Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Eating Habits

A few months ago I tried feeding the twins some beans.  After a severe gagging incident/choking scare, I swore never to give them beans EVER again.  As the days passed on, memories of the racing heart rate and adrenaline rush faded (not to mention they've been doing really well at eating small foods lately) so I thought I'd have another go at the beans today.  I cut up some kidney beans, placed them on their high chair trays, and proceeded to watch them like a hawk as they ate to make sure we didn't have a "bean day" repeat. 

They did great, but as I watched them, I noticed that they have very different eating techniques.  Lilly is very precise.  She will pick up one bean, put it in her mouth, chew, swallow, and then pick up another.


Lilly Eating
It's almost dainty at times...almost. 

Maya, on the other hand, prefers the grab-as-many-beans-in-one-hand-at-a-time-and-try-to-shovel-them-all-in-your-mouth approach.
Maya Eating

And for every bean she actually gets in her mouth, there are probably three or four that wind up in the seat of her high chair. No wonder you're so skinny kid!

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Happy Halloween

Can I just tell you, I LOVE Halloween. Last year Halloween was on a Sunday, so we didn't go trick-or-treating, the year before that I had the Swine flu, so I didn't get to enjoy Halloween AT ALL, so this year I had two years worth of celebrating to make up for, and I think I accomplished it! We had TONS of fun celebrating this weekend. We started by carving our pumpkin.

Halloween Carving Pumpkins

He may not look like much, but he meant a lot to me. His design was a family effort. I wanted lots of eyes, Bart designed the shape of the eyes, and did the carving, and Addison designed the mouth. We were very pleased with the results.

Halloween Pumpkin

I also turned these into a yummy snack.

Halloween Pumpkin Seeds

We had all of our siblings that live in the area over for a chili cook off/costume party. It was AWESOME! Charles and Heather came a little early, so our kids played in the leaves before everyone else got here.

Halloween Leaves

Bart and I didn't make any chili this year, but we did make apple cider from apples my grandparents gave us from their apple trees, and pumpkin pie from actual pumpkins (not the canned kind). SOOOOOOOO yummy. I felt like we were really celebrating the harvest. Te he he.

Unfortunately, after the sun went down, my camera got put away (I have GOT to get a flash). But my sister in law, Heather, got some pictures of some of the kids' costumes on her blog if you want to see them. It was a really fun party.

Yesterday was the big day. The twins were little cows...although they went to bed before the trick or treating started.
Halloween Twins

Addison was a beautiful queen (or princess...depending on when you asked her).
Halloween Addison Details

Hannah was a candy corn witch.
Halloween Hannah Details

Addison and Hannah LOVED trick or treating.
Halloween Trick or Treating

And people in the neighborhood did a great job decorating.
Halloween Neighborhood Decorations

Before we were done with even half of the neighborhood, Addison decided she had enough, and was ready to go home (she does NOT take after her mama). Although, if we had let her, I think Hannah would have gone to every single house and then some (she DOES take after her mama).

When we got home, Addison took of her scratchy dress (possibly part of the reason she was ready to go home) and didn't even bother to put on a shirt before digging into her conquest. Hannah didn't even bother to take of the scratchy dress. :)
Halloween Candy

Last week I saw the cutest picture of a baby and a pumpkin, and thought, "Hey, I want a picture of my babies with a pumpkin!" They didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned, but they're my babies, so I think they're cute.

Halloween Maya Pumpkin

Halloween Lilly Pumpkin
Overall, it was a GREAT way to kick off the holiday season!