Happy Hallo-wean.

From the picture, you can see that we've done some holiday decorating in the Baughman household. Happy Halloween! Good thing mommy has a job now (that is going well, by the way) from which mommy can kindly borrow-for-keeps rubber gloves to stuff with candy. Very ghoulish, isn't it? Nate enjoyed sorting all of the colors, categorizing the different sizes and shapes and stuffing them into the gloves in an organized fashion. Tessa mostly enjoyed stuffing her face with as many pieces as she could sneak in to her grubby little paws. This, naturally, involved some arguments between the two of them. The finale involved hanging the hands from the fireplace mantel.


So, Tessa has recently adopted this place as one of her favorite places to play with her babies and take a rest. Cute and creepy, huh?

And, to all of you, asking yourselves, "how old is she and what is that in her mouth?" Yes, it is a pacifier and, yes, she is a talking and walking two-year-old. She only hits it at bedtime and in the car. Don't get me wrong, the girl would walk around with it in her mouth all the live-long day, if anyone let her. BUT, the dentist has reassured her mommy that it is OK and no one will get concerned orthodontically until age 5. FIVE. No, this does not mean that Tessa will be toting a foofy, as we endearingly call it, with her to kindergarten. It just means that mommy is not ready to give up naps. And, when the three blind mice stole Nate's foofy when he was a fresh two and had a brand-spanking-new baby sister, he stopped napping. So, mommy is way over the social stigma and happy that she sleeps like a little diva. Troy is pressured by this social stigma and will probably be irritated that I even took a picture, let alone posted it to the world, while she was gloriously sucking away! There will be no weaning anytime soon, if Tessa and I have anything to say about it.

Also, please note how dirty and barren our fireplace appears in the picture. We are in search of some white birch logs to decoratively place in there on the off-season. Of course, our three and a half acres of mostly trees has none. We haven't gotten brave enough to pull over on the side of the road on a drive up north to chop some down, but it may be coming to that. If anyone has a forest of white paper birch trees, let us know! We'll come with axe or chainsaw in tow. And, of course, plant a new tree to replace what we've taken from you and the earth.