Go Play Outside

Here at last is our mostly finished jungle gym for the kids in the backyard. Ben had so much fun designing and building this for this kids that the project just kept going. We still have some finishing touches to do, like put some shade on top, close of some of the sides and stain it for weather proofing, other than that most of it is completed. Plus I think there are a few more elements that he wants to add for the kids. One special one being an adjustable monkey bar set for the kids. He wants it to be able to go up as the kids get taller. Pretty exciting if you as me, I think the kids are going to love it. They already have so much fun playing on the structure. So whenever you are ready come on over and we can let the kids play to their hearts content. It should be nice for when the baby comes and I need a little big kid break. (Oh yea please ignore our backyard mess, we really need a shed.)

Christmas Lights

What would a Christmas Season be without looking at lights? We usually try to find a light display, because you never know what neighborhood is going to have multiple houses all decked out. After all we had lights up but today it was so windy they came down. So instead of just aimlessly driving around town we visited a light production called Prairie Lights. It was so much fun to see the kids get all excited about the different displays and lights that we saw. Bear was very concerned about seeing bears in the display and kept asking to see more. Isabelle really wanted to take a lot of pictures of what she saw and enjoyed pretty much everything. I think her favorite was the “gingerbread house.” Not really sure if that’s what it was, but that is what we called it. Overall the light display was pretty good and a quick drive through since we went after Christmas. I think had we gone earlier in the month it would have been crazy. One of my favorite parts was the “tunnel” of lights you could drive thru at the end, it had lots of purple and blue, which is always different from traditional Christmas colors.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to send out a quick note to everyone on Christmas Day. I know things will be busy and crazy for everyone, but I hope that you can all sit back and enjoy your day. Christmas is one of my favorite seasons and such a wonderful time to remember how it all came about. No matter what your traditions might be I hope you have some Christmas Spirit to spread around to those you will see. Merry Christmas!

Looks who's Four!

Happy Birthday Isabelle! I can hardly believe that you are four years old. Time flies when you are having fun. I’m so glad that we had a chance to celebrate your special day together and that you had so much fun. We started out your day with a waffle breakfast, candle included. Then it was off to Ice Skate the morning away. You tried to skate on one foot and all by yourself without help from a grown up or the wall. Not to be out done you also had a chance to ride the carousel thanks, to Bear remembering that was on his list of things to do today. Before you could open presents we had to have “noodle” dinner. Thanks to Pioneer Woman we had a great “noodle” dinner option. Then with family all around we had a very special cake, shaped like a butterfly. What dinner would be complete without cake! Afterwards you had a chance to open your presents. What a great surprise that was, a few of your favorites, are the play kitchen, dance lessons and blocks. You were ready to show off your dancing skills once you were dressed for the part; I think that you will have too much fun learning how to dance. Here is to another wonderful year full of new and exciting things.

Texas Ice

Here is how Texas does Ice! That’s right we do not wait for the weather to turn bad, we just have it trucked in and sculpted, and then keep it in a really cold room. Every year (I think) at the Gaylord Texan the resort puts together a “show” called Ice. You can walk though this 9 degree ice box and see the marvelous talents of the people who have taken the time to carve some beautiful items in a really cold environment. They are nice enough to hand out really thick parkas so that you can fully enjoy the experience especially if you get stuck in line or have to wait for any amount of time. I think one of my favorite displays was the Santa sleigh and reindeer set up as a slide. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of that one because the crowd was a little bit crazy. The other one I really liked was the display that looks like those fancy antique glass ornaments. Either way it was cold but entertaining.

