October Festivities

There's not much time to blog about things today... way too much to get done around the house. But since I am behind on things here in blogger world I'll give a quick update.

Where to start?

First of all I am a little freaked out. I saw a huge spider this morning. Then I had to be the one to kill it. All I wanted to do was run the other way but Juliana couldn't be playing with a spider. So I managed to get some courage and kill it. But I can't bring myself to pick it up. Hopefully, Colista stops by soon... then maybe I can talk her into getting the thing picked up. For now Juliana will be in her swing.

Last Monday Juliana turned 9 months. Where is all the time going? I swear. Her highchair came in and she loves to sit in it. The girl is learning all kinds of new things. Yesterday, she was clapping up a storm with Matt. Today she is trying to put objects in other objects. So cute. And she continues to chat like there's no tomorrow. We just LOVE it. She is super talkative in the morning.

On Wednesday, she had her check up. She weighs 16# 11 oz. I actually thought she would weigh more by now because I know several individuals who's babies are bigger and they are about her same age or less. But all babies are different. Juliana also had a rough start and is breastfed, which all makes a difference. They also checked her height and she is 27" in length. A growing girl she is.

Isn't her smile the cutest?

This past Saturday I took the day off to enjoy the pumpkin walk in Nauvoo. We got up and arrived early that morning to help decorate/get things ready for her bon fire. I put enough spiderwebs up to last a lifetime. Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I'm so ready for Christmas!

But anyways, the one thing I look forward to is the bonfire and seeing the pumpkins. It was a lot different for us this year. For one we have Juliana. But secondly Nauvoo did things a little different. Usually they put all their auction pumpkins together. This year they were spread out. The parade was bigger than normal and I enjoyed seeing the various costumes... some are a bit too creepy for me.

We didn't look a every pumpkin like we normally do. Basically we deocrated my parents house...

 

...watched the parade

 

 

looked at a couple of the pumpkins (didn't even get pictures), talked to a few people and hung out with family. It was fun to see Juliana interact with Brooklynn. Although Juliana gets to play with Sadie she is not use to having a smaller person around. Poor Brooklynn was a bit frightened of Juliana.

 

 

There was suppose to be a flash mob. But it wasn't as large as I expected and it was a bit crazy because a lot of people knew it was gonna happen. Not really a flash mob if everyone knows. But they did a good job and it added something fun to the festivities.

Some of my favorite costumes of the night were Beetlejuice, the Wizard of Oz crew from the Nauvoo Fudge Factory as well as Wendy, Peter Pan and the Losts Boys (a family of five with three boys). I also thought Joanne looked super cute in her outfit. Matt enjoyed seeing a Silent Hill nurse.

One of my favorite things in the parade was this cute little girl who was dressed as witch on a broom.

All in all it was a GREAT night! I can't wait to do it again!

Weekend Ventures

Yesterday was a FUN filled day. After running to Burlington we went to the Appleberry Orchid and Harvestville Farms for the afternoon. While at the Appleberry Orchid the batteries in our camera died. Sad for us. So we made a quick trip into Ft. Madison to get some batteries before going onto the pumpkin patch.

The apple orchid was different. A lot smaller than the pumpkin patch. They have a small petting zoo, which I was not real impressed with. I felt so bad for the animals. A couple of the animals were kind of dirty and looked lonely. We did get Juliana a cute pumpkin.

At Harvestville Farms there was more to do but we only did a little bit of it. First we went to get some tickets for the horse ride, then we waited for a very long time to ride the horse drawn carriage. During our wait I was getting frustrated because Juliana was tired. She had been out all morning and needed a nap so I can't blame her. When she is tired she doesn't get real fussy but she gets antsy and is not as content as she normally is. So I couldn't keep her contained in my arms. I didn't want to be her down because I was trying to keep her warmer since it had gotten colder than we expected. Anyways we decided to get the baby carrier that wraps around me to try and keep peace while as well as warmth. That worked for a little bit. But I swear those wraps I can never figure them out. I'm still not sure whether it was on right or not. Pretty sure it wasn't. It didn't feel like the last time I had it on. Maybe I just need a wrap that is dummy prove or I need to use it more so I know exactly what to do. Anymore, it is rather comical when we go out.

