Pumpkin Patch

We headed to the pumpkin patch at Old Baker Farm in Harpersville and had a great day. Both of the kiddos did great, and Ellie was such a "good listener," which is what we ask her to be all of the time lately!

I can't wait to try to get a Christmas card with two of them in it this year. Every pic seems to turn out like this...
He's always this happy!

Daddy and Ellie with our pumpkins. Not sure what that face is!

She got to jump in the cotton, and we had to tear her out of there!

Somebody was all tuckered out by the end!

Before we left we had to get a funnel cake...E's first!

I love that he can sit up now! He's doing great except for when his big sister walks up behind him and pushes him over and laughs. Right after this she walked up and did it, and he face-planted into the grass. Poor baby, but he will be a tough little thing after all of her torture!

Proud of his pumpkin from the patch!

Finally a decent pic of the 2 of them, and Daddy was trying out the "night vision" setting which made it blurry! Argh!!!

She's just started this pose w/ her hands on her hips, and I love it.

Rusty and Ellie carving their Auburn pumpkin...

And look how great it turned out!

While we were out putting candles in the pumpkin she was inside and ran out with this in her mouth!! Oh no!!!!!!!! She kept it in her mouth for about 5 minutes then took it out to eat dinner, and Rusty proceeded to hide it. Luckily she hasn't mentioned it since. Whew...that was a close one! Why haven't I thrown them all away??????!!!

We are so proud to be AUBURN TIGERS! War Eagle!!!!!

More October Busyness & Fun!!

Yesterday was a big day around here because this little man turned 6-months old!

And boy has he grown up over the last week. He is now sitting up pretty steadily on his own, he is talking in consonants, and his first tooth starting breaking through! He is just growing too fast! Ellie's first "word" or sound really was "ma ma," but Greer's was "da da." I guess it was Daddy's turn since I won with E! He started talking up a storm on Tuesday and hasn't stopped. I had forgotten how sweet those little sounds are.
Another HUGE accomplishment around here. Look closely...
that's our big girl in her BIG GIRL BED! Rusty got home yesterday (thank the Lord...my patience as a single mom was growing very thin) after being gone for a week, and I immediately hit him up to assemble and install the bedrails. We have been having MAJOR sleep issues around here with her. I mean, this is the child that has slept in her crib every night (just about), going to bed at 8:00 sharp (most nights) and staying in her crib all night until the last MONTH. I have no idea what happened, but she started screaming for an hour straight sometimes in her bed and wanted everything from us to stay in there with her to anything she could think of to not have to go to sleep. This has all led to a great deal of sleep deprivation and her staying up until 10:00 with us every night and sleeping in our bed which I swore I'd never allow. SO, when Daddy got home it was time for "Big Girl Bed Bootcamp!" Rusty got the bedrails put together, and she went in her room to see and said, "Daddy its perfect, I love it!" It was the cutest thing. Then she jumped in, got under the covers, and said, "Its so cozy!" After that Rusty read her 2 books, tucked her in, said goodnight, and left the room. After her moving around for about 30 minutes she drifted off to sleep! All went great....until....3:00 am when I heard the pitter patter coming down our hall. I'm thrilled though because she at least got through the falling asleep part and stayed in there for a while!

Even better...while I was at the office today my babysitter texted me to tell me that Ellie finished her lunch about 12:20 and ran to get her blankie and pink monkey and told her that she was ready to go lay in her bed. Leigh was like, "ok," and she told her not to come in there. Ellie proceeded to walk in, shut the door, and lay in her bed. Then she asked Leigh to come tuck her in so she did, and then she fell right asleep! As I type this it's 3:34, and she's still knocked out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will continue after the newness wears off!

Onto what fun we've been having! While we were in Atmore we discovered that E can now ride her Auburn tricycle very well! She also got to ride a horse!! A girl that has worked for my dad for years has horses and told us we could bring Ellie over to ride so we jumped on the chance. She of course loved it and had NO fear!

Its nice to get away to the country every now and then. I do love that when we're in Atmore we do absolutely nothing. I have come to appreciate that these days where I didn't in high school! She walked Ace on his leash too!

She wanted me to ride so she could walk and pull his "leash."

Best of all...she and Lollie got to ride together.

While we were down in Atmore Thomas had a Homecoming date. Doesn't he look handsome? I tried telling him that if he'd dress like this more often and fix his hair girls would fall all over him! Who knows how much effect it had on him. :)

Once we got back from Atmore, Ellie and I headed to Boo at the Zoo with the Lawleys while Lollie stayed home with Greer.