Holiday "Letter" 2008

Usually I do a holiday letter with our Christmas card but since we are having a baby sometime soon I decided that this year would be different and I would wait to make an official update after the baby. The price of stamps you know. But I don’t think I’m going to do a letter. So for all those people who don’t read my blog, they better get hot and take a look. With out further ado here is our year in review:

Happy Holidays to all our Friends and Family,

Our biggest news this year is two fold, one we moved back to Texas, and two we are expecting baby number three sometime in the New Year. We were excited to be closer to family in Texas but very sad to leave behind our wonderful friends in Utah. They will be dearly missed but hopefully we’ll still get to see them every so often. (Read I expect everyone to visit after the baby is born. j/k) It took us a while to find a new house in Texas but at last we did, and we think we got a pretty good deal, purchasing it from HUD. A very trying process but a great learning experience. Ironically it is very close to our first house that we purchased in Texas, who knew. We still want to live out in the country so one day we’ll get around to moving out of town. What country and where has yet to be determined, after all small town life is very different from city or suburb life.

The kids are doing great. Isabelle will be turning four this holiday season and is very excited about that. She plans to rule the world one day, and I’m sure has it all worked out as to how she will get that done. She loves school and really enjoys starting to read, science and of course playing. We tried soccer this past fall and she enjoys it when the ball is close to her, other wise the action is not quite the same. But she did a great job and hopefully will try it again in the spring. But I think before then she might get a chance to try out dance. I know what could I be thinking but, she is always dancing around, and moving her little body, so I guess it won’t hurt to try. Nobody said it is a permanent activity.

Bear is just Bear! He is so full of energy and goes about a mile a minute. He turned two in July and has been going non-stop. As we say he is our little energizer Bear. He really likes to do what ever Isabelle is doing and has a hard time sitting still for anything longer than five seconds. He loves his shapes and balls, and hopes play as much as he can all day. I think one of the coolest things about Bear is that he has not picked a hand preference yet and switches back and forth. I am still secretly hoping for a lefty but who knows maybe he’ll never make a choice. He also did a soccer program this year called Soccer Tots. He loved it! It was great for him, he got to run around, play with other kids, and do activities that are skill building for later in life when he plays on a real soccer team. I think we’ll have to try that again, since he had so much fun.

Ben and I are doing great. Ben enjoys his work most days and is happy to be back in Texas. I know strange, right? It’s always interesting to see people whom you have not seen in years and they are like, didn’t you move. Especially since we pretty much moved back to where we lived before. I’m doing well with the kids and enjoy staying home with them, trying to make them into wonderful little people, and slowly awaiting the arrival of number three. Next year should be pretty interesting so stay tuned and check us out semi regularly to see what is going on in the Libby-Thesing household.

Happy Holidays, from Ben, Allison, Isabelle, and Barrett

Cookie Exchange

Wow, have you even baked cookies for a cookie exchange? I just did last night, what a load of work. But the end result is kind of fun, you get to get a dozen of the cookies that the other people baked as well. The added advantage is that you get to taste everything before hand, so you will know if you ever what to make that cookie again. But then the downside is that your left with all these cookies to eat. Not exactly the best thing when you are trying to show the doctor that you are not really gaining a lot of weight around this very tricky holiday season. Oh well, it all comes off eventually right?

First Haircut

Isabelle finally had her first haircut. I know she is almost four and has never had it professionally cut. What do you mean by professionally you say, well her brother has taken a little off the top every now and then, which of course takes me forever to find out from where. All I know is that there is hair on the floor and he did the cutting. I guess their even, since early on Isabelle tried to cut his hair as well. Anyway, if you did not see it before you really would not know it had been cut. Ben walks in and his response if “. . . did you get her hair cut?” Well yes, we just trimmed it up a bit so that it might “look” thicker, with out the end being all straggly. She did a pretty good job of sitting still, I think she really enjoyed watching the movie while she had her hair done. The place we went is not as cool as Cookie Cutters but it helps to entertain the kids. The stylist even said that some parents come in with their kids to have their hair cut, while the kids play. Not a bad idea if you do not have the time to wait on hubby or other babysitting alternatives. Here she is in her new hair glory. Now I do not normally take pictures of the back of my children, but it worked the best to show how “different” her hair looked.

