Happy Halloween

Our Halloween festivities started last week. Arabella has been very excited about getting dressed up and decorating. Last week, we had a really warm day and she helped Jay put up cobwebs around the back door and she enjoyed adding spiders.




Auntie Lori arrived on Thursday to come help us celebrate Halloween. And on Friday morning, Arabella got to wear her first costume at Mom & Tots. We had a fun time at our playgroup and it was so cute to see all the kids dressed up in their costumes.





She has loved wearing her princess dress. We have certainly got our money's worth out of it, she wears it all around house and gets so excited when she puts it on, it just is the cutest thing. She wore the dress all day long Friday, even during her nap. On Friday night, we went to Hudson to take part in their Halloween party. On the way, we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets, it was the perfect Halloween sky.


Yesterday, we baked cookies and carved pumpkins. Arabella had fun making the cookies even if they were just place and bake (I took the easy way out this holiday).



This was the first year that Arabella was able to enjoy carving pumpkins. She helped me draw the face on hers by telling me the shapes that she wanted for the eyes and nose. She was so cute when she was taking the seeds out, she kept using the spoon and didn't really like to stick her hand inside, she kept saying "Yuck"! We had so much fun creating out Jack-o-Lanterns and they came out great!

Skating Update

Yesterday, Arabella had her third skating lesson and she did AMAZING!! She seems to only want to last about 15 or 20 minutes of the 30 minute class, but that is OK since she is working so hard. Yesterday, we used foam balls in the class and we would throw them and she would skate after them. I was so surprised when she was able to do this:

I think she was as surprised by her ability to skate by herself as we were! She did such a great job! Keep it up Arabella, you will be a little ice princess before we know it!!

Arabella 2 - Make-up 0

Round 1 - Arabella vs. Trish McEvoy Lipstick
Last Friday, I woke up to Arabella sitting on our bed and telling me "Tada" (which is one of her new favorite words!)! When my eyes focused she had my brand new $25 Trish McEvoy lipstick in one hand, and the most perfect circles of pink lipstick on each cheek. Her smile was so big and she was so happy that she was able to do her makeup all by herself. Let me state her that she is not allowed to wear makeup and if Jay has anything to say about it, she will be 18 before she wears any! However, when I am putting on my makeup and she watches and then asks for some, I pretend to put on some blush or eyeshadow and she loves it. My little girly girl. Anyway, as I tired to clean it off her, which she was very adamant that I not do, she proceeded to show me teddy who has also been covered in my lipstick! Lucky teddy! I was able to get her to help me clean him up, thank goodness for baby wipes! She on the other hand was not having it. She would even go and look in the mirror and she kept saying "Tada"! It was the cutest thing and I just couldn't get mad about her destroying my lipstick in one sitting. I did leave it within her reach so it was partially my fault. I guess motherhood has changed me because if this had been 3 years ago, I would have been through the roof over my lipstick.

Needless to say, Arabella won Round 1!

Round 2 - Arabella vs. The Eyeshadow
Yesterday was a rough day here. Arabella has worn me out before we even left for her art class at 10 am. It was just going to be one of those days. So when I was taking a time out, I knew she was upstairs playing. I was able to hear some noise so I figured she was OK. Little did I know, she was into my makeup that is on my counter in the bathroom. Jay had come home and it was getting near to Arabella needing lunch so I asked if he would go and check on her. I heard him talking with her, then water running but no crying so I figured it wasn't anything big. She then came down and gave me a hug and kisses and said she was sorry. I just figured she was saying sorry for giving me a run for my money. Later, Jay told me she was playing in my makeup and when I went into my bathroom later, this is what was on the counter for me:

Good thing Jay cleaned up what ever was strewn across the bathroom floor, or where ever it was, and that it was an inexpensive eyeshadow. I am not sure I could have parted with more of my expensive makeup.

Arabella is once again the winner!

I am sure there will be plenty more matches over the years...and I now need to find a new place to keep my makeup our of her reach!

Growing Up

It is hard for me to do this post since it means that another one of Arabella's firsts has been done. She has been growing by leaps and bounds, just over the week of vacation it seemed as if she had grown a foot taller and her language and vocabulary development has blossomed. She is now talking in full sentences and I am constantly amazed at the words she knows. Even her gymnastics teacher commented on how much she seems to have grown the past few weeks based on her skills and listening in class. Go Arabella!! But that is not the reason for my post. This post is about her "Big Girl Bed". I haven't been ready to transition her from her crib into the toddler bed just yet. For me it meant that she would not longer be my baby and in fact would be growing into a toddler. I also liked knowing that she was safe in her crib...except for when she would climb in and out of it which happened almost everyday and multiple times at that. So I started to ask her if she wanted to move out of her crib ans she would tell me Yes. I figured that if we talked about it, she would get interested in it and it would be easier for me when it did happen. Another factor that helped to make the decision easier was vacation. On our cruise she had her own twin bed and she did great, no issues and she was so excited about having her own bed. So when we got home, we asked her again if she wanted a "Big Girl Bed" and she was so excited and said Yes. So last week, we got her to help and changed over her crib. You should have seen her all excited and helping with the changes. We we finished, she jumped right in and wanted to call Grammie and tell her all about it. It was the cutest thing. She has been so good going to bed and taking naps. Every so often she gets a little scared and calls for me, but for the most part, we have had no real issues. And for that I am thankful, but a little part of me is still sad, seeing how quickly she is growing up, and it makes me realize that I need to slow down and cherish every moment that I have with her now.

