Happy Halloween!

So we went trick-or-treating tonight...down what I refer to as sorority row. And the kids had a good time! Here is Kellen all decked out and ready to go.....And Tatum just hanging out...

And several of the houses actually had stations set up where the kids could come in and play games and stuff...too cool!

Kellen had a blast! At one of the houses, they even had a station where the kids could decorate their own cookies. Kellen was all over that one! Anyone surprised? Really? Tatum, on the other hand, just chilled out. I don't know that I expected much more from her for this year anyway. We did go into one of the houses with a "grown-up" Snow White, so we just HAD to get a picture of the big Snow White and the little Snow White...it was so adorable!

Kellen wanted to call it quits this year MUCH earlier than last year...so all we did was sorority row. We ended up not going to the mall or any of the community game places like we did last year, which was OK by me! He still came out of the deal with a bag FULL of candy - more than I'll let him eat in at least 6 months.

I think he was just so excited about going to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's tonight and leaving for his trip tomorrow that he was ready to get on with it. They're flying out tomorrow morning and going to DC and then to Delaware for the pumpkin chunkin' contest. He's going to have so much fun!! (And I think Maw Maw and Paw Paw might need a vacation from their vacation when they get back!)

Oh

"Oh" is Tatum's new word. She started saying it last week at daycare, I guess, and her teachers were telling me all about it. She's getting "bye bye" down pretty well...managing to say it after I've closed the door to daycare on many days - primarily after lunch. She also understands, at least a little bit, that bye bye has something to do with the door at her daycare. After I leave and tell her bye bye, she'll go over to the door, bang on it, appear to look for me, and say, "bye bye" to the door. When her teachers told me that it was almost enough to make me cry. Really.

She's also apparently pretty good at mimicking some sounds (except momma, of course). So, I thought I would try and capture some of her utter cuteness on video (thanks again Maw Maw, for letting me borrow your camera for a brief time). Here are her vocal talents after dinner last night. My goal was to catch her and her new "oh" sounds, which I did, but I also seem to have caught her saying "da da" and Kellen chatting with her as well...Too cute!

She's also figured out that when someone says, "Yay!", that you're supposed to clap. I've been trying to capture that on video as well, but have only been met with marginal success. She does; however, do this quite well and quite often - I'm just not that good at managing to capture it!

I think that she's still working on those teeth (well, she must still be working on them since we don't have any additional teeth), but she doesn't seem to be hurting quite as much. I wonder how long these ones will take to come through? Another 4 month teething process for 2 teeth perhaps? I certainly hope not!

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

Grandpa Gerren came to visit today, and hung out with me and the kids. We had a really good time, and it was very helpful to have an extra pair of hands to entertain the kids while I was trying to continue to get things done around the house - nevermind that the kids thoroughly enjoyed playing with their Grandpa! Things are really starting to take shape around here, Tatum now has baby food (bananas, pears & squash at least) and I can say that almost all of the laundry is done. Almost. Which is actually saying quite a bit.

Tatum also had her first taste of meat today...in the form of a meat stick. I think she really liked it! She ate almost an entire stick! And I think that she's trying to cut some more teeth, but not the "normal" next set...it seems like she's skipping the top teeth and going to another set on the bottom. And they really seem to be bothering her. Poor thing! We did the triple threat tonight...ibuprophen, teething tablets and orajel, then I let her chew on a toothbrush just to see if that made her feel any better. It must have, because it gave me enough of a reprieve so that Grandpa could hold her while I scarfed down my dinner. Whew!

We decided to go to the pumpkin patch after Kellen woke up from his nap, and try as I might, I just didn't get that "perfect" shot of the two of them, but I do have a few that turned out rather nicely, I think. Kellen couldn't get past "holding" Tatum during the shots of the two of them. It was really very cute...he just wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her for the pictures. Adorable!!! He's SUCH a good big brother, my goodness!!

And of course, Kellen had to pick out a little pumpkin to bring home, but what's new?

Baltimore trip, part 1

OK...so we had a great trip to Baltimore, with a side trip to DC, and here are some of the pictures from our trip..(part 1)

The first day we were in town (Baltimore), we went to the top of the World Trade Center to the observation deck, and were able to see some great views (which, on an observation deck, should go without saying, right?). Well anyway, we were there for maybe 45 minutes or an hour, then decided to go ahead and leave. So we push the button for the elevator...repeatedly, only to find out that the fire alarm had gone off in the building and all of the elevators had been called back to the first floor. We could leave if we wanted to go down the stairs. Did I mention that we were on the 27th floor? Which was really 30 flights of stairs because of the mezzaine levels? Well, we decided against that, waited for about 15 minutes, then changed our mind and had them folks open up the stairs.

