I'm Thankful for... love

Having someone I love to grow old with.

I'm Thankful for... gifts

Thanksgiving is coming up. I'm disappointed that the one thing missing from making our family whole again still won't be home. Hard times are hard. But even on the worst, if I really try, I can find some reason to feel grateful, some small miracle to help me make it through. And for this Thanksgiving, there are plenty to be thankful for. I'm thankful for...

Being blessed with the gift of motherhood.

Meet Kaylie and Teddy

There’s been a lot of banter going on lately about having #2. Mike and I have always been “certain” about wanting 2 kids. There’s not a whole lot of logic behind it. We agree that we don’t want Ethan to be an only child, but that 3 is too much. Naturally, the decision falls in the median. The harder part is deciding on the “when”. We thought we'd wait until we get our house, hopefully by early next year... but then again, you never know.

Ethan might be giving us little hints though. Last week, he had an imaginary “baby” that he fed, washed and sang to sleep for an hour in the car. He said her name was “Kaylie” (which also happens to be the same name he repeats whenever you ask him if he has a “girlfriend” at school).

Then we learn about “Teddy”, his pet rabbit.

Do you see him?

Look closer.

He’s there.... now, do you see?

Well I know he's there because I've spent hours with Ethan feeding Teddy rice and water, and treating him when he doesn't feel too well. He likes to play outside, but not when it's cold, and when he's not busy playing with leaves, he likes to take long naps in his cage.

I think it's C-U-T-E.

I don’t know whether to think my son just has a vivid imagination or if he’s trying to tell us he needs a playmate. I personally don’t see anything wrong with him ‘imaginary’ friends, as long as he doesn’t start blaming them for spilling the juice.

Halloween Wrap Up

Believe it or not, I bought Ethan's costume LAST YEAR after Halloween when it got clearanced down to $5. I figured if he didn't somehow fit it for Halloween THIS year, he could at least wear it for dress up. Lucky for me, it was the perfect size come October, but he sure used it well before then.

For trick or treating this year, we decided to bring Ethan to "Mickey's Trick or Treat Party" at Disneyland. Since getting our annual passes at the beginning of summer, we've probably gone to Disneyland about a dozen times already... but it never gets old for us, especially for Ethan. Besides, I had always been amazed at how they decorated for the holidays, and Halloween was not an exception. I was kind of ticked that we couldn't use our annual passes for the "special event" though. It was an extra $25 a pop just to go trick or treating.... but we're a bunch of suckers so we went anyway.

The night would not have been compelte without meeting Buzz and Woody! Good parents as we were, we fell in line for what seemed like hours for this photo opp. But seeing Ethan's face and saluting the "real" Buzz Lightyear was well worth the wait.

The candy stations were abundant but seemed not enough when you have to fall in line forever. In the end, we decided to skip the candy and just hunt for the characters. I have to say I was impressed that Disney made an effort in handing out carrot sticks, apple dippers and raisins as alternatives. Too bad Ethan favored the M&M's more.

And what's Halloween without a trip to the pumpkin patch (even if it is the day before Halloween and a pumpkin patch is really on a mall parking lot)? Pretty disappointing compared to last year's, but in our defense, we wanted to wait until Mike got here so we could all pick our pumpkins together.

And since we were so late on getting the pumpkins... we got lazy and decided to opt out of the actual carving. It was less messy this way!

Our family of pumpkins

For Halloween night, Grandma and Papi took Ethan trick or treating in my alma mater neighborhood while Mike, Matt and I hosed down my overheated car in a carwash parking lot. How sad! Missed out on dressing up as a hoochie for a Halloween party we intended to go to, but there's always next year.... :)