Are you a spelunker?

What is a spelunker you ask? Well I will tell you, it is a person who goes caving. Now why not just use the word caver or something else? Too simple I’m sure. Spelunker makes me think that someone decided one day to make up their own word for what they were doing and it just happened to catch on. Now you may also be wondering how I know this term. Just so you do not think I’m a crazy word person I happened to hear it today on NPR, and thought it was funny enough to mention here. I guess if you find yourself exploring caves you can therefore be called a spelunker, how cool would that be. And look this is what you could look like after a long day of exploration.

Santa Clause

Now I don’t usually support the commercialization of Christmas, by taking the kids to see Santa and take some pictures, and continuously talk about Santa and what he is going to bring for Christmas, but this year, family members have been a little crazy about that. Maybe it’s the age of the kids and now that they are getting older, they understand a little bit better, who knows. I just try to acknowledge the kids when they ask questions about Santa if they have any, or ignore the whole situation. After all, stores were putting out Christmas stuff in October, before Halloween was over, just a bit soon. I know the economy is not where everyone would like to see it but come on, wait just a bit. Don’t get me wrong we still put out a plate of cookies, carrots and milk, but I try not to make Santa into a big deal. I think from now on Santa is just bringing the stockings and all other gifts are going to be from Mom and Dad or relatives.

Enough about my Santa philosophy; basically I broke down today and took the kids to see Santa. I figured it would be a pretty easy trip, no lines, we would be in and out. A good plan, going in the middle of the week and the kids did not disappoint. Bear was pretty excited about the whole adventure, and Isabelle did really well too. I kept asking them what they were going to ask Santa for so that they would have it down and Santa would understand. Bear can be a little hard to understand some days. Since I did not want the people to think I was stealing their thunder I just took a picture of the kids before they went in, but their Santa picture was pretty cute. If only my printer was talking to my computer I could probably scan it in, right now you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Dad's Helpers

For Christmas we are building the kids a backyard play set. Ben has a whole design worked out in his head for how he wants it to go. So far the kids are very excited and can hardly wait until they can play. But before they can climb on anything they have to help Dad transfer the first “tower” out to the back yard so he can put it together. They were so cute being Dad’s little helpers. Bear was just big enough to carry some of the smaller pieces of wood but had some trouble with the ones that were a little bit bigger. I hope Ben is able to at least get the swings in before the New Year. The kids already want to climb on the one tower that’s up but there are no stairs yet. I think some stairs, the swings and maybe a little sand pit would be a great place to start. We’ll see how far Dad can get before Christmas.

Oh yea when Ben went up to go get concrete Home Depot was having a project day, and the kids made these really cute Art Easels and even go to get aprons and see Santa. I guess they were doing the project very close to the front door and they asked Ben if the kids wanted to participate, and of course he said “. . . why yes, yes we would.”

Thanksgiving

Once back out to the hinter lands, we had to wait four more days before any of the fun people would arrive. Mom and Dad are just not a cool as all of our cousins. But once they got there, the fun times were a rollin’. Crafts, playing, Wii, and so much food, were the staples of our long weekend. Thanksgiving was nice, the bird was a little fried, but I hear it tasted great, since I watched them cook it I had a hard time trying to eat it. Go figure, my food aversion during pregnancy are very strange. Then on Friday we did the traditional Christmas with the in-laws, which is always crazy and wild but I think that everyone had fun and was please with their gifts. We could not get a tree though it was raining all day long. Oh well, we went the next day to get the tree. That was pretty fun too, we let a three year old pick out the perfect tree, a little on the Charlie Brown side but not too bad once you got it in the room and up with some decorations. Somehow the tree was not decorated though the day it was brought home but instead at six in the morning before the first group left to go home. Pretty crazy stuff, the kids had tons of fun putting the ornaments on the tree. We even managed to get a round of bowling where the adults like to see who can best the next person. It took some a while to warm up but soon the games got a little bit better. I think the most entertaining bowler went to Isabelle who after a while did not want any help and instated on doing it herself, with a little twirl here and a twist there. Who knew you could dance and bowl at the same time. Overall our Thanksgiving weekend was pretty good. I only finished three books while I was out there and came home with two more to read, so that says a lot.

