Finding the Perfect Pumpkin

Clara and I found time to wander over to the pumpkin patch this week. Normally, I drag Adam and Clara to lots but this year between both Clara and I being sick and all the rainy weather, we were only able to go to a few. We still had not found a good pumpkin for carving a jack-o-lantern so that was our mission the other day. It was difficult and it took a couple of stops to find the right one, since the patches were pretty picked over.

My parents shared their camera with us so we could take pictures on Halloween. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! I also had a bunch of pictures so I tried a little different layout - you should be able to click on the pictures to see a larger image. Enjoy the pics!

Saying "Hi" to the "snare-crow." She also held his hand and tickled his cheek.

Clara found the perfect one since the first one was "too big"

Clara insisted on buckling in the big pumpkins to "keep them safe"

Our loot.

Oh, and what else do you do besides clean a pumpkin before you carve it?

Checking out the inside of a pumpkin

The big dig. Clara kept saying "It's so gooey Mommy"

The end result...thank goodness she only wanted triangles for the eyes and nose and not circles!

Hideaway and near Alien Abduction

Alien Abduction? No, but wait till you see the picture below.

Last weekend, we took a much needed trip to Hideaway. It is always good to get out of the big city and relax with Adam's parents. We had a great time catching up and Granny and Papa did what they do best - spoil and play with Clara.

Since we are still cameraless (if that is not a word, I just invented it) we borrowed Linda and Brew's camera while we were there. You would think that we forgot how to take pictures because we completely forgot to check the settings and just went camera crazy and started taking pictures. Unfortunately, very few of the pictures we took really turned out because we had it on a strange setting. It is a shame because we had such a good time.

On Saturday night, we went to their neighborhood Fall Festival and Clara got to wear her Halloween costume for the first time. She was in heaven - that girl just loves to dress up! If you can't tell from the pictures (I forgot the face paint) but she is a black cat. There are several pictures and at the end there is a video from the Festival that I had to share of Clara dancing her interpretation of the Bunny Hop. Er, the Cat Hop? Enjoy!

I had to include this next one. It looks as if I am about to get beamed up into an alien spaceship and I am taking Clara with me.

Month 5, Calories Please, and Panic

I have hit the mark in the pregnancy that, according to this website, our little baby boy begins to fatten up. Well, either that or they are running out of fruit. So, apparently, from week 21 to 24, Microbrew the Second is a papaya.

I had a doctor's checkup last week and everything looked good - no sonogram this time - the heartbeat was strong and I am measuring right on track (size of my gut) but I have been told to gain more weight. It is weird, I should be loving the fact that I have been given the green light to eat anything and everything just short of lard, but I really have no idea how I can possibly eat any more. With Clara, my weight gain was pretty steady, but this time, not so much. In the nearly six months I have been pregnant, I have only gained 7 pounds. At this point, the recommendation was 13 pounds. My homework: calories and to gain more than a mere pound before next month's checkup.

Yesterday, we had tour of the hospital we will be delivering at this next time. If you know anything about my delivery with Clara, it would be our experience with the nursery staff and the time it took for Clara to get from my belly to my arms. Seven and a half hours. Ridiculous. That was enough to make us seek another hospital. We got a great feeling from this one - especially since we asked so many questions and really grilled them.

The experience with the tour and the fact that February 4th is officially 109 days away from today, I am in full panic mode. I have a list of things this child needs (crib, dresser, bedding, clothes - it feels like we are starting over), things that need to get done around the house, things that Clara needs and not alot of time or money to do it. I mean we don't even have a camera!!!!!

I will leave you now with a song. Click on the box below.

Bummer

Well, I did it. I broke the camera. I am not especially good with portable electronics. For example, who can forget the time I left my phone, for some unknown reason, on the bumper of my car and drove off only to find it in the smallest of pieces at a nearby intersection? Our beloved camera that we have had for years, the one that we took halfway across the world with us. I broke it. On a concrete driveway. I guess there is only some many times you can drop something. Especially on concrete.

Here is the last picture I took:

Clara is modeling a huge shirt that Uncle Mark gave her. It was so cute on and she loved it. I wanted to take a picture of her...

I obviously was in denial that the camera could still possibly work.

Needless to say, posting might be at a minimum for a while. We do have another camera, but I have done something to that as well sometime ago and it refuses to hold a charge for even a picture. That must be why cameras have straps to hang on your wrist or neck...

Couldn't Resist Posting...

So, I was uploading my pictures from this weekend and I happened to remember a cute video I took of Taylor while staying with Shelly last week. She just turned six months and is one of the cutest babies I have ever met. Enjoy the giggle!

Happy Birthday to Me!

For my birthday this year, Adam was sweet enough to buy me a plane ticket to visit one of my very best friends, Shelly. We had a blast shopping, eating, laughing and what girls do best: talking. It was one of the best birthday presents. It was great to get away by myself while Clara was taken care of by my parents (for the first time overnight) and by Adam who managed to get off of work a bit.

When I got home, they surprised me with the most beautiful and delicious chocolate cake. Clara was especially proud of the icing and rainbow sprinkles. Clara also put the candles in (all eight of them - apparently she was figuring that each candle represented four years :)

I am one lucky lady with a very wonderful family!

Pumpkin Time is Here!

Yesterday, Adam took us to our first pumpkin patch of the season. First, you ask? Yep. It is probably the first of many. You see, I am a pumpkin addict.

My name is Stacey and I have an addiction to pumpkins. When I see one, I want to hug it and take it home.

Yes, I know it is a strange addiction but it is mine. Last year, I think Clara and I hit about six or seven different pumpkin patches. If you need a buddy to go hunt for the perfect pumpkin, I am your woman. I probably have as many Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations as I do Christmas decorations. I have to pace myself during the pumpkin season because I know I will end up with way too many pumpkins to compost or seeds to eat. Anyway, the official Brewster pumpkin season begun yesterday with a visit to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. This is a great one for kids because of all the activities. We had a blast riding a mini-train, taking a hayride, climbing a hay bale mountain, jumping and bouncing on jump houses, and of course picking out our two first pumpkins of the season. Enjoy the slideshow below!

21 Weeks

Microbrew the Second is now the length of a banana!