Fall Is In the Air

What a welcome change! This week we have finally experienced fall temperatures and we are loving it!
Over the weekend I went to a fall openhouse at a boutique nearby. I found a really cute picture frame; it says "happy fall y'all!" It's sitting on the table in the living room and Connell keeps telling me he doesn't like the picture that's in it. :) It's the one it came with. He is wondering who it is? So in an effort to please Connell we went outside after dinner last night to take a "fall" picture to put in the frame.

Our Week-this post is all over the place!

**Most important** Emma has been taking a step here or there since her birthday. This week, we have seen her take 4-5 steps several times. If I can be quick, I will take a video clip and post it. She is just getting so big!!!

This week flew by. Really. It's Friday night and I feel like it should be Tuesday. We stuck close to home this week except for our "must-do's" like a MOPS steering meeting and MDO, etc for Connell. I was playing "catch-up on life" this week. I managed to get current on this blog, and jump into several other not-so-fun projects around here that I have been putting off for a long time. For example: Taking inventory of the out-of-control pile of catalogs. This doesn't even include all the magazines I am so far behind in reading. I have a hard time throwing out catalogs. There are some that are automatically trashed, but then some, I just occasionally like to flip through, and I always keep them "just in case." Well, I am going with a new system. Look through them when they come in the mail, tear out any pages of interest and put in my handy little file folder from the dollar section at Target. Periodically go thru file folder so it doesn't become overloaded. We'll see. :)
I didn't take pictures of my other projects, but they pretty much all involve clutter, paper and junk mail. But a lot of which needs to be sorted through and shredded. I am afraid that certain "housekeeping" items have fallen through the cracks since I became a stay-at-home Mom over THREE years ago.
On to other things that are more appealing to my many (haha) blog readers!

Emma was being a big girl and taking bites with her fork. Connell felt like he wanted to be on the movie too :) He then took over the camera and captured this adorable "close up" of his baby sister. Doesn't she look thrilled? I was so busy blogging that I really failed to take any pictures the rest of the week until today. Oops. I was helping out a friend today and we had her little boy Clayton over to play. Here are the boys being artistic.

Tim gets off work at noon on Fridays and today Uncle Kelly came (he lives about 45 minutes away) and met Daddy for a round of golf. When they were finished we all went to eat. Normally Connell has to remain in his seat after he is done eating, but it's the end of the week, I am tired, and he was being really sweet to Emma. I had my little camera with me and I am so glad I could capture this sweetness...

Emma gave Connell about 18 kisses.

Afterwards, Connell wanted to go to Barnes and Noble because he wanted Emma to play with the trains with him. This was her first time to get to do this, and she was quite happy about it. Note - I am aware that she needs some shoes. It's on my list. :)

While I was there, I picked up "Childwise." Hopefully, it will serve us well as "Babywise" and "Toddlerwise" did. And so it is added to my pile of books that I am trying to read.
There is one missing...the busy mom's guide to organization. It's on location in my bonus room, the site of a major de-cluttering project. Aside from one little romance book in there, most of these are about being a mom/parenting. I KNOW that there is no book with all the answers. But I do believe that there are some great books written by intelligent people with our same values system offering tips and tricks for this journey we are on to raise our kids. I (we) need all the help we can get. This 3 year old stuff is tricky.

Enjoy the weekend! I am looking forward to getting out and about by myself for a bit and doing some fall decor shopping. I got my stuff out of the attic and I am in need of a few new things. It's been hard to think pumpkins/leaves since it's been in the UPPER 90s all week, but we are expecting some true FALL weather next week and I am sooooooo ready.

Grandparents/Hot Date/Special Celebration

I have a really great husband. I also have really great parents. Together, they all made my Friday night LOTS of fun!
Grandma and Grandpa arrived around dinnertime, and Tim and I headed out on our date - the plans were made by Tim and it was all a surprise for me. I mean, he still didn't tell me what we were doing/where we were going until we were like 2 miles from our destination. We started at one of our favorite restaurants, the Park Cafe. We had a delicious, enjoyable dinner with uninterrupted adult conversation. It was fabulous!!!!! Then, for part 2 of the surprise, Tim took me to a Chihuly Nights exhibit at Cheekwood in the beautiful botanic gardens. It was so cool! Since I didn't know where we were going, I didn't have the "good" camera, just my little sony. But the pictures are still pretty good and you get the idea of how neat the exhibit was.

We finally received a part that was missing in order to hang the glider. There is a certain someone that has been "gliding" like crazy ever since...

