Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween day today. Sydney helped clean out her pumpkin (although helping really isn't an accurate term seeing as how she just made a huge mess!).Then I carved these pumpkins. Jimmy claimed that he was going to help, but then he pooped out on me.
Then Sydney and I went to the ward "Trunk of Treat." Once again, Jimmy, "the party pooper" pooped out on us and stayed asleep on the couch.
Then Sydney checked out all her loot. She has some delicious mini M&Ms and I'm pretty sure that she decided that this Halloween thing is pretty cool.


After the Trunk or Treat, we came home and put our pumpkins out on the porch. I didn't put them out earlier because I was trying not to encourage trick or treaters since Jimmy was asleep. After I put them out we got our one and only group of trick or treaters! Thanks for coming Julie and Ally!

The Great White Pumpkin

Jimmy brought these three pumpkins home from New Jersey for us. The biggest one is a white "Casper" pumpkin that weighs over 70 lbs. Jimmy bought the tiny one for Sydney and that thing is the toughest pumpkin I have ever seen. I had the hardest time even cutting into it. I barely got the top off. I decided that there was no way I could carve it so I just decided that I would scrape off a design. Sydney is fascinated by the pumpkins and loves to pound on them!

Hooray!

First of all, a few shout-outs:

Congrats (belatedly) to David and Loretta on their 12th Anniversary!

Happy 19th Birthday to Amy!

On to some other good news:

JIMMY IS FINALLY HOME!!!!!!! He arrived home this morning at 5 AM after driving about 19 straight hours! We are so glad he is back and he vows to never again drive across the country again. "Tell me to get my head checked if I ever think about doing that again!" was his direct quote.
Sydney was so happy to see her dad. She kept smiling at him and she let him hold her for a long time when she woke up this morning. However, he keeps wanting to hold her all the time and she just wants to play with all her toys that he brought back from New Jersey!

The Sydney Dance

Maddie and Julie's orchestra concert was last night and the girls did an excellent job. I was very impressed with both the beginning and intermediate orchestras. Sydney loved the performance. She was singing along and dancing and trying to lead the music too. It was so adorable and I wish I had gotten it on video.

This morning as we were playing, Sydney started dancing to the music coming from the tiny piano. By the time I got the camera she was almost done, but I got a little bit of it on video.

Nothing Better

There is nothing better than getting all your work done so you can just sit down and play with your daughter. (Even if it means just watching her open and close the tiny dresser drawer a million times.)

Your Karaoke Theme Song is "Livin' On a Prayer"

You believe the best things in life are mostly forgotten, and you're definitely more than a little nostalgic . You're likely to still like the same foods, fashions, and music as you did when you were a teenager. You have a knack for knowing what elements of pop culture people have missed, without them even realizing it. It's great to remember the past, but don't forget that not everyone is as stuck in it as you are. You might also sing: "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Rapper's Delight," and "Cherry Pie" Stay away from people who sing: "Toxic"

What's Your Karaoke Theme Song?

These quizzes are so funny. It seems like they have a quiz for everything! I had to post this one though because I cracked up when I read it. We all know that I can't sing for anything and would never do real karaoke (Leadsinger at mom & dad's doesn't count). But I've always thought that the one song I would sing karaoke would be "Pour Some Sugar on Me." I love that song and know all the words. Pretty funny that it was listed on other songs I might sing.

Sydney's New Hat

Okay, so isn't this hat adorable? I was telling Amy about the adorable outfit (it has a matching jumper with a black long sleeve shirt) my mom bought for Syd at Babies R US and she asked for a picture. So, here is Sydney in her new Christmas hat. I am sure that there will be many more pictures of her in the complete outfit but I just couldn't wait to share this hat.

Our Morning So Far

Okay, so this morning has been a little crazy. Sydney found the bag of open chocolate covered pretzels and started to eat one. I decided (against my better judgment) to let her finish. This is what I ended up with.


So after Syd's bath, I put a diaper on her and wrapped her in a blanket. She was acting pretty tired so I laid her down for her morning nap. About an hour later I started to hear noises coming from her room. I opened the door and found this:

Obviously she has learned how to take her diaper off. I thought I would have a little more time before she figured this out!

