Happy Halloween

The best picture I could get of Rose in her Halloween outfit for school

On Halloween morning, we took some pictures of Rose and Zoe in their Halloween shirts and then headed to the party at Waverly Place in our costumes (thanks to my friend Katie for passing them on to us).  We got lots of compliments as Rose enjoyed the playground, checking out the booths, and walking down the catwalk.  At the end of the event, we shopped and enjoyed lunch outside on the patio at Whole Foods.

Rose and Zoe smiling for the camera

The Miller ladies 

Daddy and his little girls

Fisher(wo)man and our lobsters

We hadn't been able to find time to carve pumpkins this past week, so after Rose decided she wasn't going to nap, we carved some pumpkins in the driveway. It was getting late in the day, so we wanted to be available to the trick or treaters in case anyone came early. Plus, it's easier to clean up outside.  Colin is very artistic, certainly more than me and impressive for someone without any training. While he looked for some inspiration for his design online, I used my store-bought stencil set to design my pumpkin. With Rose wanting to help, there was no way my stencil outline was going to work out.  Thankfully, Colin drew a face for me and Rose to carve. Rose managed to let me cut and then we both worked to clean out the inside. Meanwhile, Colin designed, cut and cleaned out a second pumpkin.  I was surprised that Rose was so helpful at (and into) cleaning out the pumpkin, but once we were almost finished, she wanted to put all the seeds back inside.  

You'll notice in the pictures below that Rose is in a cat Halloween costume that she only wore about 30 minutes. It's nice to have friends to give you costumes...she had choices to be a cat, a flamingo, or Winnie the Pooh, and ultimately didn't end up being any of those.  We trick or treated in our fisher(wo)man/lobster outfits for about 30 minutes on our street only. Rose enjoyed trick or treating once she realized that you went to people's door, got to socialize a bit, and then they give you something to put in the bag. She didn't really get the whole costume bit and was terrified of daddy's scary mask (and a few scary costumes).  Zoe slept the whole time in her stroller. 

Zoe in her gifted pumpkin outfit while we carved pumpkins

Rose wanting to help mommy design her pumpkin with the stencil set

Rose helping to scoop out seeds and pumpkin filling

Daddy's amazing creations

Our many pumpkins from several farm trips this fall

I love that Colin's pumpkin is eating a little pumpkin

I was bummed not to have any pictures of trick or treating this year, but after pumpkin-carving (and Colin cutting his hand), the night was more of a challenge than it was fun for us Millers. Rose skipping her afternoon nap was the driving factor, coupled with her teething, a cold (runny nose) that won't quit, and our trying to fit too much in late in the day.  It was a challenge to get her dressed, I couldn't find part of Zoe's outfit as we were ready to leave (which fell slightly under the couch), Zoe generally wants to eat/nurse longer most evenings, Rose dropped the iPad on the concrete while skyping and cracked the screen, and she was overtired when we finally managed to turn the lights out on trick or treaters to put her to bed.

Colin had set up the fire pit with our chairs in the driveway to greet trick or treaters (as many others in the neighborhood do), and it would have been nice to hang out there for a bit for the two hours most people come by. It probably would have been an enjoyable night if Rose had slept her 2 hours during the afternoon (and if her teeth didn't take so long to come through!).  She's been teething for the past few weeks and I'm only now starting to see the two upper canines come through.  We had a rough time in July with the four molars and are again experiencing challenges with teething. The poor girl is miserable when she's teething. I sure hope we get through this phase quickly and that the second molars that should come in 6-12 months won't be so hard on her.