Cecilia dressed up as a cupcake (purchased for $5 after Halloween last year) and was actually good enough to keep her hat on the entire time!

John Paul ended up deciding to be a generic shepherd - he switched from David to St. Dominic of Silos and couldn't decide...  The great thing about this costume is, it's good for Halloween, All Saints' Day, AND Christmas!  

Here's the little cupcake, all ready to go!

And of course, with her trick or treating bucket.

An unflattering shot of the family...

Ready to go!

The kids did an awesome job, and trick or treating ended up being a lot more bearable than I expected.  A fair amount of walking, but LOTS of stopping, and plenty of candy for me (I mean...  the kids?).

Last year John Paul kept eating candy as we walked and ended up puking as soon as we got home.  So this year my plan was that he had to immediately give me his candy and he got to have a fruit snack for every candy he traded in.  Well, mostly he forgot about the fruit snacks and just gave me his candy because the sheep took up all the room in his bucket.  So we ended up giving him like, 7 fruit snacks total.  And he chose M&Ms as his candy of choice when we got home, so he and Cecilia split a fun-sized package between the two of them.  10 M&Ms each and they were happy with it.  Halloween is actually pretty great when the expectation of gorging oneself on candy hasn't yet been established!

One last trip...

To Cox Farms for the fall!  Of course, we had to start out with apples.

And the corn crib!

Then Cecilia started a trend and went down this slide probably 15 times, not minding that the "big kids" (3 & 4-year-olds) started sliding down immediately after her and kicked her several times...

Of course, she had to find a window for a nice pose!

And a pink "fwuck" although her pronunciation often doesn't include the "w" - little bit awkward...

Couldn't get a good picture of both of them in the egg shell, but John Paul sure tried!

And a SUPER awkward-looking picture that makes me laugh!

We tried another, but with a mouth crammed full of apple, there's only so cute you can get...

John Paul chose an awkward bumpy gourd as his "pumpkin" this time.  Cecilia started crying when we tried to get a picture of them together - I think she was scared to sit on the pumpkins?

So John Paul got to hold BOTH pumpkins and pose!

Cecilia made a run for the flowers...

And on the way out, more big kids showed her how to use these awesome feet!  She was NOT ready to leave, but I'd been on my feet for 2.5 hours and was ready to sit down!

One last awkward picture...  And we'll be back next year!  Definitely my favorite fall activity with the kids :)

Belly pictures

Well, here I am - 33 weeks pregnant with twins, measuring at about 39 weeks.  Everybody's been asking for pictures, so I figured we'd try to get some with John Paul.

So he immediately lifted up my shirt and kissed my belly like, 20 times.  Then he started pushing and pushing so that the babies would kick him...

Then he found out that a cup on Mom's tummy makes a circle!!!

It was REALLY funny!

Seriously, SO funny!

So we finally got him to calm down and try the kisses again...  As you can see, his attention is only on the camera!

This is what I get for raising a shy, shy child...

Dressing up

One of Cecilia's absolute favorite things to do lately is put on and take off shoes.  The problem with this is, normally one is limited to only ONE pair of shoes at a time.

There are several ways to fix this problem.  One can put on a pair of child-sized shoes and then put on Dad's shoes over the top.  This leads to clunky walking.  One can frequently switch pairs.  

OR one can wear one pair on the feet and another pair as mittens!  Perfect!

Pants optional.

On the farm

We've been lucky enough to get to Cox Farms twice so far this season (without breaking the bank - half-price opening weekend and afternoon fun pass) and have had a blast both times!

Here we are ready to go on a beautiful Friday afternoon

We stopped at Goat Village first, where John Paul very methodically checked the number on every. single. goat's. ear tag.  There was seriously NO enthusiasm, he considered this his job.  Read the number.  Pat the goat.  Move on.  

Cecilia had the guts to go in with Dad, but there was NO WAY she was getting down near those goats!

We hit some slides, the kids had a hayride while I sat down, and got some apples.  Cecilia spent quite a while hanging out in the train while she ate her entire apple (except the seeds and stem, most of which I think I wrestled from her before she swallowed them...).

Then we checked out some bunnies

And a mama pig!  And her babies!  Too cute!  Makes me appreciate the prospect of only nursing two babies at once, not the 8 that this mama had...  

Then there was some more sliding!

And a visit to the chicks and bunnies (and just such a cute pose - he's really learned to ham it up well!).

We saw a cow pooping, to which the kids enthusiastically responded, "AGAIN!!!  AGAIN PWEEZ!"

And of course, John Paul's favorite part - farm facts!

Haircut!

Still working on evening out those bangs...  But seriously, what's cuter than a little girl in pigtails?

That is, until she starts yanking the rubber bands out...

My little girl

We are at a pretty lovely stage with Cecilia right now - nearly constant cute, minimal fussing, and a whole lot of new skills developed daily!  I asked her today what her favorite color is and she said, "Puhpow!  PINK!  PINK JUMPER!!!"  Because Grandma, when asked what color jumper Cecilia would prefer, found a lovely color of pink that Cecilia ADORES.  

This is NOT what I had planned for a little girl.  I never thought we'd have a child so obsessed with all things pink and girly, but Cecilia LOVES the color more than anything!

She's ridiculously verbal, I think mainly because John Paul never stops talking...  But her sentence structures are almost more advanced than his!  She loves to recount all the latest experiences she has had, particularly our latest visits to various farms.  "Diwya pet a TOW (cow)!  Mowwy!  Diwya pet Mowwy ear and Mowwy TISS (kiss) you!  Dee a pig at tox farms wiff Mom!  (See a pig at cox farms with mom) Dee a bunny and pet a bunny!  Doh tweet, doh toft... (see a bunny and pet a bunny, so sweet, so soft)"

Seriously, can you imagine the cute?  She NEVER stops talking, and is just so adorable.  She chases John Paul around the house trying to get him to do things for her or find out what he's reading.  "John Paw, TOOD you peez open it?  John Paw, what you WEADIN?  John Paw, may I peez HAVE it?"

She's recently started asking me what certain words spell whenever she sees them - exactly how John Paul started in his pre-reading stages, so we may very well end up with another early reader on our hands...  Or maybe she'll get over it?  I doubt it though, she's SO determined to keep up with her big brother.  John Paul's using the potty?  Cecilia will too!  John Paul's learning how to hold a pencil?  Cecilia will learn BETTER!  John Paul knows how to read?  CECILIA WILL LEARN TOO!!!