Happy (1st) Halloween

Our Halloween festivities started last Friday night with our Ward's Trunk-or-Treat activity.  Since we were getting the kids all dressed up, we decided to get a few pictures before we left.  I am so glad we did- they turned out great! 

Here is Garrett in his very first Halloween costume - he was an apple! 

Or more specifically, he was a poisoned apple...since Tori was Snow White - thanks so much for the awesome idea (and beanie) Grandma Allen!!!

I love this picture of our Snow White and her poisoned apple - it couldn't be any cuter!!!

And this one is just adorable!!!

If you were wondering how we got these awesome pictures - smarties work wonders!

Even Prince got all dressed up for Halloween this year!!! (It is his first Halloween too!)

It's always so much fun with Daddy around to provide swinging entertainment!

Princesses must always stick together!

Tori wasn't quite sure what to think of trunk-or-treating.  But it didn't take long for her to realize she was getting candy out of the deal!

Grandma had a great time holding our little apple!  Don't they look so cute together?

Today we made Halloween cookies with Grandma!  Tori had so much fun putting (a little bit) of frosting on her cookie!

She really loved putting sprinkles on everything!!!

Of course, Tori had to sample some of her handiwork!

Tonight, Tori got to go trick-or-treating for the very first time!  And to make it even more special, she got to go with Grandma!!!

She was so brave and would go up to the non-scary-looking doors all by herself and then say "tweet tweet!"

Tori got quite a haul! (Grandma reported that lots of people would say she was the cutest kid they had seen yet and then give her a whole handful of candy)

This is my favorite picture from Tori's trick-or-treating adventure - our little girl is growing up!!!

Happy Halloween everyone - we hope your day was as fun as ours!!!

More Packages...

We have been so spoiled in the gift department for our Garrett!  Aunt Michelle surprised us with these adorable outfits!  The picture may not have captured it, but Garrett is super-excited to be able to wear both of them!!! (And the train outfit is my new favorite!)

Uncle Jer and Aunt Kim sent a gift card for the Children's Place.  I can't wait to go shopping and get him something adorable - that store is so fun!
We have received two packages from Grandma Harrison and Aunt Anna! Tori wasted no time digging right in!

And she kept right on digging....

until she found some pink!!!

 Tori was very excited about her new toy as well!!!

Tori made a new discovery this evening - the joy of bubble wrap!!!

Thanks so much to everyone - Garrett is going to be the best dressed boy on the block!!!  And thanks for all the fun gifts for Tori- she is in heaven!!!

Garrett's 1st Visitor

This afternoon we were so excited to welcome Grandma Allen from Texas!  She is officially Garrett's first family visitor!  Tori was overjoyed to have her here, too!!! Tori was elated when Grandma pulled out the gift Uncle Alec made her - a book full of the princesses!  Thanks so much Alec- she absolutely loves it!!!

Tori didn't wait very long before requesting that Grandma join in on one of her new favorite games - running around the couch!

After running for a bit, Grandma finally got to have some cuddle time with Garrett!!! (This picture makes my heart melt- it is so sweet!)

Tori was such a big helper with introducing Grandma and Garrett - too cute!

Grandma gets to be with us for the next two weeks and we are so grateful!!!  Stay tuned for more pictures of all our grand adventures from her visit!

Zoo Boo

This afternoon Jared took Tori on a Daddy-Daughter date to Zoo Boo at the Indianapolis Zoo.  It is a really neat event where all of the kids can come dressed up in their Halloween costumes, do a little trick-or-treating, participate in some fun activities, and (of course) see all the animals!  (Pay no attention to the random girl in the picture.  Jared asked her to move and she didn't listen)

Here is Tori getting ready to leave for Zoo Boo!  I am so glad that we got a picture with her bow on - it only lasted for about a minute :(

Tori loves watching the sharks!

They aren't kidding about getting really close to the tigers!!!

Yeah for the brown bear! This is the first time Tori has seen him since he has always been MIA on our other visits.

While this may not be the best picture ever, it shows how creative Jared is!  I can't imagine holding a very active Tori and taking a picture of both of us at the same time - way to go Daddy!!!

