What a Difference a Year Makes

My how times have changed. Let's use Halloween as an example.

Last Halloween: We grabbed some pumpkins last minute at Trav's work, and carved them that night.

Morning sickness pumpkin. Halloween 2010.



My cute little pumpkin. Halloween 2011.

 This Halloween: We made an afternoon of going to a pumpkin patch. One of us carried the overdressed baby while the other wheeled a wheelbarrow through a large field of pumpkin mush, searching for three perfect pumpkins to take home. We paused for photo ops at the pumpkin sign, the middle of the pumpkin field, a bale of hay, those weird cutout things you put your head through, and the pregnant goats. Then we overpayed for four pumpkins (I couldn't leave behind the one with the awesome stem) and went on our way. We didn't find time to carve them until the night before Halloween. And then only had the time and energy to carve two of them.

Our totally unoriginal template pumpkins. Halloween 2011.

Last Halloween: We attended a friend's Halloween party dressed up as Juno and Pauly Bleeker, which was a funny inside joke because I was pregnant but not everyone knew about it yet. I took pictures of everyone taking shots and remember thinking that next Halloween Trav would have to be the designated driver because I would finally be able to drink again and he would owe me. We stayed out too late and Travis was tardy for work the next morning.

Juno and Pauly. Halloween 2010.

This Halloween: We didn't go to the party. It didn't start until after Trinity's bedtime, so we weren't sure what we would do with her. We toyed with the idea of taking her and putting her to bed there, but chances are it was going to be loud, and we would have to wake her up to take her there and then again to take her home. I was going to put on my new footie PJs and go as a baby, but Trav had no idea what to be and we had no time to buy or put together a costume, plus he had to work super early the next day and didn't want to chance being late again. Pretty sure we were in bed by 10.

Last Halloween: On Halloween night we got our candy ready in the bowl, lit our pumpkins, turned on some football and waited for the hordes of children to arrive. As we handed out candy we contemplated life's deep questions, like whether we were going to have a fairy princess or a football player, or if we would allow our fat kid to trick-or-treat.

This Halloween: I scheduled her shots for earlier in the day, which was probably mean of me, but for some reason the pediatrician was wide open that day and it was my only option. I took her to the doctor's dressed as a ladybug, (super impractical since I had to then undress and redress her once she got her shots) and made sure the grandparents got to see her. When we got home, she was tired and didn't feel good so she went straight to bed. We didn't want trick-or-treaters to wake her up with their ringing, knocking or other obnoxiousness, and neither one of us bought candy, so we turned out our porch lights and kept our pumpkins dark. Bah Humbug!

I guess this is what it's like when life is no longer all about you. This Halloween was totally lame, I admit it. Maybe my days of being a slutty [insert costume name here] are over (I'll spare you the pictures of that). But I'm really not that sad. I wouldn't trade this Halloween for any past Halloween I've ever had. Next year, we take to the streets with not only a toddler, but a dog in costume! So excited!