Swim Party

We started out Thanksgiving weekend a little early. Say about a week early, to go out and finish helping my MIL to ready her house. Sometime after she quit her job at the church she decided to clean out her house, I’m pretty sure she quit sometime in September but hey what ever. The kids and I went out early to help her finish out as much as possible before the rest of the family arrived. Fortunately for the kids we did get to take a break and come back to Dallas for a swim birthday party.

Isabelle says that we her favorite part of the holiday time. The swim party well before hand, too cute, and of course Bear says the same thing because Isabelle says it. Needless to say they had so much fun. We went to a local Dallas area swim school, which happens to be owned by my girlfriends Mother, who were there to see. My girlfriends son turned one last Saturday and to celebrate we had a swim. It was too much fun for the kids. Bear freaked out the lifeguards, with his antics and being the first one down the slide, but other than that he did pretty good. I think Isabelle had lots of fun playing in the water in November. Always a special treat, especially when it is cold outside. So Happy Birthday Joshua B, we really enjoyed our special time and hope to see you again soon

Survey

Ok, since I really have nothing to say, I know crazy right. I decided to put my baby survey up early. It is over on the right hand side at the top. I think I will leave it open until two weeks before baby is due and we can then go from there. I figure there will be a fabulous prize at the end, I just do not know what. To help you out with your decision making, here is some background information:

Isabelle was two weeks early and weighed in at 8 pounds 12 ounces. We did find out she was a girl all the rest was guess work.

Barrett was one week late, and we made him come out, but he weighed in at 9 pounds even.

I hope that helps I will probably take a couple more belly shots before it's all said and done, I'm not sure if you can change your answer but if you can why not. And as I think on it further I will let you know what wonderful prize I will be sending the winner. So make sure you get your votes in, and spread the word, everyone loves to win. If you have any questions please let me know. I think I will do two winners, unless someone gets every single question correct. The winners will have to have the sex and date correct or the sex and weight correct. Of course I will post who wins, unless you do not want other people to know. And if none of this makes sense please tell me, because after all my brain might not be working right because of the extra hormones.

The Baby

Ok so I don't usually post after I see the doctor but several people have asked how big the baby is. In reality there is no way to really tell, very accurately. But I asked today and Dr. A said that "normal" pregnancies at 29 weeks the baby weights 2.2 pounds. Now for me that means a little bit bigger, my tummy measured at 32 weeks so I would think somewhere around 3.5 pounds. Dr. A did not want to commit to a specific weight, because why get your hopes up. For all those people out there who think my belly is not very big, well I have news for you, it is. When I say that my belly measured 32 weeks, they take a tape measure and place it along your belly from the top of your uterus down to your pelvic bone and that is how big you are. I think those locations are correct, either way you get the idea. I hope that helps, we are right on track to having a good size new born.

Go Barack Obama

History was made last night with the election of the first African-American President in the United States. No matter who you voted for, this was an amazing night and something to go down in the history books. I thought it was very exciting to watch everything unfold before us as the states closed their polls across the country, and the electoral votes were tallied. I hope that everyone who wanted to vote had chance to vote, and show their support for their candidate of choice. For those who did not get a chance to vote, hopefully they will next time around. I feel that it is important for people to let their voice be heard and vote. There will always be something a person does not like about a candidate and their views but hopefully that issue will never come up. And if it does, maybe by showing support of your opinion in the form of a letter would help change the outcome based on what you believe. I am excitedly waiting to see what changes will be made in the coming years. This election year has been amazing and record-breaking all at the same time. I’m sure there will be good things to come from this election in the coming years.

