H-A-double L-O..W-double E-N spells Halloween!

So, my favorite holiday has come and gone and this year I wasn't really into it. I usually dress up and have my costume planned months in advance...but I had no motivation. I wasn't even excited about going trick or treating..well, I mean I was excited for Gage and curious how it would turn out. I was unsure if he would even like it.

Wait...let me back up a minute.

Let me start with pumpkins and the pumpkin patch. This year we had A LOT of pumpkins, mostly because they were free but also because I had the oh so brilliant idea to paint the pumpkins instead of carve them. Then we wouldn't have a goopy pumpkin mess. Sounds good in theory, right? Well...being the brilliant idea comer-upper that I am, I figured let's paint all of the Little Einstein characters on the pumpkins! Of course, I procrastinated and didn't actually do them until oh...a week before Halloween. I will say though, I am pretty happy with the result and the fact that Gage knew what each one was made it a success in my book.

Here is a picture of all of the pumpkins on the porch.


My favorite pumpkin, Leo


Rocket


Quincy


Annie and my least favorite pumpkin, June.


So..over all, not too shabby if I do say so myself. I did like that it gave me something crafty to do. We also went to the pumpkin patch a few times this year, which Gage loved.

Gage attempting to pick up his pumpkin


Gotta love that smooshy face


The mall had a little trick or treating event, like every year "Mall-O-Ween". We've brought Gage in the past, but this year I think he actually got the concept that he was getting candy. Of course, he got to do it the lazy way...he stayed in a cart. He did get out a few "treats" and "thank you's" to the people handing out the candy.

Treat or Treating the lazy way..


Not wanting to keep his hood on..it was warm in the mall


He got a decent amount of candy, but I don't think we will be able to keep it. More on that in a minute.

So...for actual Halloween night Justin and I were planning on bringing Gage out early, but of course, we were running late. By the time we go to where we were going, around 6, Gage fell asleep in the car.



We figured we would get him up because it was way too early for him to be sleeping and if he slept he would be up all night. So we get him in the stroller and start off to the houses. Gage did awesome! He walked to each door, knocked on a few of them, said a few "treat's" and a few "thank you's". I think he might have melted a few hearts when he signed thank you to them.

Heading up to a house with Daddy


Walking with Daddy again.


We finally left, after getting a little lost and got home around 8ish. It was good, Gage got a lot of candy and had fun.

Here is from the beginning of the night, isn't he adorable?


Ok..so on to the other fun news. So for the past two weeks we have been playing a tug of war with a skunk that decided to make a home under our porch. We got sprayed three times in two weeks! The first time, I was alone thank god because the smell was so bad that it woke me up at 6:15 am but I stayed home because it wasn't that bad. The second time, poor Gage was here and again..it was 6:15. Justin was heading to work and it woke me up. I woke up and Gage was up too, laying with his blanket over his nose. Poor guy..we ended up leaving and going to my mother's. We stayed there for a few days because it was so bad. The third time I was alone again..Justin's parents were keeping Gage overnight. I was on the phone with Justin while he was doing an overnight, so it was around 1:30am. I could smell it again and it wasn't long before I was heading to Justin's parents. Needless to day, it was a long night and even longer next day. We finally caught a skunk in a live trap we borrowed. I still think there might be one more...but we will see. I'm still trying to get the rest of the smell out, it seeped into some stuff and it's a pain to get the smell out.

ok...

Now, on to baby update...

Everything is going good, I'm getting that round baby belly. I still haven't gained any weight, but the baby is getting bigger. I don't get why I am not gaining, I eat. As long as things are going good though, that's what matters. I go in a few weeks for another sonogram. Less than 100 days left! I better get to cleaning!

Oh and I forgot to add..Gage is doing awesome! I started to keep a count of what he says and I lost track. He is at at least 200+ words. He just is absorbing and repeating everything, it's nice to hear him talk but it's hard to figure out what some of it is. A lot of times when he says something, because a lot of it sounds similar I go through the list until he says "yeah". Horrible, but it's the only way to figure it out. He should be starting school soon..but we'll see how that goes.

Alright, that's enough for now..the grape juice Gage spilled is calling me to clean it.