Hakuna Matata- Halloween 2013

This year Joe and I decided to host a family Halloween party! We figured it was the best way for everyone to see Anthony's costume, without us having to run around to each person's house to show it off. 

As always, even though I had been prepping for this party for a few weeks, it came down to the very last minute. Everyone was scheduled to arrive at 6:30, and I had planned out a whole entrance to reveal Anthony's costume. But, instead... I was blow drying my hair at 6:29 and had to throw all plans out the window. It is crazy how much longer it takes to get ready when you have a baby, and I was never fast before the baby either, ha!

I wanted to do a family "group" costume, but Joe hated all of my ideas. We finally settled on the Lion King. That worked for me, because I wanted Anthony to be something fluffy and cute for his first Halloween, and a lion was pretty adorable! So, Anthony was little Simba, I was the mama lion Sarabi and Joe was Rifiki. 

It's the circle of life!

Mama lion, Simba, and Rifiki

I really wanted to do an entrance similar to a scene from Modern Family: where their baby Lily was revealed to the Lion King music. I thought it would have been funny for Joe to walk down the stairs to "...it's the circle of life..." while holding Anthony. Oh well! 

The party was a lot of fun, I loved seeing how creative everyone was with their costumes (and some of the Halloween themed dishes too)!

Sugar Bear, June and Honey Boo Boo

Lunch Lady, Old Man, Devil, Zombie

G.I Joe

"Superstar!" Mary Katherine Gallagher

The bats I was so proud of making! Another Pinterest success!

Some decorations. The Pinterest inspired banner says "beware"

Some of the great food... mummy wrapped hot dogs, dirt dessert, kitty litter cake

the two penguins 

nerds

Scary Mom Mom and Pop Pop

Mama and her baby lion

How could you not love that adorable little face?


All in all, it was a wonderful night! Anthony had a "minor" hiccup where he had a complete meltdown. As a parent, that was honestly one of the scariest moments... yes it was even up there on the scary list with him being in the NICU. At least when he was in the NICU I had the nurses and doctors there to make sure nothing went wrong. Anthony lost it, I dont know if it was being in the hot costume, or being passed around a lot at a noisy party... but it was all just a little too much for my sweet boy. I took him upstairs after his third outfit change (he was spitting up that much!) so that he could compose himself in a quiet room with just his mommy. He started screaming so hard that his face was turning purple. No matter what I did I couldn't sooth him and he just kept screaming harder. I swear I wanted to call the doctor because I thought something had to be wrong with him. He never screams, and if he ever is upset he is very easy to calm down. Not this time! I was so scared, and felt helpless. Joe came up and we both tried everything. I started to cry myself, which probably didn't help the situation. It was just so hard to see my baby so upset. He finally was able to settle down and I rocked him to sleep. Poor little guy was all partied out. "Hakuna Matata" little man... no worries, I promise you'll love Halloween next year!

I hope everyone had a very spook-tacular Halloween!