I do, I do! Candy, pumpkins, parties, and presents, what's not to love? October is one heck of a month in the Kendig household; I think we are all exhausted, and the real holidays haven't even begun yet. Oh my, oh my, oh my...Here is a recap of the craziness:
With the very first day of October came my very first preschool funk. Thankfully, I only ran a high fever for about 24 hours, and then I was done. A little downtime and some flowers from Daddy definitely helped! The immune system is proving worthy thus far.
Good thing I bounced back quickly, for Mom and I had to make it downtown very early the next morning to support Dad in running his first half marathon. He was awesome, and he finished his 13.1 miles in about 2 hours and 4 minutes! I am so proud of my Daddy. I also think his medal is pretty cool. The temperature, of course, dropped dramatically for the big event, so it was really cold waiting for him. It is hard to stay chipper when you are coming off a fever, woken up way too early, and freezing cold; however, the face painting and caricature did make up for the small inconveniences. Run, skinny Daddy, Run!
Rolling on...
To take the place of those scary, ear-piercing steam engines from the 4th of
July, the fair rolled into town and took over the Cumming Fairgrounds. Even the fair inspired some fear though; the goats in the petting zoo were ruthless and almost took me out while trying to get the fed out of my cup. Those goats almost ruined the fair for me; thankfully, the bunnies made everything all better - sweet, cuddly bunnies. The rides weren't half bad either; although, I wasn't allowed to ride the really big rides like at the Myrtle Beach amusement park, so poo on that. However, the funnel cake did a good job of making me forget the ride-woes that were a brewin' at the table before that powdery, delicious batter arrived.Daddy got to work from home one day this month, which is very rare. To make it a special day for him and me, I introduced him to Library Wee Read. I think he totally enjoyed himself; I know I did.
We headed over to the Fosters' house one evening for dinner and my first experience with s'mores. I prefer my s'mores uncooked and disassembled; gooey marshmallows and melted chocolate gross me out! I was also totally freaked out about hanging around a fire outside a
t night. I kept begging Mom to pick me up because "the big, bad wolf was coming". I'll stick to indoor cooking during the moonlit hours. Owen accidentally slammed his fingers in the door, which abruptly ended the back and forth campfire visits. In my quick thinking, I ran and got my cup from dinner to put against his fingers. I guess Mom has used a chilly glass to ice a boo-boo once or twice. I then loaded him up with ice, and I think he felt all better. AK and Owen were lots of fun; although, Owen kept trying to pick me up and mess with me. I liked AK's motherly approach better. It was a nice chance for Mommy and Daddy to celebrate the ongoing success of SoloHealth with Mr. Bart and Mrs. Aly while the older kids kept me entertained. Oh, and Mommy came away with a new craving for Blood Orange Vinegar on salad. Not my cup of tea but to each his own.
To accompany my and Mom's big birthday celebrations this month, we also celebrated some other very special birthdays. Happy 13th Birthday to my second cousin Cameron and 21st Birthday to Hannah! We hope your very special birthdays were super awesome! The day after my birthday party at the museum, Mom and I helped Miss McKenzie Germany celebrate her 1st birthday at her photo-themed birthday party. As I now say about all my favorite babies in a very sweet, tiny voice, "She is so cute!" Her cupcakes were really good too, and I got to decorate my own picture frame, but sadly, I seem to have left it. It was still fun coloring with her though. Happy First Birthday, McKenzie; you are picture perfect!
Later in the month, I helped one 
of my best friends, Tyler, commemorate his 3rd birthday with a jumptastic celebration. Chicken, orange cupcakes, a pinata, and a jump-jump are all you need to have a fantastic party, and he definitely brought the house down. We had so much fun! The parents even got to have conversations with one another because we were all thoroughly entertained; now, that is the sign of a good party. Happy Birthday, Ty-Ty. We love you!
