Pumpkins and Candy and Cats, Oh My!

October came and went quickly and we are hopeful that maybe the hot summer weather did too, at least for a little while. The month was busily filled with all things Autumn and spooky. We visited a pumpkin patch and picked out the perfect square pumpkin for our porch. (Isabelle loves the character Spookly this time of year who just happens to be a square pumpkin!) Belle had a Halloween party at school and had fun making spiders and cobwebs with her classmates. Aunt Tara came for a quick visit and we made candy corn sugar cookies, carved a pumpkin, and had fun shopping at some festive holiday marketplaces. And Ben and I thoroughly enjoyed the girls in their skinny glow-in-the-dark Halloween pajamas, especially when we checked on them in the night and saw nothing but a glowing white skeleton in their beds!

Of course Halloween weekend was the grande finale of the thrilling month where the girls dressed as black cats per Isabelle's request. I was pleased she wanted to be something sweet and easy to put together and I even ordered a crochet cat hat for me too in honor of the festive season. Grandma and Grandpa came over to get in on the action as well and arrived just in time for the ward Trunk-or-Treat where we had fun eating hot dogs and chili while gathering candy from all the decorated trunks. The following day we had a neighborhood party at the exact same time as Belle's soccer game and we were pleasantly surprised when after given the choice she picked to play in her game instead of attend the party. We then carried on the Christensen tradition of 'Dinner in a Pumpkin' before we headed to bed for another big adventure the following day.

On Halloween day, Isabelle participated in her first Primary Singing Program and wore her spooky twirly skirt while she recited her line Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We then enjoyed visiting with some of our neighbors outside and filling our buckets a little bit more with goodies while handing out some candy as well. Isabelle was excited to be the one to give the candy to the Trick-or-Treaters and was very proud that she wasn't afraid of any of their costumes. The night, and fun, had to end a little bit early unfortunately since Belle was due at the Hospital for a quick surgery at 7am November 1st, but not until Belle had enjoyed the holiday to the fullest! Olivia had fun too all month long with so much to look at, but was happiest when she was tucked in her warm crib and dreaming of pumpkins on her own!

A week or so later, when Isabelle's surgery was over and we were starting to get back into our normal routine again, I gathered up our Halloween decorations to put away until next year and realized that Isabelle had not even looked into her bucket yet to see all of her treats she had gathered over the previous weekend. I dumped it all into another bowl and I think she has maybe had a sucker since. She definitely does not have much of a sweet tooth and I am not eating chocolate on Olivia's behalf, so Ben is doing his best to whittle away at the Halloween loot!

And now, on to the next Fall holiday and jam-packed month...the weather this time of year in San Antonio alone is worth celebrating!


**On a side note, remember that amazing photographer friend I mentioned earlier in the year? Well, she snapped these last two photos and emailed them to me to cherish! Wow, what a difference a "professional" makes, huh? Her boys journals will be filled with wonderful photography!

BEESTOCK 2010

The Bee's enjoyed their annual Girls Weekend the same week in Septmeber as usual! Olivia and I made her debut trip and left Isabelle to enjoy some one-on-one time with Ben! She was sorely missed and although she and her dad played and played and went to the Zoo, etc, she declared she would not be missing the girls fun next year! We inducted two new members of the Bee's this year too! (It pays to join this family!)



Long live the Bee's!

Generations

Ben's grandmother Nathala, who likes to be called Mamacita, was too ill to join us for the Meldrum wedding at the beginning of the year but is thankfully healthy now, so she travelled to Texas to pay some of her family a visit! She flew in and out of Houston but made the trip to San Antonio for the weekend to visit Isabelle and meet Olivia. Grandma Ruth of course came along with her from DFW and even Ben's Aunt Martha joined us from England for the fun! We spent time at the Alamo and enjoyed lunch on the Riverwalk, we played with the girls and chatted when they were in bed, and we even enjoyed a real English Tea Party on a tea set Martha packed for us all the way across the ocean! It's beautiful and I can see many tea parties on real china now in my future! It was a fun and busy weekend and I am glad Isabelle and Olivia were able to get to know some more of this ever-growing loving family!

Time to learn and time to play...

I have been fearing this day for 4 years but alas, the time has come...Isabelle has started Preschool! She and I both fretted about it too much, ever since we signed her name on the dotted line for the Stone Oak Presbyterian PreK Class last spring. I understand that she is ready to learn more and I know that she needs to get her feet wet before she is thrown into Kindergarten every day next year, but that didn't make the decision to drop my little shadow off every week any easier. I consciously never let Belle hear the anxiety in my voice and I made sure I rejoiced each time we drove past her "school" in the car all summer long but she too was anxious about being away from mom and insisted several times a week for months that I sign her up for the shortest class possible!