Ellie was an AU cheerleader since her costume had not arrived yet.

She had a blast with the big girls!

Then, we had another BIG NIGHT around here. Lollie came back up to Bham to treat Ellie to something VERY special!

That's right...Yo Gabba Gabba Live! The minute we heard they were coming to Birmingham Lollie ordered the tix. Rusty was out of town so it was just us girls! We didn't realize how good our seats were until we got there. 3rd row so we were so close!!

I have to say that we were very impressed with the show. Lollie and I both enjoyed it almost as much as Ellie. Ellie even got to give Toodee a high five and was so proud!! I highly recommend this show if it ever comes your way.

She watched in amazement like they had all come to life out of the tv!

One last thing...Greer stays with his friend Genevieve a few days a week. Here they are "playing together." I'm sure they'll be great buds growing up together!!

Another Awesome Weekend

The weekend got off to a rocky start but ended great. I woke up Friday morning with a fever and chills and just feeling awful. I came to the conclusion that it must have been from the TDAP shot I got on Thursday. So fyi to all of you moms out there that if you get a TDAP shot you may feel like absolute crap for a couple of days, but its worth it to keep my baby safe from the whooping cough!! Getting a flu shot at the same time probably didn't help either, but luckily by Saturday afternoon I was 100% thank goodness. We headed down to Atmore Friday evening and then went out to Poppy's cabin on Saturday to watch a little football and celebrate She She's birthday! She had some friends come down to the cabin, and we all had a great time. Her friends are all so sweet and so great to help with my babies!!

Shelby's friend Rose Lynn with my babies...

The birthday girl with her nephew...
Delicious bday cake...Ellie had already started blowing some of the candles out! It took a LOT of effort to keep her from getting into this cake from the time Lollie picked it up Sat morning until we got to the cabin Sat afternoon! The girl loves her some cake.
She She decided her bday couldn't get any better...an Bama loss and a Tiger victory!! Woo Hoo! WDE!!!! We were a happy bunch around the cabin on Saturday...all 12 of us Auburn grads!!

Ellie helped She She blow her candles out.

Poor Bell (Josh's dog) was harrassed by Ellie the entire day and was such a trooper.

I can't believe that I forgot to mention in my last post that my little cheerleader is officially SASSY (paci) FREE!!!!!! Its been 3 weeks now and no paci for this big girl! We are SO proud of her, and she has only mentioned it once. We had gotten to the point where she was only getting it for naps and bedtime and would drop it in her bed when she woke up so that was a start. This is how it all went down...she stayed at MeMe's house for a couple of nights a few weeks ago and went to bed without it and didn't ask for it. So when she got back home we continued to put her to bed without it, and she continued to not ask for it. And that's pretty much it! When she asked about it a week or so ago I just diverted her attention, and that's all it took! I just can't believe how easy its been especially since Baby Brother still has his sassy! I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will last, and we're done. Bedtime is quite challenging, and I'm sure this has something to do with it along with the fact that she is still crawling out like a champ. Bedrails are on order!

Poor Greer...every time we watch football on Saturday and do a little yelling this is how he reacts!

Poor thing just gets so scared any time there is any type of loud noise!

How do you like his little jersey?! I couldn't resist!

Daddy did some dove hunting, and Mr. Riley got some retrieving practice in too.

We are practicing this sitting up thing, and he's getting stronger by the day. I think he'll be doing it all by himself in the next few weeks.

I sure hope so. I love it when they can sit up but can't go anywhere! His sissy sat up at 5 months and pulled up to a standing position at 4.5 months, but he's not quite there. Such a difference in their little personalities! I am LOVING his laid-back style though, and he is definitely going to be our little cuddler!

Lollie with her babies...

This doesn't happen very often b/c some little girl gets jealous and takes up a lot of Lollie's time...

He's just getting so big so fast. I wish I could just make the time stand still sometimes. I am still cherishing every "baby" moment with him because I know before I know it he'll be Ellie's age!

They are so sweet together. I turned around to get a towel out and turned back around and found them like this. She got in the bathtub with him and was "helping" me bathe him.

They're a handfull but SO much fun. We cherish every minute with them both. I guess I'm just having a sentimental day!!!

We're super excited about fall around our house! We're gearing up for more football, Halloween, fall festivals, pumpkin patches, etc!!! The cooler temps were just a tease I guess, but hopefully that awesome weather will be back soon!

One last thing. My cousin Lane has recently gotten into photography and took a few pics of Greer last Sunday after his baptism. She sent them to me last week, and I was amazed! She is SO talented and already taking pics like a professional! These are just a few of the ones she took...