So, preschool kicked our butts this mon
th, especially Mom's butt. Not only did she throw a little class cupcake party for me on my birthday, but she also attended and helped throw the class' Halloween Party. My classmates and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was the perfect conclusion to the school's Halloween parade, in which I was a super star, and class to class trick-or-treating that also took place on the same day. A parade, ton
s of candy, Chick-fil-A, a bean bag toss, another pinata, goody bags, cookies, and adorable costumes...oh, my! Mom learned this month that I am definitely the spirited one in my class; I have more energy and conversationl skills than most of my other classmates combined, but what's a party without some much-needed spirit!?I also enjoyed my first school picture day. I am a natural born model, granted I do get a lot of practice at home. The boy next to me, Tate, and I were the only two to get into the spirit of the class picture too.
The preschool also organized a pumpkin patch, which we visited with our Moms and some of the Dads one day during school. I picked the perfect mini-pumpkin, on which I created a silly sticker face. Then Lucas, Madden, Tyler, and I frolicked around the patch before settling down for a Halloween story. Okay, so we didn't really settle down for the story, but we did listen in between unwarranted hugs from Lucas and a hay-throwing battle. What else do you expect when the four of us get together!?
The preschool also organized a pumpkin patch, which we visited with our Moms and some of the Dads one day during school. I picked the perfect mini-pumpkin, on which I created a silly sticker face. Then Lucas, Madden, Tyler, and I frolicked around the patch before settling down for a Halloween story. Okay, so we didn't really settle down for the story, but we did listen in between unwarranted hugs from Lucas and a hay-throwing battle. What else do you expect when the four of us get together!?
Last but definitely not least on my preschool list of m
entions was Grandparents' Day. Grandma took the whole day off from work to come up and go to my
school for a sensational, musical performance and brunch with my classmates. I, as well as Dad and Mom, already suspected that I should really be in one age-level class above my class, and the Grandparents' performance did nothing but further this hypothesis - I learned the word hypothesis from Dinosaur Train; you should be impressed. Anyways, as the rest of my class just stood there, I sang every song with the utmost enthusiasm, the correct choreographed moves, and a bow at the end of each one. I threw the bow in on my own; ballet has taught me so much in the way of humility. You may think I am bein
g a bit biased about my abilities within the class, but trust me, you would come to the same conclusion if you ever saw for yourself; I mean, just take a look at the kids standing on either side of me in the pictures...mmm-hmm. I am way more in sync with all of the older kids behind me. I was also the only one to shout, "There's my Grandma; Hi, Grandma!" when we were led out to perform our songs with the older kids, which, for the record, got several laughs from the other grandparents; I was just trying to show my appreciation for her attendance. I am still a little miffed that I did not get to hold a f
lashlight like the four-year-olds during the light song. After showing off my performance skills, I graced Grandma and Mom with my presence at lunch before doing a little shopping to help Grandma find some holiday dresses. I also found a pretty cool hat for me that perfectly accentuated my newly acquired martial arts kicks and punches, which I am constantly practicing; Mom still has no idea from where I learned these n
ew moves. I even ethusiastically tried out these new skills on some older boys who were chasing my at Fowler Park the other day. They were totally scared; I could tell. Then Grandma came home and read me my naptime story. Thank you for coming to Grandparents' Day, Grandma; you are the best! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I.
