Halloween!

We had a very fun Halloween... lots of trick or treating, lots of candy, and some very cute owls! 

Norah got to wear her costume to dance class this week for a costume parade and short recital...

Maddie wasn't quite sure what to make of her costume, but she was very interested in seeing all the other kids wearing theirs. We went to a Halloween party at a local children's bookstore, and she stayed very busy watching everything that was going on around her. Norah seemed like an old pro while trick or treating this year. We had quite a time convincing her that it was time to go home at the end of the night! I think she got enough candy to last for the next six months!  All in all, a very fun night.

I crack myself up

Maddie has learned how to laugh, and she finds herself to be very funny (you may need to turn up your volume a bit)...

She also finds her sister to be hilarious, and Norah is happy to ham it up.

Norah had her Harvest Party at school yesterday. She and her classmates dressed as farmers, played games (she won two goldfish... hooray!), and went to a pumpkin patch. I got to go and help out, which gave me a chance to see her friends and meet some of the other parents.  She was very excited to show me around.

And just for fun, a picture of Maddie getting ready for Halloween.  Yes, we are the kind of parents who dress our kids in silly outfits and take pictures.

Smiles, Pumpkins, and Baseball

So we're settling into a normal routine here in the McCoy household - or at least as normal as you can ever consider life with an infant and a preschooler. Maddie is growing fast - smiling and making lots of cute sounds now - and Norah is having lots of fun with her sissy. The first two pictures below are from her two month birthday, with the third taken a few days later.

We took Maddie's second trip to the coast a couple of weeks ago. She doesn't love to be confined to her car seat for more than a couple hours, but as long as we budget time for a stop, she's a pretty good traveler. We finally got to pull out our fall clothes for the trip over there - this time of year is beautiful at the beach.

Maddie loves being in her big sissy's room - something that I'm sure won't change for a long time. Luckily, Norah finds it endearing right now. Here we were getting ready for nap time - don't both girls look tired?

Last weekend, we headed to the pumpkin patch to get ready for Halloween. We've found a nice patch that's run by a family on their farm every year, so we keep going back.  Norah got to cut her own pumpkin off the vine, and we all took a hay ride and navigated a corn maze. Luckily, this year we went early enough that we didn't have to go all the way out to the far edges of the field to find our pumpkins.

Norah's pumpkin

Maddie's first pumpkin (she's impressed!)

Finally, we have a bit of a rivalry going on in our house with the baseball playoffs right now. The Giants and the Cardinals are facing off for the National League title, so Daddy and Grandpa are both jockeying for Norah's baseball loyalty. I think she's decided to root for both teams, so she'll be happy either way. Go Giants! Go Cardinals!