How many costumes does one child need?

So, I believe I have mentioned before that I am NOT a big fan of Halloween. I have always hated Halloween, probably stemming from being painfully shy throughout my childhood (imagine that!) as well as having to trick-or-treat for both my brother and I when he was very young (somehow he always managed to get deathly ill for major holidays - especially Halloween!). That being said, I am trying very hard NOT to cloud RP's experience with the fact that I could do without Halloween altogether and not feel like I'm missing anything.

As such, we have had RP's Halloween costume in her closet for almost a month now - a "Disney Parks Exclusive" Snow White costume, compete with official Snow White hair bow headband and sparkly red shoes. I completely forgot about the fact that she would probably have a Halloween party at school, and since she attends on Mondays and Fridays, this will be an event she will participate in.

As much as I love her school I am not about to send her "real" Halloween costume to school with her for her school party/costume parade. As tiny as she is it took me forever to find a Snow White costume that would fit her, and I've seen her clothes after being at school all day - not pretty! Since I had to leave work early yesterday for a doctor's appointment, I swung by Walgreens to check out their costume selections and lo and behold ended up buying her the cutest little busy bee costume. It is technically a baby costume, but it fits her perfectly and will hopefully hold up to the rigors of daycare.

So, for someone who hates Halloween, I have now purchased TWO Halloween costumes for one child. Ahhh... the joys of motherhood! :)

RP's "Busy Bee" Costume for school

"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall... Who is the fairest of them all?"

Where is the year going?

We are only a week and a half away from Halloween, and I still can't believe it. Where has this year gone? RP isn't excited for Halloween, although she seemed pretty enchanted with her costume, which I tried on her the other night and am happy to announce that it fits PERFECTLY!!! Of course, she was MORE thrilled with the pink princess bucket that I bought to go with the costumer, and even went so far as to take it from the closet and sleep with it once - I had to hide it until the big day!

I'm still not sure where we'll be trick-or-treating, but there are a few Halloween parties/opportunities coming up that we may take advantage of instead. Now I'm hoping that this costume will still fit in March when we head down to Disney World! Yes, that's right - our entire family is headed for Spring Break in the Magic Kingdom - officially booked as of yesterday.

As the weather turns colder, RP and I have enjoyed some fun at the local pumpkin patches, but like her Mommy, RP is a summer girl at heart. She is NOT thrilled with the temperature change, and seems annoyed with having to put on so many layers of clothes (not to mention having to wear a coat, socks, and shoes after months of going barefoot!). This weekend will be spent breaking down and buying RP her winter snowsuit, and I can't believe it was almost a year ago that I was anxiously awaiting my trip 1 dates and trying NOT to buy everything in sight!

Here's a quick pic of RP and I at the last visit to the pumpkin patch - hopefully one of these days I'll actually get her to look at the camera and smile for pictures! :)

October already?

I can't believe it is already October - where has this year gone? Things have been pretty hectic around here - last weekend RP and I headed to the pumpkin patch to enjoy some fall weather (it was actually COLD - brrr!!!), and this past weekend one of my best friends got married, so it was a full weekend of wedding festivities!

RP is doing well - she continues to amaze me each and every day! She remembers the darnedest things (sometimes things I wish she wouldn't - like every time she yells out "Oh gawd!!!" when something upsets her or goes awry - and in the same tone as Mommy does, imagine that!), is starting to learn to count (favorite number is 2 - everything HAS to be two!!), learning her colors (favorite color is blue - just a coincidence that it rhymes with "two?!?!"), loves to sing and dance (she ripped up the dance floor at Miss Carey's wedding - literally!), and has boundless energy that I wish I could bottle and use myself!

With Halloween only a few weeks away RP's costume is now up in the closet, ready for the big day! She is going as "Snow White" this year, and I can't wait to see how she looks all dressed up. I even found a "My First Halloween" outfit for her to wear for the rest of the day on Halloween, which is pretty ironic considering she is almost 2 1/2 years old now. I just hope she enjoys Halloween and stays in the costume for trick-or-treating, although at this point I'm not sure exactly WHERE we'll be trick-or-treating yet. Ahhh - fun times! :)