Demolition

Today when I got home from work, I saw a bulldozer in the driveway of the house across the streets. It's been empty ever since we've been here, and even for a few years before that. We heard rumors over the summer that it was going to be torn down soon (I guess it had serious water damage), but I figured everyone was just full of hot air after it never happened. Turns out today was the day!

This was our first house demolition experience. Spencer pulled out a camping chair from the garage so he and Sydney could watch in comfort from our driveway. We were soon joined by other neighbors- it was quite a spectacle!



I love Spencer and Sydney's clapping in this video, like these guys were putting on a show for us.

That bulldozer was mighty powerful. I think the house was totally torn down in like 15 minutes!

Now the big question is, what are they going to do with that lot? And when will the pile of garbage they just made get cleaned up (uh, hopefully before some kid falls into it)?

**Update** When I got home from work today, everything was cleaned up! Now it's just a gaping hole where the basement used to be. I'm so sure it took the city like 3 months to finally mow the lawn on that lot, but then only one day to clean up the gigantic pile of torn up house. Have to admit- I'm impressed!!

Happy Halloween!!

I have to admit, our pumpkin carving festivities were seriously lacking this year. We didn't even buy pumpkins- I got a little one from my visiting teachers, and then another slightly bigger one from being "Boo-ed" at school. This week has just been busy, and we didn't make time to follow our awesome and elaborate carving tradition that we established in years past. I felt lame that the year we actually have a kiddo to celebrate with is the year we slack off.

Well, I was determined to have Sydney at least be part of the pumpkin cleaning experience. So I cut open one of those little pumpkins and set her on my lap. I tried to get her to dig in to the slimy stuff, but she didn't really go for it. She tried to pick up a few seeds, but when they ended up being too slippery for her, she became much more interested in the papers on the table.

After Sydney went to bed, Spencer read a book while I carved a traditional jack-o-lantern face.

It took me about 3 minutes.

Tonight we had dinner with the Barnum's before heading out with them and the Jolivette's for trick-or-treating.

Here's Sydney sporting her poodle skirt and saddle shoes, and Addie modeling her bumble bee costume.

Our neighborhood crew: Sydney, Addie, Georgie, Tony, Macie, and Charlie.

Spencer did the honors of helping Sydney trick-or-treat at her first house.

I have to admit, I was a little embarrassed to be asking for candy when it was my turn to hold her. We pretty much just went up and down one street, and several people made comments about how little she was to be trick-or-treating (e.g. A man who put candy in her bucket said "Here's one piece of candy for Dad, and one for Mom," and a lady at one door said to Sydney, "Do you even have any teeth?").

She may not get to eat the candy, but Sydney loved looking around at all of the kids and the lights. I thought the decorations at this house were particularly cute. Notice that she hardly looks like she's dressed up for Halloween at this point (uh, like 10 minutes into it). I brought that hat as a back-up, and I gave her my gloves since I haven't found any super cute ones for her yet. I think next year I'll shoot for a warm costume that I don't have to make :)

Happy Halloween!

Busy Day

I love it when we have productive and fun Saturdays like today.

This morning:

• Got a flu shot (Sydney got hers on Thursday and didn't even cry!!).
• Cleaned our house.
• Did lots of laundry.
• Mowed the lawn.
  

This afternoon:

• Went on campus for ASDA's tailgate BBQ.
  
• Picked 19 lbs. of apples at Patterson's (to replenish our dwindling supply of Golden Delicious goodness).
• Put all of Sydney's clothes that she's outgrown in storage.
  

This evening:

• Cooked dinner.
• Went to our ward Halloween party.

I made these poodle skirts for Sydney and me,

and we went as a '50s family.

We totally made out like bandits even though we didn't really play any games. Sydney held onto that Twizzler-looking thing for most of the night. I love that for her it's all about the shiny, crinkly wrappers, not the yummy treat inside.

11 Months

What?!?? Only one more month before this kiddo is a year old... hard to believe.

Spencer took this picture the other day when she was playing on our bed. We laugh every time we see it. Makes me want to kiss those sweet little cheeks.

Some stuff about Sydney at 11 months:

• She likes to chase us and be chased around the house. When Spencer or I get on our knees and scream, she'll start to scream and then come after us or crawl away from us. This game is a constant reminder as to why adults don't crawl, especially when we're on wood floors or the kitchen floor.
  
• She shakes her little booty when music is playing.
  
• She jabbers all the time with her nonsense words.
• She loves to brush her teeth by herself (aka she bites her toothbrush), and seriously protests when I take it away.
• She stands on her own for longer periods of time. Today she was standing and holding on to the laundry basket, and when Spencer and I started clapping and saying "yay!" she stood on her own and clapped with us. I'd say she was up for a good 10-15 seconds before falling on her bum. It was super cute.