Down hill from here

We are finally coming to the home stretch of the pregnancy! We could not be more excited. After going in for a routine blood test and having to go back for the long test, we found out that I am perfectly fine. Something I ate earlier in the day for the first test must have made it go a little off. At least we dodged a bullet there. After all who wants to be poked no less than four times all the while being starved just to find out that you were right all along, nothing was the matter? I’m sure nobody, but alas I had to do it. But at least this way we know things are in order and we can proceed like normal. I guess that means I’m in my seventh month, so here is a new picture. People I randomly meet are starting to guess what the sex of the baby is, which is kind of strange and I never know what to say. Oh well, I’m sure that is just what happens when you do not find out the sex before hand. It will be interesting to see what baby turns out to be. I guess either way we are slightly prepared, since we have one of each. Anyway, enjoy the pic, I’m sorry I’m not very consistent at taking them.

Blood suckers

Mosquitoes should all be killed as soon as possible. I figured, hey its November surly all these horrible insects have got to be gone by now. Well I was wrong. Out in the hinter lands of Texas, mosquitoes still have a small grasp on the world. And I’m pretty sure I just helped to extend their life for at least another month, or until a really good cold snap comes through. I think I walked away from my weekend in the country with no less than eight bug bites. All resulting from the dreaded mosquito, needless to say I hate with a passion mosquitoes. Hopefully when we venture down to San Antonio they won’t have any there. Other wise I think I’ll have to bring my bug spray.

Halloween Fun

Another Halloween has just zipped right on past. I can hardly believe it. Bear really got into this year and had so much fun knocking on doors and getting candy. That boy has a real sweet tooth. Isabelle was a little laid back but enjoyed herself a lot, especially since she was a mermaid. They both looked so cute if I do say so myself. The head scarf on Bear’s costume really made him look the part of a pirate. It was too cute! Yes for those of you who are wondering I did make their costumes, with a little bit of help on Isabelle’s. She is already talking about what she might want to be next year. I figure we have some time to figure that one out so we can wait just a little longer.

Our Halloween started out with a MOM’s Club party at the house and then we jetted off to Grandma Susie’s and Grandpa Bernie’s for trick or treating. Once we were cleared for trick or treating, we did the drive by houses first, for those we could not walk too, and then made our way around the neighborhood. You know how grandparents like to show off their grandkids. Anyway, the kids had lots of fun and collected tons of candy. We’re going to have to go through it all but I think they will survive.

Soccer Tots

I finally remembered to bring my camera for Soccer Tots. Although my pictures are not that great, you kind of get the idea. Both of the kids have so much fun playing and running around, even though it is a class just for Barrett. Coach Dawn is really nice and lets Isabelle play along. After all it’s pretty hard to make a 3 ½ year old sit and wait while her brother is having so much fun. What I really enjoy and like about this program is that they do use a soccer ball but a lot of the skill building is leading up to the fundamentals of the game. For example: heading the ball using balloons or really soft balls, or running after your “teammates” to pull their tails or even chasing down a rolling hoola-hoop. Plus the best part is the kids have so much fun. One hour of constant movement and skill building, what parent would not want that? I think that a couple more sessions of Soccer Tots and Bear will be ready to possibly play with a team or program similar to what Isabelle did.

