Halloween

What a crazy Halloween it was.

We were planning on going to El Campo since Halloween fell on a Saturday this year. In our new neighborhood, all the houses are set far back from the road and almost everyone has gates, so it's not exactly trick-or-treat friendly. So we thought we would take advantage of getting to trick-or-treat with our hometown buddies in Grandma's neighborhood (because that place is rockin' on Halloween night).

The girls were scheduled to have a Halloween parade and parties at school on the 30th. So I took them to school a little later than usual and was planning on hanging out for a while. Well I ended up not leaving until 11am. The weather was insane that day. We ended up huddled in the hallway with the rest of the staff and students (and parents who were visiting for the parade) for over an hour due to multiple tornado warnings. I have to give the teachers credit. They kept calm and patience. They read books, sang songs, and basically did whatever they needed to do to keep the kids happy and entertained.

After a ton of rain that day, we were stuck in Austin. But we ended up going to El Campo Saturday morning. I wasn't going to let my girls miss out on some awesome trick-or-treating.

Charlotte was Maleficent this year, and I loved it. Thanks to Laura Glaze for giving me Madeline's old costume. It worked perfect. I'm so happy she didn't change her mind last minute and want to be ELSA! And little Sybil was a cute pig. I had the costume from when Charlie was a baby, but she had never even worn it. It was still a tad big, but hey I didn't spend a dime on Halloween costumes this year! Mommy win!

Now let's really get into fall. Bring on the cooler weather! PLEASE!

I'm biased but she is just gorgeous

Ready for their school parties!

Charlotte's class

Sweet babies

Charlotte and Julia have been in the same class since 3 months old - they even switched schools together

I showed her a pic of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent so she did her best impersonation - I think it's pretty good!

I think they missed each other!

Fun group!

Sybil could not get enough candy! She even walked up to a couple of houses on her own. Good job little piggy!

Charlotte thought she was hot stuff b/c I put a little make up on her for trick-or-treating. Daddy said once the costume is off, so is the makeup, but nah...we wanted to play a little!

Fall Fun

It may not feel like fall, but we are sure enjoying the days when it's not in the 90s. The past couple of weekends have been full of football and fun around our house.

Last weekend, we met the Motals and Koreneks in Gruene. There were some free shows going on, so we walked around, ate lunch, and shopped. The girls tired themselves out from running around like crazy. Then the Motals had a sleepover at our house, which Charlie was thrilled about. The girls all had a blast together.

This past weekend, my sister came up to watch the Texas/OU game. I think she will have to come up every year since we shockingly won and it basically made my whole weekend. We also carved pumpkins with Charlotte. On Sunday, we went to Wimberley for a few hours.

School was closed yesterday so I took the girls to The Thinkery, which I will never ever do again on a school holiday. It was way too crowded for my liking. But it did the job and both girls napped (at the same time). So I call it a win.

Next up, the pumpkin patch!

Charlotte asked if she could hold Sybil the other day. She's growing so fast!

Messy jessie

The three amigos. I just love them! 

This child was filthy when we left. Who lets their kid just roam in the dirt? :)

The ladies had fun too

Charlotte had her first BIG GIRL field trip to Sweet Berry Farm last week. Which meant she got a lunch box, and she was so proud of it. She even slept with it. And then she had to wear her Frozen hoodie to match. I was such a nervous wreck that day, but all went well,and she had a blast!

Hook em!

After the win on Saturday, Charlotte refused to do anything besides Hook Em for all her pictures. I can't say I blame her. 

A third hook em. Why not?

The Blanco

Farewell to Summer

Bring on fall please! Fall is my favorite time of year - cooler weather (eventually), football, fall festivals! 

We got the best of both seasons this weekend. Saturday, we spent the afternoon at a friend's lake house in Horseshoe Bay, and Sunday we spent the day at the Pecan Street Festival in downtown Austin. 

I think the kids were worn out. Poor Sybil. When Charlie was her age, I was so worried about nap time and making sure we were home for her to get some rest. With Sybil, she just kind of falls asleep wherever. That meant she didn't get a really good nap yesterday. But hey, she was ready to go to bed at 6:45pm, which on a Sunday night, that works just find for me! I'm happy she is getting to the age were we can take her more places and we don't have to worry about carting around bottles or baby food. This girl was tearing up some alligator on a stick at the festival yesterday. And dancing her little heart out. 

Updates on the kids. 

Charlie, well she is basically hilarious. I just want to record her life because she just makes me laugh constantly. She makes up songs all the time, and some of them are pretty clever. She loves really girly things and wants to wear dresses all the time (which I say no to because I don't want her thinking you have to wear a dress to be pretty). She likes to wave at the school bus that picks up in front of our house every day. She is really into helping out around the house (when she wants to). Everyone says she is starting to look more and more like me and that her a Sybil look nothing alike. One of Charlie's teachers was subbing in Sybil's class and when I came to get her, she was like "I knew Charlie had a sister, but I would have never guessed it was Sybil." Ha. I'm starting to stress a little about kindergarten - which I know is a year away, but it just seems like the difference between pre-k and kinder is pretty big. 

Sybil, this one is a trouble maker. Into everything always. I can't take my eyes off of her for a second. She is kind of needy these days. She wants to be held a lot, except when we are out in public and then she just wants to run around. She loves to eat. If she's in a bad mood, I just give her a snack and usually she will forget what she was mad about. She's definitely sensitive. They even tell me that at school. You can look at her the wrong way and she will run off crying. She is an excellent sleeper though. She lets me know she is tired, and I put her in bed and usually I don't hear a peep out of her until morning. It's fabulous. 

