cake on the other hand.  This cake was so delicious.  We tried a new bakery based on reviews alone.  I'm so happy we went with the reviews. This cake was awesome!  It was delicious and moist, and beautiful. I really didn't want to cut it because it was so beautiful.  Corrin and I had originally discussed her cake, and she wanted a unicorn cake, with rainbow layers. We had searched Pinterest for inspiration pictures. We talked about this birthday cake up until we were parked in the parking lot, and preparing to enter the bakery to place the order.

The baker came out, I explained what we wanted (a birthday cake and some cupcakes), and then she asked Corrin what kind of cake she wanted.  My daughter then proceeds to change the whole game up. The unicorn cake that we had researched and talked about became a Barbie cake with bling. I was left stunned and confused, but we went ahead with the cake that Little Miss wanted, and it was beautiful, and delicious, and everything that she wanted it to be.

Silly big brother

What's Happening?

I know. I know! Exactly one year and six months later, and I’m trying AGAIN to revive this blog. This space started as a place for me to document our children’s antics as we grew through my pregnancies and their infancy and toddlerhood. My sister was deployed overseas, and I wanted to include her in the changes that were occurring.  Well now both of our children are school-aged and attend school full time.  Where does that leave this space? Still trying to figure that out...

What have we been up to in the past year and a half?  We’ve gone on a few vacations. We’ve celebrated holidays and accomplishments. We’ve suffered loss and setbacks. We’ve all aged a little and grown. Micah has started first grade. Corrin is in Pre-K4. They are both smart and inquisitive kids, who keeps us on our toes, and usually laughing. We’ve moved and moved again.  

In short, things are different, and I'm sure more change is coming, but we've done a pretty good job of going with the flow. Now here are a bunch of pictures (in no particular order), and a promise that I'll be back, and hopefully it will be long before another year and a half have passed. 

I've realized that a whole bunch of pictures in the blog are broken because of the foolishness with Photobucket charging roughly $400 per year to continue to host them.  I'll be honest, I'm never going to pay that much money for anything to do with this blog, so I'll be (slowly) going back through the blog and replacing pictures as I can.

Corrin {18 Months Old}

Post will be updated soon with pictures.

*****

Corrin turned 18 months old Tuesday.  She is a little diva tomboy.  At eighteen months old, Corrin...

... weighs 22 pounds, 8 ounces. She is 30.5 inches long. 

... wears size 4 diapers, and size 18 month to 24 month clothes.

... is currently getting all four of her eye teeth at the same time.

... likes to brush her teeth, and will begrudgingly allow her father or I to brush them.

... has started playing with her dolls. She tends to treat them really roughly, but she loves dragging a baby around with her.

... has a decent vocabulary.  She says mama, dada, My (for Micah), cookie, that, baby, belly, nose, eye, ball, cup, hey, bye, mouth, shoe, uh-uh (no), and a few others.

... can identify her eyes, nose, mouth, belly, and sometimes ears.

... loves clothes and shoes. She has been known to throw a small fit because she wanted her shoes put on her feet.

... loves to take pictures, and will smile and say "cheese" if she see a camera. She will also take electronics (camera, phone, anything that looks like it could be a camera) and pretend to take pictures.

... loves to talk on the phone. She has been known to call her mimi on both the landline and cell phones and have conversations before anyone realizes that she's actually talking to someone.

...  eats very well.  Corrin is known as the Pit in our home, because she appears to be bottomless.  She is usually the last one to leave the dinner table.  When she decides that she is ready to eat, she will drag her highchair away from the table, and climb up.

...  is the resident climber and dare-devil.  She's always running, jumping or climbing.

... has a silly sense of humor.  She finds the silliest things funny.  Sometimes I think she thinks her brother is a clown.  If no one else can get her to laugh, Micah can make her laugh.

...  can feed herself relatively well with a spoon. Of course, she still makes a mess, but usually more food ends up in her mouth than on the floor.

... sings along with music.  You can't understand any of the words, but she makes the general sound.

... is called Rin, Rinnie, Rinna, Mamacita, Little Miss, and Boss Lady.

My Funny Valentines