entions was Grandparents' Day. Grandma took the whole day off from work to come up and go to my
school for a sensational, musical performance and brunch with my classmates. I, as well as Dad and Mom, already suspected that I should really be in one age-level class above my class, and the Grandparents' performance did nothing but further this hypothesis - I learned the word hypothesis from Dinosaur Train; you should be impressed. Anyways, as the rest of my class just stood there, I sang every song with the utmost enthusiasm, the correct choreographed moves, and a bow at the end of each one. I threw the bow in on my own; ballet has taught me so much in the way of humility. You may think I am bein
g a bit biased about my abilities within the class, but trust me, you would come to the same conclusion if you ever saw for yourself; I mean, just take a look at the kids standing on either side of me in the pictures...mmm-hmm. I am way more in sync with all of the older kids behind me. I was also the only one to shout, "There's my Grandma; Hi, Grandma!" when we were led out to perform our songs with the older kids, which, for the record, got several laughs from the other grandparents; I was just trying to show my appreciation for her attendance. I am still a little miffed that I did not get to hold a f
lashlight like the four-year-olds during the light song. After showing off my performance skills, I graced Grandma and Mom with my presence at lunch before doing a little shopping to help Grandma find some holiday dresses. I also found a pretty cool hat for me that perfectly accentuated my newly acquired martial arts kicks and punches, which I am constantly practicing; Mom still has no idea from where I learned these n
ew moves. I even ethusiastically tried out these new skills on some older boys who were chasing my at Fowler Park the other day. They were totally scared; I could tell. Then Grandma came home and read me my naptime story. Thank you for coming to Grandparents' Day, Grandma; you are the best! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I.Speaking of performances, I am working on perfecting my routine to "Jing
le Bells" for my 
December 2nd ballet recital on an actual big stage. We even got to have an unannounced dress rehearsal duing our most recent ballet class. For some reason, it seems that I have been placed in the back for the big event! This must be a mistake; I shall take it up with my dance teacher...maybe. I do look darn cute in my holiday performance costume though. Mom had to have a little talk with me about stopping my freestyle moves during the routine and just sticking to the choreographed moves that the rest of the girls are doing. I guess we shall just have to wait and see which routine I end up presenting as my ballet debut.
le Bells" for my 
December 2nd ballet recital on an actual big stage. We even got to have an unannounced dress rehearsal duing our most recent ballet class. For some reason, it seems that I have been placed in the back for the big event! This must be a mistake; I shall take it up with my dance teacher...maybe. I do look darn cute in my holiday performance costume though. Mom had to have a little talk with me about stopping my freestyle moves during the routine and just sticking to the choreographed moves that the rest of the girls are doing. I guess we shall just have to wait and see which routine I end up presenting as my ballet debut.By the way, Mom and Dad are starting to see a return on their preschool investment. As I was outside raking the leaves the other day, which I insist on doing quite often, I yanked our American flag out of our garden, marched right inside, and recited the entire "Pledge of Allegiance" for Mommy. She was so impressed that she, of course, made me do it again to be recorded. Since then, I have regaled Mom and Dad with my "Pledge of Allegiance" proficiency at least 50 times. I'm so proud...to be an American.
La
st year, I made one adorable UGA cheerleader, so this year, I changed the colors up a bit and represented Dad's Yellow Jackets at the GT homecoming tailgate. Guess what...I make an adorable Tech cheerleader too! Unfortunately, no other kids in our group came out to 
participate in the festivities; however, I still managed to have a great time thanks to Mrs. Teri and her cookies, Mr. Justin and his crazy antics, and a bit of cornhole practice. The wall next to our tailgate made for a perfect balance beam too. Mrs. Teri did try and confuse me by teaching me to cheer for the Clemson Tigers. Later, Mom, Dad, and I walked down to Dad's old fraternity house, Delta Sig, for a quick tour and some reminiscing on his p
art; for future reference, earmuffs are a necessity when taking a 3-year-old into a fraternity house but the car outside was pretty cool. I bet Daddy never imagined back in his college days hanging out at his fraternity house while wearing a pink backpack. Anyways, Mom made the tour a quick one before hastily getting me out of there and heading back up to our neck of 
the woods for a UGA vs. FL party at the Loiseaus'. It was nice to go crazy with my peeps for awhile, but it did make for one long day. Thankfully, both of our teams, UGA and GT, were triumphant! It's also important to note that I look good in the gold and blue combo, as well as the red and black combo.
