Boo at the Zoo

Just like last year, Lily and I went to Boo at the Zoo. It is always fun to go see the animals and it is another excuse to dress my little girl up and take her out. I've got a few shots of her in costume. Surprisingly it was a lot easier to get good pictures of her last year when she was just 5 months old. I kinda had to laugh yesterday when we went trick-or-treating in old town Nampa. Almost everyone I overheard commenting on her costume knew what it was right away, however I heard one woman point and her and say to her friend "Look at that cute little devil." I guess that she didn't see beyond the red cape.

We went all round the zoo and visited the different animals. Lily really liked them, she called the wart hogs and zebra Oscar, I think that is just her term for 4 legged mammals. I guess that we had better work on that one a bit. She is so independent and so I let her walk instead of bringing the stroller and she did so well. She held my hand and didn't try to pull away. She didn't even get tired from walking that much.

They have a little farm yard area at the Boise zoo so I took Lily to go see the animals and say hello. She was very excited by them, but a little hesitant. A lady gave her some food for them and she loved feeding them. She knew just what to do since she feeds Oscar all the time at home.

And here's a little video of Lily at the petting zoo area.

Finger Painting

This morning we decided to try finger painting for the first time. I have put off letting her paint because I kinda hate messes, but I figured it was time that we give it a try. So, I made some paints using just sugar, cornstarch, water and food coloring and we gave it a shot.

Lily tried sticking her fingers in, but she tended to pull back before really getting any on there so I tried to help her out a bit.

She ended up being much more interested in eating the paint than putting it on her paper. Good thing I made it from normal things instead of buying the stuff in the store.

Her other favorite thing to do was stack the paint cups.
So, not a great success, but we gave it a shot and the paints are made so we will try again another day. Maybe she will be less interested in eating it then.

Here's a little clip of Lily sitting up to the table with her paints.

Pumpkin Carving

This evening we carved pumpkins. It has been years since I last carved a pumpkin. So, I went and picked up three pumpkins this morning, and then this evening (while a pumpkin pie baked in the oven) we sat down to carve them. Lily enjoyed watching, but was in no hurry to touch the guts. Tyson tried to get her too while he cleaned one out, but she was not interested.

She, she sat and watched.
She did however finally start playing with one after it was carved. She was not at all interested in the pumpkin until it had a face.
So, these are our three very simple pumpkins. I used to do the elaborate carving, and I would still enjoy it, but a toddler takes up a lot of my time and she really seemed to like the silly faces.
Once it got dark we lit them up and Lily's reaction was great. She stared at them and kept taking steps backwards until she got to us (we were standing about three feet behind her). She was fascinated with them, all lit up, but a little scared too.

Picking a Name is Hard!

We are working on a picking a name for this baby girl and I am finding it terribly difficult. It isn't really narrowing down a list, but creating a list in the first place. I don't remember it being this hard last time. We had names picked out pretty early on, and while we changed our minds after finding out that we were having a girl, we still settled on a name very quickly. I loved having a name for her early on. We called her Lily for months before she was born and when she finally came to us I felt like I knew her and I never questioned her name because it was her name, and had been for a while. I didn't worry about whether it fit or not because it was who she was.

This time however, we decided to hold off on thinking of names until the ultrasound. When we were told that this baby is another girl I really felt lost. I started looking through name lists and books and I am about as lost as before. I suppose that we still have a lot of time to select her name, I just hope that this name fog will lift and we will be able to select one soon. I would like to be able to call this baby by her name.

New Family Photos

It's Another Girl!

We had our big 20 week ultrasound this morning and everything went perfectly! The baby is looking perfect and is measuring right on schedule. Oh, and we are having another girl! I'm very excited for Lily to have a little sister so close in age.

So, here are a few pictures.

And some little video clip. The first is the baby waving "hello" and the second is her heartbeat.