Pumpkins Galore

Abi's 1st taste of pizza...she was working on it all night (and loving it)

We loved the pumpkin patch so much we went back a second time last week with the Swans. Just over a week later, but soooo much colder! We had a pizza picnic and I believe that Abigail loved it most of all. It was her first taste of pizza and she absolutely loved it! (Although when it comes to food there is not much she doesn't love).  

Our favorite part of the farm this visit was the maze! We spent a good bit of time in it. The girls had a blast, as you can see Alathea & Kathryn running in the picture above. Joe & Nick had fun running through it too. Joe especially (he's such a big kid). 

It was too cold to stay for the night time wagon ride and we got there too late for the pony rides. I was tempted to go back a third time to go on these rides, but thought that was a bit excessive! Oh, and sadly I must confess that when we posed for our picture of the two families, I completely forgot to pick up Abigail. I was smiling and saying cheese when Joe said, "Aren't you gonna grab your baby for the picture too". Oh my! I couldn't believe it! I guess I was so used to family pictures with the Swans with just Yay-Yay & Kat-Kat that it felt normal. My poor baby got lots of extra snuggles after that one!  

And Joe was so excited about carving pumpkins after our two trips, that he & Alathea carved two of them. And he's got them on our front porch lit up every night if you want to see them :)

Growing up so fast

Both of my babies have been learning so many new things...as Alathea says "Yay-yay big girl now!" Its true. Here are some of the big girl things they've learned lately...

Alathea's been sleeping in her big girl bed since September. 

She LOVES it. She especially likes that Mommy & Daddy

 can both snuggle with her at the same time.

Alathea finally learned to ride her tricycle all by herself. 

We take a daily ride around the neighborhood.

The girls waiting for their Daddy to come home from work. 

Yesterday Abigail literally sprinted (crawled sprinted) as fast as she could 

to see Joe when he got home. Then she followed him (not me) all around the house until bedtime. I'm thinking we've got not one, but two Daddy's girls now.

My big baby acting way to grown up. 

She easily stand holding on with one hand. 

Sometimes she even lets go!

I guess the next step is walking. Not sure I'm ready for the that one!

Hodges Dairy Farm

A few weeks ago Eileen & I decided one morning to take the kiddos to get pumpkins at Hodges Dairy Farm. It looked like it would be a gloomy, cloudy day, but it turned out to be perfect! We had such a great time, that our family went with the Swans just last week for a second time (so I guess we'll have two pumpkin posts :) Anyways, one thing Alathea loved most was running through the sunflower fields! They were gorgeous. She kept smelling them, much to my amusement because her face would be covered with pollen as she smiled at me afterwards.

And my ever so happy "abbers" as I keep calling her. (I'm trying not to, as it's not a nick name I prefer, but it keeps slipping  out!). I had left her in the stroller on one end of the pumpkin patch as I wandered with Alathea looking at pumpkins...and when Eileen pointed out how way far in the distance she was, I ran back to find her like this. She's just sooooo joyful!

All the kiddos minus Anna Cate, happily sleeping on her Mamma.

Its hard to believe we have 5 kids between our two families already! It seems like our 1st babies were just born yesterday!

The kids LOVED this adorable baby goat just roaming around. One thing I love about this Farm is that there is a little bit of everything- pumpkins, animals, moon bounce, wagon rides...

and lots of space to run...as the girlie's are doing below. They are so cute together.

After much deliberation, Alathea proudly shows off her pumpkin. She took a nap with it that afternoon :)

Here is Alathea trying to decide which pumpkin to choose- a very difficult decision for a two year old. I discovered before we left that she had put a few tiny extra pumpkins in the bottom of my stroller- I think hoping I wouldn't see them. Fortunately I found them :) 

Days like this make me appreciate fall. It's sadly  my least favorite season- I'm not fond of cold weather, shorter days and I really hate Halloween. But...I'm really loving making the most of it with our girls!

The latest and greatest of our Family

Here are just a few more pictures that my friend Liz took of our family a few weeks ago. She did a great job- especially considering how tough it is to get any good pictures of our girls- especially our biggest one (you can see me talking to the culprit above :) We had quite the adventure too...we started off in a field by our neighborhood and with in literally 60 seconds two of the meanest ladies I've ever encountered kicked us out of the field. Then we ended up at this vintage general store around the corner and eventually got eaten alive by misquitoes.  Liz was so generous with her time that we went to a third location- this beautiful field (I have this thing for fields and photography right now)- which happened to be right as the sun was setting. It was like God was saving the most perfect light for us at the end. The girls were pretty beat by this point, but we got some pictures. And we got lots of Joe & I. So a huge thank you to Liz (you can check out her website at www.elisabethsheaphotography.com) for her time and talent! 

