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Halloween Day #2

The Halloween fun continues. Yesterday night was our ward Halloween party. We dressed up Grant as a cute little clown again and he loved playing all of the fun games. He played the fishing pond, the bean bag toss, the pumpkin toss and pin the smile on the jack o lantern. His favorite though was playing in a big blow up pool of balloons. Even more than the games, Grant loved the prizes of candy he won after playing the games and even more so he loved the cupcake walk and the yummy prize cupcake.

(Grant and his friend Nicholas both dressed as clowns)

(Grant playing the pumpkin toss)

(Grant and Chad doing the cupcake walk)

(Grant doing the beanbag toss)

Bluegrass

Saturday our family attended the afternoon portion of the Tucson Bluegrass Festival. We went last year and have attended one other festival in Benson several months ago. They are actually quite enjoyable. Bluegrass is a nice, easy type of music to listen to and the people at the festivals are always extremely nice. It is usually a retired crowd who attends so us and our two little kids draws some attention. We were told many times on Saturday how cute our family was and how well behaved little Grant is. All I know is that I was exhausted by the end of the show from trying to keep Grant entertained and from the 4 trips to the potty. We had a good time though. Chad actually headed out to the festival (which was at Desert diamond Casino) before me and the boys. The boys and I went to a lunch at a friend's house first. My friend Sharla put on a Fall Lunch for some friends. We had this really delicious pumpkin curry soup in bread bowls and some other fall dishes. It was a fun little get together. Sorry there are no pictures to post but there's not much to take a picture of at the festivals that would let you know we are even at a festival.

Halloween Day #1

Friday began our week long celebration of Halloween. Grant is very excited about this holiday this year. He has become the Great Pumpkin Spotter. He finds and points out every pumpkin of every size within a 100 yard view. It's really quite amazing. There are some pumpkins I truly cannot believe he sees they are so far away and so small. Also, his new favorite toy is that $.59 mini pumpkin I bought him earlier this week at the grocery store. He brings it everywhere with him.



Friday we went to a toddler Halloween party at our friend Sandra's house. Her little boy Jack is Grant's age. It was a dress up party and we did indoor trick or treating. Grant had a fun time playing on the swing set and getting candy. I finally finished Grant's clown costume about one hour before we had to leave for the party (I accomplished #96 on my list too). He sure is a cute clown though and loves the costume.



Friday night we headed to the zoo for their annual Howloween celebration. Basically, we walk in a long over crowded line of people and strollers and trick or treat in front of the various animal displays. We went last year and had a good time but not so this year. It was extremely crowded and slow moving. I can't even say how many times I was flat tired by a stroller, including our own. Grant wasn't even into it that much. He just rode in the stroller and kept asking to see the animals. Thankfully the elephants were out so there was one animal spotting. Grant had more fun at In-N-Out Burger afterwards than he did at the zoo I think.



Friday afternoon we tried to get our house somewhat decorated for Halloween but we got as far as getting the decorations out because little Cole was not being cooperative. Hopefully, before the end of the weekend we will get some decorations up.



Our Halloween celebration will continue this week with the ward Halloween party on Wednesday and of course real Halloween trick or treating on Friday night. Stay tuned.



(Chad and Grant at Howloween)

(Cole in his cute Halloween costume)

(Grant enjoying a cupcake (well the frosting anyway) at the Halloween party)

(Grant as the cutest clown ever)

(Grant trying out his Halloween costume for the first time with the Halloween pumpkin in tow of course)

Lessons learned in motherhood...

BRIBERY!!!! It works beautifully with 2-1/2 year olds who don't usually want to cooperate. Yesterday, I ventured to the grocery store and Target with both children. Grant is a generally well behaved child by nature but has been acting up more since Cole was born. Therefore, I have reverted to bribery. At the grocery store, if he is good while we shop he gets a cheese stick (it's better than candy). Yesterday, I also purchased him a $.59 mini-pumpkin and promised a ride on the train outside the grocery store if he was good. The bribes worked beautifully. Grant is completely enthralled with pumpkins right now and is learning about Halloween so the pumpkin kept him entertained while shopping. He also sort of loved the train. He was a bit uncertain about the whole thing while riding but when it was done, he wanted to ride again. Too bad mom was out of quarters right? Here is Grant on his train ride. This by the way is a train he's been asking to ride for about the last three weeks but I never have quarters (for real). Bribery, I highly recommend it.


On Monday afternoon, Grant and I had nothing going on so I took the boys to the mall to play and of course scan the sales racks at Old Navy. Grant has a great time playing at the play area there. However, when we got there all he kept saying to me was, "I want to eat. I want Donald's." So, being the over indulgent mother that I am sometimes we bought McDonald's, took a potty break then headed back to the play area. Grant loves his chicken nuggets and chocolate milk and mommy loves her snack wraps, apple pies and Dr. Pepper (I missed it when I was pregnant). While Grant was running around burning off energy and chicken nuggets Cole had a good little nap in the stroller.

Below is a picture of Cole taking a nap on Chad. Chad is not actually sleeping, he just absolutely cannot keep his eyes open for a picture. It drives me insane.

Adventures of a 2-1/2 Year Old

I have to document these events so I won't forget them. It goes to show how crazy life gets with a 2 year old.

