October 31st

My Big Boo and Little Ghoul

October 31st

Parents and permission,

Children and tradition,

A night of exciting fun,

Halloween has begun.

Ghosts and goblins,

Batmans and Robins,

A cassette tape that moans,

Movie stars have clones.

Princesses and trolls,

Monsters and moles,

Lollypop, gummies,

Paper wrapped mummies.

Vampires and bats,

Witches and cats,

Halloween parties,

Butterfingers, Smarties.

Barbies and Kens,

Stimpys and Rens,

Tombstones in graveyards,

Halloween E-cards.

Devils and rock stars,

Candy corn and Mars bars,

Leaves fall from maples,

Kids bob for apples.

Tricksters and Treaters,

Athletes and cheerleaders,

Aliens with guns,

Leia's with buns.

Spider webs and pumpkins,

Werewolves and coffins,

Frankenstein's alive,

Skeleton's revived.

Stuffed bags and sore feet,

Sleepy eyes and warm sheets,

A night of fun,

Halloween now done.

~ Candice  (Pulliam) Masterson 

10/27/00

Sweet Toothed Vampires

The moon is full, it's Halloween night.

The vampires are out, looking for a bite.

They roam the roads, searching high and low.

For anyone, anything, with a little blood flow.

Grins on their faces, hair slicked back.

They're hunting for life, all dressed in black.

They entered a hood, with trees all around.

Witches in windows, and pumpkins on the ground.

Little ghosts and goblins, crowd the streets.

Ringing door bells, and asking "Trick-or-Treat?"

The vampires wonder, who or what are these?

That go around houses, saying "thank you" and "please"?

"They must have some blood." One vampires did say.

So they gathered together, and headed their way.

They surrounded a group, circled them in.

Another vampire did say, "Let the feast begin!"

They licked their lips, their eyes popped out.

Their fangs did shine, then the skeleton did shout.

"Don't drink our blood, and leave us for dead.

Have some candy, as a treat instead."

So the cat gave them a piece, of a Lifesaver gummy.

To the vampire's surprise, it was actually yummy.

The vampires liked it, and wanted some more.

So the kids tilted their bags, till the candy did pour.

The ate piece by piece, till they were done.

Then said their good-byes, and had to run.

They left in a hurry, not wanted to leave.

But, they'll be back, next Hallows Eve.

~ Candice (Pulliam) Masterson

10/7/01

Witches

Witches that cackle, tackle

with brews, spells, lotions, potions

for the sexes, hexes

with eye of newt, mummy's toe, bat wings, things

mixed together boil and bubble, trouble

witches on the prowl, growl

black cats with eerie eyes, flies

on broomsticks in the air, hair

stringy, long, black and grayed, frayed

black dresses, stockings, and hat, flat

black shoes with rusted buckles, chuckles

the witches about the lies, cries

of terrified children in their beds, heads

must roll from the witches, bitches

of Hell, daughters of Satan, waitin'

to cast their evil spirits out, shout

the townspeople thou shall hang them, Salem

known for witchcraft, soon vanished, punished

by death, drowned, hung, feathered, burned........Earned.

~ Candice (Pulliam) Masterson 

10/25/00

Have a Spooktacular and Fangtastic Halloween!

31 days of Kinley

     It first started out as just taking pictures and sending them to my family...but then my mom started to ask me every day, "Where's my daily Kinley pic?"  So, I thought this was a great way to document Kinley's first month.

I can't believe it's already been a month! Wow! The time has flown by so fast!

Happy 1 Month Baby Girl!

Fall Family Festival

     This past Saturday we loaded up the kiddos and headed to the Fall Family Festival held at a local church.  There were so many interesting costumes, fun games for Liam to play, yummy hot dogs and popcorn, and tons of candy!  I wasn't sure if we were to dress up but I found out when we got there.  Everyone was dressed up in costume, oh well, maybe next year.  We had fun regardless.  I even ran into some of my new friends from my MOPs group and Spouses Club.  Liam's school teacher was there too.  It was a great family night out!

Bows, Hair clips, Barrettes, Headbands, and more...

     Having a little girl is so much fun! My new obsession...making bows and headbands for my little Kinley to wear.  I was totally inspired by all the cute ones on Etsy.  After purchasing a few, I thought, "Hey, I can make that."  So, I headed to my nearby craft store, good ole' Hobby Lobby to get some supplies.  Here's a few of them I made.

With Halloween right around they corner, I made a little 

Witch Hat for her to wear for her costume.

After adding these new headbands to the ones she already had, I so needed a place to put them all.  So, I ventured to Hobby Lobby again to make a barrette/bow/headband organizer.  

Here's what I came up with!

I found a pretty white frame, some ribbon that matches her room, and some drawer knobs.  I hot glued some ribbon behind the frame for the hair clips to clip on to.  Then I drilled some holes for the knobs to fit in, then just screwed those into the frame.  Lastly, I hot glued and nailed some more ribbon behind the top part of the frame to hang it up.  It was so easy and turned out adorable!

Everything was so easy to make and way cheaper then purchasing them online.  

I can't wait to make some more!

Mesila Family Fun Maze

     Recently we took Liam and Kinley to Mesilla Family Fun Maze for a little Halloween fun.  There was so much for us to do, Liam loved the slides the best.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

She's Here, She's FINALLY Here!!

