Happy Halloween!

This year Isabella wanted to be a bride for halloween. Partly because of Kate marrying Prince William and partly because she had so much fun at my cousin Allison's wedding. We had a dress picked out and everything, but David had other plans. He refused to let her be a bride claiming she's too young (I guess he didn't realize she wasn't ACTUALLY getting married). She was given a chance to select another costume and so she chose to be Rapunzel. Fortunately, Daddy was ok with that choice...

As far as Madeline, I'd made Isabella's first 2 Halloween costumes, so I felt an obligation to make Maddie's as well. After going back and forth about what she should be, I finally decided on a bumble bee. Let's just say, you could tell the costume was "homemade." Oh well, it was made with love.

The weekend of Halloween, David and I attended a wedding in New York for his long-time friend Arie's wedding. It was SO nice to get away, just the two of us. I'm not quite sure what it is about us, but we tend to bring unseasonably cold or warm weather with us when we travel. Just lucky, I guess. We arrived on Friday afternoon and it was cool and crisp. We were able to wear coats, but walk around comfortably outside for a few hours. It was so nice. We went to see Jersey Boys on Broadway that night. OMG - I could not stop smiling the whole time. It was one of the best musicals I've ever seen. David shared that sentiment. We couldn't stop raving about it. Saturday night was the rehearsal dinner, but we didn't have any plans until 6 so we decided to take advantage of our free time. After spending 30 minutes in a "time share" presentation (we had to in order to get the amazing rate we were offered), we convinced the poor sales person we had no intention of purchasing at that time. About 20 minutes into the presentation, however, it started snowing outside. We're not talking a dusting, we're talking huge, fat flakes. We were mesmorized by its beauty. We couldn't wait to go outside and enjoy the wintery weather. We met our friend David Dym in the lobby and headed off to Carnegie Deli. As we were leaving the hotel, we realized the "beautiful snow" was going to have the same effect as rain and we purchased two umbrellas from the vendor parked right outside the entrance. Boy did those come in handy. The fat flakes poured down like water and the wind started picking up. We arrived at Carnegie just in time as there was no wait when we got there. It was everything it's touted to be and more. We all shared some potato latkes and a potato knish. I head Matzo Ball soup and the Davids split an enormous corned beef and pastrami sandwich. By the time we left (no more than 45 minutes later) there was a line out the door. Also in that 45 minutes, the weather took a turn for the worse. The wind picked up and the snow turned into a wintery mix. We decided to go down to the Financial District and see Wall Street and ground zero. We took a cab there after vetoing the subway idea. We'd already bought Subway tickets, but when we saw the line just to get on (it was backed up ABOVE ground b/c of the weather), we thought a cab was our best bet. Once we got there, the wind had picked up even more and the snow had turned back into rain with a hint of sleet. Beautiful combo. I should take this opportunity to mention that NOWHERE in the 10-day forecast was snow mentioned. At least not until we were packed and already on the plane... That said, we were desperate for winter accessories (we needed scarves and gloves BADLY). We were walking around ground zero trying to find a way to see the site when the wind picked up even more and destroyed our umbrellas. It didn't just flip them inside out, it snapped the metal spokes. Now, we were cold, wet with no umbrella and still no way to see the site. We decided to take pictures of the construction zone as they were re-building 3 towers and that in and of itself was pretty photo-worthy. From there we headed to Wall Street itself and had a chance to witness the "Occupy Wall Street" idiots. Quite a site, let me tell you. By this time, the snow that had accumulated on the streets had turned into enormous puddles so every step we took we saturated our shoes. By the time we were done with Financial District, our shoes were soaked and we were in need of new ones. Literally. We made a stop at the M & M World to buy gifts for the girls and we headed to THE Saks Fifth Avenue and each bought a new pair of boots to wear. It's a shame they will only get used once a year in San Antonio... We headed back to the hotel to take a warm shower and get ready for the rehearsal dinner. The dinner was at a Persian restaurant and I have to say, the food was delicious. It reminded us of a Turkish restaurant here in San Antonio Turquoise. We went to a pub down the street for a drink afterwards and went home to rest up for the wedding.

The wedding was held at the D & D building. I'm not sure exactly where it was, but it to be in a Design/Home furnishings/Home Improvement area. The building was beautiful, as was the view. Arie and Beth's wedding was small and beautiful. It really was. Unfortunately, we had to go straight from the wedding to the airport. It's a good thing we left when we did. We're not sure what the cab driver was thinking, but it took an hour to get to the airport. I don't know my way around NYC, but I can tell you the route we took to JFK airport was NOT the most direct nor was it the fastest. As we were going through security, we were stopped and the security employees informed us we couldn't carry the snow globes we'd bought for the girls on the airplane. They gave us the choice to either check a bag or throw them away. We opted to check the bag, but we were cutting it close. Damn you Al Qaeda. My Dad picked us up from the airport (which was really strange to have MY Dad picking us up at the San Antonio airport).

This brings us to Halloween. Isabella had a make-up class for ballet, so my parents had a chance to see her in action - well, not exactly. Still, it was cute to see her standing in her full ballet ensemble. We took the girls trick-or-treating in the subdivision across the street from ours. Unfortunately, David was in a "fender bender" on his way home from work and missed seeing the girls in costume. He would've made it for the end of it, but he waited 2 hours for the police to show up. Nice. Ok, here's what you've all been waiting for: the pictures. First, however, here are the wedding/NY pictures first:

Maddie 9 Months

Madeline has now been out of my tummy longer than she was in (although I could have said that at 8 months too, I suppose). She has matured into quite a little love bug. She draws attention no matter where we are. Her smile can light up a room. A week ago, we got her ears pierced. She looks adorable in earrings, just like her big sister. She's starting to "talk" and even added "da da" to her repertoire. So far we have: ba ba, ga ga, ha ha, wa wa, da da and ma (yes, just one ma. I'm trying desperately to get her to add that second "ma.") According to her pediatrician, she is EXACTLY where she should be at 9 months, developmentally and has even caught up on the growth chart. Her stats are as follows:

Height: 26 inches (8th percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs. 15 oz. (19th percentile)

Every day she seems to do something new that makes us so proud. She's crawling around everywhere. She's even discovered the joys of playing with Isabella's toys. Only one of the two of them is happy with that discovery :). Isabella is a good sport, but she's only human and tends to aggressively take toys away from Maddie. I lovingly remind her that if she doesn't share her toys with her little sister, I may not share my toys with her (i.e. my iphone or ipad). She immediately finds a toy she doesn't mind temporarily parting ways with and hands it over to Maddie to enjoy. That only appeases Madeline for so long until she realizes Isabella is playing with something else and then she decides that toy is her next target. It's funny to watch. I have a new appreciation for what my little sister went through. Being an older sibling myself, I can where Isabella is coming from. Now, however, I see Maddie's perspective and I try, with a 50% success rate, to make them both happy.

Recently Maddie started clapping her hands. If we say "Yea Maddie" she'll start clapping. If we start Pat-A-Cake she starts clapping. It's absolutely adorable. I'm trying to capture it on video, but she always stops when I start shooting. She also started pulling herself to a standing position and twice has even let go and stood by herself for a second. David and I are just bursting with pride.

Here are some photos of our 9-month old princess:



Up next: HALLOWEEN!!!!