I'm having so much fun with them, but sometimes I think it's going by way too fast and I'm afraid to blink! 

She is so happy when she's eating

Always being silly

Lake fun

Sharing her cake with Sybil - such a sweet moment

Pecan Street Festival - it was hot!

She loved this!

Sybil Lucille turns 1

We have a one year old! Fastest. Year. Ever.

Of course my little turkey has only had 2 teeth since 7 months. The week before her birthday, she decided to cut 4 on the top. Cranky pants to the max. And one still hasn't broken through so it's been a rough couple of weeks.

We had a little party in El Campo at my mom's house. Sybil got spoiled and loved eating her cake. It was a fun time.

We had her one year checkup last week as well as her follow up with the ENT, both of which went well.

I don't have her exact stats (ugh sorry second child), but she is below average on both height and weight. She is my petite one. She is off bottles completely. She is 100% on table food and she basically would eat all day if I let her. She wants whatever she sees anyone else eating. She LOVES music - dances to everything. She pretty much only says "da da" "night night" and "uh oh" (the occasional "ma ma"), but she is definitely getting more vocal. I haven't really tried giving her a spoon yet, but I guess I try that pretty soon.

It's been an adventure with having 2 kids. Some things are harder - like getting into and out of the car and basically getting anywhere on time. Some things are easier - Sybil has been a much better car rider than Charlotte was. I think it's because she sees C back there with her so she isn't as stressed out and she has someone to distract her. Also, I have been less prone to freak out about stuff because we've already been thru it once before.

We love you Sybil Lu, and can't wait to see what the next year brings!

August

Oh what a busy month August was.

Sybil gave up crawling all together by the end of July and her main mode of transportation became walking.

On August 12, Sybil got tubes. I was not that worried about the procedure other than her not being able to eat or drink anything after midnight. She'd been having some rough nights lately. Let's just say she was up from about 11:30-4am the night before surgery, which meant I was exhausted. My mom had come up to stay with Charlotte, since we had to be at the hospital at 6am. I'm so thankful they had a wagon there for us to occupy Sybil with because that was the longest 1.5 hours of my life. Trying to entertain a cranky, hungry baby is the pits.

The procedure was super fast and before we knew it we were back home napping! Yay. We haven't had any issues with the tubes. Overall Sybil has been sleeping better too.

August was also a big month for Charlotte. We got her first ever haircut. I'd been toying around with this idea for a while. Her hair had become quite hard for me to tame it the mornings, regardless of how much detangler I used. I figured it was time because the ends of her hair were over 4 years old. We had talked about it with her a lot over the last few months, so she was ready. She just kept asking me if it was going to hurt. The place we went to was awesome. She got to pick out a movie to watch while they cut her hair. I don't think she wanted to leave. And I can tell a big difference in the texture of her hair. I was happy with the end result.

At the end of the month, both girls moved to new rooms at school. Charlotte started Pre-K 4, her last year at Country Home. And Sybil started in the toddler room. Poor Sybil had to transition to 1 nap a day, which I don't think she was quite ready for. But she is adjusting.

I'm very happy with Charlotte's new class. Her teacher has a little sternness in her which is exactly what my little rebel child needs these days! :)

All hooked up for surgery

Taking a ride

Sweet sister hugs

Char getting ready to get her hair did

She looks a little nervous, no?

Celebrating no tears with ice cream

Reunited with Maggie

1st day of Pre-K 4

1st day in the toddler room - not a fan

Summer

Well this summer has been busy - busier than I thought.

You might remember that we moved to our new house mid-May. And then my office moved downtown the next month. I'm still getting adjusted to both moves. I'm loving both of them though.

The house is still a work in progress - pictures on the walls are just not a priority at the moment! :) We'll get there one day I suppose.

June was extra busy because Charlotte had swim lessons twice a week. Most days, I had to take Sybil with us and that turned out to be quite hectic. Charlotte also hated the lessons. Hated might be too strong of a word, but she just didn't thrive there. She would do good until they wanted her to get her face wet. What is it with girls and getting their faces wet? Anyway, we finally got her to where she would dip her face under quickly, but when it came time to go under to get the rings, not having it AT ALL. I decided one month of swim lessons were enough because it was way too much stress for both of us.

Well wouldn't you know ever since, Charlotte has been asking me like crazy when she can go back to swim lessons. Ugh. Typical. I'm not falling for it though. I know as soon as we go back, it will be meltdown town.

After the fourth of July, it was time for mommy and daddy to go on a vacation with their friends. It was our first real trip since November 2013, so it was overdue. We went to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. It was wonderful, but I missed the girls like crazy. They got some much needed time with both sets of grandparents though. I know they both got spoiled and loved on.

And many of you know that a special member of our family, our beloved lab, Avril,went to dog heaven last week. She lived a good, long life, but it was hard nonetheless. Thankfully, she had been staying at my parents' since we had put our house on the market back in May. And with the move and the vacation, and the Texas heat, we decided it would be better if she stayed there indefinitely. So I'm thankful that the girls weren't use to seeing her everyday anyway. It would have made it harder. I don't think Charlotte fully understands that she is gone, but that's ok.

So now we are just trying to enjoy was is left of summer and staying cool as the heat is now fully upon us.