  ~ CAUTION ~ 

     If you don't like hearing about contractions, dilation, water breaking, or any forms of child labor or delivery, I suggest you skip this post because this is the story of how my sweet little Kinley was born...it won't be too detailed, but you have been warned!

     Well, if you read my last post, I was 40 weeks and 3 days overdue and doing whatever I could get get labor started.  Well, turns out the day I finally got a nice pedicure with an extra long foot reflexology massage thrown in, I went into labor that night.  I started having contractions around 9:00pm, at first I thought they were the Braxton Hicks ones I have been having on and off the past week, but when they started getting stronger and stronger, I knew the day had finally come.  The hubby started to time them and they were getting closer, so we finally decided to head to the hospital.  We checked into the ER and they wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery.  It was about 11:30pm when I finally settled into my hospital bed, sporting my lovely paper thin hospital gown, three hospital bracelets, baby heart monitors strapped to my belly, blood pressure cuff tightening around my arm every once in awhile, and the little red light thingy they put on your finger.

Here's a picture the hubby took before all the pain hit!

     With my first pregnancy my water broke and didn't have any contractions when we went to the hospital.  I was only dilated 3 centimeters so the midwife on duty gave me Pitocin to start my contractions, which were so strong I had to get an epidural pretty quick.  Took me 8 hours of labor, 3 hours of actually pushing before he was delivered.

     This round....I had serious contractions but my water didn't break.  Of course, they have to get stronger and longer in order for labor to progress.  But, this was all foreign to me, since I had an epidural last time.  When they checked me I had only dilated 2 centimeters around 11:45pm, so the resident on duty, Dr. Lee, thought I was going to take awhile.  Dr. Lee was taking care of me since my doctor, Dr. Vinge was still on his way.  But, the contractions kept coming, so the nurse on duty thought maybe a nice warm bath would help, it was about 12:00am.  So, the hubby helped me waddle next door to the bath room and eased on down into the warm water.  It seemed like I had just got in when the contractions really started kicking in.  When I started to feel the urge to push, the hubby went and got the nurse.  They helped me out of the tub and I waddled back into my room and into my bed, it was about 1:00am.  From then on everything went crazy fast.  Dr. Lee checked me again and I had dilated to 9 centimeters, but my water hadn't broke still and my doctor still wasn't there.  I asked about an epidural, but the nurse told me that I was too far along into labor and that all we were waiting for was my water to break and then I would be pushing.  Well, it didn't take long, my water broke around 1:25am...and then I really needed to push!  A team of nurses and the resident doctor flew in my room, everything seemed kinda like a blur because they were rushing around prepping everything for the delivery.  Next thing I know I'm pushing, with two nurses up by my head and a drill sergeant midwife "down there" with the doctor pretty much yelling at me to "get that baby out!"  Kinley's heart rate had dropped so I really had to get her out before they took action on their own.  It only took me 4 minutes!  4 minutes, to get her out!  She was officially born at 1:29am.  So total labor was 4 1/2 hours and only 4 minutes of actually pushing.  Much different then Liam's birth.  

She weighted in at 7lbs 11.8oz and measuring 19 inches long.

     She was finally here!!  All that waiting and waddling around totally pays off when you get to hold your little miracle for the first time.  She is beautiful, ten fingers, ten toes, a healthy pink color, blue eyes, and head full of blondish hair.  While I was being attended to, the hubby checked on his little girl.  She had a healthy cry, she just just wanted to eat.  As soon as I was finished, I attempted my first nursing session with her, which went great.  She latched on so easily and is a very good eater.  

     It wasn't long when they moved us all into another room for the rest of our stay. The hubby even got  a fold out bed to sleep on versus a love seat couch which he had to use after Liam's birth.  The nurses were really great and left us alone except for checking mine and Kinley's vitals.  Kinley did so good the whole time we were in the hospital.  She woke up when she was hungry or if she needed a diaper change, other than that she actually slept a few hours at a time.  I was surprised that the hubby and I actually got some sleep.  

The nurses made her a little name card to put in her bassinet.

     Later that morning, my mom and Liam came to visit with us.  I was so excited for Liam to meet his baby sister.  We even got him a little "gift" from her that he opened.  He was so excited because it was Ninjago stuff.  

Our family of four is now complete.

Mom, AKA, MeeMaw, got to hold her first granddaughter. 

     After their visit, the hubby, Liam, and mom went back to the house and Kinley and I took a nap.  Mom came back to the hospital to stay with me while the hubby stayed at home with Liam. The next day, Friday September 28th, we were discharged after breakfast.  I dressed my little lady up in her special fox "going home" outfit, got all our stuff packed, put her in her new car seat, signed the discharged papers, and we were outta there!  The nurse wheeled Kinley and I out to the car and we were set.  On our way home we stopped at What-a-Burger for some lunch for everyone.

Our Foxy Little Lady

Kinley's first ride home

     The hospital stay was good as far as hospitals go and even the food was pretty decent, but nothing compares to being home and in your own bed.  I think Kinley would agree.  After lunch we all settled down for a nap and woke up just in time to greet the rest of my family, my sister, brother, and dad had been driving all day from San Antonio.  They stayed just the weekend and I was definitely sad to see them leave.  Kinley loved napping on my sister, it was so cute.

Kinley and her Auntie Alicia

     So with everyone gone we were able to start getting used to our little family of four and making up a new routine.  I'm looking forward to seeing how our new adventure will go and I couldn't be happier!