Her crib before.

Telling Grammie all about her big girl bed!

PUMPKINS!

For some strange reason, I wasn't able to upload this last night so I had to give it another try tonight since it is too cute not to share. Needless to say, Arabella is getting very excited for Halloween!

Pumpkin Picking

Yesterday, we braved the cold and headed to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins. I figured we had better go this weekend since Halloween is coming up and I was afraid if we waited until this weekend, there would be no good pumpkins left. It was freezing cold, and I really mean that, it was so cold you could see your breath!! Never, in all the times I have gone pumpkin picking have I seen my breath! I was sure happy that I bundled Arabella and I up. I only wish I had long johns on! The cold ride out to the patch! Nonetheless, we had a fun tractor ride out to the pumpkins and as soon as we were off the tractor, Arabella took off for the pumpkins! There were a lot to choose from and it was nice that most of the vines had been cleared. Usually we are tripping all over them and you have to remember to bring something to cut the vines with. We were able to pick out a few good sized ones and then 2 smaller ones. Arabella was very excited to pick out our pumpkins for us. And today when we got home from errands and such, she had to go out and check on the pumpkins! It was so adorable.

One Last Sunset

We enjoyed one last sunset on the ships deck as we were leaving St. Maarten. It was absolutely beautiful!









After the sunset, we headed to the dining room for one last amazing meal. Arabella had so much fun with our waiter, Hermman, they would hi-5 the whole time.





And the hostesses we sad when we said goodbye, they were so friendly and just loved Arabella.





After saying goodbye, we headed back to the cabin to pack up and put our bags outside our door so they could be picked up and then would be ready for us when we got off the boat in the morning. It is so sad to see all the bags lined up in the hallway and being loaded into the elevators. I sure don't envy the guys that get the job of hauling all this luggage!

Philipsburg, St Maarten

Fun Facts*

During Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, he named it "Isla de San Martin" after Saint Martin of Tours.

After some initial conflict, the French and the Dutch realized that neither would yield easily. Preferring to avoid and all-out war, they signed the Treaty of Concordia in 1648, which divided the island in two.

I love St. Marrten!! And we only saw a very small part of the island. We did not ever get to the French side so that will be our excuse to go back! Jay even commented that he would like to go back.

Our last stop on the cruise did not disappoint. The weather was once again perfect and we had a great time.





We decided to take a taxi to Maho Beach a/k/a Airport Beach since this was one place that I did not want to miss. I figured that Jay might also be OK with one last stop at the beach since the planes landing and taking off might give him some amusement since he was way over visiting the beach again. Airport Beach is one of the few places in the world where you can view aircraft in their flightpath just outside the end of the runway. Since so many people come here to watch the airplanes over the beach, daily arrivals and departure timetables are displayed on a board in most bars and restaurants on the beach. Sunset Beach Bar and Grill has a speaker on its outside deck that broadcasts the radio transmissions between pilots and the airport's control tower.





























After the beach, we headed back to Philipsburg to check out the shopping, and boy was there shopping! There were so many jewelry stores that I couldn't believe it. I loved window shopping and looking at all the sparkly jewels and watches. I fell in love with this pink watch and Jay even let me go into the Cartier store to try on the Trinity ring that I have been looking at for years. I even found the Longchamp bag that I have been searching for and snatched it up since the price was right and there was no tax!









After some shopping, we went to the Belgian Chocolate Box where Jay and Arabella tried out some local chocolates. They were very yummy! After that, we went to the Guavaberry Emporium. Guavaberry is the legendary folk liqueur of St. Maarten. It was first made here centuries ago in private homes. It became an integral part of local culture & tradition. Guavaberry is St. Maarten's national liqueur. It is made from fine oak aged rum, cane sugar & wild St Maarten Guavaberries. The fruit is found high in the warm hills in the centre of the island. They are rare. They are not at all like guavas. The aged liqueur has a woody, fruity, spicy, bitter-sweet flavour all of its own. The name "Guavaberry" is of Caribbean Amer-Indian origin. And it is so good! Our last stop before taking the water taxi back to the boat was to "That Yoda Guy @ Planet Paradise". Here we met the creator of Yoda from Star Wars fame. Jay enjoyed seeing Darth Vader, Yoda, a Storm Trooper and other movie memorabillia. It was also fun to meet Nick Maley and see his work.



















*Fun Facts have been taken from the Carnival Fun Ashore Your Guide to Shore Excursions Book.