Halloween night: as told by:
Neil the blogger!


This is the back of my costume, I was a three eyed monster - I'm showing off the back because the front...

well, the front...I didn't like my costume so much, I was pretty bratty and Momma thought we were going to cancel trick or treating

But then I learned that trick or treating yields me some candy!

sweet sweeeeeeeet CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's me and Daddy -
Daddy was "Dr. Acula" from Scrubs. We were at Grandma's house in this picture.

Here's a neat totem pole made out of real pumpkins! I loved it!


Yeay! This whole costume thing isn't so bad!

Look at all my candy I got!

Mine! All My Candy! It's all for meeeeee!

Ohhh sugar ohhh honey honey!

I'll give the computer back to Mommy now!


Trick or Treating was a hit! He had a good time, despite his hatred of his costume initially. We had 2 days of trick or treating - the 30th in Toms River, they t&t the day before Halloween to try to discourage the whole mischief night thing - it doesn't work, but it lets us spend the holiday w/ my family, and at home with my mil too.

I had the house all decked out for Halloween, I'm attaching some pics here too, since I'm already going hog wild with the photo post hehe.

Enter our scary house of Galie!

Beware the Headless Horseman! (made by me!)

Here's some of my fall/halloween inspired artwork, and some more Halloween decor

My fav Halloween pumpkin

The candy for the kiddos, we got lots of trick or treaters, and honest ones at that - while we were out trick or treating ourselves I left candy on the porch for the kids - there was still some left when we got back!

And, the piece-de-resistance - our Halloween Village. Haunted Witches House & Dracula's Castle


Happy Halloween!

Abbie

Since I've posted pictures of Neil. He is 19 months today, so it seems appropriate! Yesterday was a beautiful fall day, or at least a glimpse of fall, a fall preview, perhaps. I really don't enjoy summer, though I do enjoy the fact that school is out and we don't have mobs of traffic on our street from St. Mary's school, which, all the parents and faculty use our street as a "short cut" out - 9 times out of 10 ignoring the fact that there is a speed limit (25mph) as well as a stop sign, on our street. It's mainly just a constant strand of over priced four wheel drive vehicles that have never even *seen* the woods, and wouldn't know how to handle a four wheel drive situation if their lives depended on it. They don't see my house though, because they're too busy speeding, digging in their purse and talking on their cell phones to notice anything. Starting this week that will all start up again since it's officially "Back to School" time.

Neil is good, he's 19 months today, he's hysterical and a total lunatic sometimes. He'll toss all the pillows off the sofa onto the floor, and then stand on the sofa, lift his arms up over his head and free fall down onto the sofa. This kid is doing trust falls onto anything and everything that will accept it. It's hysterical. He gets so giggly and silly, even as I'm tucking in he's cracking up like I'm tickling him, not tucking the blanket around him. It really makes me laugh!

Well, I gotta run, my Mom and Gommy (my grandma) are on their way up with my bro & sis to unload some furniture from my Nanny & Pop Pop's house. We're getting their patio set, its cool looking, I think I'm going to enjoy having it, as bitter sweet as it is. I miss them, it's easy for me to pretend that they're still alive, up north, in their big yellow house.

Ok, onto the pictures - I'm putting one in here, you gotta click "read more" for the rest, since there's so many of them


Read More...

Neil is almost 19 months now, and I am constantly looking for cool baby clothes for him. "Little Man" clothes is what I call it. I mean, sure, I get a kick out of putting him in cute little Carters outfits that are all babyish and stuff, but I really love finding cool, hip, one of a kind type stuff that you don't find everywhere!
So - when I found the Trendy Tadpole - I was psyched. Categorized by Witty, Hip and Trendy - this line of kids clothes is perfect for the alternative kid! It helps that I completely love Johnny Cash, and they have two Johnny Cash shirts for tots - one that reads "I Love Johnny Cash" which is awesome - and I love that they do it in pink too, for the girl babies (since I'd love to have a girl sometime in the FAR future) It comes on pink, blue, white, or raglan (Baseball) sleeve. I just wish it came with white ink on black, long or short sleeve T, that would be perfect for me! But - what I am probably going to get from them is their "Boy in Black" Shirt, black, with white screen printing. Neil will look so cute in that! Neil actually does like dancing to Johnny Cash too, he gets on his knee's and shakes his booty!
If you'd rather your baby rock The King - they have an Elvis shirt too and I do love Elvis, I just love Johnny Cash more! Boy is it hard picking between two legends! Other musician shirts include a mock AC/DC - done as "AB/CD" and a Bob Marley shirt that are equally adorable. And just for the little girlies of the group, this "These Booties are Made for Walking" onesie is just precious, nothing like a little Nancy Sinatra for your kiddo's! I say start them early with the good music, then maybe when they grow up they won't listen to people like Britney and Lindsay!

If music isn't your thing, and you prefer a more trendy look - check out their tattoo inspired heart, or their Buddha Belly Shirt, or - for the lucky charm of the group, this Born Lucky shirt could be perfect! These would be great baby shower gifts too, if you don't have your own little one. You could start being the "cool Aunt" from the word go!