st year, I made one adorable UGA cheerleader, so this year, I changed the colors up a bit and represented Dad's Yellow Jackets at the GT homecoming tailgate. Guess what...I make an adorable Tech cheerleader too! Unfortunately, no other kids in our group came out to 
participate in the festivities; however, I still managed to have a great time thanks to Mrs. Teri and her cookies, Mr. Justin and his crazy antics, and a bit of cornhole practice. The wall next to our tailgate made for a perfect balance beam too. Mrs. Teri did try and confuse me by teaching me to cheer for the Clemson Tigers. Later, Mom, Dad, and I walked down to Dad's old fraternity house, Delta Sig, for a quick tour and some reminiscing on his p
art; for future reference, earmuffs are a necessity when taking a 3-year-old into a fraternity house but the car outside was pretty cool. I bet Daddy never imagined back in his college days hanging out at his fraternity house while wearing a pink backpack. Anyways, Mom made the tour a quick one before hastily getting me out of there and heading back up to our neck of 
the woods for a UGA vs. FL party at the Loiseaus'. It was nice to go crazy with my peeps for awhile, but it did make for one long day. Thankfully, both of our teams, UGA and GT, were triumphant! It's also important to note that I look good in the gold and blue combo, as well as the red and black combo. Whew, that's a lot of craziness, and we aren't even done yet!
The best part of October, aside from the obvious - my birthday, is Halloween! Dad and I spent the day before Halloween carving funny faces into our pumpkins. Well, he carved, and I mainly watched. No matter how hard they pleaded,
I adamantly refused to reach inside of the pumpkins and touch the nasty pumpkin guts. My hands are far too delicate! I preferred to help with the knife when I could get my hands on it. Mom helped by maintaining the mess, capturing the process on film, and designing one of the fun faces. After the two little pumpkins were complete, 
Dad and I headed out front to tackle our huge pumpkin; we even gave him a tongue. I was super excited about putting our jack-o-lanterns out for everyone to see. We capped off the pre-Halloween evening with hot cocoa and Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin movie; the classics never get old. Add all of this to good ol' fashion jumping in the leaves, and all I have to say is ahhh...I love autumn.There is no better way to end a month than with a great candy roundu
p. Halloween was spectacular! I was so excited about my owl costume all month; therefore, I indulged Mom's photo shoot request for a couple of minutes before the anticipation of trick-or-treati
ng, and Dad's return home, totally distracted me. The whole point of the photo shoot was to get a good owl picture of me to frame in Baby Ethan's nursery, and I think that we accomplished our goal. Dad got off of work early, and we all headed to the Littles' house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, Lucas was sick and couldn't come, which devastated me all day, but once I got going with Madden, I was as happy as an...owl. Tyler and Parker weren't so sure about the idea of ringing random doorbells for candy, but Madden and I 
immediately got the concept, and we were off! There was no doorbell I wasn't willing to ring, no matter how scary the exterior looked. Before long, we gave up on wasting the time to get in and out of the wagons, and Madden and I just took off fro
m door to door. Inevitably, there were a few falls, but I picked myself right up and kept going. Our friend Chase even busted his mouth open and wanted to keep going. Candy can dull any pain! Parker started to crash about halfway through, and despite my efforts to take her hand and drag her along, she ended up bailing before the last 
house. Tyler was just interested in the lollipops, so once he acquired a few of those, his enthusiasm was pretty much quelled. At one house, a scary man with a strobe light answered the door, and Madden literally flung himself off of their porch, but I wasn't even fazed. I didn't care who answered each door; as long as they put candy in my pumpkin basket, they were okay in my book. Thankfully, the aforementioned scary house was towards the end of our trick-or-treating adventure because after that, Madden wasn't too keen on going up to anymore doors. I took care of my f
riend though; I patted
him on the shoulder and told him, "Don't worry, Madden; I'll go get you some candy." I think that I was the only one to approach the last door with as much enthusiasm as I had the first door. Trick-or-treating definitely gets two thumbs up in my book. After taking an inventory of my candy, I downed a couple of pixie stix and a bag of Skittles, which is my favorite of my candy loot, before running out some energy with Madden and heading home to crash. Let's just say that preschool was quite a feat the next day. Yay for Halloween and all of its crazy traditions and antics!