I Love Him

I really, really love him. More and more and more every day. It's amazing. Just thought I'd let you know. My friend Liz took some amazing pictures for our family...she's amazing. Maybe I'll put some more up in the morning. Oh, and Abigail is the first picture and Alathea the second. Good guesses!

You think they look alike?

I've heard the entire range of comments about who my girls look like. On almost any given day I'll hear that one of them looks just like Joe and then the next comment is that they look just like me. We've decided Joe & I look enough alike that they are a good blend :). But I also hear a range of comments on whether or not people think that Alathea and Abigail look alike. I've always thought that if you looked at pictures of them at the same age, they look almost exactly alike. I was especially amazed when I came across these pictures! Can you guess who is who? Joe actually could not tell! I was amazed they were even making the same expressions! Take a guess :)

.Alathea Joy.

Anyone who knows Alathea at all knows that she is a complete JOY most of the time- but, as I've often joked about, her highs are really high (she's really happy), but her lows are really low (like the whole world is falling apart) and they both can exist in the same 2 minute period...what a girl :) The pictures above & below can demonstrate- my sisters friend Kristen took them the same afternoon (www.kristenleighphotography.blogspot.com)

This is how you'd find Alathea playing- cooking Bunny food in her kitchen (above), putting her baby down for a nap (and be careful, she'll get quite upset if you walk into the room after baby is asleep (gee, I wonder where she got that from :) (below)

I thought I'd do a little update on my biggest girl.  Alathea is now 2 1/2 years old! I can't believe in less than 6 months I will have a 3 year old! She has really grown up these past 7 months that she has been a big sister. I'm amazed looking back at pictures on her 2nd b-day (just 3 days after Abi was born) and how young she looks- it almost looks like I had two babies. But now she seems so grown up. She enjoys helping me and mothering Abigail. Its wonderful, but sometimes she carries it too far, like today when I caught her spanking her little sister. Abigail had this quizzical look on her face as I walked around the corner and discovered Alathea in the act. When I asked her what she was doing, she said Abigail didn't obey "all the way, right away, the cheerful way"  as if I should totally understand :) We had a little talk, and I trust she knows not to do that again, but it gives you a little glimpse into Alathea's personality. 

Alathea hasn't grown a ton this year, she's still a peanut, weighing only 2 pounds more than her 7 month old cousin. And I'm sure not much more than Abigail. We've actually started buying the same size diapers for them both (yep, not potty trained yet, but I'm at least thinking about it). 

The biggest change in Alathea is how much she talks and you can understand. She'll still tell stories that go on and on, complete with her laughing hysterically at herself as she tells it, while Joe & I have NO idea what she's talking about. But for the most part she's starting to speak English. She loves to sing and now knows all the words to the  Gospel song and is pretty proud of it. 

The girls have their own special way of communicating to each other through raspberries and the like. Its so cute. They have huge smiles and laugh the whole time. The sweetest thing is hearing the two of them "talking" in the morning before I get them. Abigail usually wakes up first and "talks" and then I hear Alathea say, "Is that MY Abi!" Then for a few minutes I just listen to them "talk" to each other across the hall and smile and listen.

Alathea has also been a great sport adjusting to the new schedule that a little sister brings. We can't go to the park or friends houses or anywhere until Abigail wakes up from her nap. She must hear it alot from me, because tonight we were looking at pictures on the computer and everything she saw she'd get excited and say, "Yay-Yay like the beach, Mommy!  Yay-yay go to beach after Abi's nap? Oh, Yay-Yay like pumpkin patch! Yay-yay go to pumpkin patch after Abi's nap? Yay-yay like park. Go to park after Abi's nap?" 

And the biggest "new" thing is that since Labor Day Alathea has been sleeping in her big girl bed! The first few days it took a few hours until she finally fell asleep, but now she's doing great. Its been fun being able to lay in bed and read stories with her at night. Sometimes the whole family is in the little twin bed. The crib is still in the room too- but for now Abigail is in a pack n play in the office. One step at a time. Eventually the hope is that they'll share the room.

Anyways, thats a lot of writing :) I am a blessed woman to have these sweet little girls!

Abigail in Asheville

Abigail came with Joe & I on our "romantic get-a-way" to Asheville this week and we had so much fun having her along. We really enjoyed getting some alone time with her. Since she's so content, at home its easy to leave her in a room and forget she's there...especially with miss queen bee big sister around who tends to draw our attention :). She is our delightful, happy baby Abigail whom we love so much! I also enjoyed taking so pictures of her crawling around in this field on the estate.