Halloween

Ansel was a cute little monkey this year and had a lot of fun saying "trick or treat" to everyone! I didn't think he was going to wear the costume at all because he'd never try it on, but he finally did on Halloween day and kept it on pretty much the whole day! (Once he realized it would get him candy... suddenly being a monkey was a lot of fun!) ... Also.. a little flashback at his first two Halloween costumes. I think the Bob one was definitely the best (and was perfect for him).

It was a full day though.. first we went trick or treating at Daddy's work.. then the square (met up with some friends there), then the ward trunk or treat.. and ended at Grandma's house! At Grandma's house Ansel would run to the door every time he'd hear the door bell and greet the trick or treaters.

Hide and seek

Ansel sometimes likes to play hide and seek with Daddy before bedtime. He found a new spot to hide... (although he did need a little bit of help getting it zipped up. The other pictures are of him in his cute new pajamas.

Babying our puppy?

I came out to find this the other day.. I guess she found one of Ansel's really old pacifiers in his toy box. (Didn't know there were any around still!) She's quite fond of it though.






Also, she's a kind of puppy that doesn't maintain their body temperature well. She'll sit there shivering sometimes.. with some of the weather we've had lately. So I gave in a bought her a sweater... (Ansel picked it out because it had the little fuzzy balls on it.) She wasn't sure of it at first.. as in that first picture, but she doesn't mind it at all now if she's cold (usually that's the only time we put it on.. if she's shivering).

My life is a little easier thanks to this product!!

So, I was at Wal-mart the other day when I came across this oh so wonderful thing... Ansel's potty-trained.. but only at home, where he can use his little potty. He has a potty insert seat as well that we can take to places like grandma and grandpa's house, etc. Stores however have been another story. Ansel's still only 23 lbs.. so real potties are quite large to him (and he's still too short to stand up and pee.. with a real potty anyway) Needless to say the toilets in public are quite big for him and he would refuse to even try them (he'd just cling to me and not even try to go.. don't blame him though.. he did look like he could fall in pretty easy!) This thing folds up nice and compact and fits easily in his little mini backpack (with extra clothes of course..just in case.) It doesn't fit great on home ones, but is perfect for the kinds you find in public. Anyway, he finally decided it would be okay to go while we're in public. Not to mention it's nice knowing he's the only one using that thing. One step closer to being fully potty trained! (We still haven't messed with it at night time.. although he is usually dry after nap time, and will take his diaper off when he wakes up to go potty.)

Maple Leaf Parade

A couple of weekends ago was the annual Maple Leaf Festival here in Carthage. We only went to the parade.. which started only a few blocks from our house. Ansel had fun dancing to all the bands in it. He liked the kettle corn too.
















Just for Cody... he works as a recruiter at CFI.. (well, it's actually Conway now)


















Ansel with the kettle corn.. the bag's almost as big as him!


















A view of the parade at the square.. We do have a pretty courthouse.

Ansel locked me outside today!

Well, today was a little crazy. We stopped by the store after our walk (Ansel was out of milk.. so I went ahead and did a little grocery shopping while I was there). After we got home I took the kids in, put Matthew in the exersaucer (he's a fast little crawler!) then went out to get the groceries. LUCKILY I had my phone with me at least, because when I got to the front door, Ansel had shut it! (and apparently also turned the lock in the process) Slight moment of panic...but at least my phone was on me so I called Cody (took me 10 minutes or so to get through to him) and TRIED to walk Ansel through the process of unlocking the door. He was distraught though that I couldn't come inside and after trying to turn the door knob a few times with no luck, I could just hear him screaming on the other side. At this point I was pretty sure I wouldn't get him calmed down enough to figure it out so I called my friend (who's husband works with Cody) and had her get her husband to have Cody call me. (If I call him at work.. he'll only answer if he's not on the phone. If he's on the phone then usually he'll call me back when he gets done... but I couldn't wait for him to get done.. two little ones inside!!!) Anyway.. Cody came and saved the day :) (Although I was out there for 40 minutes or so because he works in Joplin! 40 minutes wouldn't have been bad if the kids were out there with me, because it was a gorgeous day outside.. but knowing they were in there by themselves was a little stressful! Now... had Matthew not been in the exersaucer.. I think I would have completely panicked!!!) It all worked out.. but now I need to remember to ALWAYS have my keys on me just in case.. and maybe we'll have a little family night teaching Ansel how to UNLOCK the front door :)

Improvising

My friends and I have been going walking everyday, only I don't have a double stroller yet since I've been watching Matthew everyday. (I'm not alone though.. one of my friends that goes with us has two small children.. one that's pretty new, and hasn't gotten her double stroller yet either)
Anyway, at first Ansel would ride up top (like a shopping cart), but the other day he decided to climb in the basket at the bottom and that's actually worked out quite well! He and Olivia (the other toddler that comes with us) will also get out and walk sometimes..or look at flowers..or rocks..etc! (It takes much longer that way though!!)