4 Turkeys

Family Photo!

Look at that bird--our 26 lb turkey--yum!  Too bad I didn't watch Top Chef before Thanksgiving--I didn't know that you were supposed to put at least 3 lbs of butter under the skin of the turkey.  A tip to try for next year. :-)

Thanksgiving Best

Matty and Juliet were looking sharp on Thanksgiving.  They were waiting patiently for our company to arrive ALL DAY!  :-)

Happy Thanksgiving

Dancing Queen

Juliet LOVES to dance.  Anytime my cell phone rings or she hears a commercial or any type of music at all--she dances!  (In this video, it's a Thomas the Train book that plays the songs.) It's hard not to smile when she is cutting a rug.

At first, she got distracted by the camera, but she quickly got her groove back...

The Mythical Unicorn

Yesterday, I was shocked to discover the mythical unicorn in our house.  Well, as close as we can get to a mythical creature--the napping Matty!  Instead of taking a nap, he takes a "rest" in his room, but I can't remember the last time he napped!  He gets to play quietly on the floor of his room, but yesterday I found him sound asleep!

Potty Success and Fail

It's been an interesting week for Juliet and the potty:

POTTY SUCCESS!
On Saturday, November 10th, Juliet stood up at dinner and started saying "poop! Poop!"  Well, we let her get down off her chair and she ran over to the bathroom.  I put her on the potty and she sat there and peed!!  I couldn't believe it!  It hasn't been repeated since, but she certainly seems to be getting interested in potty training.  Of course, she does this the day I had purchased two jumbo boxes of diapers!

POTTY FAIL
I usually keep the bathroom doors closed in our house.  When I forget or someone leaves it open, it's a safe bet to assume that Juliet will find her way into the bathroom and close the door behind her, waiting for someone to find her.  She is also a huge fan of sticking her hands in the potty.  Oh joy.  Today, I was finishing up my work and had my cell phone next to my laptop.  Juliet picked up my phone, wandered into the open bathroom, closed the door, and proceeded to dunk my cellphone in the toilet.  (Not toss, dunk while still holding it in her hand.).  My phone is currently in a bag of rice trying to dry out.  I'll let you know if it survived.

What is Matty doing in the pack n play without a shirt on?  I have no idea!  He enjoys jumping in and out of the pack n play these days.  Clearly, I need to put it away again! I dug up an old picture of Matty in the pack n play, too--he's definitely growing and growing!

Matty in October 2012 at 3 3/4

Matty in October 2009 at 9 months

Is that a Cooler?

I guess this post supports the argument that a child enjoys playing with the box a toy came in rather than the actual toy most of the time.  Juliet decided to chill out (get it??) in the small cooler this morning.  Matty was more than happy to grab the strap and pull her around the house.  They had a blast.  :-)

New Car Seat

Matty and Juliet were both getting a little big for their carseats, so it was time to move up to the next level.  Juliet finally outgrew the infant car seat at 18 months (at a little over 20 lbs and 31 inches -- infant seat was rated for 30 lbs, 30 inches).  Matty has been growing taller and taller and was ready for his next seat.  As I was getting ready to put Matty's big boy booster seat in the cars, the kids decided to try them out.  They both approved!

Flight Home

The flight home was spectacular.  Juliet slept almost the entire way and Matty played on the iPad the whole way--videos, games, etc.  It was pretty stress-free for all!

Trick or Treat

Ryan, Matty, Brendan, and Juliet getting ready to collect some candy.

 Matty racing on to the next house!  His costume had one drawback--he couldn't reach his hands because the costume was too wide, so he was like a raptor with these tiny little arms sticking out.  If someone let him choose a piece of candy, he needed to hand it to someone else to put it in his pumpkin!

 Juliet was immediately thrilled with trick or treating when she started getting all kinds of yummy treats.  She was very happy! 

 One of the few moments where Juliet was holding Mommy's hand.  She usually would shun Mommy in favor of cool Aunt Jenny.

 Close Up!

Halloween!

With the craziness of Hurricane Sandy, Halloween was cancelled postponed until November 5th.  Of course we had to put on the costumes and go trick or treating through the neighborhood!! 

And the big reveal....

Juliet was an Elephant!

 Matty was a robot!

 <Matty's costume lit up with some cool flashing LED lights, but you can't see it in the picture.  I was pretty happy with how his costume turned out and he really enjoyed wearing it!>

Hurricane Sandy

Up until today, our blog has been coasting along posting all the updates I had queued up before the hurricane hit.  Between all of our "Halloween Fail" costume pics and our trip out to Colorado, we had lots of blog fodder.  When Hurricane Sandy roared it's ugly head (or eye?) and wreaked havoc across the state of New Jersey, we were without power for 5 days.  We were extremely lucky not to have any damage to the house, no trees fell, nothing but the inconvenience of living life like a Mennonite for a little while.  Luckily, Brian had bought a generator a few months ago, so we were able to keep the fridge cold, the electronics charged, and the basement dry.  Matty and Juliet were great and didn't seem to notice or mind to much that we didn't have any electricity.  We read lots of books, cleaned the house and the yard, and ate lots of snacks.  Trying to make the most of the daylight, we got into a good routine--dinner at 4pm, bathtime at 5pm, and bedtime at 7! 

We were very excited to have power back on Friday, but then the snowstorm came on Wednesday and we lost power again for about 12 hours--not too bad!

The biggest problem without electricity was that it was getting a bit cold...

Rocky Mountains

At a park with a great view of the Rocky Mountains

Babbling Brook

Juliet and Daddy looking at the pretty babbling brook...

Loveland Pass Comparison

Here we are at Loveland Pass (Elevation ~ 12,000 feet) this year -- 2012 and 2 years ago--2010.

Juliet is in both pictures, but she's nice and warm in Mommy's belly in 2010:

October 2012

September 2010

Loveland Pass

We crossed over Loveland Pass-- Elevation 12,000 feet.  Brrrrr--was it chilly!!!

Where's Matty?

Sometimes, Matty just refused to be in the pictures.  What can you do?  Maybe photoshop him in??

Catching Matty

It was tough, but I caught Matty for a picture--not an easy task!!