So Long Pampers, Hello Risky Business

That's right. We are a diaper free house. For about a month and a half Madeleine has been wearing big girl underwear! Now I'm not saying we are free and clear on potty training but we're doing pretty well. She stays dry all day and we're just working on getting her overnight/sleep trained. We are also very lucky to have a daycare provider who really helped things along when I started back to work.

Madeleine's new favorite thing to do is take her pants on and off. She seriously practices day and night. When I check on her before I go to bed her pants are off and her little legs are freezing cold. I guess she falls asleep before she can get them back on.

Sometimes she attempts the "flamingo fit"...

...later it might be the "sit and pull"...

...but sometimes it's just easier to to go with an entirely new look.

Maddy turns two this weekend so I kind of feel we're ahead of the game but I would love any tips you have on how to keep children dry at night. We put her in pull-ups at bedtime and they're not too wet in the morning, but how do you make the transition? Isabelle potty-trained later (2 1/2) and the day she figured out how to use the toilet she stayed dry all night.

We're pretty proud of our Maddy-Moe in her cute Fancy Nancy undies! And now she doesn't have to deal with that unflattering diaper-booty look!

Did you Happen to See...

...the cover of Adoptive Families this month? If you did, you know my little sweeties were the grand prize winners of the annual cover photo contest! Our wonderful social worker sent me the link to enter the contest so to oblige her I submitted their picture. I think that was way back in June and I had forgotten all about it. But, a few weeks ago I got a phone call from the magazine asking for more information about the girls. When I called back I found out that after going through over 5,000 pictures ours was chosen as the big winner! We really can't believe it! The big prize was the cover of the magazine but we also won a $200 gift card to JCPenney portrait studio (Yay, free holiday cards this year!) and a digital camera!

But, even cover girls have bad photo-ops. Maddy couldn't stop looking at herself and Isabelle kept closing her eyes every time I tried to take a picture this morning.

In this picture Maddy is actually shouting, "Maddy cover girl! Maddy cover girl!"

Isabelle took a copy to school to share and when her teacher asked why she was on the cover of the magazine Isabelle said, "I don't know, we're just famous." Fame hasn't gone to their heads at all has it. :) Enjoy your 15 minutes girls!

Halloween, 2010

We had a beautiful Halloween here in Washington. Clear skies, mild temperatures and plenty of ghouls, goblins and ghosts. I'm going to count this one as Madeleine's first meaningful Halloween. As in, she could walk, say "trick-or-treat" and collect candy with the best of them. Madeleine loves the Disney characters so she went as Minnie Mouse this year. After searching endless costumes online Isabelle finally selected a lovely butterfly costume. Neither of my girls could walk by a mirror without staring at themselves in awe. Maddy went so far as to plaster her lips against the mirror when she saw herself because even she can't resist giving that sweet little face kisses.

A newly walking cousin Vilia joined us for the evening. She went as...well, we're still trying to figure that out. Vilia doesn't like to be pinned down to just one label. She kept things loose by going as a pirate/pumpkin/future gang member with a propensity for saying, "boo!"

Trying to get three children out the door at the same time was the challenge of the night.

We finally had everyone and headed out.

Note to self: While training child for first trick-or-treat outing it is important to tell them they should not hightail it into the homes of the candy giver, as Maddy did at the first house we visited.

Back at home the loot was examined while we drank steaming mugs of hot apple cider. I just love Halloween!

I don't want to accuse Vilia of being a lightweight...but the evidence speaks for itself. At least she didn't mind that we ate her candy. :)

Back from Computer Combat with Halloween Preparation Fun

Sometimes computers are just a lot of trouble. You care for them, you buy them things like wonderful new programs, you come to rely on them and then, they turn on you. They get sick and eat through your firewall. They start devouring your financial records and try to gulp down your precious pictures (we rescued them just in time) and then, they do the worst thing of all: they cut you off from the rest of the world by refusing Internet access. It has been a week since the virus hit and today we had to come to terms with reality. The soul of our computer was gone and we needed to move on.

Even though we live in the land of Microsoft we found ourselves taking our first tentative steps into the Apple store. Three hours later we walked out with a new laptop, printer and 2 iPhones. In our defense we had been planning on getting iPhones this weekend because Jason's job is now mandating their use. I do feel guilty as I sit her on my new MacBook Pro, as though the sad eyes of Bill Gates are watching me with disappointment. I will get over it.

In more important news, Halloween is in full swing around here. Madeleine relished cleaning out her first pumpkin and Isabelle thought long and hard about what type of face to give her jack-o-lantern. A fun time was had by all - even when the entire bowl of pumpkin guts and seeds spilled on the floor, eliciting cries of "Oh no! What a mess!" from Maddy.

Maddy had so much fun cleaning the pumpkin out she decided putting the goo back in could be just as much fun! I have some great video but blogger isn't interested in loading it right now. Is there no end to the computer madness?!

Isabelle designed this pumpkin with the crooked smile all be herself.

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate...

Did I Mention I Love Fall?

Because I do. I really do. It's my favorite season by far, and not just because of pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin scones. I love the slight chill in the air on crisp, clear days, the changing leaves and harvest time. And, my favorite thing of all? Spending a day on the farm, picking pumpkins, petting animals and this year - going on rides.

It was cousin Vilia's birthday weekend so Grandma and Papa came up to spend the day.

Aunt Darla with her biggest fan.
Isabelle, Vilia and Madeleine

Madeleine thought the giant inflatable scarecrow was delightful!

Vilia loved her first day on the farm too!

Isabelle was pretty proud to be holding her little sister on the canoe ride.

A train ride is always exciting!...

...but Maddy loved petting the rabbits even more.

One of Isabelle's favorite things was driving everyone around on the antique car track.

Even Maddy took a turn.

Anyone up for flying pumpkins?!

Pony rides too!

We usually pluck our pumpkins straight from the vine but there was so much to do at Remlinger Farms we were kind of tuckered out and opted for selecting from the pile.

Then it was time to go home and finish decorating our porch. What a great day!

A few days later we decided a batch of caramel corn was in order.

Yummm is all I can say!

After a full day of raking and playing in leaves...

...the girls settled down for a taste of that caramel corn. (Except that Maddy actually had animal crackers since she still only has 12 teeth. She didn't care though - a treat's a treat!)

We even had enough caramel corn left over to make treat bags for Isabelle's teacher and bus driver and Madeleine's daycare provider. How fun!

Now, I just have to get busy baking some pumpkin bread!