Happy Halloween!

Things here in the Amick household are good! Both boys have been kind of sniffly (Andrew much more so), but it seems to be getting better without getting any worse, so that is wonderful. I *really* hope Benjamin stays well and doesn't have anything go to his chest. Ugh.

Here is an update in pictures. What else? :)

Wednesday, Andrew went to Trunk-or-Treat at the church of my brother and sister-in-law. Let me just say that Andrew loves his cousins. LOVES. THEM. He evidently had a great time even though he still really doesn't know what all this is about.

Here are the kids on our front porch before they left. Abbie is Cleopatra, Ashlyn is Sharpay from High School Musical, Davis is a hotdog (his nickname), and of course, Andrew is Elmo.



At the church



For the past year, Andrew has had the opportunity to participate in four six-week sessions (30 minutes each) of lapsit at the Collegedale library. It's a program for children ages 18 months to three years. You have to preregister and there's homework (coloring or a simple craft) each week. Several of his little friends have done it, too, and it's been fabulous. The library is a bit of a drive for us, but it's right next to the police station where my dad works (not to mention a great playground), so it was worth it. Technically, we still qualify for one more session (starting in January), but we are on a wait list b/c we have done it four times in the past and there is a long list of people who want to do it. Soooo...yesterday may have been our last one. I was totally verklempt as we went, and I finally took some pictures. (My sister-in-law Edie came to stay with Benjamin while he napped at our house while I took Andrew.)

Andrew and Yampa outside the building:



Our little carpet square:



Getting a hug and kiss from Jerry Giraffe:



Waiting patiently for other kids to get a book out of the book box:



Okay. This story will make you laugh I hope. Or maybe it'll just give you yet another glimpse into my crazy life. Either way, here goes. My best friend since the sixth grade, Joyce, is having a baby in December. Remember, she's the one who lives in NYC and I can't go to her shower next Saturday? So I got online and looked at her baby registry to ship her a present earlier this week. I'm cheap and hate to pay more for something or pay for shipping, so I found a great gift on her registry then found the exact same thing cheaper and with free shipping on Amazon. I ordered it and called her to tell her that I ordered this particular gift so that she could go into her Babies R Us registry and mark it as "bought." That way no one else would buy it and she wouldn't have to deal with multiple items. We discussed the item, which is a Tiny Love Gymini Super Deluxe Lights & Music Playmat (Wow, that's a mouthful...), and how it's supposed to be great, etc. I told her that I was tempted to buy one for Benjamin because he's still playing with things like that, etc., but that maybe I'll buy it for Baby #3. She was excited about it, and I was glad. I received an email on Tuesday that it shipped to her Manhattan apartment.

Yesterday I was able to take a wonderful 70-minute nap (with both cats) while A & B napped. When I woke up, there was a HUGE box from Amazon on the front porch. I was LIVID. I knew when I saw it that they had shipped Joyce's gift to ME instead and now not only would she probably not have it in time for her shower in a week, but I would have to go through the agonizing process of getting it shipped to the right place on Amazon's dime. Benjamin was hungry so I had to nurse him first before I even got it off the porch. After I fed B, I double checked my email just to be sure I had it in print that it was supposed to have been shipped to NYC and not to me. Yes, it was. So I got the box and brought it in. I even hated to open it b/c I knew what it would be. I also knew it would most likely be easier on the return shipping if it were unopened. But I couldn't just not know for sure. The box was opened. I peeked under all the paper wrapping. Yep. A Tiny Love playmat. Ooh...I was hopping mad. Usually Amazon does such a great job. Arg.

Do you see where this is going? Uh, yeah. I looked at the packing slip. Sneaky ol' Joyce (whose birthday is TOMORROW!!! HAPPY BDAY!!) had gone and ordered Benjamin a Tiny Love playmat. Upon reading her sweet note, I burst into tears. I'm such a sap. What a great friend!

Here is the sweet boy on his new toy:



Go, Benjamin, go!



His feet in the air are cracking me up:



Andrew's new thing is playing hide-and-seek. But unless his cousins are around, he is usually playing by himself because I'm usually busy. All day, from all corners of the house, I hear him shouting, "WE'RE WEDDY!"



Andrew was very grateful to Joyce, too, because he loves the box that B's present came in! And the cats love the paper.

These last two pictures are my lame attempts to copy my friend Stephanie, who always posts great pics of things that her three boys leave lying around her house. Granted, I only have one boy who can do that so far, but this is still pretty sorry. (Steph, seeing your last couple of posts made Matthew comment that he really wants another boy so we can live your crazy life. I told him he's nuts.) :)

That's it from our house today! Tonight, Matthew is taking Andrew to our church for a little while to go to their Fall Festival. Then he's watching Benjamin while I take Andrew trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Tomorrow, my aforementioned cool friend Stephanie is having a HUGE "Fear Not" Fall party in her backyard and so all four of us are going. YAY!!! Have a safe and fun Halloween, everyone!!