Happy Halloween!!!

***UPDATE 11/01/2009***

It completely slipped my mind to mention that I totally made Elayna's bee costume (the tutu, wings, antennae, and I added yellow ribbon to her pants).  Jess found a bee tutu costume online and suggested I try to make it myself.  I'm so happy with the way it turned out.   Not that I'm biased or anything, but she was the cutest little honey on Halloween.

Melber celebrates Halloween with almost as much gusto as they do at Christmas.  Yes, I dare say.  While we used to go all out with hay rides and spook-tacular events, we now host a Trunk-or-Treat.  If you're not familiar with this (how could you not be?) it's when a whole bunch of vehicles decorate their trunks and then the owners stand beside them handing out candy.  Churches usually host them.  It's essentially a lot safer than letting your child wander unsupervised all over creation to collect candy from strangers.  So here are a few pics of this year's Trunk-or-Treat.

Helping Bala hand out candy.  (Actually, she was my partner in crime, grabbing candy from the tub and sticking it in our own candy sack.)

After being scared by all the costumes, EV wasn't up for anymore fun at the Greats.  Too bad for her, she still had to visit with Great Gma and Gpa Mabry, Great Grandaddy Rex, and Great Granny before going to Aunt Janice's Halloween Party 2009.

She's absolutely covered in saltine crumbs.  Give this girlie a cracker and she's set for the night.

What a toddler.  I caught a picture of her mid-wobble.

Benifield Family Reunion

I came across some pics from this year's Benifield Family Reunion.  They're over a month old, but I figure it's never too late to post pics of The Elayna.

EV's Matt & Mati

Here are a few pics from visiting Uncle Matt, Aunt Lori, and Cousin Eli a few weeks ago.  She's eyeing him like, "I know you think you'll get some of my snack, but I promise it's not gonna happen." Thank goodness she hasn't started saying "mine!" yet.  

Mati's trying to get in on EV's not-so-coordinated efforts of pulling crackers out of a cup.

Woe to Teething

Man! Elayna's teething again. And what does that mean for me? Why am I so scatter-brained and feel like I can't get any sleep? Oh, I don't know. Maybe because my daughter's not getting any sleep! This sleep strike seems to be a recurring theme whenever Little Miss EV cuts another tooth. No sleep for her means no sleep for me. No nap for her means... well I never take a nap, but there's plenty of other things I want and need to do but can't because my daughter has a supernatural gift of hearing and won't even attempt to fall asleep if she hears a fly buzzing around in the next room. Whew. So there you have it. Elayna refuses to take a nap.

Why Tires?

Have I ever mentioned Elayna's fascination with tires? Whenever I pull her out of her car seat and put her into the stroller, she strains and leans as much as possible to touch a tire. It doesn't matter if it's our Jeep tire or that of the car parked next to us. The kid loves them. Why? I don't know. She's weird. So here you go:

The Office

So I've been trying to catch up on The Office and decided to just start the series from the beginning. This show is funnier than I remembered! I'm laughing hysterically (by myself) during each episode. I nearly rolled out of my seat when I saw Dwight's mask. Can we say, "Hannibal Lecter?" Prepare yourselves.

Fun Doesn't Cost Much

I found some great ideas for inexpensive activities to do with your toddler/preschooler. Check it out. I can't wait to try some of these ideas with Elayna (or maybe while she's napping).

More BDay

Talking to Daddy.

Happy First Birthday Elayna Vaye!

Er, on September 19th! I absolutely cannot believe our baby girl is already a year old. Wherehas the time gone? Being a mother brings so much to life. (And it's also taught me a lot about myself.) Elayna is such a blessing to Ryan & me that I thank God every day for her. She's growing up so fast, we can barely keep up. And it's even more difficult since Ryan is in Afghanistan. There are so many times when I wish he were here, for the good and the bad. Like this weekend, when she discovered that walking truly is faster than crawling everywhere. And how she lights up when I walk into the room, like I've just made her day. Or just now, in the middle of the night, when she's cutting another tooth and all I can do is hold her while she whimpers through the pain. We miss Daddy so much. Ryan should have the internet soon, so anticipate many and more frequent posts.

Here she is, shaking presents before her party. Yep, looks like we're gonna have to wrap her toys in clothes to keep her from figuring out her presents at Christmas.

Here's Great-Granny with Elayna's own baby bumblebee cake.

And Andrea, Grandmother, and Vana getting the other two cakes ready. One is a giant bumblebee and the other is a flower with another miniature bumblebee. Vana made all three cakes. And they were DELICIOUS!

MMM. Yummy Yummy Sugar Frosting...

... Preceding the sugar crash!

Stay tuned for more posts and pictures.