We briefly took J out with Sadie and Stella to West Seattle's annual junction trick-or-treating day on Saturday. J and Sadie were sick with colds, but they were troopers! It was jammed packed, but absolutely beautiful out, so that made up for the crowds.

Just a little weekend reading.

At some point throughout the day I look at my girl and think of her future.  Today while she swung and chased the birds with her eyes, I watched her and wondered what lies ahead.  Her life right now is so protected, safe, predictable, and filled with only good.  You hope for the best for your children, for so many dreams to come true, for everday life to be filled with moments like today's ride on the swing, and if there is anything in the world I want, it is for all that and more to be true for our baby.

Juliet's purse.

First she loads it up with all of her picture word cards.

Then she tries it on each arm and walks around the house for a bit. Such a little lady.

Sadly today my little lady was sick. She would only play for a few minutes at a time and then curl up on me and sleep or just cuddle. There is nothing worse than not knowing what is making her uncomfortable. I knew she had a fever, but it broke my heart worrying if her throat was sore or her tummy hurt. She has never had a day like this, and hopefully we won't see one of these again for a long time.



We (I) finally carved our Pumpkins on Sunday and Juliet was quite pleased with how the first one turned out. She was even more enthusiastic once it grew dark and we lit the candles in them. I have to say, one of my favorite parts of being a parent is getting to relive the holidays again. From Easter egg hunts to watching snowfalls downtown, our little pumpkin makes everything much more special.

And as requested by B, here is a night shot of our pumpkins.



Mason and Juliet had some dinner together on Saturday night during the Huskies game. The funny thing is that their hair looks identical right now (note the part). M has way more blond strands, but it is still pretty close in style and color.

Husband and daughter walking together in Nordstrom on our way to lunch. I think I have died and gone to heaven.

This evening we took Juliet to the Little Gym's Halloween Party with Megan, Donny, and the girls. It was reallly warm inside so I stripped off some of her costume, but she still looked cat-alicious. 

Lately Juliet likes to wear little bags around the house as shoulder bags. In fact if you ask her to find her purse (my mom converted a shoe bag of hers into a purse that she likes to keep leaves, rings, etc inside), she will proudly put it on her arm and walk around the house. And today at the library Juliet insisted on carrying her book bag out herself. Although it was way too heavy, she did not want me to touch the bag in any way, so I just emptied out most of the books and watched her walk out to the doors all by herself. As we headed back to the car, her walking beside me with her book bag, I realized these are the small moments that I'll never forget and will always make my heart warm.

I have been carefully watching the trees at Lincoln Park waiting for just the right opportunity when the leaves start to change to take some pictures of Juliet. And today was the day for our fall photo shoot. Here are some of my favorite pictures of our sweet girl.

On Sunday it was pumpkin picking time! For the second year in a row we headed out to Jubilee Farm. It is a beautiful drive and has tons to offer for families from tractor rides to pumpkin catapults!

I love the idea of getting a shot of all the nieces and nephews at each holiday, but it is so hard!  Sadly, Michael did not want me to take his photo and the Elams were not able to make it at the last minute due to sickness (and I know all about that), but I did manage one shot of the girls.



I think Juliet was a little uncertain of all the hay on our tractor ride out to the pumpkins. In fact I don't think she was feeling much of our day trip.

Eventually she did warm up to the pumpkins.

And just for fun here was J at the farm last year (2010) when she was only about 6 weeks old. I can remember it so vividly like it was yesterday and yet our world is miles away from those times.

It looks like we might have a new annual photo!