Yes, we had decided to brave the stairs. All 27 (we didn't know about the mezzaine levels yet) flights.

We did it...and FELT it for the next 2-3 days. That started our trip off very well...with a great, entertaining story. What would a trip with Matt and I be without a story like this, huh?

Update on Life & Come on Ags!

I'm currently watching the Aggies play Kansas...and we're in the 3rd quarter with zero scores. Unbelievable! It's been ages since I've been able to update, so I have much to say...however, since it's the middle of the game, I'll try to update in spurts. With pictures if I can...

Update on household makeover...
Well, the living room has been rearranged several times. During my last post, I indicated that I had moved the living room furniture and hoped that Matt had liked it. Um. Nope! So we moved it again, and again, and again, and ...well, you get the picture. I *think* that we now have it the way that it will stay...and I really like it. I think Matt needs to "live" with it just a little more before he gets used to it, but I think it's be best arrangement for the furniture we have to work with. The computer is now in the living room - on a different computer desk - so it's really nice to actually have it out in the living room rather than in our bedroom.

Kellen's "new" room is all set up...we just have to figure out what to do with a few pieces of his clothes, but he absolutely LOVES it! We should have video taped his reaction when he saw it...it was great! He has so much more room to play, and it looks like a little boy's room...not an infant room, or even a toddler room - but a little BOY's room. *sigh* He's growing up.

*stinker...Kansas finally scored with a fieldgoal - score is 3-0*

Tatum's room is set up...with her bookshelf in as well (that was the last piece of furniture that had to make its way BACK to our house from storage). The room is just adorable - and childproof (why wouldn't it be?) - but she loves just playing in there. And she LOVES pulling her clothes bin from underneath her bed and throwing out her pants and shirts all over the room...and getting into her shoes. She's obsessed with shoes - truly a girl, I guess...although she seems to be quite the tom-boy...beating Kellen's record of boo boo's by about 3 months already.

As for her, she's crawling - crawling FAST, and using anything and everything to stand up, and is able to balance herself while standing up for longer and longer...today was actually the longest that I've ever seen her do it...maybe 10-12 seconds. Oh boy. We're in so much trouble. Kellen wasn't doing that until he was about 10 months old. Yikes! As for her beating Kellen's record for boo boo's...well, there is this certain toy at daycare that she just loves...perhaps it's because it's immediately in front of the mirror? Who knows? Anyway, it's a cute little toy that she loves playing with, and lends itself easily to her using it to stand up, which she does quite frequently. And she also falls down onto this particular toy...landing on her face on the corners of this toy quite often. I had actually thought that she would have already had a black eye already...several of her boo boos have looked like they should have been bad enough to actually be black eyes, but they just haven't lasted that long or turned into a black eye yet. I emphasize yet. It's bound to happen. She's fearless...just like her brother was at that age.

*Crud...Kansas just scored...10-0* Come on Ags!!!!

Ok, so Matt and I went to Baltimore last week for a work conference for me...we flew out of Houston on Thursday and got back on Monday night. I had three presentations to give at the conference, one group and two individual - and in my opinion, they all went very well. We left the kids - yes, both of them - with Maw Maw and Paw Paw and they all had a good time. I'll post more about that trip in another post...with pictures.

Anyway, I got back in the office on Tuesday, and then Wednesday took the kids to the MSC Hospitality Halloween party...they had such a good time! Here they are going into the MSC at the beginning of the program...and then Kellen playing one of the games and Tatum Elizabeth Snow White (as Kellen is now calling her) just being cute!

Household makeover

We're in the process of a household makeover...say a quick prayer that we can get it done in a reasonable amount of time!

What we've decided to do:

*Rearrange the furniture in the living room and bring the computer desk and computer from our bedroom into the living room, take the glider & ottoman into Tatum's room and the game cabinet into Kellen's room

*Switch Tatum and Kellen's rooms - (Which requires disassembling and reassembling both Kellen's bed and Tatum's crib - nice, huh?)

Right now, Tatum is in the "old" office/guestroom...which is the larger room because it had the BIG desk, futon, etc. So, since we aren't sure how long we'll be in this particular domicile, we decided to switch the kids rooms and give Kellen the larger room.