So, check them out!
Abbie

We had Neil's 18 month appointment today. He's weighing in at 25.9lbs, he's 33" tall - growing like a little weed She was happy w/ his talking and all - for those who don't see him, he says a handful of things -
mama
dada
ni-no-na ("Fiona" our dog's name)
ohhh no!
no
what's that?!
that
"mmmm" when he wants a bite of things

he says other stuff, those are some headliners. He's babbling non stop, you'd swear he was carrying on a real convo =- and I think he thinks so too!

She was concerned about his lack of walking. He can walk if he's holding my hand, one or two hand hold,he can walk with the push walkers, or along tables & stuff. He can stand on his own, climb stairs one foot at a time, climb up and down off sofa's, beds - you name it - but, he's not walking on his own.
She said if he's not walking on his own by the end of summer that we should go to early intervention and get him some physical therapy. I'm curious what you mom's / mom like's think of this.
My thoughts - trusting my gut, and the mom in me - I think he needs time and I'm willing to wait. He didn't have use of his feet because of the clubbed foot until October of last year - he was 9 months at the time - and all 9 months of his life his foot was casted/operated on/casted again/bound in funky shoes connected with a bar - I mean, what do they expect, really? He learned to get around by other means (crawling at the speed of lightening) and I think he just doesn't see a reason to walk - he gets everything he wants by crawling/climbing. I know he will walk eventually what is the big deal if he doesn't do it in 30 days. I don't feel comfortable setting time limits on this milestone, honestly.
On the other side, taking off the gut/mom hat, and putting on the first time parent hat - I feel like I shouldn't second guess the doctor. She's the trained one. Then again, if it were up to her, I would have been formula feeding from nearly the word go - so - while I love her as a doc, I know I sometimes have the better call.

So, other than loosing the baby race with other moms "omg MY BABY was walking at 8 months! and he says full sentence in proper English! he feeds himself and doesn't spill a drop on his clothes/face! He also shits money, files my taxes, and is putting an addition on the house over the kitchen he's SOOOOOO advanced!"
What am I really loosing? He's going to walk eventually, I feel like the kid has had enough *necessary* medical intervention, and he just needs to play and be a kid, not be shuffled back and forth to doctors.
We see the orthopedist @ Children's Hospital in October - if he's not walking by then, I'll see what he thinks. I have a feeling he'll be walking by then though.

I also found this, on late walkers, from Dr.Sears
here's the highlight that is pertinent to Neil

"Late walkers are more likely to be content to entertain themselves with seeing and fingering fun than with motor accomplishments. A late walker goes through the crawl-cruise-stand-walk sequence slowly and cautiously, calculating each step and progressing at his own comfortable rate. When he does finally walk, he walks well."

that is Neil to a T - he's quiet and easily amused by himself, he doesn't need 10,000 toys all dancing, singing, blinking, shaking and flipping to keep his attention focused. He loves to sit and read his books, play with his little bead maze toy......that kind of quiet playing, that is oh so nice for me.

So, there's his 18 month update
Here's a pic of him on our recent vaca to PA - he decided to navigate a bit

Well today is Black Friday, and that means it is officially the Christmas (yes, CHRISTmas) Season! Hubby & I went out and took advantage of some good deals, the best of which - we got Trivial Pursuit 80's Edition AND a Rubix Cube for uber cheap (think, under $8), don't ask how, just stand in awe of us. Crowds weren't as bad as I thought - though, I didn't go out in the "camp all night for the 3-10am hour sales" crowd, I went out around 12:30, and it wasn't bad at all. It was actually kinda fun.
New things - I've been listing tons of new stuff on my Etsy store, so check it out if you haven't already. I'm trying to list something new every day, in an effort to up the sales. All this weekend, and hell, Monday too - 10% off - just let me know you came from the blog and I'll knock off the price! I take custom orders too!

I'll leave you with a bit of cute-ness I took some pics of Neil tonight, and he looks absolutely adorable!

Eat, Drink & Be Merry -

Abbie

Neil is 9 Months Today!

Tons of pictures - the month by month growth chart below "Read More"

- Abbie - Proud Momma! Read More...

So, we got Neil a bat costume for halloween, and I had it a whole 4 days before I dressed him up! There was no way I could wait til Halloween to see him in his outfit! So - I dressed him all up today, and took tons of photos.

A brand new photo gallery is here at My Photo Gallery

Neil is almost 5 months, he's blowing past all the normal milestones babies are supposed to meet - as if they born with a calendar, knowing the date "oh, I'm 4 month's today, time to start grabbing at specific objects & rolling over" lol - but he's doing them all, he's always had great head control, he's been rolling from his tummy to his back, he grabs at his toys and can put things in his mouth - ie, teething ring, binky (though not always the right way hehe, it' just kinda luck of the draw with the binky) But...guess what? My baby has special super powers - he is a regular Comic Book Hero. He has a 6th sense - he can psychically tell what temperature my dinner is, and he won't finish nursing until it's met a cool 70* lol. I've become quite good at eating with one hand and nursing the lil bean-o with the other.........picture behind the cut! Read More...