Happy Halloween!!!!

There is a little bunny running around our house today!!! She didn't get candy but her Daddy took her to that big toy store yesterday and bought the bunny an iggle piggle. She LOVES him. The bunny has played with this doll quite a bit in stores but Daddy actually bought it for her. That Daddy!!!!!!

We aren't going out this year because of my knee surgery but we decided to have some fun at home. Here we are carving our pumpkin and getting the seeds ready for roasting. They were delicious
This next photo is of our hospital id bracelets. You will notice that

Annie's is much cuter than mine. They gave me one and Annie put her arm up to get one too. They thought she was so cute that they made her a special one we just took off today!! Funny girl. Speaking of funny, Annie was up to her Halloween hijinks this morning and decided to get into her baby doll cradle. Unfortunately, it broke and Shawn clicked the camera at the same time!! It was very funny but it scared Annie!!
Tomorrow morning I have a new job - putting it back together!!!
This last photo is of our cooked pumpkin tureen soup that we had for dinner. We also had pumpkin cheesecake and it was Yummy!!!! I put the pumpkin on the dining room table and Annie loved picking out pieces of pumpkin and eating them. The soup that we cooked inside was a coconut, swiss cheese and bread concoction- delicious with the roasted pumpkin.

Don't you just love the little shirt - thanks Auntie Katie.

Reporting in....

People always ask me if Annie is a "good eater". She is and here are some photos to prove it. The first is Annie finishing her blueberries and looking for more. Mom, I love the plant stand that you gave us a few years ago. This summer it held beautiful impatients and now I have my fall mums in it. I will plant primroses and pansies for the winter. It is so nice to look out the window and enjoy the flowers while we are eating.

Annie has also learned how to climb up on a chair so in the second photo she is having a pancake snack, sitting in a "big" chair. We are also putting

the little one to work and here she is at our garden plot, digging for potatoes with her Dad. This was actaully the first time we let her roam the garden freely and she was wonderful. Annie is an expert at picking raspberries and from that, she was able to help us pick the last of the tomatoes and peppers. She then dug for potatoes and help me fill up the compost. I wish I had taken a photo of her "swimming" in the dirt, it was really cute. Her Dad had a few heart attacks because of the "eating dirt" thing- he used to work in a soil lab and just knows too much- but it is organic soil and our fertilizer is seaweed from the ocean so it can't be that bad!!!!

These next photos are of Annie in her Chinese dress. She LOVED it and I wanted to get some photos of her in it before she grows out of it.

We were also trying to get some photos for a few gifts for a few special fellows in her life. These are the two best ones. Even though Shawn hated the hairband, Annie loved it and she has played with it every day since, putting it on and looking at herself in the mirror. Funny girl.

I also wanted to note a few developmental changes here too. We were having a play date with Asia who is a few years older than Annie and loves to hug. It was getting a bit too much for Annie so she started telling Asia "back back". I am so happy that she knows her limits and feels comfortable enough to tell people when they are in her space and she is uncomfortable. Thanks Debbie, for a fun morning. You are right, other people's toys are so much fun and so is Asia.

Another developmental change is in the way she deals with new things that other people give or show her. Colleen was here over last weekend into the week and at first, Annie would grab my hand to take anything that Colleen offered. She did this the other night when we were out for dinner and she was playing with another little girl in the restaurant. She had me do the task first, holding my hand and directing me. Interesting.

I would also like to thank Lisa for having us over and for a lovely lunch. It was wonderful for Annie to play with Musette again and she did not have any allergy attacks after rolling around in her kitty bed. Yippee!!!!

In other news, I resigned from my job this past week. I will now be a stay at home Mom and I am really happy about this decision - no regrets. My Mom said the other day that I seem so much happier and I told her it is because I finally have the life I want. Some days are tough and it will be interesting living on one income but it is worth every minute!!!!!

Happy Moon Fest, Thanksgiving etc etc...

When you have a little person who is growing up and becoming very busy, it is difficult to get time on the computer, read your library books and generally do anything that does not include paying your complete attention to your child. I have been thinking of blogging for days now but just haven't had the chance!!!

We had a lovely moon fest and went to the top of the mountain to make our moon wishes, ate moon cakes and celebrated Jack's first birthday. That week we also attended a great dinner with other families who are waiting for their children from China and Vietnam. It was a very nice evening and Annie did very well, sitting in the restaurant for over three hours. Thank goodness we have a child who enjoys food!!!

Here she is in her pretty yellow dress at Jack's birthday party.

Thanksgiving was wonderful and I have to say, it was super to have the time at home to prepare. In years past, Colleen has always prepared the meal but this year, with Shawn and Bob's schedules, we stayed home. Staying home also meant having guests and we had a full table for our evening. I was able to bake apple and pumpkin pies, get all of the vegis done, cook a 25kg turkey with homemade bread stuffing and prepare the homemade cranberries too. I LOVE being at home. I only wish that we had photos of Annie as she sat at the end of the pretty table and looked at all the food around her. She was THRILLED to say the least. Veronica may have some photos but she is so hard to get these days!!! We both now have head colds and the weather has changed to windy and rain but the weekend was lovely. Thank you to Angela and Gary for having us over on Saturday night too. It was a blast.

Here are a few photos of our darling girl to share with family and friends. There are some neat photos of Annie and Shawn playing guitar that I will post on facebook too...

Annie is wearing her Grandpa Ivan's hat. She loves to look at herself in her mirror when she put on "ats".

This is how hard it is to get a photo of Miss. She has her Fu dolly in her carrier but when it came time to take the photo, she came running towards me!!!!! Love the corelle dolls - thank you Auntie Colleen!!!!

Photos...

Here is the litle kitchen helper!!!!! Love the pants - only little ones can get away with wearing these I guess. Annie and Joma that is.