belly buttons!

Hannah Gray has a new fascination with belly buttons... you ask her to find her belly button, and she pulls up on her stomach to try and see it and then sticks her finger in it. She loves to find Mommy and Daddy's too. And since mine is becoming an outtie again, she thinks it's funny to poke it in. It's really cute to watch.

Halloween part 1

Hannah Gray received a special surprise in the mail last week- a monkey Halloween costume! She's been playing with it off and on since then and finally got to wear it on Sunday. Westfield (our town) had a downtown trick or treat where the local business passed candy out from their stores. About half way through or so she caught on to what she was supposed to be doing. She'd reach in the buckets and take a handful of candy, which I would pry all but one piece out of her hand and then she'd put it in her pail. She seemed to have a good time despite the time it was well into her nap time. I think we're going to take her to meet a friend and do the same thing in their little town on Friday.

She had her first taste of candy as she had a peanut M&M and a little tootsie roll. She LOVED it and I don't think there will ever be a way to hide that little yellow paper wrapper on the M&M's anymore...

We're having a Halloween party with our small group on Saturday so she'll help us pass out candy. She's got such a sensitive little spirit, that I think she's going to be timid with the costumes, but we'll see how it goes. I hope she has fun! I know she'll have fun with our friends that are coming over.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

I think the pictures say it all! :)

Fall Fun

Ethan and I were so excited to be back with Hannah Gray that we wanted to do something fun the weekend we were back. It was beautiful weather and it was a perfect day to hit the pumpkin patch. We picked out pumpkins, played in a haystack maze, corn pit, and had apple cider and donuts (that was her first time for each and she LOVED them!).

Hannah Gray picked out a little baby pumpkin for her little brother/sister too. She loves to carry that little pumpkin around. We had a great day together as a family.

Puerto Rico

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated the blog! But there has been a lot going on too! First, I had a little accident at home that knocked me out of commission for about a week or so. It's a crazy story, I'll keep it brief. Basically, Ethan cut his foot really badly, so I ran up the stairs to get a bandaid. On the way down, I slipped on the first step and fell the whole way down. Thankfully I stayed on my back, but I hit my head pretty hard in the process. I ended up knocking myself out cold and had a trip to the ER to make sure everything was okay. So for the rest of the week I was pretty sore, had a headache and was just generally moving a little slower. 911, police, everyone came to our house. Our poor neighbors are going to wonder what crazies moved in next door! I promised Ethan I wouldn't wear socks on the bare hardwood floors anymore. Poor guy, I scared him half to death as he had to carry me to the floor and wait for me to wake up.

The end of the week, Ethan and I left for a trip to Puerto Rico to celebrate our anniversary. We decided last minute to leave little bit at home, so it was the first time that we had been away from her for that long. Mimi (my mom) flew out to stay with Hannah Gray for the week. They had a great time together!

Ethan and I had a great time together and really just got to enjoy lots of rest and relaxation. We snorkeled a ton (!), read a lot and just rested and enjoyed being with one another. We had much to celebrate as well- our 4 year anniversary, Ethan was made a partner at work, and we're expecting li'l petro #2 mid-April! So it was a great time to have just to ourselves.

New Game

The other day Hannah Gray was playing in her room by herself. When I came back in, she had tipped over her laundry hamper (which is a round, tall basket) and pulled all her dirty clothes out. But she had made herself a little fort. She grabbed her books and stuffed animals (dogs, go figure) over to the basket where she'd climb in head first and just hang out. She also likes to roll around in it and do log rolls. Here we are before bed where Hannah Gray is showing Daddy what she learned to do that afternoon.

Blah-blah-blah

Since Hannah Gray was tiny, Ethan's always played with her by sticking out his tongue over and over again making that blah-blah-blah type of noise. Well, Hannah Gray has picked up on it and it's now one of her favorite things to do. Here's a video

Central Park Zoo

Last Saturday we had the most perfect fall day so we went into the city to see the Central Park Zoo. They had both a penguin and sea lion feeding in the morning so we went first thing. It was perfect timing as there was some type of preliminary run for the NYC marathon that was going on the next day. So we hit the zoo before everyone hit it after the race. Hannah Gray LOVED the polar bears and the children's petting zoo. She has begun to do this new "happy dance" as we like to call it where she marches in place very quickly as she squeals with delight. She's also figured out how to climb up on things when she wants to get out or see better. So she'll climb up on the bottom part of her baby gate or at the zoo, started to climb the fence to see the goats better. Here are some pictures from our trip to the city.