Earlier this week, I was downstairs doing dishes and Grant said he wanted to go upstairs and lay on his bed so I told him to go ahead. Several minutes later, over the sound of running water, I think I hear a fain, "I need to go potty." Those words, or even the thought of those words, send me into hyperspeed, so I rushed upstairs to see if my ears had heard correctly. When I got upstairs, Grant's door was shut so I turned the knob to open it. However, I quickly discovered that the door was locked. Grant had figured out how to lock the door but not unlock the door. I hate our door knobs because they have those weird little holes you have to fit a pointy key into and try to find the right trigger spot. Well, this process took me about 10 minutes. During that 10 minutes I could hear Grant grunting and pushing as he went #2 and then I hear, "Uh oh." I ask him what was wrong and he said he went pee-pee. What a mess I had when I finally got that darn door open.

A couple of days later, at about 2:30 in the morning, I again hear a faint, "I need to go pee pee." I jump out of bed and run to Grant's room. I discover the door shut with the light on and the door locked again. Again, during the 10 minutes it took me to open the door, I hear "Uh oh" as he goes potty behind the door. I had just gotten back to bed 1 hour earlier after feeding Cole and Cole woke up again at 4:30. That was a rough night.

Sometimes, I really question my decision to potty train Grant before Cole was born. It's definitely a mixed blessing.

Grant has also become quite the stubborn little boy since Cole came into the family. If I had a dollar for every "No!" I hear each day, I'd be rich and Chad could quit working. He dumped his huge box of blocks out onto the floor the other day. When Chad and I asked him to pick them up in preparation for bed, the answer was a continuous no. Chad and I took away his binkie and said no movies the next day but to no avail. Of course, this was during an approximate 1 hour tantrum of crying and screaming by Grant. He finally went to bed, never having picked up the blocks. Chad just through a blanket over the blocks (to keep the dogs from chewing them in the night) and left them on the floor. All through the next day, Grant repeatedly asked for a movie and every time I had to say not until the blocks were picked up. I also asked him repeatedly if he wanted to pick up the blocks and the answer was always no. Those blocks sat on the floor all day long. Do you want to know what finally got him to pick them up? Chad pulled out the back of tortilla chips to have my delicious mango salsa. Grant wanted chips and Chad said he had to put a block away to have a chip. Surprisingly, he ran right over and put a block in the box. With each chip, he had to put away more and more blocks. Eventually, after a couple of hours he put away the entire pile of blocks. Why tortilla chips and not a binkie or Cars created the motivation I'll never understand but after 24 hours they were finally put away?

As Grant's t-shirt says, "I'm 2 and there's nothing you can do about it." Sad but true.

The Park

Yesterday, Grant and I went with a few other friends to a nearby park to slide and swing. Grant loves to swing and attempts the slides a few times. The following is a cute picture of Grant and his friend Nicholas taking a strawberry snack break. I am trying to get Grant out of the house most mornings for some type of activity so that he does not get bored and I don't go crazy. It takes a whole lot of extra effort and work to get it done but I think it's worth it.

Life as a mother of two

It has begun. I have not had help all week and I am officially on my own as a mother of two. Wow, is it pure chaos!!! I'm hanging in there but there is little time for much besides feeding Cole and getting Grant out and about for an activity. It takes me about 2 hours to get everyone ready and out the door for an outing. I know it gets better but it sure is exhausting now.

Last weekend we had a good family time. Chad, his mom and Grant headed up to Mt. Lemmon to attend Oktoberfest. However, when they got up there the weather as so bad it had been cancelled. They got lunch instead and headed back down the mountain. Poor little Grant go so carsick on that windey road that he puked up his lunch and his treats. He came home so tired and sluggish. When Chad and Grant got home we headed out to the stake BBQ they hold every year. There were two jumping castles and an obstacle course. Grant loved the obstacle course. He and Chad also through the frisbee and a football and had a little wrestling match on the grass. i think Grant had a great time with his daddy all day Saturday.

Monday was a holiday so Chad had the day off. Grant had his Little Critters zoo class too. Grant, Cole and I headed to the class and Chad met us afterwards. Bad choice for Chad though. The theme of the class was "Hooray for Bears." Grant made a cute little polar bear mask and paws and then we got to go behind the scenes and see the polar bears up close, meaning about 1 foot away with only a chain link fence between us. It was so unbelievable. I say bad choice for Chad because his all time favorite animal is the polar bear. He was very bummed he missed the experience.




Cole is growing and gaining weight slowly but surely. He is a big sleeper and it makes me a little nervous. He only wakes up about one time each night and I have to wake him up every few hours to feed him during the day. I'm not sure what to do with so much sleeping.

The Mellen Boys

Because of the constant business of caring for two little boys, even with the unending help of a mtoher and mother-in-law, I haven't taken pictures of the boys in about a week but here is little Cole from a week ago. Grant is in love with his little brother. He loves to give Cole kisses and lay on the couch next to him. Grant does not like it when I have to feed Cole because it means he can't play with him. I frequently hear, "No feed him." Other than little sleep and the pains of breastfeeding, things are going well. Cole is a sweet boy, who only crie when something is genuinely wrong. It's such a nice treat to have a calm, content baby. We never knew it could be like this.

(Grant and Cole laying on the couch together)

(Cole napping on mommy's belly -- something seems so familiar)

Grant has been ultra spoiled with one grandma after another here for about 10 days. He is getting things and getting away with things he normally wouldn't if it were just mom. As you can see below, he had a great time with an ice cream from Oma.