Well anyways while in the frustration of everything one good thing happened we got asked if we would like to sit up with the driver. It was so nice and comfortable. We LOVED it.

Then we ran into Keila! It was nice to get to see her. She took a couple pictures for us.

Here is the pic from last year. Big difference. Huh? Well not the image I had in mind... I thought I took one by the truck. This year my hands carried our precious Juliana instead of pumpkins.

On our way back we stopped in Nauvoo to get the pictures Colista had taken for us. Below are just a few of them that we got. Check them out. Aren't the cute?

 

Playing Photographer

A few more photos of our new little niece. 

Fussy Girl

We passed! Matt and I took did our Well Excel Screening today. It is a health screening that allows us to get a discount on insurance if we pass. Last year we missed it. But this year we achieved our goal. So grateful because that will help us get more bills paid off. 

Juliana has been a bit fussy. On Saturday I thought I felt another tooth coming in. It would be her second tooth. She seems a bit whiny these last few days like she isn't feel well. Poor girl. The other day she was chewing away. Later I noticed her tongue looked raw and had what appeared to be some blood on it. The only thing I can think she could have done is chew something too hard. I hope it comes in soon. I feel bad because I can't help her other than try to comfort her. But it is hard when there is a gazillion things to do around the house. 

Check out the picture I took of the newest Clark addition, our niece. What a cute little girl!

Photo Time

Did you  know my moms birthday was this past weekend? So we celebrated with some ice cream and cake. Of course we were running behind, it's the new norm for us, but we enjoyed hanging out with everyone. Afterwards we meet up with Colista to have some pictures done.

Poor Colista is having some dental issues again but weathered through the picture taking. Juliana was pretty good as usual. She always tries to be so patient and put up with us. Towards the end she got tired and was uninterested. Here are a few of the pictures.

The funny thing about the pictures is that I had mentioned it to my mom that maybe I would see if she could have some done when Matt and I did. Apparently she didn't hear that. My dad had no clue. It was so funny when I told him that little did he know but he would be having pictures done with us that day. LOL.

Guess you had to be there to see his reaction. I laughed so hard.

Mutt Strutt 2014

The Mutt Strut was today. We had a wonderful time except for the last fifteen minutes and it wasnt that terrible. But it is my fault.

We had got up early this morning, got ourselves ready and headed for quincy. Juliana had not napped this whole while. Around noon she was super tired but there was one last thing i was really hoping to do.

I wanted to do some dog training. Really it ended up being not very fun anyways. Ty needs one on one training not a group session. Its probably been the first time Juliana has been upset in public. But really she had done amazing especially for being up as long as she was. So we can't complain. She is a perfect little angel.

Ty did pretty good himself. He was so excited to be there. We walked around the park (which wore me out...haha...so out of shape), looked at the vendors, watched the dog costume contest and got our picture taken for free by Bad Wolf Photography.

Thank you to those that helped sponsor us this year.

CD Washing

It's CD laundry day! Actually we do it just about everyday. We LOVE using them. Super easy to care for and we save sooooo much money.

Squawkfox had a wonderful comparison article. To read the whole article click here. The below image pretty much sums it up.

Recently I joined a fb group called Fluff Love and CD science. They have some great tips for cloth diapering. The girls are always willing to answer questions and offer support as you figure out what works best for your family based on detergent, washing machine, child's age, diet, etc. I definitely recommend joining this group if your thinking about or are cloth diapering.

All the different types and brands can be a bit overwhelming. But to help clarify the various styles out there, in case you are thinking about cloth diapering, check out the below image. Find what works best for you. We enjoy sunbaby pocket folds. But other mommies may like something else.

And of course I had a little bit of help from this cute little princess. What a great day! How was yours?