The Little Ladybug

Happy Halloween!! This in our front yard. I made the costume, Miguel took the picture and Lynn provided the camera and baby entertainment.

I originally wanted her to be a pumpkin, but a friend of mine said that all little kids are pumpkins for their first Halloween so I got creative with some supplies from the fabric store combined with the re-sale shop here in town.

Last night my aunt and I took Isa to "Boo at the Zoo" we met up with Auntie's boyfriend, Joel. The zoo decorates with jack-o-lanterns and various headstones, animated pirate skeletons, and lights and all the kids dress up in their costumes and trick or treat around the zoo and learn about animals and score some candy at the same time. It was going great until my little ladybug decided she'd had enough and cried to the point of hysteria. After many apologies to Auntie and Joel we decided to call it quits early. Luckily they were calm and cool about the entire thing, I was upset that she was crying that hard though (very out of character for her). I can understand, I guess taking a baby out in a costume at night is so much more for the parents instead of the kids. I'm planning on taking her again next year and having a blast though.

Lastly, hats off to all those who make the costumes vs. buying them. There were so many more creative costumes that were home made and the kids had just as much fun!

Sorry about the break

I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for the break in posts. Since the last post, Isa, Miguel, and I have all fallen very ill. I took Isa to the doctor and she got on antibiotics, then just a couple days later Miguel and I started up with the same symptoms. I guess when the kiddo's sick, everyone's sick. Isa's already feeling better as am I. Miguel is a different story, he's healing slowly on this one.

In MUCH brighter news, a good friend who was originally Miguel's but I adopted as mine in our marriage, Lynn, came to St. Louis to visit us. We all had a wonderful time and I took full advantage that Lynn might be a worse shutterbug than Miguel. She took so many wonderful pictures of all of us. I'll post them soon. Fortunately Isa was very well behaved while we went out for Indian food with Mike, Sarah, and Caroline Blackwood on Friday night and she did astoundingly well when we took her to Mizzou's homecoming. We didn't get to go to the game but we did cart her all around Columbia and to Bangkok Gardens. She did have a major diaper that Lynn helped me change but that's the mark of a true friend anyway, will they be there when you need them to be elbow deep in ... Never mind. Lynn you are a trooper!!

Pictures of Isa

Many of you on our email list have gotten these pictures, but for those of you who have not, here are some of the most adorable pictures you'll ever see. I'm starting at the beginning and posting as many pictures as I can so this is about 9 months of collection.

Posed Posse

This is a picture of all of us after church. Those of you on the email list will recognize this.

One of us is Camping

Ok, Miguel got invited to go camping with a neighbor of ours who camps with a pack or architects. I am NOT a camper. Most anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes around me will vouch for that fact. Poor Miguel tried to take me camping before we got married, I told him I would bring a lawn chair, Cosmo, and tequila. He was responsible for everything else and unfortunately lots of stuff went wrong and it ruined what little faith in camping I had. I still miss him though, I desperately need an adult and here's why...

After an entire first week of watching my 14 month old nephew, Sam, and Isa while Miguel was working late I am exhausted. Days with little ones that close together get very long after a while. We visited the zoo with a friend of mine who has 3 kids and took Isa and Sam. I learned from watching said friend that I will never, as long as I am outnumbered by kids, eat a meal. By meal I am of course referring to a pb&j uninterrupted by some sort of meal time catastrophe. One wouldn't eat, the other was eating stuff directly off the table, 2 were running around and playing in the drinking fountain, and the last one was sitting in the stroller chewing on the side of a chair. All in all, it was a good time and I do mean that. After lunch the kids were good, they listened and obeyed. I was in awe of this veteran mom and how well she could multitask.

In light of this, I have to give props to my mom who as a single parent raised 2 girls 20 months apart in age with 2 VERY different personalities. I don't know how she did it. Thanks mom!

Meet the Posse

All right Amy Roust! I'm doing it. After almost a straight year of encouragement I am starting a blog and America has Amy to thank. Her blog has been most informative and the family keeps up with the "Roustabouts". It's high time to return the favor and just do it. I'm not the best writer, but I love to tell stories, socialize, and show off my little girl.

Here are the members of "The Pico Posse"
Miguel: Husband and the head of the house. He works a lot and his stories are not nearly as interesting as mine, that's why it's my blog.

Claudia: Blogger, mother, wife, babysitter, I wear many hats and meet a lot of interesting folks and since I've hung up my teaching career I stay at home and have more time to do this sort of thing.

Isabel: Isa for short. Our beautiful 10 month old princess who was born with a fantastic attitude and an impressive amount of hair. Even the hospital staff was impressed. She learns new stuff every day and loves talking to Elle Roust on Amy's blog.

Zorro: The most disappointing posse participant. He is our mutt we adopted from the humane society at a reasonable size and he grew to a yard ruining astronomical size and even though he loves the baby he is unaware that his clumsiness and full 95 pounds is a dangerous combination. We still love him but Miguel threatens his life at least once a week and then proceeds to pet and baby talk him when he thinks I'm not looking.

That's it for tonight. I'm going to watch some TV and go to sleep. More tomorrow!