Halloween was almost a bust

Hannah woke up with a cough and stuffed up nose this morning.  I was worried that trick or treating was out of the question for tonight.  Luckily, she seemed to be in a descent mood so I took her around the neighborhood for a bit.  She had a blast!  She can't say trick or treat, but she did say, "Wow! and Whoa!" when she saw the decorations. 

This is Hannah last year

 

 

 

This is Hannah this year

She knew exactly where she wanted to go

This is how she started her day...at the park

Yes, I am wearing skull pajama pants and Mickey pirate ears.

I would call this year a success.  She didn't get a lot of candy which means I won't be eating a ton of candy.  We have no candy left also.  I have never experienced a Halloween where I ran out of candy.  This subdivision is awesome!  It consists of only 3 streets, but I think people bring their kids here.  The streets were packed.  I loved it!  Plus all the neighbors were sitting on their driveway waiting for kids.  Some were even dressed up.  This is opposite of what I have experienced the last 20 or so years.  I am sad that we, more than likely, won't be living here next year.

Shutterfly

Yes, I am addicted.  I spend most of my free time on the site working on projects.  I have finished a few Christmas gifts as well as a photo book of Hannah's first year.  Now I am working on some of the vacations from the past.  I am not artsy at all, but this site brings out the artsy part of me.  It at least gives me an idea of how to lay out the page.  I could stay up all night working on this stuff...except I really value my sleep so I force myself to go to bed.

I realized though with all the computer switching, and OS switching, I have lost some pictures.  Wedding, honeymoon, and the vacation after the deployment are all gone.  I have no clue where they are stored.  I hope they are on some hard drive that I haven't checked. 

Cats and Holes

Last night I settled into bed hoping for a full night's sleep...or at least what passes for one around here with a toddler who wakes up several times a night.  It is close to 10, and the dogs are outside pacing and doing their hunting thing.  I decided to check on them which is when I find that they are in my neighbor's yard instead of mine.  I immediately woke the husband and off we went to try to get them out of the yard.  I felt bad trying to break into my neighbor's yard, but I wanted my dogs back.  Unfortunately, he must lock his gates because they would not open.  The dogs also wouldn't go back through the hole they dug.  They did find a hole in the neighbor's fenceline.  I was trying to help pull them out when I stepped away for a minute to try the gate one more time.  As I am heading back to the other side of the house to try the hole again I see Rowdy running down the street, and Pepper is right behind her.  They made it through on their own.  I start crying because now all I can picture is them being hit by a car on the highway or getting lost in the woods and a gator eats them.  (By the way, I have never seen an alligator near my house.)  The husband takes off to look for them, and I stay at the house.  I was not about to leave our yard with Hannah asleep in the house.  Pepper finally tired, and allowed herself to be captured.  Rowdy, not so much.  Rowdy loves the chase game.  She will let you get within just a few inches and off she goes!  She is finally caught and returned home with only a few near misses with the highway.  It was 11 before everyone was back in the house.  The dogs on probation now.  If I see them even start to paw at the fence they are inside. I have only done that once today.  For the most part they are staring at the fence or lounging in the sun.  I blame this one cat that has decided to torment the dogs.  It comes in our yard at night.  They cornered it the other night before they were pulled inside.  Then they had it cornered in a tree.  I think it was in the neighbor's yard last night which is why they went under the fence. 

This is what angers me about the situation.  I do the best I can to keep my dogs in the yard.  They are large dogs who can jump, but they like to dig instead.  We block every hole we can find to keep the dogs in.  When we walk the dogs we are responsible pet owners and pick up the poop.  I do my best to keep them from barking all day long.  Why do cats get to run around so freely?  They seem to be causing more problems than my dogs.  They poop in yards, they start fights, and they drive all the neighborhood dogs crazy.  I have never understood why cats can be out while dogs have to be locked in yards and leashed on walks.  One cat even came into my garage and peed all over our stuff.  I guess there may be a trip to a home improvement store to purchase some cinder blocks soon.

Fair time!

We decided to check out the fair this weekend.  I was a bit disappointed since I am used to my Missouri State Fair, but Hannah liked looking around.  If she were a few years older, she would have loved it.  There was a petting zoo which she wasn't too sure about. 

Not sure yet

Really not digging it

She did want to kiss the pumpkin

Daddy daughter time

I never had an opinion about leashes on kids until I had a kid.  Yesterday I wish I had one of those animal backpacks with the tail that is a leash.  Hannah had no desire to ride in the stroller after the petting zoo, and all she did was screech and scream until she could walk.  The only problem is she doesn't want to hold your hand.  Again more screaming until she is free.  I don't mind if she walks, but I want her to be safe.  I am guessing this is a phase...right?

Some pictures

Here are a few pictures of Hannah.

She discovered her pocket a few weeks ago

Future aviator

The oven is hot, but she knows how to solve that problem

She likes to put her alphabet magnets in the utensil holder for the dishwasher

The Elmo slippers 

TV or no TV?

I was reading a blog written by a 20 something college student who has no children.  I found it humorous and rude when she started talking about bad parenting.  It relates to this article about children under the age of 2 watching television.  I know every parent has heard that they shouldn't let their child watch, but some do.  I am one of them.  I don't feel great about it, and she doesn't watch it all day.  She watches Sesame Street, but only when Elmo is on.  When other characters are on she will play with her toys until she hears Elmo.  Do I use it as a distraction so I can cook dinner some nights?  Yes, I do.  I am not proud of it, but Hannah likes to grab me and it makes it hard to work around the stove and oven.  I figure 10 minutes of Elmo is better for her than being burned.  (Which she has learned the oven is hot and she will put on the oven mitts and then try to touch the oven.  I have a picture of it which I will post another day.  It is pretty cute.)

This woman was talking about how she doesn't own a tv so she will never have to worry about her kids watching it.  She went on to say how it doesn't help them developmentally and it really isn't that hard to set your child with some toys so you can go off to get work done.  She basically said any parent who uses tv was a terrible parent.  I did take offense to it.  My child is really good at playing by herself.  However, I can't guarantee that she will play by herself when I need her to. I try to take advantage of those times to clean or do whatever I need to do, but it seems like when dinner time rolls around she wants to be next to me.  My child is also stubborn.  If she wants to be in the kitchen with me, she will find a way to do it.  I am not sure if she is saying that it is possible to plop a kid down with its toys and they will play for the length of time you need to get something done, or if you have to sit there and find just the right toy before you have some free time.  Something about what she said really struck a nerve with me.  Maybe I am a bad parent. Hannah has watched tv, but she is still pretty smart.  Developmentally, she is on track for 16 months.  I guess I didn't like being judged by someone who has never been a parent.

If you are happy and you know it...

That is what people heard me sing today as I tried to silence Hannah's screeching while grocery shopping.  I pulled out all the songs I could think of while trying to find everything as fast as possible.  Thank goodness everyone in there didn't seem too annoyed by her.  This screeching stage is really irritating.  It is one of those high pitched, piercing screams that makes your ears bleed.  I ended up only buying half my list because I wanted to get the hell out of there.  I think from now on she will stay at home while I shop.  It just seems easier.