A special announcement...

For starters, happy Halloween everyone! We're looking forward to bringing Scarlett trick-or-treating for the first time tonight so make sure to check back this weekend for the adorable pictures of that experience. I'm thinking she will be done after about 2 houses and then I'll be the one squeezing into the Elmo costume to stock up on candy. Let's be serious - I'm going to be eating it anyway.

Well folks, I've got a big announcement to make.

Joe and I are expecting another cheeky baby! Yay!
I am 12 weeks along today and figured it was a good time to let you all know.

(Though, by this point, I'm sure most of you already do.)

Joe and I wanted to have kids roughly two years apart. We did the math and figured we'd start trying, heck, when they'd be two years apart (makes sense, right?). And wow, they will be two years apart. Two years exactly. Scarlett's birthday is 5/18, and my estimated due date is 5/15...and I thought I was bad at math.

I'm very lucky and wind up having incredibly easy pregnancies. I get a little tired, but that's it. And Joe says that doesn't count because I'm always tired anyway. This is true. I feel great and am really excited about the little belly starting to make an appearance. As a matter of fact, I can't keep my hands off of it knowing what rests inside. When I was pregnant with Scarlett, I had no idea the love I could feel as a parent. (Does anyone really know before they actually become a parent?!) Now that I've experienced that love, this pregnancy is already so much different. I can't stop smiling.

Scarlett tries to pawn off her dinner...

on everyone.

In case you're unable to comprehend what Scarlett is saying, I've typed out the scene below.

Scene 1 - Dinner

(Dada forks up a bite of Scarlett's dinner and offers it to her.)
Scarlett - "No."
(Dada puts bite into his own mouth.)
Scarlett - "Mmmmm, good."
(Dada forks another bite of dinner and offers it to Scarlett.)
Scarlett - "No." (Takes fork.)
Scarlett - "Dada bite?"
Dada - "No thank you. Scarlett's bite"
Scarlett - "Mama bite?"
Mama - "No thank you."
Scarlett - "Mama...dog?"
Dada - "No no, dog...no no no."

Dog thinks - "gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme"

Just because...

This kid cracks me up.

Boo at the Zoo II - This Time, They're Toddlers

Last Sunday we returned to the Beardsley Zoo's Boo at the Zoo. This was a momentous moment for us...okay...for Val and I...because it was at this very event last year that Scarlett and Carson met for the first time. (To see that adorable post in it's entirety, click here.) I guess you could call last Sunday their one year anniversary. Cheesy, I know - but I'm going with it. And you can't stop me. I went back in my (rapidly growing) computer's photo albums and pulled some of the best pictures from last year to give you a good "then vs. now" comparison. It's adorable, sad, hilarious, tear-jerking, and just plain ol' fun to see how these two kids have changed since last year. I feel so lucky that Scarlett has Carson as a buddy/future husband. To me, these pictures represent a year of really good times, good conversations, and great friends.

Here we go...

Getting ready to go go go to the zoo...Checking out things in cages...Staying close by Carson...Being cheeky...Sitting on a bench with mama...while being cheeky...Being a dada's girl...Standing...with parental support...And just being friends...

Nothing will give you a better glimpse at how these kiddos have changed than watching real live footage of them then vs. now.

Here's what we did then...

And here's what we do now...


Funny, huh?

Well, that's that. This was us then...

And this is us now.And it's been an awesome year in between.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Guess where we went on Saturday? Scarlett saw "The Greatest Show on Earth!" It was a ton o' fun. Here's a video all about it...

There Was a Young Toddler...

There was a young toddler who lived in a shoe. She had so many babies she didn't know what to do!She crammed them all into one lone high chair,

and fed them all delicious forkfuls of air.

Each had its own bib (a necessity),but elbow room was tight, as you can see.

She realized quickly she couldn't get them all fed,

So she said "here dada...you do it instead."

That's my Bubsy!

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Yes. Yes, I can.
I-91S to exit 32B. Straight through six lights and the XL Center containing the majestic Sesame Street and its characters will be on your right hand side...at least until the show closes.
Oh Sesame Street Live - we loved you.
Scarlett had no idea what she was in for. We kept saying "are we going to go see Mo?" but she didn't know what we were talking about. She was excited though, as you can tell from this picture outside the XL Center in Hartford. Mo was everywhere inside the building. Scarlett kept running from Mo poster to Mo poster and pointing at Mo (Elmo) and Cookie (every blue character). Our seats were awesome. Joe kept asking me how I got seats that good as if I had done something illegal to get them...I didn't, I swear. We were right in the second row, but no one was in front of us, so it was pretty much front row and just about dead center. $130 well spent. (gulp.)
We loaded Scarlett up with cotton candy and non-watered down lemonade - something we most definitely would not have done had we not have been in a environment where all that hopped up energy would go to good use.
Now...I'm not going to lie. When this show started I thought we were going to have to leave. Scarlett was sitting in Joe's lap and all of a sudden the lights went out, loud music blasted, strobe lights flashed, and Scarlett saw Big Bird skip on stage and she royally freaked out. Hey...if you saw a giant 9 foot bird (that up until that very afternoon had been a minuscule 10 inches on the TV screen) you'd freak out too. Scarlett started crying and we were just about to move some rows back so we weren't practically sitting in Big Bird's lap...but then she looked around and saw all the other (slightly older) kids cheering and being the Scarlett that she is, she mimicked the older kids and smiled and cheered along with them...gradually at first.



Scarlett caught on quick. She sat and intently watched the whole show. This is what she did at the end of every song. Seriously people...how cute?


We saw everybody from Sesame Street. We saw Bert and Ernie.

and Tully.We saw Abby...and Zoe...

and this...guy (?)and Big Bird and Cookie Monster...

and of course we saw Elmo...ahh, Elmo.
Scarlett was petrified of the Count...

Seriously though...can you blame her? This is one creepy looking dude.

The whole gang... I was surprised that Scarlett was not very interested in Elmo during the show. She kept asking for this guy

When Cookie walked off stage, she would shrug her shoulders and say "Cookie?" (no lie.)All the characters would walk right in front of us to shake hands, but we kept waiting for Cookie.
And then...

He's heading straight for us!Oh yeah...she shook his hand in complete awe right at the end of the show.Fireworks went off...literally
Scarlett talked about it the whole way home...or for about 10 minutes before she fell asleep.

I doubt anyone would believe me if I said that was the most fun I've had in a while, but I'm going to say it anyway. Joe and I are still talking about it.