The Morris Family

iheartfaces {Winter Wonderland}

Potty Update

Since the last "potty post", Rachel was not showing much interest in transitioning out of diapers and going on the potty. Sometimes she would go at daycare, and was certainly not interested at all at home. That was.........until this week - we bought training underwear which are just like regular underwear but with extra padding. After two full days of accidents, we just weren't sure what to do. She would at least try at daycare, but not at home. So on Tuesday, after one unsuccessful try, Grandma Mary asked Rachel to show her how she goes potty at school. That was it! Ever since that time, Rachel tells us when she has to go and runs to the potty all by herself!

Preschool Dance

Rachel is taking a Preschool Dance class at the YMCA every Wednesday for eight weeks. Parents are not allowed to watch as they want the kids to learn and have fun and not be distracted by the presence of mom and dad. She gets to wear a pretty dance dress and tights. There is a performance at the end of the session on December 16th that we will get to see. Stay tuned for an update and pictures from the show in December!

Sesame Street Live

Last weekend Rachel, Grandma Mary and I went to Sesame Street Live at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. Rachel loves the Sesame Street characters right now and especially Elmo. She has countless numbers of Elmo DVDs so we couldn't wait to see the look on her face when these characters would come "alive" at the show. In the few weeks before the show when we would say that we were going to see Elmo soon, she would say "That's my favorite!".

Rachel wore her special Elmo dress and hat that she had gotten to wear for her birthday party. We enjoyed lunch at Red Robin in Madison and then headed off to the show. First stop was the gift stand to purchase some souvenirs. We bought the Sesame Street Live t-shirt and a CD of all the songs they sang in the show. Grandma Mary bought her an Elmo light that twirls around and lights up with 3 different colors - "all" the kids had them:) We had great seats - 4 rows from the side of the stage. As we waited for the show to begin, Big Bird welcomed everyone and announced the show would begin in a few minutes over the loud speaker. Rachel was amazed! "That's Big Bird" she exclaimed. We couldn't wait for the show to begin.

All the characters came out dancing and singing - there they all were, right in front of her "alive"! The show was called 1-2-3 Imagine, and all the characters would each get to imagine that they were at their favorite place. Elmo did a segment of his TV show "Elmo's World" and Rachel sang the entire song! There was a lot of singing and dancing, and the characters would even come down by our seats and shake hands with the audience. It was so much fun!

Trick or Treat

Rachel did a great job trick-or-treating this year! I don't think she quite understands the whole concept yet, but she knew if she went up to the door, said "trick-or-treat", she would get candy - enough said. She actually got to go twice - First she went with Daddy and Grandma Kate to the houses around grandma's neighborhood. Then she came back and went around our neighborhood with Mommy and Grandpa Al. I think we have enough candy to last us until next year!

The Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to Schuett's Farm to pick out another pumpkin to carve at home. It was finally a beautiful day and the perfect setting to get some great pictures! Rachel was really excited to see all of the pumpkins they had and kept running up and down the rows and picking up the pumpkins. They had quite a few that were even bigger than her! We also did a quick walk through the hay maze - it was just so nice to get outside.

Halloween Party at the Sobczak's

Every year our friends Jenny and Eric Sobczak have a Halloween & Pumpkin Carving party at their house. We have not been able to attend the last couple of years, so I was really looking forward to it this year. I don't think I have carved a pumpkin since I was a kid. I think ours turned out awesome!