I already feel like I've gotten a TON of stuff done tonight (nevermind that the kitchen is a wreck - why is it that when you clean up one room you inevitable dirty another?). Anyway, after everyone except Tatum and I left for the game, I moved the glider/ottoman into what will be Tatum's room and the game cabinet into what will be Kellen's room and have COMPLETELY rearranged the living room. Let's hope that Matt likes it. If not, we'll just keep moving it around until we find something that works. I didn't take the computer and computer desk out into the living room...he'll have to do that and wire it up, but I DID leave a spot (and measured to make sure that it will fit) for it.

Did I mention that I've almost gotten about two weeks of laundry done too? And not just washed and dried, but actually folded and put away!!

As we're doing this, we're BOTH actually willing to GET RID of stuff...which is GREAT, too..I've decided that unless I really love it, it makes me smile, or I use it LOTS, I don't need to keep it...

Not quite sure what's gotten into me (both of us, actually)...but I hope it stays around until we get this project DONE!!

She's not supposed to be doing that...

"Mom, Tatum's got __________!" is a common phrase spoken by Kellen nowadays.

Tatum is mobile. Very mobile. And she's getting into everything it seems.

Kellen is so sweet...and tries so hard to make sure that she doesn't have anything that might hurt her. He watches to make sure that she doesn't grab "his" toys (because they have small parts and could choke her when she puts them in her mouth - we've discussed this), shoes (because my daughter is a shoe fiend), plastic pieces, and random other items that Kellen feels are inappropriate for his darling sister to play with. If she wanders (excuse me...race crawls) to any of the above items (or even farther away than Kellen wants her to) he goes to try and pick her up and move her back to where they were playing.

Did I mention that Tatum is now weighing in at almost 20 pounds?

So the sight of Kellen trying to (and successfully, I might add) picking up and moving Tatum to where HE thinks she needs to be is quite funny (at least most of the time). It's a good thing that infants are resilient. Tatum sometime resembles a puppy or kitten being carried around during these moments.

*sigh*

We're working on getting Kellen to actually STOP picking up his sister, but I think he's just so excited now that he can PLAY with her and hold her without the "real" fear of hurting her that it's overwhelming for him.

Did I mention that he just ADORES her? And that the feeling is completely mutual? Tatum thinks her brother hung the moon! When she is fussy, he just has to look at her and make a face and he'll have her laughing the most adorable belly laugh that you've ever heard.

It just makes my heart melt. I have to preserve these memories, because while I am hopeful that they will continue this oh-so-sweet relationship, I am also realistic....and a product of a big brother-little sister relationship myself. I KNOW that they won't always feel this way about each other...sibling rivalry is bound to happen...even if for a short time...but I trust that they will come around to this loving each other place again when they're older.

At any rate, I want to capture the essence of this relationship now...so I'll have something to look back on when they're telling me and their dad that they don't like each other - or worse.

Teeth!!!

It finally happened! Tatum got her first tooth through last Thursday, and I confirmed that she got her second one through this weekend (I'll write it in the book as yesterday, 'cause I SURE thought I felt it, but she wasn't letting me confirm it). That might explain why she was so incredibly fussy on Saturday...so much so that I wanted run away, huh? *grin*

Anyway...we had another incredibly busy weekend...Astros game (yes, the ENTIRE family, including Aunt Boo, Maw Maw and Paw Paw), then the Baylor game on Saturday (I stayed in Conroe and watched the kids - see above for the running away impulse), then Matt and Aunt Boo went back down for the Astros game on Sunday afternoon.

The kids has LOTS of fun at the game...Tatum was in awe of the fireworks and of course, Kellen has his ears covered the entire time because, "they're REALLY loud!" and he sometimes shies away from super-loud noises. For being a 7:05 start time, and ending up being such a late night, BOTH kids did REMARKABLY well at the game. Tatum just got hot and overtired, but I sweet-talked a worker into letting me into the "cush" boxes to cool down...finally got her to sleep (note to self: wearing a 20 lb almost 7 month old in a Snuglie NO LONGER WORKS on Mommy's back)...then went back to my seat to watch the rest of the game...Even the cheering and yelling didn't faze her too much (ok...so she would open her eyes, move her head, and then plop it back into my chest each time, but hey...she stayed asleep until the fireworks!).

Biggio, Biggio, Biggio...