Get out and VOTE

Ah, the democratic process. I feel as though this election has been going on for years. Now I know that is not the case but hey as much as Ben watches the various news channels, besides Fox, I’m sure I could report on the status of the election almost as good as Wolf. I am happy to report that we have completed out civic duty and voted early. I think that all of Texas has finally come into the 21st century with electronic voting machines even with their good and bad qualities. We use to have to draw a line to the candidate we were voting for. I did not think that was the best option but who knows. Ben’s comment was there really should be a paper trail, that way no one can come back and show “. . . that the all black district voted for the white supremacist.” And of course we hope that no little computer nerd could hack into the system and vote for Mickey Mouse. Either way, I will always vote and try to show my support for the candidates that I’m voting for. With that said be sure to get out and vote, early or on Election Day. The news media talks that this is going to be one of the largest election turn outs in history. Hopefully the weather will remain pleasant across the country, but if not never fear, for if you live in Virginia you could do a drive up to vote. That’s right apparently the state of Virginia wants to really make sure you do not have an excuse for not voting, and has set up at least one polling station where you can drive up to place your vote. I would possibly use that, since I have two small children I would be taking with me but really get out of your car and walk. Well as the saying goes Vote early and vote often. At least as often as legally allowed.

Country Critters

Down here in Texas country you get back yard petting zoos. I actually think it is pretty cute and the way they set it up makes pretty good business sense. (I thought my SIL and her husband could do it on their farm, but who knows.) No fancy concert walkways or milk production introduction here, just a good old Texas farm with a few added bonuses. After all it’s all about the kids enjoying themselves and getting to see farm animals away from the city. Which I still have a hard time with since I mostly grew up in the country and had some sort of livestock or other animal around all the time. The things we take for granted, when our jobs keep us city bound. Anyway back to the story. The kids and I went with a few moms from our new MOM’s club, to a place called Country Critters. They had a blast, so much to do and so many kids there. A really big school group was there, which was lucky for us we were able to piggy back on their day; usually you have to have reservations.
They had lots of fun activities for the kids to do, a bean bag toss, bounce houses, petting area, wooden maze, pumpkin decorating and so much more. I actually planned ahead and brought a sack lunch as well, which was a good thing because I always get hungry and so do the kids. Must be the fresh air and running around. Since there was a pretty big school group there, Isabelle tried to join at least two classes, by standing in line and being all ready to go. It was pretty cute! Bear is just excited to have fun and run around; it’s hard to say what he liked the best. I think had they been running the pony rides that would have been his top pick. I think it might be interesting to see what type of programs they do for the spring, but for right now we’ll just have to wait. Obviously for the fall they focused on the pumpkins and fall or Halloween stories. I would think that in the spring they might have lots to do with new animal babies and what not but who knows. Plus they have three of these great, big, beautiful dogs, Great Pyrenees, wonderful dogs, probablly not so good for the city, we had one when we were raising Emu's.

Twilight

I was too excited last night while Ben was flipping through the channels; I saw my first televised Twilight trailer. I can hardly wait to go see the movie. I think I’m going to make Ben go with me, since I don’t know of anybody here who would want to go see it. It’s getting so close to when the movie comes out I can hardly believe it. I hope they do a good job and keep pretty close to the story line. I hope all you Twilight fans out there enjoy the flick as well, we’ll have to give feedback once we all go and check it out.

A lot of Running

This morning before soccer we walked in a one mile family fun walk for cancer. Ben’s sister Penny works for a local hospital and they along with the Four Seasons put this walk together to help raise money for the fight against cancer. The kids just loved it. Isabelle ran pretty much the whole mile with Dad, she got a little distracted by some pine cones and walking on the “balance beam” but other wise she was off. I was pretty excited and wished that I could have run with her, but you know the belly makes that a little hard. Ben was very impressed with her and she had so much fun. Then after running her mile, she came back to the start area and proceeded to bounce for half an hour on one of the two bounce houses they had set up. Wouldn’t that be nice to have so much energy?

Bear of course was fascinated with everything. He started out running which is ok for me to keep up with since he has short legs and I can just walk a little bit faster, but then he lost interest in that and started to walk. Then jump over the road markers that help drivers know they are changing lanes. He also found some acorns to play with, but once he saw Isabelle he wanted to be with her but again lost interest in running and did the roadside “balance beam” just like Isa. It was pretty cute, until the end of the race started to catch up with us and we needed to move along before the 5K run started to pass us as well. He was too funny!