A week before school began we attended a "meet the teacher" night and when it ended with Jelly in tears I worried that this was going to be even tougher than I had anticipated. As we left that night Isabelle yelled across the parking lot to her little girlfriend Madilyn that we signed up with, Bye Missy, I'm not coming back! We celebrated the upcoming change and bought some Twinkle Toes for school as well as a backpack and lunchbox, and carried on the Christensen Tradition with a Back to School Fashion Show where Isabelle cried as she strutted her stuff in her new school clothes. One her first school night, after a comforting blessing from Daddy, Belle was tucked in her safe little bed with her bag packed and clothes laid out for the big day! I got out all of my sad tears about her growing up too fast that night as well so I was fresh faced and ready to go in the morning!


Our little prayer was answered when morning came and everyone in our home was excited for Isabelle's new adventure. She quickly got dressed and ate breakfast and we were on our way to drop her off at school. Ben, Olivia and I all three walked her to her classroom and found her cubby and seat and then she smiled and said goodbye! I listened for my phone all day but it never rang! Grammie drove over as quickly as she could from Houston without Belle knowing and surprised her when she was there to pick her up from her first day of school. Isabelle was all smiles and was so proud of just how brave she was, especially since when we arrived the kids were all sitting in the dark as the power was out due to Hurricane Hermine!

Now Isabelle spends her Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 2:00pm at school and has already been a line leader and has taken show-and-tell for the letters A, B and C. She loves to see her teachers, Mrs. Ashley and Ms. Pat, and loves to play with Missy, Caleb and Gavin. So far she makes me promise each school day that I will come and pick her up AS SOON AS SHE CALLS me because she never plans on staying the entire day, but I have never received that phone call yet. Of course in true Isabelle fashion, she immediately came down with a bug and was too sick for her 2nd day of school but thankfully the enthusiasm was still alive on day 3.

Olivia wonders why it is so quiet during her morning nap and loves when she hears Isabelle's voice at the end of the school day. I have quickly learned to enjoy running errands with only one little helper, and we have finally found the benefit to Belle being a VERY early riser, but I am so grateful that Isabelle has a day at home in between class days! For now, we are going to enjoy Belle spreading her wings just a little bit and not even think for a moment about Kindergarten next year.

One of my absolute favorite books to read to Isabelle has been Llama Llama Red Pajama because Jelly is EXACTLY like the little llama in the story! I often quote lines from the book to her all day such as "Llama llama what a tissy, sometimes mama is very busy..." so it was too perfect when just days from school starting we came across a new treasure titled Llama Lama Misses Mama. Little Llama starts school and it has quickly become our new favorite book to read together each night.

Llama finds out something new -
He loves Mama...
and SCHOOL, too!

She likes to move it, move it...

Olivia is doing her best to try and keep up with Isabelle and reach every milestone long before we are ready for her to. Just like Belle, it was just days after she turned 5 months old that Livi began sitting up all by herself and I am not sure who has enjoyed her being up-right and able to "play" more, Olivia or Isabelle. At her 6month well check, she weighed in at a wee 14.4lbs but continues to grow and develop as quickly as she can. She is very proud to hold a MumMum and feed herself a snack and loves jumping in her jumper each morning while I shower.

So far there are still no teeth in sight but again if she is on Belle's track we won't have to worry about those for a few more months. Olivia is moments from crawling and can get up on all fours and rock back and forth before she falls to her tummy. Isabelle can't wait for the day when her little sister can chase her around the house, but I am less excited about the "baby proofing" stage and constantly having to watch the stairs. Livi says MAMAMAMAMA although I am not sure she yet knows what it means but she has started waving bye bye occasionally after we encourage her. Isabelle and I are left wondering what we did all day before little Olivia joined the party?!

Just tonight I gathered up a few things around the house, namely the Bumbo, Boppy, Swing, etc, that we no longer use every day to place back into the closet for use in some other life. It is astonishing how much a little spirit can learn in such a short amount of time and like all good mother's out there, I am left wishing my baby would stay my baby for a bit longer!


*I forgot I needed to hold my camera right side up for videos! Why is it immpossible to flip them once they are uploaded?

Phone

I recently bought a new smart phone, which so far seems a lot smarter than me, but before I could say goodbye to my previous cell phone, I had to quickly download over 100 photos that I couldn't bear to lose. It always seems like the best pictures are the ones you capture when you aren't actually prepared with your nice camera, but rather grab your phone out of your pocket and shoot. It was amazing to see how much both my little girls had grown up over the last few months and for journaling purposes I wanted to post some of my favorite candid shots!