The Herrins from Scratch: First and Second Halloween!

Our best sister picture of the day....

Happy Halloween, Friends! Yesterday was Halloween! It's been a busy week around here with a school field trip, lunch with my dear friend Lindsey, preparing for the practice to open in less than two weeks, scheduling new patients and appointments, getting everything coordinated for the grand opening party, bringing snack to Ella's class, a doctor's appointment, trips over to East Cobb to check on the progress of the house, helping Brent with marketing, etc... by the time Tuesday rolled around, I realized we hadn't gotten a costume for Bells...I know...how could I forget-right?? But with everything going on, Halloween really snuck up on us. So, my mom and I dropped by TJ Maxx in East Cobb the day before Halloween to see if they still had this Bee costume I had seen there at the beginning of September and thought was super cute. They only had a size 5 left...and only a witch costume left in Ella's size. After we decided against the witch, we headed to meet Brent for dinner on his way home from work. My mom ran to the TJ Maxx by her house after dinner for me and there she found Ella's costume...A Teddy Bear!!! It was perfect and adorable and Ella loved it!! It couldn't have worked out better. When my mom brought it home and showed it to Ella, she grinned from ear to ear and insisted on trying it on immediately. Then, she stood and stared at herself in the mirror with great pride for quite some time until it was time to go to bed!!

On Halloween, Ella woke up very cheerful and excited and immediately grabbed her bear costume and started carrying it around the house with her. An added bonus was that it was a school day. She loves school. It was my week to bring snack to the class...you have to bring a healthy snack from two food groups to all the kids in the class. I sent strawberries and cheese for them (not too Halloween-ish but apparently is was a big hit with the almost 2 year olds so that was good). After school, Ella took a nice long nap. We hadn't gotten around to carving a pumpkin, but my mom bought one the day before so Ella could have a proper pumpkin carving experience. We had run out of time the previous night when Brent was home, so that left me to carve my first pumpkin on my own...with Ella supervising, of course. So, Ella and I carved the pumpkin that afternoon just in the nick of time fore Halloween. She was really excited about it and kept telling me that it had eyes, a mouth, and a nose. After she was finished with dinner that night, she put on the Bear costume with great excitement!! She was so cute. Ava Jane wore the sleeper and pumpkin bib Mimi and Papa sent her in September and I added a little pumpkin hat I had and...poof...she was a precious little pumpkin!! She's such a sweetie! We attempted to take pictures of Ava Jane and Ella together, but as usual, Ella would not cooperate to take a picture with her sister. It makes me so irritated (I think she knows it too...that's why she does it). So, we got some cute individual pictures. We attempted a family one too...see below...I posted the best one which wasn't really that good...oh well. Maybe next year Ella will be more willing to participate in family photos...hopefully.

After the photos Brent and I took Ella trick-or-treating in my Mom's neighborhood... the neighborhood I grew up in and it was special to take my little girl trick-or-treating where I had so many fond memories of doing the same thing when I was a child. Ella LOVED trick-or-treating. We went to 8 houses...it took about an hour...and she walked the entire time. She kept reaching in her pumpkin saying "teet, teet." We had a wonderful time with her. This year's Halloween was so much more fun now that Ella is so interactive. Can't wait for next year when both Ella and Ava Jane know what's going on. What a special night and special memories we will cherish forever. Watching our little Ella Bear's joy last night was absolutely priceless. She truly loves life and embraces each new experience with such enthusiasm and amazement. And of course it was nice to come home to Ava Jane and give her a hug and be relish the fact that we still have a little baby to love on too...she'll be getting bigger so very soon too...I just want to keep her little as long as I can. A special thanks to Nana for watching her so we could take Bells out!

Halloween 2012 was a success. Dentist Daddy even let Ella eat a tootsie pop when she got home...and a dum dum too. He must have really been in a festive mood...she NEVER gets candy. After the fun we had this year, Halloween definitely moved up on my favorite holiday list. What great fun...next year I'm going to plan ahead much better for the celebration. I hear our new neighborhood has a great block party and trick-or-treating!! Lots to look forward to. Hope your Halloween was a happy one too. I loved seeing all the precious kids dressed up in costumes of Facebook...and the adults too!