RCR Halloween Carnival

The Childress Angels (female employees of RCR & RCR spouses group) had their 2nd Annual Halloween Carnival at Richard’s Farm in the Barn. It was a really great event and we were very happy with the turnout even though it rained.

Tina and I were in charge of the Cookie & Cupcake Decorating booth and it was a hit. What kid do you know though that doesn’t like being able to do anything to their cookie/cupcake – who doesn’t like sugar! Tina had made all the ghost and pumpkin cookies and Mom and I baked all the cupcakes. We had orange, green, white and chocolate frosting, Reese’s pieces, all color sugars, marshmallows, candy corn, twizzlers, and every fall/halloween sprinkle you could imagine. It was really interesting to see some of the creations kids came up with.

Abby was originally going to be a chicken but the suit was too short – as you can see from the picture she wasn’t too happy. So she ended up being the giraffe. It was so nice to be able to borrow the costumes from my friend Shelly so we didn’t have to spend money on a costume for her to wear only a few hours. We had shirts to wear which were bright orange and I do not look good in bright orange – who does though, I mean honestly! Being pregnant I felt like a huge pumpkin myself especially since I was wearing it over the shirt and tank top I already had on. What a lovely combination! We had a few family pictures taken but my camera died earlier in the night so they were taken on another camera – they will be posted soon though!

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We're having 2 boys!!!

We found out today that we're having 2 boys! They are both healthy as far as can tell (quad screen came back normal & everythings looks good on the soniogram) and they are growing right on schedule at about 18wks, 1 day and approximately 5-6" long and 8oz. each.

Before our appointment I thought I would be ok with whatever they were, but when she said they were BOTH boys I started to get a little nervous. My initial response was excitement because I knew how excited Dustin was that at least one was a boy, but then I started realizing that I knew nothing about boys. Aside from the obvious difference in parts, I started thinking that their temperaments are different than what I'm used to and will they gang up on Abby or will they want to get into racing (Lord, please no!). The flash of anxiety has since subsided as I realized I knew nothing about babies before Abby and it's been a lot easier than I thought. God has guided both Dustin and I as rookie parents through the first 13 months of Abby's life just fine and I'm sure he'll do the same with the boys. Hey...what can I say, I come from a long line of over-thinkers haha!

Anyway, here are some pictures from our soniogram (apologies in advance for the "parts" pictures but that is all apart of our new adventure :)...oh my what are we in for? (I've also posted the 2 previous soniogram pictures in blogs dated 9/1/09 and 9/28/09 - it's been really neat to see their progression since I get scanned every Dr. Appt.)

Cookie Decorating & Pumpkin Carving

I don’t know when this tradition started but every Easter, Fall and Christmas we’ve always baked, cut-out and decorated sugar cookies. We tried with Abigail earlier this year at Easter, but she didn’t do much being that she was only about 6 months old. So we tried again with Fall cookies – it was better but she still hasn’t gained the appreciation for the event like I do. We still had fun though and she got to wear the apron that Grandma gave her for her birthday…at least she could stand next to me on the chair.

We were going to carve our pumpkin the same night, but I was getting tired so we decided to postpone it to the following week. I don’t think Abby was too sure about the pumpkin guts at first but it didn’t take her long to reach in and dig some out. Dustin and I did a tag-team effort on the carving and realized we need better utensils for next year as our knives were too big. We were very happy with the outcome though.

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Dixie Classic Fair

Every year Dustin and I make a trip to the Dixie Classic Fair to watch the Demolition Derby. It’s pretty pathetic but it gives us an excuse to go and eat fair food haha! It’s also a really good place to go and people watch…because ALL KINDS show up to this place! Abby started to get antsy during the derby so Mom and I decided to walk around with her and found the best strawberry ice cream I think I’ve ever tasted and its made using John Deere Tractors – only in North Carolina would you find something like that hehe. After the derby we went to the petting zoo which Abby absolutely loved. She kept yelling at the animals that wouldn’t come close to the fence for her to pet (see video).

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Pumpkin Patch

We had so many family traditions that I think back to with fond memories…one of which was going to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. In Sonoma County there were a lot of great farms to go to that had hay rides, petting zoos, craft barns and HUGE fields of pumpkins. I was very disappointed when we tried to find one that either wasn’t puny or didn’t charge you to go in. After driving a good bit we found this farm just east of Greensboro. It didn’t have a lot but we had a great time and Abby loved all the pumpkins – she found one just her size and wouldn’t let go.

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