Happy Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween Ryah was a princess.  I will be honest- I couldn't justify spending over $20.00 for a costume that she is going to wear once- but Matt said she had to have it- so guess who bought it (not me!).  I was excited to have Ryah go trick-or-treating because she was practicing all week to say "trick-or-treat" and had been singing her halloween songs.  But life doesn't always go as planned!
The daycare ended up with a bad case of hand, foot, and mouth disease.  It spread like wildfire and all 12 kids ended up with it.  Some kids had it worse than others, and I would say that Ryah was one of the kids with a severe reaction.  It started out on her bottom and then spread to her hands and feet, and I saw a few spots on her face/in her mouth.  So- needless to say, our trick-or-treating was not much fun with a sick girl. 
It was a battle to get her to put on her costume- she didn't want any part of it.  I guess I don't blame her- I wouldn't feel like doing anything either if I was sick.  My sisters were able to talk her into putting her costume on to go get candy, while they stayed back at my house to pass out candy.  Ryah was hesitant at the first couple of houses, but after that she was so good about asking for a treat and opening her bag to let them put the candy in it.  We made it a short night since this mama was exhausted and Ryah wasn't feeling well. 

 

 And this is what you get when a 2 year does not want her picture taken:

Wedding in MN

In October Ryah and I went up to Minnesota for my cousin Philip's wedding.  Matt stayed in Omaha for his friend Steve's wedding, so I was a little worried about the trip- because the last time Ryah and I traveled alone, I said I would never ever do it alone with a toddler again.  My sister Ashley had been staying with us while she completed an internship at the zoo so thankfully she agreed to ride along.  The trip went fairly well, but I am sure that I was singing Elmo songs the whole weekend.  I see a portable DVD player in the near future for Ryah :). 

The weekend turned out to be very lovely.  It was so fun to see my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  It is so hard to get everyone together since we all have families of our own- but events like this make it happen. 

My beautiful mother and baby sister

Ryah getting some Cheerios from my uncle Steve- she really enjoyed teasing him over the weekend

sisters

eating a treat before the reception

yummy... that was good candy