Keeping secrets

Grammy's plane landed an hour ago and Mack has no clue that she is in town! It's been the hardest secret to keep but I just can't wait to see her face tomorrow when a late trick or treater shows up at our door!

Ohhhhh scary! Great big Halloween Post

Mack at her first school party! She wore last years princess dress since
her cat costume is a little too warm for indoor use.It was fun helping out in her class and
seeing how she interacts with everyone and putting faces to the
stories that come home. Truth be told, it made me miss my preschool teaching
days quite a bit.

My sweet little Charlie Brown. I may continue to call him
"Chuck" for a few more days just because it makes him smile like this.

Our two Duncans

Ready for some fun? Mack was very tired after a busy day at school
but she quickly got into the right spirit and had a lot of fun.

The gang before heading out on a candy hunt

Mason was happy with his vantage point

Grams and Mack giving me the stink eye. Maybe it's inherited?

Who wouldn't pour out their whole stock of candy to this sweet cat?

                    Mack had more fun handing out candy than she did trick or treating for her own!

Mack brought the crows out.Look at them lined up for the candy at our house.

Mike set the mood with a nice warm fire

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

I, just this week, gave Mack the last piece of last Halloweens' haul and now
look what we have!

Happy 6 months, Mason!

Having some avocado to celebrate his half birthday

I cannot believe Mason is already half a year old! I've never wished I could freeze time more than I do now. Mackenzie is so much fun- full of curiosity and so helpful. Mason is in the happy baby phase and these are two of my favorite stages.

Mason has quite the personality. He is ever the mimic ( like his dad), copying every noise he can. When a cat, dog or sister walks by, he gives out a high pitched laugh to try and catch their attention. Mason doesn't realize that he can't just get up and go until he tries and ends up face first on the carpet! Once this boy starts moving, there will be no stopping him!

Now that Mason is 6 months old, he is very
hard to take pictures of. This picture makes me laugh because it's
almost like he is surrendering.

Six months really does fly by

These are some out takes I snapped while trying to get one decent
six month photo.


Six month stats:

16 # 11 oz ( Hanging steady on the 45% percentile, where he was born)

28.5 inches long( increased to the 92% percentile)

We were given the green light to add in stage two foods followed by yogurt and he can eat Thanksgiving dinner with the family!

Fall snow

We got our first real snow accumulation last night and Mackenzie couldn't get dressed fast enough this morning! Mason watched her play from the window and discovered a new teething tool!

The cat's meow

Mack decided she wanted to be a cat for Halloween this year. Not just any cat would do, she wanted to be our cat, Duncan. I searched the net, knowing I probably wouldn't find anything comparable but Mackenzie agreed that she'd be ok with another kitty costume. Enter Hero Daddy! Instead of making do with a generic kitty costume, Mike took Mack on date to pick out all the things they'd need to construct the perfect Duncan costume. I admit, after seeing several very good, long time sewers struggle with sewing patterns and tricky fabric/material, I was a little apprehensive that things might not come together well. Oh ME of little faith! In just about 8 hours ( over a few days) and after lots of sweeping up fake fur and only a few curse words breathed under breath, Mike did it! I am so , so proud of him and the fact that, despite never having really sewn before, he set out and did what he wanted to do. Way to go, Daddy! Mackenzie was in shock at how cool her costume is . She wore it for several hours yesterday, pretending to be Duncan the whole time.

Years gone by-tradition

A rare moment

I snuck this picture of Mackenzie enjoying a quiet moment. It's rare that she isn't busy, an agenda in her head of things she wants to do. She looked so peaceful watching the leaves blowing in the breeze and her favorite blanket tucked under her chin.

Adoration

This is the look Mason gets when he sees Mackenzie. It's a look of pure, unadulterated adoration.

He's also gotten really good at wheeling around in his walker!
Watch out world!

Spell it out

In effort to challenge Mack's brain, her teacher has been sending home "journals" for her. Each journal has one question and several blank pages for which Mackenzie is to write or draw the answers to the question. This comes at a perfect time because Mackenzie has been extra interested in writing her own words over the last few weeks and it feels even more fun when it's for a school project. Mack's phonetic spelling makes both Mike and me smile and burst with pride all at once. This weeks journal asked the question " What do you see/do in the fall?"  

Apples Pumpkins

bat ghost witch

Thanksgiving dinner Halloween

Sweet Pumpkin

Our sweet Pumpkin! Thanks to Grammy and her friend Linda
who made this gorgeous hat!

This is how you know photo shoot time is over

Negative!

Mack's celiac panel was negative and all the other tests were normal! There is always a chance someone could develop celiac later in life ( like I did), but for now, we're in the clear!

Look at me!

For the love of Ellie

I might be upset that Ellie made herself at home in , and fell out of,my freshly laundered and folded basket of clothes if it wasn't so funny.

Wheeee!

The waiting game

Off and on for a few days Mack had been complaining of a pain that she described as " It feels like I'm having a baby!" At about the same time, I had scheduled an appointment with Karen regarding Mack's allergies. During the routine exam of that visit, Karen felt a large blockage in Mackenzie's large intestine. . Before I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I had similar issues. We left the office that day armed with a plan to flush her system with the foods proven to produce " results" and a jar of Miralax. After a week or so , the problem persisted and back we went. The blockage was smaller but still there so this time we left the office with a lab slip , on it an order for a full celiac panel as well as a full blood work up ( Thank goodness Karen knows the trauma that is a pediatric blood draw and ordered more tests "just in case" to maximize the blood draw) . A blood draw for a four year old is just pure torture but Mack finally calmed down enough and, with the help of two phlebotomists , the three vials of blood were obtained. We are anxiously awaiting the results and will keep you posted!

Picture Perfect Fall

Let the fall festivities begin! The weather here seems to finally be settling into Autumn trends after a record breaking summer of heat. Before our calendar got too full with fall festivities, I penciled in a day to grab some snap shots of my  little pumpkins. Here are just a few of my favorites!

Mason has mastered the art of sitting up unassisted but sometimes, he
just gets tired and lets himself go

Silly Mack sporting the scarf Mike made for her

It is so very hard to get a decent picture of an almost
six month old and a 4.5 year old together but I am forever trying!