The situation and snooks

Every year for bowling we dress up for halloween. This year Nick and I decided to represent the Jersey shore cast. We made our costumes out of iron on fabric and pieced it together. I hate to admit it, but I do watch the show, but only because Nick watches it. It's such trash and a waste of time, but watching it makes me feel better about myself. LOL.  Here are a couple pictures from the night. I think the best costume was Wendi and Nick - they went as brownchickenbrowncow. Get it? haha!

Trick or Treat?

Halloween was a blast like it is every year! We had a bunch of trick or treaters and Nick was the guy in the scary mask. We set up a haunted house blow-up right in front of our door, so the kids had to walk thru it. It isn't too scary when it's light out, but in the dark it is real spooky. It has spiders and plays scary music inside too. It's so cool! Nick scared so many kids.
We had our carved pumkins lit up too. My dad carved some pretty cool ones this year!
I love Halloween!

my owl

Here's Nick with the mask and Ellie (strawberry, again) with Hello Kitty. She wasn't scared of the mask, but I kinda was. It's creepy.

Apple picking and eating

Last weekend we headed out to the Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago. It was such a nice day out and perfect for apple picking. Ellie loves apples, actually she loves any kind of fruit. It was such a fun day!

The greatest husband

I'm pretty sure I won the lottery with Nick. He really is a perfect husband and father. Saturday was our 6th anniversary and we've been together for about 13 years. It's been the greatest. The morning started out like a normal Saturday. We were headed to the mall with the kids, then to his parents house to do some trick or treating and then to a friends house for a Halloween get together. Nick had been talking about getting pizza and renting Paranormal Activity (both one and two). I'm not a scary movie girl - at all. I get really irritated and annoyed by these movies... mostly because they are pyscho but also because I feel like they are a waste of time. I LOVE movies, but I was not excited about this. So, Ellie was in bed, Jack was on the couch with Nick and they were waiting for me to start the movie. Of course I started to stall... I was washing dishes, started the laundry, took a shower and then finally I HAD to upload photos and do some stuff on the computer. Nick finally called me over to tell me he was starting the movie and wanted me to sit on the couch, so I did. Then, the movie started. It wasn't the scary movie though, it was our wedding dvd! I was so surprised and excited to reminence.  It was a great, although we we did watch the scary movie.

Below are pictures of our wedding day.

Here we go again with the names!

I've been asked why we chose Jack as a name. It's pretty simple: We just liked the name. I looked up the meaning today and it means "God is Gracious". For us there isn't any meaning behind it really. Nick thinks it's a strong name. I like it because it's simple and traditional. To be honest, I'm just getting use to the name and he's over 2 months old. In the beginning I would call him baby or Ellie or Meeko, by accident most of the time, but it was so weird to say his name. Of course we now have the random nicknames like we did with Ellie. I call Jack, Jackaroo about 90% of the time. It just comes out that way. I blame it on Nick, because he said it first (actually he was signing it: Jack, Jack, Jack-A-ROO!) So, now that we are somewhat use to the name Jack, we are starting the weird, random names. Some of the ones lately have been:

Jackaroo
Roo Roo
Roos
Jack-chan (my mom calls him this, it is a way of being affectionate in Japanese - kind of means friend)
Jack - san (it is also Japanese and pronounced like son)

Jack's surgery

Last week Thursday we went to Children's to meet with Jack's cosmetic surgeon. We both really liked him and he answered all of our questions.  I think we've decided to go with the cosmetic surgeon instead of the pediatric dermatologist. We think that either one would be great, but the cosmetic surgeon seems to have more experience and since Jack is growing at a high rate speed (he's 13 lbs already and only 2 months old)  his birthmark is also getting bigger. The doctor recommends that we do the surgery soon because his birthmark will just continue to get bigger and at 3 months he will be old enough. We know that he will have a scar, but there are things we can do to manage it. The more research I do and the more people I talk to, I'm worried about the mole changing, so I'm glad we are taking care of it soon. We scheduled his surgery before Christmas and are just waiting to hear if insurance will cover it.

Here is Jack trying to talk to me. I love night times with Jack. He's fussy, but as soon as I snuggle with him, he calms down and is just too cute.

Ellie makes me so happy

1. She is very adventurous, especially when she's finished eating and she launches her self off of her high chair and screams.
2. Ellie is opinionated, bossy and knows exactly what she wants. I'm not sure where she got that ;) but I love it. I think she's going to be a natural leader.
3. She loves to help, whether it's getting Jack's bottle or cleaning the floor with a wipe.
4. Ellie lives in the moment and doesn't hold grudges. I wish I could be more like this. She savors every second, whether it's playing with her legos or eating her cheerios.
5. Ellie loves everyone around her. She is so nurturing and kind-hearted.

p.s. Ellie is going to talk soon! She is so shy, but is trying. She has been saying mama, dadda, ba-ba, and baby, but now is attempting to say 'hi' and 'more' (when she wants more food, which is all the time).  I know talking is going to start happening more and am so excited for her to tell me things! I think the bi-lingual thing has been challenging for her, but I think her shyness has a lot to do with it too. I'm going to try to video her doing it and you'll see what I mean. Her expression is so innocent and sweet.