Reunion

Today, Leah and I had a little reunion with the mommies, daddies and babies from our Bradley class.  Now all seven to almost nine months old, the little cuties are all doing well, getting big, and just as sweet and wonderful as ever!

Of course, being all first-time parents, it wasn't quite enough to get together.  We also had to dress them up.  In Halloween costumes.  Even though Halloween was a week ago.  Awesome. 

I was impressed with how little chaos ensued...

 ...mostly.  But, get 7 babies together in one room jammed into cutesy, stuffy little outfits and frankly, it could have been a LOT worse! 

 Of the 9 babies in our class, Leah is the only girl.  She is one of just a handful who (usually) regularly sleeps through the night.  She is one of the half who is eating solid foods.  She is one of three who crawl.  She is the only one who growls. 

She was also the only one who didn't cry, which definitely pleased her mommy! 

She wasn't particularly interested in the babies - she's just not really a social creature.  She was much more content to hang with Mommy and observe the goings on.  She gave her two cents, crawled and touched a few of the others, but mostly she just wanted to sit and crawl near me.  She liked the other adults, interestingly enough. 

It was a room full of blessings.  I can't believe how amazingly fast our little pumpkins have grown!  It wasn't much after this time last year when we all began this journey together, and look at us now!!!

Recap

Leah's First Halloween:

- Began with our traditional Awesome Breakfast for Mommy and Daddy -

- Went trick-or-treating to a few friends' houses - 

 - Included some last-minute decorating (yes, I left it to the last minute this year) -

- Went trick-or-treating to a few house in the neighborhood with our good friends Tina and Ella -



- Ended the day with our traditional Halloween dinner: Broccoli cheese soup and garlic bread -

- Watched a movie - The Rocky Horror Picture Show (because I was too much of a wuss this year to watch anything scarier! -

- Listened to the neighborhood children "oooh" and "aaah" over the Halloween decor while handing out candy -

 

- Grateful, grateful, grateful for a lovely first Halloween with the little pumpkin.  May there be many more! -

B-O-O

All these years I have been missing out on a treasure trove of Halloween fun. 

Boo at the Zoo! 

How is it that I have never been?  (Maybe because I've never had a child... it looks a little creepy if you go to a place designed exclusively for children without a child.)  Today, we remedied that, and I believe another Strassner family tradition was born! 

It was an absolutely wonderful time.  Watching all the little ones in their adorable costumes, watching our own sweet little pumpkin... I had a ball!

We're getting there!

Casey kept telling me that it's creepy to take pictures of other people's children.  But I had to get at least one shot!  It was too much fun to watch all the little princesses and gobblins wandering the streets of the zoo!

Leah was a real trooper.  We were there for hours and hours, and of course she never takes naps in her stroller.  If there is something going on, she has to see and be a part of it (I can relate to that!). 

Not to mention, I finally had to take her little pumpkin pants off.  Who knew it would be 70 degrees the day before Halloween?  She was roasting in that heavy costume! 

All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful day.  The kind of day that makes me a little teary-eyed with gratitude for this beautiful family and wonderful life. 

Happy Halloween!

From our house to yours

Inception

I love traditions.  That being said, I had to have a few up my sleeve for Leah's very first Halloween.  Which is why we made these:

We do this every year at Christmas, but we decided that Leah's first Halloween deserved the creation of a new family tradition. 

Of course, new family traditions require a few things:

 Decorations...

Cookie cutters...

More cookie cutters...

and of course...

an audience!

I wasn't entirely sure how the cookies were going to turn out, but in the end, I was pretty pleased.  Of course, we're not exactly what you would call "talented" in the cookie painting department, but Casey and I had fun decorating - not to mention eating - our "masterpieces," and that's the most important thing!

Today

Today, I saw one. 

I've worried about it ever since this sign went up. 

But, I've run the path in the open space literally hundreds of times in the four years we've lived here, but I've never, ever seen one.

Today, I saw a coyote.  From a great distance, thankfully.  The timing of our afternoon walk was just perfect.  If I hadn't stopped to watch Oprah, Leah and I would have run right into it. 

After watching it walk by and go the exact opposite direction of where I wanted to be, I plucked up all my courage, sang songs from The Sound of Music as loud as I could (it must have been in my head since the cast was on Oprah today) - just in case there were any more around - and Leah and I went on our afternoon walk, regardless of the coyotes.

Leah wasn't perturbed by the possible presence of coyotes, or perhaps she just thought my singing was funny.

I'm a little proud of myself - I've come a long way in the past 6 months.  I'm a LOT braver than I was in April! 

...That being said, I don't know that I'll venture into the open space by myself much more.

Nostalgia

One year ago.  It was one of the most significant days of my entire life! 

Obviously, the day she was born takes the cake, followed immediately by the day we found out we were pregnant in terms of the sheer enormity of the day.  But this one is a close third:

I know that everyone has their own preference, but I was *SO* glad we found out the gender of our baby.  I can't help but smile at what an amazing connection it helped me have to our little daughter.  I didn't know that I could have felt any closer to her, and then - completely unexpectedly - it became instantly clear that knowing her gender absolutely changed my pregnancy.

I know the classic argument is that it's the last big surprise in life - but I couldn't have been more surprised.  I thought for SURE we were having a boy.  And although I was secretly hoping for a girl, there was no way I could be disappointed.  More than anything else, I just wanted a healthy baby. 

Except for one thing: I had this dream one night before we knew the gender.   A vivid dream that seemed so real, I literally woke up with a smile on my face. A dream in which we had a beautiful baby girl.  I had such longing for that baby girl... when I woke up, I felt horribly guilty!  I didn't want to feel disappointed if we found out that it was a boy!  That same night, Jessica also had a dream that we had a baby girl.

 

Of course, in the end, I obviously wound up with my wish.  No way would I change a thing.

And, I have to gloat the teensiest little bit.  The cake was a wicked clever idea.  Not that it was originally my idea (I stole it from a friend of mine who stole it from someone else), but boy did it turn out to be an amazing experience and memory!!!

How we loved you, pink cake!!!