Alexa's 2nd Halloween! She's a football!

Alexa was adorable in her Halloween costume as our little football! Everyone commented on how original it was. Here she is a the costume parade this morning at the Farmer's Market. I told people over and over that my mom made it for her. Yay for a winning costume!

Here is Alexa and her friend Ella, who was an adorable Snow White, at the Farmer's Market costume parade. The girls were all over the place, it was hard to get them in the same frame for a photo! 

Alexa's friend Avery, who was a beautiful purple butterfly, also came to meet us for the costume parade. Here are all the girls with their daddies. So cute!

After a long afternoon nap, Alexa was up and ready for our neighborhood party. We went as players and she was our little football!

The neighborhood party ended with another costume parade. Alexa got a late start and kept running the wrong direction, so we got left behind, but she still had fun! At the end of the parade, all the kids posed for photos!

Finally, as the sun was setting, Alexa and I took off for some trick or treating. We only hit about 12 houses. Alexa is too young to eat the candy or say "trick or treat," but she really enjoyed the crinkle candy wrappers and picking a piece of candy out of a tray and putting it into her bucket!

Our little PINK SKELETON!

How could I resist this over-the-top pink skeleton pajama set?! It even GLOWS IN THE DARK! We tried it, but Alexa thought we were trying to put her to bed without dinner and protested, so the lights quickly came back on. But she glowed! After our little dress-up session last night, she chose this one! Well, we did. We thought it would be very comfortable and EASY. Yay! Here we are at daycare's Fall Festival! Alexa had fun with her friend Avery.

We took off early today and were able to take Alexa for a walk before dinner. She loved riding on her trike, talking on her cell phone and watching the dogs run around the field. She also waived at everyone who passed us on the path, which cracked us up! (Remember this Zutano hat? It finally fits!)

What should Alexa be for Halloween?

If you recall, last year Alexa was a duck and a ladybug. So what should she be this year? She's too old to wear a baby bunting costume... And almost too old to wear a silly animal costume as well! Here are some costumes I liked on my first go round... I really like the owl costume and a bunch of outfits from Pottery Barn Kids, but they are $50 each! I still like the Wonder Woman costume...

So, basically, I didn't find the perfect costume. I wanted to find something cute and comfortable, but also clever and unique. And I wanted to find something that would allow Alexa to dress up with her Daddy. Then it hit me... How about a football?! These photos were my inspiration... But mainly I was looking for a football dress, like the one in the picture below, top right.

I e-mailed my mom and she immediately pulled out a pattern, requested measurements and hit the fabric store. In literally just a few days, she sent me these photos! The cutest costume ever!

And now... Here's Alexa, all dressed up in her football dress! She can't wait for Halloween!

Click to enlarge!

Alexa's first Halloween!

And like a true little diva, she had TWO costumes. Oh yes she did!

First, Alexa dressed up like a little duck so she and Daddy could go as "Duck, Duck, Goose!" Here they are. Get it? Get it?

They wore this costume to our neighborhood party. There are a TON of kids in our neighborhood! We met several other young couples with babies who live on our block. It was a lot of fun and we've already exchanged e-mails and plan to get together!

Here is Alexa when I first put the costume on her. She was all giggles! Thanks to her Great Uncle Richard for the adorable (and warm!) costume!

After the neighborhood party, Alexa had a costume change... and dressed up like a little ladybug!

She had a ladybug hat and red and black swaddle blanket from Sozo...

Accented with red and black striped Baby Legs and a black turtleneck onesie! It was comfy and perfect for indoors.

After our neighborhood party, we passed out tons of candy to trick or treaters, then headed to my friend Mary Clare's house for a party. What a great first Halloween! (Even greater since the Yankees won!)