p. Halloween was spectacular! I was so excited about my owl costume all month; therefore, I indulged Mom's photo shoot request for a couple of minutes before the anticipation of trick-or-treati
ng, and Dad's return home, totally distracted me. The whole point of the photo shoot was to get a good owl picture of me to frame in Baby Ethan's nursery, and I think that we accomplished our goal. Dad got off of work early, and we all headed to the Littles' house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, Lucas was sick and couldn't come, which devastated me all day, but once I got going with Madden, I was as happy as an...owl. Tyler and Parker weren't so sure about the idea of ringing random doorbells for candy, but Madden and I 
immediately got the concept, and we were off! There was no doorbell I wasn't willing to ring, no matter how scary the exterior looked. Before long, we gave up on wasting the time to get in and out of the wagons, and Madden and I just took off fro
m door to door. Inevitably, there were a few falls, but I picked myself right up and kept going. Our friend Chase even busted his mouth open and wanted to keep going. Candy can dull any pain! Parker started to crash about halfway through, and despite my efforts to take her hand and drag her along, she ended up bailing before the last 
house. Tyler was just interested in the lollipops, so once he acquired a few of those, his enthusiasm was pretty much quelled. At one house, a scary man with a strobe light answered the door, and Madden literally flung himself off of their porch, but I wasn't even fazed. I didn't care who answered each door; as long as they put candy in my pumpkin basket, they were okay in my book. Thankfully, the aforementioned scary house was towards the end of our trick-or-treating adventure because after that, Madden wasn't too keen on going up to anymore doors. I took care of my f
riend though; I patted
him on the shoulder and told him, "Don't worry, Madden; I'll go get you some candy." I think that I was the only one to approach the last door with as much enthusiasm as I had the first door. Trick-or-treating definitely gets two thumbs up in my book. After taking an inventory of my candy, I downed a couple of pixie stix and a bag of Skittles, which is my favorite of my candy loot, before running out some energy with Madden and heading home to crash. Let's just say that preschool was quite a feat the next day. Yay for Halloween and all of its crazy traditions and antics! Side Notes: I have a new obsession with Sesame Street's "Letter T Song", which sounds like "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's. I am also obssessed with anything princess, especially Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and I am planning on asking Santa for my first American Doll Bitty Baby, a Lightening McQueen car, a singing Mickey Mouse, and some glow necklaces. My baby brother is the topic of most of my conversations these days, and I literally ask about 1,000 questions a day, 500 of which are "Why?". I am quite the conversationalist, and I insist on talking to everyone with whom Mom talks on the phone. I also like to know my "options" for everything: story options, leaf pile options, cup options, food options, shoe options, etc... I am very excited to be three, and I let everyone know it. I am just a bubbly, sassy, full-of-life, never-stops-going, insanely energetic, little girl.
Baby Ethan Update:
Week 26
Week 27
Week 28
Week 29
I have officially bequeathed my baby room to my little brother, and it is starting to actually look like a nursery fit for a little boy. This month, we got his crib in pla
ce; his owl mobile is up; the rocking chair has been relocated; my pink dots are gone, and his name is on the wall. I believe that the nursery now belongs to him. Mom says that he must be excited too because he never stops moving these days. Everything looks and sounds perfect, and Mom is doing pretty well, minus the third trimester exhaustion and lack of patience. I am making sure to keep her and him entertained though with my constant stream of conversat
ion. Mom told me to take a breath the other day, and by the time she walked around the car to get me out, I let her know that "I [had] taken a deep breath so that I could keep talking." I constantly tell Mom and Mom's belly that Ethan "is so sweet" or "he is such a sweet baby". I can tell these things. I get more and more excited about his arrival every day, and I let Mom know just the other day that I take my job as big sister very seriously. While driving in the car, Mom and I had a discussion about people working and jobs. I asked Mom what her job is, and she said, "My job is to take care of you". I answered with "...and my job is to take care of Baby Ephan", but I will not change any poopy diapers; put that in my contract! Also, mark your calendars folks: My baby brother's arrival has been scheduled for January 5, 2012! I get to stay with Grandma for 4 days while Mom has and recuperates from her c-section, and baby Ethan adjusts to the world! I cannot wait!
Let the holiday season commence!
