None Such & Pumpkin Carving

We made our annual trip to None Such Farms, Amber's first, for pumpkins, treats, and the newly desired hay ride.  Andrew went on a hayride at his preschool farm trip and is now nuts about them.  We got cute pictures, had a nice tour of the farm and loved the pumpkin patch (especially the squishy mooshed ones)!

PLEASE, USE THE SPOON, NOT YOUR HAND (Andrew didn't want anyone to get slimy from cleaning out the pumpkin, and got upset when Ken put his hand in the pumpkin to get out seeds and guts)

Ok, I'll try it.  Oooo, Slimy, Gicky

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the finished pumpkins cuz they didn't all get finished and mine has already been attacked (Andrew took out an eye). We'll see if we get some with Halloween pics tomorrow.

Preschool Halloween Parade

Andrew had his Halloween parade and party yesterday at school :)  Super cute, the kids in his class were ADORABLE, 3 princesses and 3 witches, super heroes and cartoon friends.  They had lots of really great treats in class and goodies to bring home.  We have a really great group, I think.
Andrew is a dinosaur this year and he can't wait to go trick or treating and see all the houses on Halloween night.

Another tooth and Amberisms

Amber sprouted a tooth I never saw coming!  After that bulging second front top one finally came in 2 weeks ago I thought we might be done for a while.  Then out of no where today I saw one on the bottom next to her front two.  It is so tiny and cute!
Some Amberisms I've been wanting to share~  She is so excited when she sees Ken or me come home or back from where ever that she smacks the floor or the chest of whoever is holding her with both hands!  Then the arms keep flapping but in a more 'pick me up' way.
I love it when you make her smile while she's sucking on the paci, too!  She laughs or snorts sometimes and then it falls out, especially when you tickle her.  Andrew is really good at making her laugh.  Practically anything he does works, but especially when he dances or makes silly faces and sounds at her.  Ken enjoys finding ways to make Amber smile and laugh,too.  And when he wrestles with Andrew she comes crawling over ready to rumble (smacking his chest!).
She's pretty good at helping you get her out of the car seat now.  Babies are so impatient they push before you have them out of the straps and then they're all mad and tangled.  She's getting better at waiting for me to unhook her first and then she gets her arms out and leans forward to be picked up.
Oh, and she used the sign for milk today!  Yay!!  She's always trying to mimic what we say with her sounds and sometimes silently with her mouth, but I can never tell if she's really picking up on the signs.  Loving all the funny sounds she says.  She says 'gog' when I say dog and she loves to say 'go go go' or a version of it that sounds like 'tickle tickle' said really fast.  Andrew started out with both of those, too :)  I love all the noises!  When we're riding in the car she'll sometimes just say 'aaaaaaahhh' for a while and we think it's cuz she likes the vibration and the interruptions made by the bumps in the road.  We have clear dadas and mamas and I'm pretty sure she knows how to use them, too.  Lots of dadadas while she's playing and mamamas when she's hungry or mad that I left her in the dust to do something. ;)
She noticeably wanting to eat more, now.  Before it just seemed like she'd eat whatever you gave her.  Now she clearly wants to eat more when you stop short.  She loves her puffs and cheerios and I give her tastes of a lot of things that we eat, like pasta, meatballs, peas, ice cream etc.  She is her father- wants to eat eat eat!  Has no desire to use a sippy cup though.  I'll have to try a different kind soon, in case it's just the one we have that she doesn't like.
Such personality coming out in her now!  Love it!

Buttercup and Update

Got Buttercup a much needed vet appointment and found out her ear is infected again(bacteria this time and the usual yeast), she has some type of wound that is infected and she most likely has a UTI.  Poor puppy :(  Can I just complain about the bill for a moment, though?  Holy smokes, it's expensive to test animals for things, even bacteria!  When they find what treats her best I'll be satisfied.  I just want her to feel like herself again.

On a lighter note, Amber is actively pursuing the dog's bowls like Andrew did, but she got a bite of a dog treat today and spit it right back out!  Not a true comparison, but Andrew used to go to town on her food!  I wonder if she would like the food better?  LOL  Yes, I'm talking about my kids eating dog food :)

Tuesday we got rained out of going to the pumpkin patch with Andrew's preschool.  I didn't find out until I got there all ready to go, but it was postponed until Thursday.  Don't you know I took the camera out of the car and never brought it Thursday?!  I'm hoping the ones I got on my phone are decent.  But look for some cute ones from None Such Farms sometime soon cuz we're headed there tomorrow!  Full day~grocery shopping, Chef Rompy, None Such, (Hatboro Carnival?) and decorating.  Sunday is Curious George in New Brunswick, NJ and then we'll try to do some pumpkin decorating/carving.  Busy weekend!
Something cute since I haven't posted any pictures in a while.