Plus today was Isabelle’s last soccer “game” and she had so much fun. They did the regular skill building before hand and then played against the other team for a while. She did a great job of helping her team out and she even scored a goal. She was very excited about that, especially since she really likes to have the ball in her possession. I think she will be a little bit competitive as she gets older. Hopeful will be put to good use and she won’t be overly crazy about winning, I guess we’ll have to teach her the right way to be competitive. I’m sad to see her first soccer season end, we’ll just have to pick it up in the spring again.

Less than 100

I can hardly believe that in less that 100 days we should have a healthy, happy, baby to bring home. Not that I actually think we will have a baby on my due date but I figure close enough. After all Isabelle came two weeks early and Bear was a week late. There is no telling when this one will come, unless I get very, very uncomfortable. Keep reading for a poll on date, size and sex to come soon. I just have to figure out how to put that all together and we'll be on a roll. I will of course post a recent picture before starting the poll since some people think they can tell by the way you are carrying the baby. Who knows, but I did have a woman accost me in Lowe's who thought I was going to have a girl. Crazy! Less than 100 days does not seem like a lot when you think about it that way, but other days it still seems a long time. Just my thoughts I hope all is well.

Pumpkin Pancakes, want one?

For breakfast this morning I did what some moms dread, I put food coloring in our food. Now you might be wondering why, since I try so hard to avoid coloring in all of the food I give my children. Well yesterday we were at JoAnn’s and Isabelle picked up one of their circulars to read as her “magazine.” In the circular was an ad for a Halloween cookie decorating kit. The cookies featured were pumpkins and she thought they were pancakes and not cookies. Straight away her request was to have pumpkin pancakes for breakfast the next day. Posed with the question this morning, the only thing I could come up with on short notice was to dye the mixture for our breakfast.



I’m sure had I more time and a few more resources on hand, sweet potatoes, or pumpkin puree I could have made a healthier option than dyed pancakes. Here's a like that looks pretty good and makes more than 8 pancakes. I'm sure you could use fresh pumpkin instead of canned.

Needless to say they were gone pretty quick. Ben did not even get to try one, I think I made my mix wrong, usually we have a few left over but there were no leftovers today and they were a little flat. Oh well, the kids still ate them and loved every bite. I think the most important part to them was to have the color. Isabelle even asked for green stems. That was not going to happen, I'm not that cool.

Pumpkins Everywhere

I just love going to the pumpkin patch. I’m not sure why, but I do. I think it might be the ushering in of fall, the colors, and the appeal of a warm drink afterwards, so long as the temperature is cooler. I think the kids had lots of fun. The pumpkin patch we went to this year was a little different than ones we have been to in the past. The field where the pumpkins were laid out was not where they were grown. So everything was nice and neat, in pretty rows that were very well organized. That makes it easy to find the pumpkin you want. Bear had lots of fun trying to pick up the pumpkins, some were a little big but other he could do pretty well. Isabelle just wanted to pick them up by their handles, which is never a good idea. And to top off our pumpkin visit, it rained. Fortunately we made it out before the big rain hit. The rain did not seem to damper the kids’ spirit at all, they were ready. And probably would have looked for a pumpkin in the rain had I not suggested we wait it out.

We rode a hayride, the kids bounced on the numerous bounce houses that were available, took pictures by the character cutouts and got lost in the hay bale maze. Bear was not so keen on the maze, Isabelle left him behind and he got lost. When I sent her back in to find him, she comes back out. . . “Oh he’s crying!” The next thing I know he is climbing on the hay bales and finds his way back out by going over the maze. Which of course is not recommended but hey what are you going to do when they don’t let adults enter the maze. At least he was resourceful enough to climb his way out. Over all it was pretty fun, even with the little bit of rain that got us. Of course my kids want to climb on the one bounce house that does not have a cover and proceed to get all wet. Bear was already wet on his knees and below from climbing in and out of the wagon as well as trying to pick up pumpkins but hey what’s a little more moisture.