Tori made a new friend!

The biggest hit of all the animals, for this trip to the zoo, was the monkeys. Tori asked for them all the way in and was super excited once they made it to their cage!

She even tried to climb in with them!!! 

Once again the overall biggest hit was the playground.  She loves her "wee-slides!!!"

Hurrah for our little lady!

Jared and Tori had a great time together on their Daddy-Daughter date (and Garrett and I had a great time sleeping while they were gone)!!!  Zoo Boo looks like so much fun- I can't wait until next year when we can all go together!

First Real Bath

Tonight we had a very momentous occasion at our house - Garrett's first bath since we have been home from the hospital!!!

Even though Garrett looked a little uncomfortable, we think he is a fan of the water!!!

Tori was a big helper, as usual!

This is one of my favorite parts- cuddling after the bath!

As a fun side note, we used the same towel for Garrett that we used for Tori's first bath! 

It was fun to stroll down memory lane a bit and see how tiny Tori was for her first bath (and to realize how much our towel has faded over the past two years!) Yeah for fun new firsts for our Garrett, they are just starting!!!

The Great Pumpkin

Once again, Grandma Allen was teaching a scrapbook class and needed some festive pumpkin-carving photos to put on her page.  I, for one, am really glad she does this- it gets us on the ball!  And of course, we had to have our two kiddos in their matching Halloween outfits for the grand event (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Allen!!!)   After we shared our pictures with Grandma Allen and then went on to tell her what happened, she told us the two didn't really match up. So, I have decided to fill in the behind-the-scenes information so we can remember what really happened down the road!  So, here lies the tale of our pumpkin-carving experience this year! 

Tori had a great time helping Daddy get started on our pumpkin - and she really liked that our bowl could be a hat as well!

Once the top was off, we tried to get Tori to help scoop out some of the goop - she only stuck the spoon in one time (glad we caught it)! 

Instead of helping, she was a great big sister and made sure Garrett had his binkie whenever he started to cry...

And she ran around the kitchen with her stroller for a bit - way more fun than scooping out a pumpkin!

Tori was super-excited to draw a face on our pumpkin - I think this was her favorite part!

She loved it so much, that she kept coloring on everything else (the newspaper and our kitchen floor) while Daddy carved our pumpkin. 

Here is our little dude supervising the operation!!!

Garrett with his very first pumpkin!

We're not sure why, but Tori wanted absolutely nothing to do with the pumpkin.  She called it a ball at one point, which might explain why she kept trying to kick it!

But we wanted some happy Tori pictures for Grandma, so we started to get creative!  Tori loves it when Daddy swings her around (hence the huge smile)!

And then we had Daddy put her down next to the pumpkin, while I tried to capture that smile before she realized where she was!  A little crazy - but we got some really cute pictures :)

Happy pumpkin-carving to everyone -we can't wait to see how next year goes!!!

Packages

Since the arrival of our little guy, we have been very spoiled by family and friends with much needed boy paraphernalia.  Living away from all of our family means that we have been receiving many packages - much to Tori's delight!  And Garrett is such a great brother to let her open all of them!!!  She was really excited about this one from Aunt Terrah and Uncle Jake...

What, oh what, could it be?

An absolutely adorable blanket that Terrah made Garrett!

Thanks so much Aunt Terrah and Uncle Jake- Garrett loves it already!!!

This afternoon a very big package arrived from Grandma and Grandpa Allen!

Tori loved pulling out all of Garrett's cute new outfits!

Yep, we are going to have the best-dressed boy on the block!

As we were going along, all of the sudden Tori yelled out "pink," got a huge grin on her face, and practically dove into the box.  When she came back out, she had her adorable new skeleton pj's in hand!  It cracked us up that she definitely knows which things are for her!!!

Yeah, we are going to have so much fun making Halloween cookies!!!

Tori's absolute favorite thing in the box - the movie Tangled!  Or as she calls it "Rapunzel..."

And here she is enjoying her new movie - she didn't move from that spot for the longest time!!!

Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa - you spoiled us once again!!!