Weird Day

Andrew got up after Ken left for work this morning (he usually helps Ken make his lunch and walk the dog if he's awake in time), and actually pooped in the potty instead of his diaper.  We've been asking him to do this for a while now, so I'm really happy he finally did it.  I wasn't going to give him a treat for it (for a few reasons, mainly the argument we had about wiping and the fact that it was barely 8am), but I realized that he had taken off his diaper and done it with out needing to be told or helped so I gave him like 6 MnMs.  Well, he was a little crazy the rest of the time before going to preschool.  ugh. 

He was star of the day today, which meant he got to help his teacher with a few things, wear a star in class and have his name on the board.  And he could bring a book to read to the class (Curious George goes fishing). 

I made an appointment for Amber's 9 month checkup at 10am thinking an hour and 15 minutes was plenty of time to get in and back to pick up Andrew.  Well, Dr. C. was in rare form with the chatties today.  I didn't get into a room until 10:30 and didn't see him until almost 10:55.  I had to leave after he was done to get Andrew and then bring Amber back for her shots!  The poor thing was so good through it all, even with out a morning nap and with being woken up each time she fell asleep in the car.  I think the thunder thighs are really good for shots- she doesn't seem to pay them any mind; just hates the laying down part.  It was really tough getting her to take her nap this afternoon, though, since she was so over-tired.  Andrew was awesome taking his nap today!  No trouble going in, no trouble getting up a ton of times or using the potty.  And he was very pleasant when he got up, too. :)

We originally had plans to go to Merry Mead farm for lunch with a co-worker friend, but it was also supposed to stop raining today, which it didn't.  It was pretty cold and misty all day, so we had to reschedule.

Amber took a page out of Andrew's book during her monthly photo shoot tonight.  Andrew had the giggles when I did his 10-month pictures and every time I touched him he cracked up.  Plus he wouldn't sit still since he was all about standing and cruising at that point.  Amber kept getting up and trying to lean over the chair (almost lost her the one time!) while I tried snapping a few shots.  I think I got some good ones of her laughing :)

Ken's been getting the yard ready for Fall Seeding the past week and was out seeding the last part tonight while the rain took a break.  Andrew wanted to help so he grabbed his mower and followed Ken around.  He was helping pushing the bucket but just as I was coming out to take pictures he bumped his ear and didn't want to help anymore.  Poor guy.  Amber came to the door with Buttercup to see what everyone was doing outside.  She was laughing at me and then at Andrew. Such a happy girl tonight!  Love the babes!!

So far, so good

So far...
Amber seems to like having her own space.  She has gradually pared down her middle-of-the-night wake ups and has slept through the night the last two nights.  The erupting tooth is probably bothering her less, too, now that it is through the gum.  The one next to it is practically bulging, though.  Leave my baby alone and come out already- geez!
Nine month (nine months?!?!?!) check up is on Tuesday.  Predictions?  I haven't weighed her in a while and last I tried measuring her length she was around 27".

...
Andrew is really liking preschool.  I think.  He's happy to go there.  He's happy to see me when I pick him up.  He tells me bits and pieces when asked the right questions.  Accidents and incidents are negative; smiles and artwork are on the rise.  I think I'm going to have to put something together for the empty wall in his room to display his projects, then put the ones we're saving in a book to a make room for new ones.  Yes, good idea.
He's potty trained at nap time now.  No diapers except at bedtime.  We took his bedroom gate out a while ago but he still insists on going in his diaper if he's wearing one.  Stop being a bum and get up and go, dude! ;)

...
I'm slowly catching up on sleep :)  I forget what night it was, but I slept for like 7 hours straight!  I felt normal when I woke up.  Tired again because I've been at work late all this week, but surviving (withOUT caffeine, I might add). 
Monday I spent all day fulfilling my juror summons... oy.  I sat around all morning and didn't get called for a panel until after lunch (half of which I spent pumping in the car- yay 10 AA batteries).  I almost wound up on a malpractice case, but very glad I didn't since it was against Abington and some employees involved in the decedent's surgery.  I don't think the attorneys liked me haha  Glad that's over for a while.
All in all, things are going well.  Now, to win the lottery... ;)