Happy Halloween

Mom used some old linoleum carving tools and whipped out this sucker. Other than this guy, no one was harmed.

Ellie the Vampire:  Mom freaked out and had E pick out a spare costume Monday since she was showing signs of not wanting to wear Yoda. She wore this to school. There may or may not have been chocolate involved in putting the costume on. And, bonus, she'll be able to wear it for another 4 years :)

Dad was able to sweet-talk her into Yoda for actual Trick-or-Treating. She doesn't look thrilled here, but she was actually VERY excited to go trick-or-treat with Cousin S. All afternoon, she kept busting out with "Happy Halloween!"

I can't believe it's already November. Ellie has had a chronic cold for almost 2 months. Then, a couple weeks ago, P started complaining of a sore throat. A few days later, I had it too. I'm blaming Thing 2, but the mucus has been crazy thick this time. And, where I would normally treat with Sudafed or something, I've been pretty helpless to take anything since most over the counter drugs are not baby friendly. So, after suffering horrible flemmy mornings, conversations punctuated by violent coughing, and trouble getting comfortable enough to sleep, the mucus moved from my throat to my nose and I sought help from a professional. I have one day left of my Z-pak and am feeling much improved, although I think the coughing and slime will linger for a while. So long as I don't hack up a lung every morning, I think I can handle some residuals. Ellie is on milder antibiotics (that she loves since it's bubblegum flavored) and her runny nose and coughing are almost gone.

November is the start of the busy season. We have a golden anniversary next weekend, lots of appointments over the next couple weeks, Thanksgiving, Ellie's birthday, then we go to Texas for "Christmas-giving". December kicks off with the company Christmas party, the Kappa Christmas party, and our other two Christmases. Sometime in there I need to make/buy gifts, decorate for the holidays, wrap up Ellie's big-girl room and switch her so I can start refurbing the nursery.

Our ultrasound is in a couple weeks. This one will be a surprise as well. We're still debating girl names, although we do have a better list this time around. 

Yoda and Vader

Believe it or not, they are actually both smiling....