The British Halloween Invasion

Halloween is a holiday that allows me to use my creative side. It is all about the theme. After last year's glorious win for Macy's costume as Sour Grapes, I had my creative juices flowing all year. What could we do next year? It all came down to this little onsie I saw at Target...Strawberry Fields Forever. A salute to the Beatles...that would be epic. Miss Ava was our muse...Carys was our Strawberry Fairy, Maya was our Yellow Submarine, and Macy was our Sgt Pepper.

We rallied our band and headed down to Harborwalk for the second annual dog costume contest. There was a Bucee's Dog.

A Lady-dog

The devil...and Sophie really is the devil...Macy would LOVE a piece of her.

JJ was a devil too...but she really is a sweetie.

A clown-dog.

TJ liked Shrek Dog.

The Headless Horseman came in 3rd Place

Elvis came in 2nd place.

And our very own Sgt Pepper brought home the title of Best Halloween Costume for the second year in a row. Maya was a great wing-dog as the Yellow Submarine.

Truth be told, I had a lot of fun making Macy's costume. I used my mom's original Sgt Pepper Lonely Hearts Band LP and searched Hobby Lobby for all my supplies. A simple t-shirt, felt, puff paint, buttons, fringe and drapery tie backs all went into the creation.

The weekend culminated in Carys's first real trick or treating experience. "Will you give me a treat?"

We took our band around the neighborhood, Carys is painfully shy, but by the end was "knocking" on the door and taking treats to put in her bag. She did not say a word all night except "bag". She was very proud of her ladybug bag.

Ava, our little pumpkin, came along for a stroller ride.

Our neighbors David and Belinda were our first "gig".

Nana and Papa Tom stayed at our house to pass out candy to the "groupies."

Carys enjoying her "spoils" of being part of the band.The "fruits" of my labor, me and my girls.

Me too!

At 20 months, Carys is growing so fast. Her vocabulary has grown quickly in such a short period of time. She copies anything you say and loves to read books. She is learning to share and will bring you a book to read as well as one for herself. Her latest thing is "cheese." Everyone knows how much I love to take pictures and so Carys has started doing it too. She uses one of my scrapbook punches that looks like a camera to take pictures herself.

It is funny, I took Ava in the nursery to take 3 month pics and Carys wanted to join too. She got out a pillow for herself...and posed herself.

"Cheese"...."Smile"

"I can lay on my belly too, Mom." Carys has started to answer our questions, and you can have a small conversation with her.

Carys loves her baby sister. She calls her Baby Ava...her words are becoming more clear including her "C" words. She likes to lay down and giggle next to Ava.

Carys continues to love her milk and water. She is a little spoiled that she expects me to have both when we go out.

She likes to put her dolls in the bouncie seat...stroller....carrier...and bumbo. She can play independently, but wants to be in the same room as you, so will bring her toys with her. She loves to play in my closet when I am getting dressed and on the rug in the kitchen when I am cooking.

She also likes to sit in chairs...including the bumbo.

I get the question a lot about how Carys is doing with the new baby. She loves Ava and has never been ugly to her. Instead, she takes her jealousy out on me. She can be my little "McNasty" but she can be so sweet too. One thing is for sure, she is a daddy's girl.

Ava at Three Months

Our beautiful Ava Claire is three months old. Three months brought a lot of changes around the Markiewicz household. I went back to work and so a new routine has set in. Ava has been very good at adapting and waiting patiently while I take care of Carys and other things.
We were both happy that Ava started to sleep through the night consistently around 2.5 months. TJ makes sure to give her a bottle right before bedtime and she sleeps until 5:30 or 6 am when I get up to nurse her. We have not put her in the swing yet but she has enjoyed a lot of time in her bouncie seat.

She is such an easy baby. She has started to smile and giggle.
It is nice to pick her up from daycare and she smiles when she hears my voice.

Ava has discovered how to suck her thumb. We try to switch it out with a pacifier but there is something about that suck reflex that lulls Ava to sleep. It has also brought many scratches on her face from her fingernails that I cannot keep short enough!

She is very strong, holding herself upright when we hold her. She is very active grasping toys and it is hard to keep her little socks on her feet because she kicks so much.

She continues to be bigger than Carys was...already surpassing 3 month clothing.

Here is a picture of Carys at 3 months for a size comparison.

Things have been much easier the second time around. Maybe it is because Ava is "easier" than Carys was or it could be that I am more relaxed, all I know is life is great.