Happy Halloween

Officially, last year was Erika's first Halloween, but she wasn't even old enough to hold her little pumpkin bucket for candy. So, this is her first "fun" Halloween!

Since she is too young to request her costume (unless she wanted to be a shoe, two, Mommy, Daddy, baby, or puppy) I chose for her. She was candy corn...the absolute best fall treat! I stuffed her in the costume I made, and Matt, Erika, Wyatt and I set out for her first trick-or-treating. We had a warm-up round going to Aunt Sarah's house, where everyone got treats. Erika was so cute! She knocked on the door herself, said something that you could possibly take to mean "trick or treat", then entered Sarah's apartment. When we got home, Matt and I took her to about 4 houses in our neighborhood. She was more excited about the dogs who were in people's homes than the actual trick-or-treating, but it was cute to watch. So, 8 little candy bars later, we headed for home. It was a very fun Halloween experience!

Ready for the candy! Matt carved the pumpkin beside her...way to go Matt!

Standing on the pumpkin for a better view in the window.

She's tired of her hat already.

Saying good-bye to Wyatt.

Cute little fat candy corn!

Aunt Sarah with Erika's Halloween "treats"...bottles for her baby doll.

Excited that candy is appearing in her bucket.

Time to eat the treats!

Skittles are more of a toy to her than a treat.

Clothes Storage

Lately, Erika has found it fascinating to put food down her shirt. I'm not sure why this is fun, but she loves it! So, it should not have surprised me this morning when I was changing her out of her cute little purple footie pajamas that she had blue Froot Loops crumbs all over her legs and feet. Apparently, cereal was the article to go down her shirt today and worked its way down to her foot, where it was quickly trampled and redistributed on her leg. I wonder what I'll find at lunchtime!

Little Mommy

Erika loves babies. She loves to say "baby", she loves to point out babies, she loves to look at pictures of babies. And now she absolutely loves her baby dolls! At church, in the nursery they have a baby doll stroller which Erika runs to every time she goes in there. So, after going to the pumpkin patch on Saturday, Matt and I stopped at Target and bought her a doll stroller for her "babies". Every since Saturday, she has not stopped pushing the stroller around the house. She makes sure her dolls are sitting up properly before she starts pushing them. Sometimes, she covers the doll with a blanket. Other times, she takes her juice cup and "feeds" the baby (with accompanying sucking sounds!) I love watching her take care of her babies! One thing we are working on is that if the stroller ever gets stuck on a wall or a piece of furniture, she gets very frustrated and starts banging the stroller on the ground. That's not good for her baby, I'm sure! I guess you are never too early to learn about patience!

So happy with her new stroller!

Please note the new Elmo slippers. She has a new found appreciation for the cuddly red character and loves her new shoes! She wakes up saying, "Elmo", because she wants to wear her slippers.

Erika contemplating the fine art of hair styling.

This picture is to document the fact that indeed, her hair is growing and getting thicker...and not just mullet style!

Adorable in her dress that Aunt Sarah bought her!

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On a totally separate topic, Erika has lately been hitting when she doesn't get her way....especially hitting me when I pick her up to change her diaper. It doesn't really make sense to slap her hand for hitting, that seems backwards. To all my experienced mommy friends, how did you deal with hitting?

Fall Fun!

We took advantage of the beautiful fall day today to let Erika have her first pumpkin patch experience! We went to a family farm in Sherwood where Erika got to run through a hay maze (she wasn't very good at it...she kept running into dead ends), look at chickens and goats, play on a little playground, go on a hay ride, and, of course, find the perfect pumpkin! It was really fun and Erika loved it! Here are a lot of pictures of our day!

Struggling through the hay maze. Luckily, Daddy can see over the top to the end!

Am I almost done?

Yeah, I made it! And I have some donut hanging out of my mouth.

Aunt Sarah brought donuts!

She liked the "puppy", which was actually a goat.

Slides are her all-time favorite toy!

Riding to the pumpkin patch.

I'm a little sleepy! It was more of a "pumpkin line-up" than a "pumpkin patch".

Finding the perfect pumpkin.

Showing Mommy the perfect pumpkin. (Note: To all my friends in CdA, the baby is actually making its presence known finally!)

Lots of pumpkins.

Daddy found the perfect pumpkin!

Happy farm family.

Going to the tractor to ride back to the car.

Getting Erika-sized pumpkins.

She could care less what we are doing.

Taller than Mommy on the hay bales.

The hay sticks to my hands!

Going into the hay maze.

Coming out of the hay maze...with my donut!

Walking along the hay bales.

Poor Puppy!

I feel bad for Wyatt. He has turned into a human pillow, trampoline, punching bag, and chasing toy. Erika bugs him almost constantly...every day. He takes it very well and I'm glad there has been no biting. Well, Wyatt hasn't bitten Erika yet...I can't guarantee she hasn't bitten him when I wasn't looking.

Here are some pictures of Erika's fun game of "throw myself on Wyatt". As you can see, she does it in a loving manner.

Those teeth could be dangerous, but luckily they are not!

When she's sleepy, she usually gets her blankie and goes and lays on Wyatt. That's the reason the blanket gets washed at least once a week.

Family Getogether

This afternoon, we ventured down the highway to Corvallis to visit Erika's grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousins. We had a delicious taco bar for lunch and then an awesome spice cake and butterscotch pie. Erika loved playing with her cousins and eating her Grandpa Hammar's birthday cake. It is very nice to be able to visit family after just a short drive...instead of an 8 hour adventure. Plus, Erika slept all the way to Grandpa and Grandma's and all the way home...the best kind of car ride! Happy birthday Joe and Bob (or Grandpa and Great-grandpa!)
Erika with her cousin Ashley...she's not into posing for pictures anymore.

Ashley "sleeping" so Erika can wake her up.

Erika with birthday boy, Grandpa Hammar!

Erika with the other birthday boy, Great-grandpa Gunn. Please note who is doing all the work in the background! (For those who don't know the answer, it is Matt's sister, Elisabeth, and her husband, Josh)


Erika with Grandma and Grandpa Hammar. Again, we find her not interested in the camera at all.

Auntie Beth teaching Erika some designing tips from the Real Simple magazine.