Trick or Treat

Trick or Treating was so much fun this year! Meredith was just old enough to get really excited so it made the whole day a blast! When she got up for her nap, I went in and asked if she was ready to get dressed and she was jumping up and down shouting "Yes, yes!"

This year, Meredith decided to be Tinker Bell. She actually picked it out from a Party City ad in the summer. When she said that is what she wanted to be, I thought there was no way she would stick to that all the way until October, but I was definitely wrong! By her birthday, she had hinted to Aunt Sandy that she would love the costume and Aunt Sandy was happy to grant her that wish! From there, we had to decide what to do about Jillian. We went to the Disney store with Aunt Sandy one day to see what they would have. Meredith was all for Jillian being a Fairy too. Luckily, Aunt Sandy is very talented and was able to cut down the toddler sized Rosetta (another one of the fairies from the Tinker Bell movies) to fit little Jillian since they don't make them in baby sizes. She took the extra fabric and made her some wings and a really pretty flower for her hair - it was perfect!

Beautiful fairy girls!

The custom wings from Aunt Sandy

We got to Trick or Treat at Bubbie and Granddad's house and then headed to see Gigi and Papa and hit their neighborhood with Landon and Meredith's friend, Katie.

Rosetta with Papa

The trick or treating crew. Somehow we couldn't get a good picture of all 4 of them.
Landon as Nemo and Meredith heading off with some good loot
Jillian loved watching everyone and trick or treated a few houses too.
Another attempt at a cousin shot. This time we tried to distract them with a toy. I guess it sort-of worked!

Two Pink Poodles

Meredith on her first Halloween - 2 months old
Jillian at 6 1/2 months old

It's not Halloween. It's a Carnival

For our first Halloween celebration today, we hit my mom's school carnival. When I got out the Tinker Bell costume that Meredith has been waiting to be for Halloween for MONTHS, she told me "I am going to be Cinderella." I was a little confused and starting to freak out a bit - we had ALL the accessories for Tinker Bell and we had planned Jillian's costume to match Tinker Bell and now she wants to be Cinderella??? So I said, "But you wanted to be Tinker Bell for Halloween." To which she answered, "It's not Halloween, it's a carnival." Of course. She just thought she needed to be something different for the carnival. That I was fine with - and I was kind of excited because I thought it was going to be a little chilly so I could pull out Meredith's first Halloween costume to let Jillian wear!

Meredith LOVED Jillian's costume

Look at my cute poodle!
Sweet Cinderella

Thoughtfully watching Meredith in the bounce house - I think she is trying to take notes for next year.
Time for more hugs for Meredith's newest favorite stuffed animal.
She loved playing all the games
Doing the Monster Mash

Pumpkins for my pumpkins

We hit the grocery store a little late this year to go pumpkin hunting, but we still got a great one for carving and Meredith even picked out a little one for both she and Jillian to paint. Meredith was very excited about the painting, but as expected, not so much about the carving. She just couldn't get why it was all yucky inside and would come nowhere close to the goo. She did act as art director for the face of the pumpkin - picking his eye and nose shape and insisting that he needed eyebrows.

Meredith keeping her distance from the yucky pumpkin
I got a little help carving the eyes

Meredith and Daddy played a little rock band after carving pumpkins, so she decided to pose with the painted pumpkins and the carved one with her guitar.

Jillian posing with her pumpkin. I really wish that I could say that she painted it instead of admitting that I did it. Oh well, she liked it! :)

One more day at the beach

We made sure to make the most of our last day at the beach house with lots more time in the sand and waves.

Meredith was getting a little more comfortable with being in the sand so we had lots of fun building sand castles and making more sand cookies.
Meredith and Granddad exploring the beach.
And she finally got brave enough to purposely walk into the water.
With that proving to be less scary than she thought, she went ahead and tried out some splashing!
And more wading...

And jumping in the waves.
What could be more fun than this?

More beach fun

Our second full day at the beach, we had lots of fun activities planned. We started off with a trip to Adventure Island and when we got home Bubbie had a Treasure Hunt planned for Winston and Meredith.

Meredith and Daddy on the Go Carts at Adventure Island. We let Meredith choose if she wanted to ride the Go Carts or a Tug Boat ride, to which she replied "Or both." And we fell for it.
This pirate delivered the first clue to finding his treasure. Even after Meredith figured out that it was Daddy, she still wouldn't walk with him.
Look how excited Meredith was at finding the clues.
The last clue led them to the X. Winston was a pro at digging with a shovel.
Digging into the pirate's treasure.
Meredith warmed up the pirate mask and had fun trying it out.
Meredith ended her treasure hunt with hunting for lots and lots of shells.
And then she played a fun game with her pirate treasure whistle that including Bubbie and I running around the beach like crazy whenever she would blow it.
The whistle also sometimes meant you should dance.
Beautiful sunset to end a beautiful day.

Jillian's 6 month stats

Jillian went in for her 6 month check-up right before we headed to the beach and got another glowing report! She got lots of shots, but did great with them yet again. This time Meredith was there to offer her comfort, which was so sweet.

Weight 17lb 4 oz (75%)
Height 27in (90%)
Head 47.1 (99%)

Yep, head is still holding strong and looking cute as ever! :)

Beach Babies

We had been counting the days until last weekend for months! Bubbie had planned a great trip to Gulf Shores, AL to celebrate her big birthday as well as Granny Annie's big birthday this year. Bubbie rented a beautiful house for all of us plus Granny Annie and Neal's Uncle Ken, Aunt Mimi and Winston (who is just a bit older than Meredith so the perfect beach buddy).

There is nothing I love more than the beach and I was so excited to get to spend the weekend with so many people we love in my favorite location.

Introducing Jillian to the beach

And a little "stroll" along the shore...

Dipping her toes in the waves with Daddy
Big sis was a little more appprehensive about everything - starting from when we first got out of the car. She didn't want to get her shoes dirty on the sand that was on the driveway - imagine what happened when we actually got to the beach!
Look at this happy beach baby
Everyone had a great time with kites on the windy beach
Bubbie and her girls
The cousins making sand castles (or in Meredith's case, she was making cookies or her lunch for school). I love that Jillian was able to get right in there like a big kid too.
Getting down and dirty!

We were so excited to get to introduce Jilian to Granny Annie too - they had so much fun together!