halloween costumes and awards 2010

Meet a Brazilian Gaucho, Lady Gaga, and Sleeping Beauty.

I am pretty sure I win the prize for scariest costume. Halle says I look like poker face. I kind of love that she even knows that. You're all lucky I decided not to wear the blue leotard outfit with my pregnant belly. I think Halle wins for cutest child alive, she also wins the prize for biggest freak out in a church parking lot known to man (she was not happy to be putting on her costume), and the prize for most candy corn consumption in a two hour period.

And Wes really did win the prize for most authentic costume at Chad and Erika's Halloween party.

I think Gary wins the prize for most improved costume wearer. Most people were shocked to see him so dressed up. He applied the eyeliner himself.

And Michele wins the prize for most in shape woman ever. You should have seen her rocking the thriller dance. And Rach takes home the prize for the seriously most gorgeous fairy ever.

You can definitely read this guy's poker face.

Wes deserves another prize for sitting through the party with an awful cold. His smile got smaller and smaller and his eyes got redder and redder as the night wore on. Biggest trooper award goes to him.

Happy Halloween!

Don't have too many nightmares about me as a blonde.

baby update

The need-to-know basics about baby bell number two.

When is the baby due?: Supposedly April 10th which puts me at about 16 almost 17 weeks along. We will know for sure in about a month when we have the 20 week ultrasound.

One heart beat or two?: Definitely only hear one. No twinkies here.

Boy or Girl?: Halle is convinced it is a baby sister and that is what I am hoping for. I really just want a Halle clone minus the sleeping issues. I haven't felt any intuition either way. Again we won't know for sure until the 20 week ultrasound.

How are you feeling?: Just like with Halle I have felt great this whole pregnancy. It seems I am one of the lucky ones that never throw up. I have felt slightly more nauseous with this baby then with Halle who I didn't feel nauseous with at all. And just all around ecstatic to feel a baby moving around.

cornbelly's

One chilly night we took Halle over to Cornbelly's for some fall fun and a corn maze.

We set off in the large corn maze and let Halle lead the way. She never questioned what direction she was taking and in the end we came right back out where we started.

We thought we started her a little too big so we went to the kiddie corn maze that is supposed to take about ten minutes. Within minutes we were turned around again and somehow ended up at the entrance again. Yes, even us grown ups couldn't find the way out.

So both corn mazes were a big fat fail. We felt pretty dumb, but found other things to do. There was a pumpkin princess play area for Halle with a carriage and a bouncy house.

We took her on a bumpy tractor train ride through the corn.

She had a great time and was pretty worn out by the end of it. And I loved holding hands with my sweetheart while Halle led the way through the corn.

pumpkin family night

The Bell family annual pumpkin carving family night came and went.

Only we didn't carve pumpkins because we didn't want to clean the mess. We drew on our pumpkins again. I don't think we will be carving anymore when this drawing is just so much easier. Only I didn't draw on my pumpkin because I didn't want to repeat last year when my pumpkin turned out to be some hideous pig woman. So I opted to spray paint my pumpkin and tie it up with a pretty ribbon and that is about as artistic as I get. And I didn't even come up with that idea on my own, so I have now totally revealed just exactly how un-crafty or non-creative genius-y I am. Halle and Wes drew masterpieces on their pumpkins.Wes honored batman and Halle just wanted to color and color and color.

She didn't want to take her pumpkin outside and she didn't want to give up the markers for anything. Finally we just brought her pumpkin outside despite her whining and there they sit for all to see.

he's a breadwinner

here is working wes on his first day of work at ernst and young.

i had to snap a few "first day of school" proud mommy pictures even though he is 26 years old and starting his career.

some things i love about working wes: he makes money, when he is home he doesn't have to worry about homework, halle is proud of him and she tells him so, he looks pretty hunky in his business attire, he does it all with a smile and plenty of energy to shower on us when he comes home, and he still makes me laugh, which is more then i can say for any other accountant out there.

newport: day five

The next day we headed out to Knott's Berry Farm. I have never been there and was interested in seeing what it was all about. There were a ton of big roller coasters and crazy rides I have never seen anywhere else. But, of course, at this point I was about 8 weeks pregnant, so Halle and I hung out by the kiddie rides all day. I will say they have a great kiddie section with a lot of rides that Halle really loved (any place that has a bouncy house is a hit with her). It was an interesting park and a fun way to spend the day.

This little gem of a ride was my favorite. The kids actually have to pump themselves around the train track. Halle tried so hard to do it, but the ride operator mostly had to push her along. She sure thought she was doing it though.

This ride took everyone up to the top of a big waterfall hill and then dropped them down. That was it. And they all got soaked. It wasn't a favorite.

Our last half day in Newport took us down to Corona Del Mar to check out the beach. I could not believe the beach houses they have going on down there. Definitely all about the Benjamins. This beach was gorgeous and foggy and next time we will definitely have to spend a day down there in our suits and everything. Thank you to the Bells for a fantastic trip and end to our summer.

newport: day four

We spent a relaxing day around the city of Newport. I loved driving around and looking at all the local restaurants and stores in this cute little beach town. The beach houses here are incredible. We drove to Newport beach intending to spend the afternoon there, but the wind and the temperature had other plans. I sat in a towel freezing on the beach while Halle and Wes went into the ocean. The wind didn't even phase Halle. She had so much fun even though she was shivering from the cold. Needless to say, our stay at this beach was very short as we opted to sit in the hot tubs at the resort instead. But that didn't keep me from snapping a few pictures of our little kikster enjoying herself.

character love

A seperate post needs to be devoted to all the characters we ran into at Disneyland and had to meet. Halle loved meeting all of the people and creatures from her favorite movies and shows. She was very excited to meet the princesses and as with all characters she couldn' t talk to them. All she could do was hug and stand and stare into their faces.

Princess Tiana

Princess Jasmine

Princess Ariel

Princess Aurora

Halle is rarely ever shy, but something about these characters brought out that side of her. Sleeping Beauty was her favorite when we took this trip and she was so shy all she could do was fold her arms as she stood with her for a picture.

Princess Snow White

Winnie the Pooh

All she wanted to do with this big guy was snuggle up to his belly.

Tigger and Eeyore

Tinkerbell

Halle just wanted to touch Tinkerbell and give her hugs. She wouldn't say much, but I think this was her favorite character to see. And Tinkerbell was the spunky little fairy she is in the movies. We all loved it.

Sulley

She was pretty scared to get close to this guy.

Woody

She couldn't stop talking about how Woody gave her big loves. And this was another character she was so shy she folded her arms and did the awkward lean.

Mickey Mouse

I think she needs all of these pictures in a photo book she can look through.