I really wanted to get some good pictures of the kids at the pumpkin patch so that I could frame them and put them in the powder room, for our fall decorations every year, but they were not as cooperative as I would have liked. I’m sure some will work or I can pick from other years, after all I’ll have them for a while so I’m sure we can get a good picture sometime. They did have fun sitting in the pumpkins and trying to look cute. Bear liked to push the pumpkins off the hay bale they were sitting on so we moved away from there. I would have hated for him to bust a pumpkin and they we would have to take it home. I will encourage everyone to take their kids to the pumpkin patch even just for pictures, they always have fun, especially when they are young.

I've Been Tagged

I made the tag list, yes! Or maybe no.

This Picture Tag involves taking the 4th file of photos on your computer and posting the 4th picture from that file. Now my forth picture file only had three pictures so I will post the third and the forth from the proceeding file. I hope you all enjoy!

I tag Vicki!



So this first picture is on Isabelle while we lived in California. Yes I let her feed herself yogurt. She is about 15 months old. (I had to actually count that out.)



I have the best car sleepers ever. It took Bear a little longer to sleep well in the car but not Isabelle. She takes after her Mommy there.

Color is so amazing! You never realize it until you have it up on a wall and see the difference from the start to the end. This leads me to tell you guys that we have painted the baby’s room. With help from my Mom we put up the squares, and painted the room. It is mostly ready for baby, I just have to wash some clothes and blankets and put them away and we will be ready. Isabelle is a little jealous that the baby’s room was painted before hers, but she is next on the list. I hope you all enjoy our room from afar or come by to see it in person. We are very please with how well it turned out. I’m really glad that I was able to reuse Isabelle’s decorations for this baby as well. After all my Mom did a great job of sewing everything and making it look great.

Breastfeeding

As many of you probably know I have breastfed both of my children and plan to continue with any other children we have. Obviously we have one on the way so you can guess how baby will be nourished upon arrival. I am always please to see celebrities sporting their babies in slings or carriers that are not mainstream, but I am really please to see celbs who breastfed in public. Angelina Jolie has recently had some pictures taken of her nursing her newest arrival. And I was happy to see that she was not completely covered. Not that I have anything wrong with a mom covering her and baby while nursing, I just feel a little more free to not feel pressured to cover. I think that it is important for mom's to nurse in public and not hide the fact that they are providing nourishment for their infant or toddler.

Yes that's right I said toddler. I know that many people feel it becomes inappropriate to nurse their child once they reach a certain age but I do not. I wanted to nurse Isabelle longer but we only made it to 13 months. Bear and I had a little longer run to 18 months. I really hope to make it to at least two with the new baby. And I will not be pushed away in public nursing my child at any age. I hope that all women feel comfortable enough with themselves and their ability to feed their baby whenever possible. For those people in the world who happen to disagree with me that nursing in public is wrong, I feel bad for you, you must not have been nursed as a child.

I hope that more celebrities will feel the need to show off their nursing skills on the front of a magazine or while they are out and about. It can only help to increase public awareness that breastfeeding is natural and convenient.

Colorful Ponies

These are the most colorful ponies I have ever seen. Each pony on this pony ride was all ready “dressed” up for the Halloween month. Pretty crazy! The kids had fun picking out the color of their pony though. You can’t really tell but Bear’s pony has gold glitter everywhere. Where do you think I could get one? I’m sure I would rather have a pony over a dog any day.

The growing belly

Ok so I think I’m a little late on getting this picture out but here it is my five month belly. Or at least as close to in the five month mark as possible. I wore this shirt when I was prego with Bear and of course that was more at the end of my time than the middle and so my belly really pushed the shirt out, not so much this time. Give me a couple more months and you might wonder where I went, because it will be just belly.