Trick-or-Treating with Me-maw, Pap-paw, and a Vampire

My parents arrived this evening from Ohio. Since baby is scheduled to arrive on Monday morning, they came to hang out with us this weekend, stay with Dominick while we go to the hospital on Monday, bring him to the hospital to meet his new baby brother or sister, and then take him back to Ohio for the week while I recover in the hospital. So, since today was Halloween, they were here to trick-or-treat with us, too!

There was also Halloween parade at Dollar General today. Everyone got such a kick out of his hair! I sprayed it black, and then drew a widow's peak on his forehead with eyeliner. He looked awesome! I had tried several costumes on his that had a hood or hat with it, but he was having no part of either one of them this year. Last year, his little devil cosume had a hood with it, but he wore it without objection. However, this year was a different story, so the black spray / eyeliner was a much better option. It was also pretty inexpensive. I bought the vampire cape at Gymboree, and it was already on clearance when I found it. I added some black cords, socks, and shoes that he already had, and we were all set. He was definitely the CUTEST vampire ever!! During the parade, the first piece of candy that went into his bag was a sucker. He wanted to open it immediately, and then couldn't have cared less about getting anything else....he was all set with just his sucker.....I guess that leaves more candy for mommy :)

I ♥ Scrapbooking

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to scrapbook! LOVE IT! I started out making scrapbooks when I was a cheerleader in High School. We always made scrapbooks for the senior footballs players, senior basketball players, and fellow cheerleaders (that were seniors). Most people just cut the newspaper articles out the paper that was written about the game the night before and glued it into a scrapbook. I did that, too, of course, and then some. I used to steal/borrow my brother Scott's Sports Illustrated magazines and cut out all of the football and basketball related words, phrases, and graphics that I could find. My mom bought numerous packs of construction paper, and I would (only) use all of the orange and black paper out of it (our school colors). I would take white printer paper out of my dad's computer printer. The other thing that I can distinctly remember doing it using aluminum foil to mount the newspaper articles on before then also mounting it on some combination of orange, black, and white paper, which jazzed it up a bit. My bedroom had a hardwood floor in it, and all through high school, it was frequently covered in all of my scrapbooking mess. This was LONG before the days of scrapbooking stores, fancy papers and stickers for any occasion you could think of. Back then, I could have never even imagined a day when you could buy an entire ream of orange cardstock. You had to be creative. It's actually probably a good thing that these things didn't exist then, because I would have struggled with wanting all of this stuff and not having any funds to buy it (well, that still happens....I guess some things never change!). I also created scrapbooks for Sam and Nichole, Jeff's niece and nephew that we took on vacation every year for about 5 years before we got married. So, needless to say, I would love nothing more than to have the time to create beautiful and amazing scrapbooks that would capture our life and the amazing little boy that is in it. I still haven't finished our wedding or honeymoon scrapbook, though, so needless to say, I haven't even made a dent in a scrapbook for Dominick. I have started it, but it has a LONG way to go. I have actually instituted a self-imposed scrapbook supply embargo for myself. I have waaaaay to much paper, stickers, embellishments, transfers, etc, etc. Until I actually start using some of them, I am not buying anymore of it!

This blog is not me saying that I am giving up complete hope that I will never make an actual scrapbook for him (after all, I already have all of the supplies). I look at it as just finally facing the reality that I need to do something until the day comes (maybe when he's in college?) that I will actually sit down and do it. We are on the brink of welcoming our second child into the world, and I envision things getting even crazier around here than they already are. Dominick is about to become a big brother (on Monday!). Tomorrow we are celebrating his SECOND Halloween, and then his second Thanksgiving and Birthday. His first two years have flown by, and I am so very afraid that before I know it, I will blink and the next year (and the 20 or so after that) will have flown by as well. This blog will ensure I have all of the moments captured that we want to remember forever. You think that you will remember the exact dates of all of the milestones, remember the exact way he pronounces/babbles his words, all of the fun things you did together (and exactly when you did it), but sadly, you don't. With the addition of his new baby brother or sister in a few days, I am afraid remembering every little detail is going to become even harder. So, this will ensure that we do. He is such an amazing little boy that I want to remember every single second of him growing up (and I know his new baby brother or sister will be equally amazing, and we want to remember every second of their life, too!!).

I love you, little buddy and baby!! Welcome to your life stories!!