Grandpa's birthday was last weekend and Grandma's birthday is this coming weekend. Grandma is having a milestone birthday, but I would probably get in trouble if I said which one. :) We celebrated with a family dinner at another of our favorite spots, The Yellow Porch. We had an early dinner reservation, and let me just take a moment to brag on our kids. They were wonderful. We got a few compliments even! They are always good when we go out to eat, but we don't always take them to places this nice. I was a little nervous, but they were sweet!

Earlier in the day, we all went to Gigi's Cupcakes and everyone selected their own special treat since we were having a birthday party. This is a box of yummy goodness!

I think Emma might have been having a flashback to her birthday party...she is an icing girl!

Sunday morning we went to church and then had more playtime! I love being with my family! I love weekends! :)

Misc - Our Week

We had some decent weather (as in, upper 80s, low 90s) this past week...almost makes me think fall MIGHT be coming. Maybe not! I took the opportunity to get the kids outside a little bit during the day.
Tuesday after we picked Connell up from MDO, we got an icecream and went to a nearby park to enjoy our treat and take a walk.

The mornings have been cooler, which is really nice. We took an early morning walk to the playground for some playtime.

In Connell's class, each child takes turns filling the "letter luggage" bag and bringing it back with items that start with the assigned letter. Last week was Connell's turn, and it was the letter "C." We baked chocolate chip cookies, and also included a cup, comb, birthday candle and a cross. It is so fun to watch Connell learn. He is great at saying his abc's and has been for awhile. Now he is able to identify just about every letter, and is also getting really good at telling you something that begins with that letter. We are just so proud of him!

Day Out with Thomas

Sunday we went to "Day Out with Thomas." I think this is a yearly event, and this is our first time to go. One of my best friends from high school, Joy, and her family have been before and when she told me several months ago that they were going to come to town for Thomas, I was so excited! We all bought tickets and met there Sunday morning.

Joy's 4 boys :) and ConnellBoarding the train


I guess Emma wanted a snack :) Every mom looooooves the petting zoo. So glad to be able to send Tim in there!

I just love his facial expression here...

Emma & Abigail.

God blessed Joy & Benny with 4 boys and then finally a sweet baby girl!

Joy's twins (Luke and Landon) are one day older than Connell

Aside from the trainride, there were lots of other fun activites to enjoy. After we had enough Thomas and sunshine, we all headed to our house for a cookout so the kids could play. It was a great day and we had a wonderful time spending time with the Traylor family!

12 Month Update

I took Emma for her 12 month well visit on 9/2. She was cooperative and did well, even though we had to wait for quite a long time. I really can't complain...we love our pediatrician and I know that sometimes, they are just super busy and tending to more emergency-type visits. I am thankful when we are just there because we are HEALTHY!

So, here are the stats. Emma weighs 20.5 pounds and is 29.5 inches tall. She is doing great with all of her developmental milestones. The week of her birthday, she started taking a few steps here and there. She will take a step or two, but then drops down and crawls. She is SO fast...I think she just prefers that as her mode of transportation.

Emma is a very verbal child. She already has several words...momma, dadda, juice, more, shoes...sometimes she will say book. Just recently, she has started nodding her head up and down to say "yes". If you ask her if she wants more of something, she nods her head so hard it looks like it hurts. What can I say, she loves to eat!

For the past few months, she has been willing and happy to give out lots of kisses. Now, she is very stubborn and will really only kiss her Daddy. Oh, and her brother. So I guess that leaves me out. I occasionally get a smooch...and it's so sweet!

Emma loves music...she tries to sing along, especially at church. It's so precious! She also really enjoys swinging on the playset...I think she would swing for hours.

Our girl is quite fiesty! She is willing to duke it out with Connell and I am not sure that's something I am really ready for. He wants to "love" on her all the time, which is sweet, but I think it sometimes annoys her and she fusses at him.

And before I forget (and I need to get a picture of this), Emma has already started carrying a purse. Not really :) but it's so cute what she does. There is a little barn toy that opens up and holds a few little soft animals that make sounds when you squeeze them. She likes to play with the animals, but she LOVES to hang the handle from her wrist and carries it around like a purse. It's adorable!

This video will also show some of her new talents! She keeps us laughing for sure!

Playing the waiting game at the doctor. texting.

Well, I guess I dropped the ball on the 12 month picture in the green chair. Maybe I will still take it, just a little late. But I do think I need to post a picture of my little buddy when he had just turned 1, since we've seen his monthly pics, too.

On Connell's first birthday!

a few days after he turned 1!

Emma is 1!

This will be the last birthday-related post! haha!
These are a few pictures from Emma's actual birthday, 8/31/10. We had lunch with Daddy since Connell was at MDO. In the evening, we opened a few gifts and had some more cake:) That, of course, made the birthday girl very happy!

We have just about perfected the family self-portrait! It doesn't hurt when you can bribe with cake/cupcakes!
Birthday smiles :-)