• When she has a boogie in her nose that's bugging her, she blows air out of her nose while intermittently wiping it with her hands. She gets it out every time!
• She's so curious, and she gets into everything. She loves to open doors and take out everything she can reach from our end table and pantry. I love it when she stands on her tip-toes to try to reach for stuff on the shelves of our entertainment center.

• She HATES having her diaper changed and getting dressed. She starts to cry as soon as she realizes I'm laying her down on the changing table.
• She doesn't protest getting her hair washed, but when I rinse the shampoo out of it and water drips into her eyes, she stands up and reaches for me as if to say "I don't like that and I'm ready to get out now."
• Her hair is getting pretty long. Spencer sometimes styles it after she gets out of the tub.

• She loves eating black beans and chicken. She eats them by the handful (only a portion of which actually makes it into her mouth).
• Spencer's been trying to train her to "share" (feed him) her food for several weeks. She's really gotten the hang of it, and she'll regularly hold out a piece of food during mealtimes to feed to one of us.
• When she eats Cheerios, she carefully bites them in half with her front teeth.
  
• She currently has 6 teeth, and bites me with them frequently (still nursing).
  
• She is reportedly a very good girl for her babysitters, and she's transitioned to our new crazy schedule pretty easily.
  

What can I say? Sydney has brought a lot of love and laughter to our family.

Mmmmmm

Between sessions of General Conference today, we went out to Patterson's to pick some apples. Last fall we fell in love with Golden Delicious apples, so we've been anxiously anticipating the arrival of October when they are ready for picking.

At the farm on Mulberry Rd. It was chilly, but at least we got a break from the rain!

Sydney and Spencer checking out the merchandise.

Thinking that one looks good (hence the tongue sticking out), but not quite sure how to get it.

Sharing her find with Daddy.

Since we didn't want to go to the Family Fun Fest, we went to their other location (where we've gone every other year) to get donuts and kettlecorn.

Sydney thought these gigantic pumpkins were pretty cool.

We ran into some friends from dental school while we were there, and Spencer was talking to them about Honeycrisp apples, which were described to us last year as being the "Mercedes of apples." We've never had them, but our friends had just bought some and gave one to Spencer to try. Well, he let Sydney have a bite, and this is what ensued...

Seriously, she was eating that apple the entire time we were there. Usually when we eat apples, one of us will hold it and let her take bites, but this time she insisted on holding it herself. She got really ticked every time we took it to take a bite. I guess it goes to show you that they really are that good.

As usual, we enjoyed eating our treats on the way home. Now we've got 17 lbs. of apples in our fridge, but I'm still hoping to make it out there a few more times before it gets too cold. Happy fall!

A Week of Firsts

This was my first week of work, and my first time to leave Sydney with babysitters for pretty much the entire day. Thankfully, it was a success! My friends Becky and Jenny are watching Sydney, and I was so relieved to hear them say she was doing fine when I called during my lunch breaks and on my drives home. As for the work end of things, I have a lot on my plate. I feel like I should be doing therapy, but it seems like there's SO much to do (i.e. make a schedule, familiarize myself with IEPs, organize my room, go through materials, etc.) before I can actually do anything meaningful. But I guess I should be patient with myself since I've really only been there for 2 days.

Another first for this week: Sydney's first baseball game. We bought cheap tickets for Friday's Indians vs. Orioles game from the dental school. It was the perfect weather for an evening game.

When we first sat down, Sydney just clapped and clapped while she looked around at all of the bright lights. It was really cute to see her along with the rest of the crowd when something good happened.

Lookin' cute on Daddy's lap.

Trying to get her to wear Spencer's hat... it didn't last long.

She just hung out like this in my lap for about five innings and kept me nice and warm.

My sweet little family :)

Spencer, Chuck, and Braden were distracted by these Bean Boozled jelly beans that our neighbor gave to us. They're like Berti Bott's Every Flavored Beans in Harry Potter, so the little blue bean your were about to eat could be raspberry flavored or toothpaste flavored. The best reactions came after they ate vomit and moldy cheese. Ha!

The Indians came out with a win, ending their 12 game losing streak. Overall, it was a great end to a crazy week!

What A Day

I got a job today (3 days a week, starts next Tuesday).

Then I came home and cried for about an hour as I thought about leaving my baby with someone else for 20 hours a week. I'm gonna miss having that Tiny around 24/7.

Spencer tells me I need her more than she needs me. I know it's true, but it's still hard.

Blasted CFY.