Halloween Party

Today my MOMS Club had a Halloween party. It was fun to get Brady dressed up and for him to play with the other little kids dressed up. We all brought a dish, so that there would be a potluck lunch. Brady had a lot of fun playing on the playset and the swings.

Brady and a pumpkin

Brady and Spiderman. It almost looks like Spiderman is getting ready to beat up Raggedy Andy.

A duck and a cowgirl

Brady with a sunflower and Princess Leah

Brady loved the swing. He usually does, but he stayed in for much longer than he ever has before and even came back to it later for another long ride.

Getting a couple of pushes from a friendly kitty ;)

Jack O Lantern Fun

Last weekend, we picked out our pumpkin, so this weekend it was time to carve it! Of course, Brady is still too little to participate very much, but he was much more aware than last year.

Drawing their design

Our "muse"

Pumpkin guts. Ewwww!

Boo!!!

Playing around under his highchair while daddy carves out the face

Our friendly ghost

Balling up newspaper is more fun than carving pumpkins

Daddy is abandoned to do all the work

The finished product

Checking out the strobe light inside

Last year's pumpkin

Happy Halloween!

Every year, I send out a Halloween card (shown above) with Brady in costume as a sort of "grand reveal" to our closest family and friends. We decided to start sending this card out because kids look adorable in costumes and most people don't get to see them unless they live nearby. So, we keep Brady's costume a secret until early October when we send out that card. I usually wait until right before Halloween to post pictures on facebook for everyone else to seee. So this is the "grand reveal" via the internet.

This year, Brady is Raggedy Andy. I had asked Andy if his mother ever dressed him as this, since it seemed like the most obvious choice for a redhead named Andy. He said no, and when I was searching for this year's costume, I stumbled upon a Raggedy Andy costume! I just had to buy it for Brady.

He's never been the fondest of hats so I had to bribe him with some goldfish crackers.




My mom bought Brady a Madame Alexander Raggedy Andy doll to help supplement the costume and also as a keepsake of this Halloween. Brady loves his Nana!




I got Brady a special personalized candy basket for this year, since it will be his first year going out to trick-or-treat!




And of course, what Halloween is complete without some spooky pajamas?

Brady's Aunt Dunny

My best friend, Jenn, aka Dunny, has been my friend for a long time. We met right before our freshman year at Pitt, when we roomed together at band camp in Bradford, PA. We were both in the Pitt Color Guard. We really bonded during that time at camp and have been friends ever since! We've had a lot of adventures and shenanigans over the last 7 years ;)

At band camp sophomore year (2005).

At the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY for the Pitt vs. Syracuse game (2006).

At band camp senior year (2007).

Pitt game during senior year (2007).

My wedding (May 2009).

Dunny has been a very big part of Brady's life as well. She was the very first person to visit us the hospital after Brady was born. She made it there just over an hour after he was born and was the first one to hold him besides us. I have a funny story about the hospital (and I know she'll kill me for sharing). I finally got into a room after Brady was born and she was waiting outside with my dad and brother and she mentioned to the nurse that she had better take good care of her "Boo." The nurse then asked if she was the proud grandma! She almost died on the spot. Dunny is actually younger than me.

1 hour after Brady was born (February 19, 2010). She came straight from work and texted that she was coming to the hospital after work whether he was born or not. Love that girl!

In the hospital again when Brady was 1 day old (February 20, 2010).

Hanging out at the apartment in Oakland when Brady was 1 week old (February 28, 2010).

Dunny is Brady's honorary aunt. She is super awesome and always buys him presents after I tell her that she doesn't have to. I don't know what I would have done without her after Brady was born and even before. When we had that crazy blizzard right before Brady was born and our car died, she was always ready to come pick me up and take me to the hospital if I needed her to. She was at our house several times a week during Brady's first month and would always bring us a dinner when we needed it. She was even amazing enough to come and take Brady out of the house when we were trying to finish the final packing trying to move out of our apartment in Oakland. It's funny because she always felt like she was taking advantage holding the baby the whole time she was over and I felt like I was talking advantage of her because I could get so much done when she was over holding the baby. She is an invaluable friend and I love her.

Visiting us in Michigan and going with us to the pumpkin patch (October 2010).

Our last trip home to go to the Pitt vs. Utah game. We hung out the entire time before the game (October 2011).

Pumpkin Picking at Denver Downs

This past weekend, we made a trip to Denver Downs farm, which has a pumpkin patch and fall fun on the weekends in October. We went to a pumpkin patch last year in Michigan, so we've started a yearly tradition.

The first attraction we saw when we got inside the gate was the cow ride. We were apprehensive on whether or not Brady could handle this on his own, but he walked right up to a cow and wanted to get in. He got buckled in and the tractor pulled him away. Unlike the typical "baby" Brady that we know, he stayed in his seat the whole time and was calm. We completely expected him to try and jump out even though he was buckled in. Watching him ride, I was struck with how big he's getting and I started to tear up. He's not my little baby anymore. We definitely came back to this ride before we left.

The hay mini maze for the younger kids. Brady loved it in there and we came back to it on our way out. He was very upset when it was time to leave.

The goat pen. I was amazed that there were goats up on that top beam!

The "corn box"

Brady was a little young for a few of the attractions, but this looked very cool. It was like a little hay obstacle course and there were even swings up there!

Trying to roll the pumpkin because it was too heavy to pick up. It ended up weighing in at 15lbs!

He loves to run, so this is daddy herding him back to our pumpkin.

Brady wouldn't sit by the pumpkin like last year (pictured below), but he was more than happy to sit ON the pumpkin ;)


What a difference a year makes! Brady was 8 months old last Halloween and this was at a pumpkin patch in Michigan.

The perfect pumpkin

They are famous for their amazing corn maze designs and each year, have a new, elaborate design. Pictured above is the design for this year commemorating the 150 year anniversary of the start of the Civil War (yes, we're definitely in the South). Normally, the corn stalks reach about 6-8 feet high (so that you can't see above them), but this year we've had a drought, so there were 7 straight weeks without rain. This meant that the corn was not able to grow very high. Pictured below is the corn maze. You can clearly see the people and it only reached about as high as our knees. It was a bummer that it couldn't grow to full height, but you can't control the weather.