Halloween 2011

Every Halloween for the past three or four years, my family has been going to my sister Kimmy's house to go trick-or-treating.  This year was no different.  We all dressed up - Michael was Beer Man, I was a Beer Maiden and our little guy was an adorable bat - and we made our way to Colchester.  Once we arrived there, we met the Bride of Frankenstein (Babcia), Frankenstein (Dziadzi), the evil queen from Snow White (Cioci Kimmy), a Spider Witch (Katie) and Princess Kitty (Allie)..... Uncle Jason isn't fun and doesn't partake in the dressing up part of Halloween! Boo!  We then head out to go trick-or-treating but AJ, Daddy and I only made it to one house since it was a little cold out because of the winter storm we just had.  Oh, and AJ decided to spit up on Mommy the minute we got to the first house!  That's ok though - we just went back to Cioci's house, grabbed a bite to eat and hung out!

The Bride of Frankenstein with her Grandson

Frankenstein and Princess Kitty

Princess Kitty excited about trick-or-treating

Beer Maiden, our little bat and Beer Man

Dziadzi and Babcia

Finally got a picture of AJ and the snow!

Cousins

Our cousins Marc, Jen, Kaleigh and Melannie showed up too!

Cioci and her girls

 

AJ's Halloween present from Babcia and Dziadzi

Cuddle time with Momma

His first Halloween

Quality time with the Dziadster

Winter Storm Alfred

Just a few weekends ago it was 80 degrees and sunny out.  Fast forward to this weekend and it was about 30-something degrees and snowing!!  Crazy New England weather!! Winter Storm Alfred brought an inch or two of snow to our doorstep right before Halloween.  I didn't bring AJ out in it because he's still a little too young, but I did make sure he got a chance to see the snow coming down through the windows.  Here is the aftermath from the storm...

Our front yard

I think the snow killed our hydrangea bush

Our cars and tractor, which plowed the driveway very well!

Michael shoveling just a bit

Our house

I loved the way this tree looked

Pumpkins with snow?! Craziness!

Rolling Over

While we were hanging out inside because of the winter storm, AJ and I had some quality play time.  I always make sure he gets a bit of tummy time every day and then also some play time on his back on his activity mat - he likes to stare at all the toys dangling down!  Well, today I put him on his back and ran to the kitchen to get something and when I came back he was on his stomach! He had figured out how to roll over from his back to his belly! Yay AJ!!  Of course I put him on his back again so I could see him do it, and within a few minutes he was on his stomach again!!  Mommy and Daddy are so proud of him! :)

Time with Mr. Elephant

Mr. Elephant and AJ are becoming fast friends.  Here they are playing together on AJ's activity mat!

AJ posing for Mommy right before Mr. Elephant made his appearance.

"Hello there, Mr. Elephant"

"Mom, can't you see we're trying to have a playdate here?!"

Pumpkintown USA

My niece Katie had her first field trip today for pre-school to Pumpkintown USA in East Hampton and AJ and I decided to tag along!  In reality, my sister Kimmy was a chaperone and was bringing Allie with her as well, so I figured I would be an extra set of hands to help her out with the kiddos.

Both AJ and I had a lot of fun! It was really neat to see the different scenes they created with the pumpkin people...  I can't wait until AJ is a bit older and can really enjoy it!

I had to coax Katie into the jail so Kimmy could take her picture.  You can tell how excited she was by her expression.

They didn't put a step up for the kids so there I was in the background trying to hold her up!

Cute little farm animals made out of pumpkins and gourds.

More farm animals - Katie really liked this!

Allie posing with Mr. E.T. pumpkin

Katie and I got caught in a bank hold-up!

Katie with her classmates on the HayRide

AJ was all snuggled up with his Momma

A little blurry - too many things to balance all at once (kids, camera, personal belongings, etc.) and a very bumpy hayride!

A turkey pumpkin - so cute!!

Silly skiing pumpkin-man!

Katie having fun with the tubes!

Katie and her classmates playing in the HayMaze

Katie actually posed for Kimmy to take a pic of her!

Allie actually found her way out of the maze all by herself! Go Allie!

Oops.. Allie was staring at me off to the side instead of the camera!

AJ and I with the pumpkin sign!

Allie's turn to play in the tubes!

My lovely nieces trying to pose..

...with the pumpkin people.

Will they ever look at a camera together?! haha

A very special thank you to Cioci Kimmy for capturing all of the above images!

Exersaucer Time

AJ has been doing awesome with his head and neck control so I thought it was time we set up his exersaucer so he could have some play time while standing/sitting upright.  Daddy put it together (what a task that was!) and within a few hours AJ was playing around in it.  He really seems to enjoy being upright and his new view of the world!

I can play while sitting up!

Looking at the crocodile and contemplating whether he should play with it or not!

Look at me standing up!

My adorable little guy!

That's almost a smile!

Now he's just getting annoyed with Mommy taking pictures!

He decided to try and play with the crocodile!

And he's done with the picture taking!