Sydney & That Darn Cat

Okay, so per Amy's request, I tried to get Sydney to say "Hi Kitty" on video this morning. It didn't work. In this video she says "hi" but won't say "kitty." After watching the video you should understand why I am so mad that Sydney's first sentence was "Hi Kitty" and not something like, oh, I don't know "Hi Mama!" First the stupid cat runs away from her and then towards the end she actually swipes at her! You can hear my gasp at this point because Taylor usually doesn't do that to Syd. She usually just runs whenever Syd approaches. I'm sure that Taylor only swiped because she felt trapped. Taylor just didn't understand that I had to shut the door in Syd's room so they couldn't escape. The cat just didn't understand that I was trying to capture precious memories on film, er, memory card. Sorry for the bad quality of video - it is from my digital camera as the camcorder is still in Jersey. (JIMMY GET HOME SOON!!!! I miss you, plus, I need all my stuff!)



I am still trying to get her to say "Hi Kitty," but alas, she will not cooperate!



Then I finally let the cat out of Syd's room and she promptly ran under mine and Jimmy's bed to hide. We followed her in there and tried one last time to get Sydney to talk to her. However, Syd apparently was too busy playing with the tiny scarf from a stuffed animal to bother.

Sydney Speaks!

So I told my mom last night that I think Sydney has been trying to say "hi kitty" whenever she sees Taylor. That's what I always say whenever Taylor graces us with her presence. Anyway, after my mom said "hi kitty" Sydney repeated it as clear as day. So then when we got home, Sydney saw Taylor and clearly said "hi kitty." So it figures that Sydney's first real words would have to do with the cat that runs from her every time she sees her!

The Annual Ward Chili Cook-off, Halloween Carnival & Dessert Auction

So it is time for our annual Cub Scout fund raiser. Since I am a den leader I am involved in this wonderful event. Usually, the Ward Activities Committee takes care of the Chili Cook-Off portion of the evening, but currently we don't have an Activities Committee.... The task of taking care of the food fell upon our Cubmaster and he did an excellent job. I was a little worried, but everything turned out. For the dessert auction I decided to try my hand at a volcano cake. I'd never made one before, but it seemed fairly simply. Luckily I found a bag of dinosaur toys at Walmart and it included the scenery as well. Here is my finished product.

Apparently my dad thought he needed it, so he bid on it in the auction and won. Guess I will get to eat a piece now! He also won the ward-famous flan cake in the paper airplane throwing contest.

All the kids in the ward were dressed in their costumes and they looked so cute. Sydney wore her Minnie costume, but she wasn't cooperating with the picture taking. Here are the shots I got.


Hopefully my mom got a better picture. The little (guess they really aren't so little anymore...) girls were cute in their costumes. Maddie was a medieval girl (wearing Amy's friend Mandy's costume) Julie was a goth (wearing a costume provided by me) and Ally was Buffy the Vampire Slayer (wearing her own very stylish clothes and carrying a stake fashioned by Brian). Hopefully my mom took a picture of those cute girls and will post it on her blog.

Aaahhhh Sleep!

I tried to take a picture of Sydney sleeping when she was taking her nap this afternoon, but apparently she decided to wake up as I was snapping the picture! I was thinking about how Sydney has finally become a good (okay, maybe decent sleeper) now. She still doesn't nap for very long, but she occasionally sleeps through the night now. She also usually lays right down and goes to sleep whenever it's her nap or bedtime. And best of all - she doesn't like to sleep in her mom and dad's bed anymore! She wants to be in her own crib. Hooray! It took her long enough, but I am just glad she is a better sleeper now.

Sydnnie Mouse

Okay, I realize it is not Halloween yet, but yesterday Sydney and I went to a baby shower with a Halloween theme. Children were encouraged to come in costume, so Sydney dressed up in her Minnie Mouse costume. She looked so cute in her dress from Disneyland. My mom and I made her ears by taking a head band with cat ears and covering them with some ears we made from a square of fur. We were rather proud of our Minnie ears.
After the Halloween baby shower, we stopped by Grandpa Jim and Grandma Angie's house for a quick visit. Sydney loves her grandparents and Grandma Angie makes her laugh so hard. It is hilarious to watch!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Sydney Brown!

Sydney quite enjoyed sitting on my mom's 123 pound pumpkin. Since today is October 1st, it is officially time to break out the Halloween shirts. I found two adorable shirts for Sydney at Target and this pumpkin shirt is one of them. The socks are from the dollar section at Target (I love that place!). Doesn't she look adorable?
I purposely dressed in a black Halloween shirt and jeans just so I could match Sydney. Oh, how I love Halloween!