Halloween 2012 - Ethan's First!

Remember the year I painted my 28 week pregnant belly as a pumpkin? Or as I so aptly named it, my "bumpkin"?

And then, of course, for Braden's first Halloween he was my sweet little giraffe! I found the perfect giraffe costume, and best part was that it was used so it was super cheap!

Last year he was an adorable Cookie Monster because...well...he LOVED cookies and I figured it might be my last year of picking his costume!

This year, Braden was going to be a Jedi. We got him a light saber and he was excited about it....but then came the blizzards. It was -12 C with the wind chill on Halloween...but it honestly felt like -20! So his little fleece Jedi costume just was not going to cut it. So? Out came trusty Cookie Monster again! It still fit him, it was super soft and warm, and we could fit lots of layers underneath. I guess you're not a Canadian kid if you haven't gone trick or treating a handful of times with your snowsuit as your costume!...so luckily he could still wear his.

The thing about this Halloween? I was thinking I'd be painting a HUGE belly again! I did not anticipate nor prepare for the early arrival of a second trick or treater! Laura and I went to the mall the week before Halloween...and there was NOTHING left. Carter's had costumes for 3-6 month+, but no newborn costumes or Halloween shirts even! In fact, that was the only store that had a hint of Halloween left! Christmas had taken over already. So? What's a mom to do? Call her own mom! As many of you know, my mom moonlights as Poppy The Crazy Hat Lady, so I asked her if she could whip up Ethan an Elmo hat to go with his older Cookie Monster brother. No problem! So...here's my Cookie Monster & Baby Elmo!

They are adorable! But this was after Jay took Braden trick or treating and Braden was exhausted! Ethan was clearly having none of it...but it's something I'll never forget - that's for sure!

And cousin Blake was a cute little baby calf!

Maybe Ethan will enjoy Halloween a bit more next year? I'm kinda bummed I didn't get to take nice pictures of the boys, like I usually do...but weather did NOT permit!

I truly loved seeing all the social media kids' costumes streaming my Twitter & Instagram feeds! Come and link up and see even more adorable costumes!


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Happy Halloween!

My heart is so happy, my heart is just beaming right now. Normally I would blog with the Toddle Along Tuesday ladies, but I have to skip out this week because this needs to be posted NOW! :) I have always loved Halloween. Jay and I met 7 years ago when we were out with separate friends for Halloween. I love dressing up, as you can see...

Now that we have Braden...oh my heart just melted today! He doesn't (obviously) 100% understand what Halloween is all about, but he was so excited to put on his Cookie Monster costume. He was even saying "Cookie Braden" today and he definitely knows what a cookie is! If I chose his costume based on what he likes most, he would be Thomas, of course, and he would make an adorable Bob too...but mama's choice was Cookie Monster because it suits his personality so much!

And with some help from Daddy we got some smirks and almost smiles!!

NOM NOM NOM!!!

Here's a little video of right before we were ready to go out:



So Jay wasn't feeling that great so he decided to stay home and hand out the candy and cookies that I made, so I got to take the little dude around to the neighbors. I cannot stress enough how much being a rural family ROCKS at Halloween! We get to go see our family & neighbors, get homemade treats, full sized chocolate bars and chips! Plus on the chilly years we get to stay in the car or in the houses the majority of the time! We ran into Lukey at our 2nd last house!

Then as a treat, we let Braden stay up...and have a treat! Plus we want to keep him up late all week to train him for daylight savings time!

Aren't his "batjamas" adorable?

And another video of the craziness that ensued post trick or treating!



So I kind of did a reverse trick or treat for the neighbours. I really wanted to bring a treat related to his costume, and I've been wanting to make these ever since I saw a picture them! I made Cookie Monster Cupcakes!!

I apologize for the yucky pictures...Speedlite is needed I tells ya! I'm happy with the way they turned out and the neighbours loved them!!Then I also made some Halloween cupcakes for Serena's 6th birthday and also some Halloween sugar cookies! :)

Oh...and just one more thing!

Halloween Traditions

I'm so excited to be all settled into our house so that I can start my holiday decoration collection! My mom always had our house decorated so nice for the various holidays growing up and I loved it! So I got some fake pumpkins from Michaels, spray painted a few, and did a couple of trips to Dollarama for the rest! I will definitely go after Halloween to get the discounted items for next year!

Braden is still too young to trick or treat...but we take him out anyway! Since we live in the country we just take him to about 5 neighbors to show off how cute he is in his costume and get a butt-load of candy and homemade treats for us!

This year we'll be handing out Allan Candy Halloween treats to our trick or treaters.. They are all made in Canada and are peanut free! Allan Candy Company is celebrating it's 77th year and is a proud Canadian company. All candies, such as Allan Intense Jubes & Jellies, Allan Chewy Rascalz, & Allan Fruit Buddies, are individually wrapped and can be purchased at key retailers, including Walmart & Loblaws.

Disclosure - I am participating in the Allan Candy Company program by Mom Central Canada. I received compensation for my participation in this campaign. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Happy Halloween!

I am excited to take Braden around to a few of the neighbors houses to Trick or Treat! One of the neighbors makes popcorn balls for treats and they are so yummy! Last year, if you recall, I actually took Braden Trick or Treating too:

I am MUCH happier to have him on the outside this year! Just looking at that paint makes me itch - it was so itchy on my belly! Halloween is always a special time of year for me, because it marks the anniversary of when I first met Jay. Now we've been together for 6 years! Oh, also...this blog is 1 year old now - happy birthday, blog!

I also had to do a very impromptu photoshoot of Braden for a cloth diaper photo contest with the theme "Harvest Time". I thought - PERFECT! I'll enter this picture, and I'll win for sure, because it's a baby during harvest time:

BUT, I was told they had to be wearing a cloth diaper in the picture...which I guess makes sense considering it was for a cloth diaper website contest! Me, along with other Canadian and moms from the upper States complained that it's too cold outside to take pictures of babies in diapers. So, the lady that's running the contest wrote back and said to "get creative inside". Hmmmmph. So not by best work, but this is what I submitted:

I'll keep you updated on if we win anything. She said she was going to post that picture of Braden in the wheat field anyway because she like it so much!

It is also Serena's 5th birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SERENA!!

Here's some pictures from here birthday/Halloween party...

Braden and another little future classmate buddy Tyson. He's exactly 8 weeks younger than Braden.

Then we decided to take Braden for his first trick or treating and first we went to Zaks:

Can you tell he was super impressed to be going out late? He is a bed at 7 boy! What is up with this "partying" business!

Braden trying to discover the wonderfulness of a popcorn ball! Look at his first stash of Halloween candy! That was all from 4 houses! They treat kids good in the country!

Then Ella and Serena stopped by to trick or treat and it was off to bed!

A Halloween Preview!

Well, I took Braden out for his Halloween photoshoot last week and have been holding off as long as I can before Halloween before showing them to you! I'm really happy with how they turned out, even though Braden is still the boy who won't smile outside - or not much anyway. He's very happy, or at least content, outside but not his usual smiley self. So, it's probably no big surprise, but I decided to dress Braden as a giraffe for his first Halloween!

The last picture is about the only one where he smiled :) I'm really glad I did this last week, because it really feels like winter out there now!! Then we got together with Robyn and Stephanie and the kids and we had a mini-Halloween party.

Tessa has been crawling for at least 1.5 months, she's full of spunk like her mom, and then all of a sudden - she STANDS UP ON HER OWN! So crazy, she just needed to rest for a bit on Braden's head!

Playing so nice together!