The Pumpkin Patch

(Sorry this is late...)My tradition for fall is do as much picking as possible...(AND measure to see if the girls are taller than daddy yet) well, that mostly entails apples and the pumpkin patch but I love, love, love the fall. So, here's our almost too late in the season outing to the pumpkin patch. Good times. :)

When we first got there, Cailen was excited, but just didn't know what to do with her reserved little self.

But soon enough, she was visiting with and feeding goats and looked much more content with this outing.

Ri points out the goats, probably climbing their bridge. Riley wasted no time in learning how to drive a tractor

or making friends with a calf and fake cow.

The hay ride was fun and muddy as usual but the kids thoroughly enjoyed the ride to the corn/pumpkin field.

We picked some ornamental corn.

We picked some baby pumpkins and since the hay ride had no time to spare, we hopped back on pretty quickly!

The next stop was apple cider donuts for snack. Yum!

And then the silliness ensued! LOVE IT!

Pregnancy #3 at 31 weeks

This facial profile ultrasound is from 29 weeks. It's a boy!(...though we have known that for a few weeks now.) Currently his nickname on facebook is "Lem" or "the lemon" as I once reported his current size at the time and friends kept the name for him. It flows better than "the butternut squash" at other stages. It's cute. :)

It's hard to believe that little sweet baby is in this tummy!!

This pregnancy has been pleasant. As opposed to months and months of morning sickness with my girls' pregnancies, I only "got sick" twice within 24 hours and had a nauseous 2-3 weeks from 10-12 weeks. Though I did at the time, I will NOT complain as this really has been a good pregnancy!

I took all of these pictures by myself...I haven't gotten up the guts to ask anyone to stare at my belly with a camera at this point...I am nearing the weight I ended Riley's pregnancy with and I am afraid that this little boy might give me stretch marks this time around...and so, before that potentially happened, I decided to memorialize my belly while it still looks decent. :)

The girls are super excited to meet their little brother. They couldn't ask for more, except time going by a little faster. Cailen is quite a little day dreamer when she pauses at my belly and thinks or talks about her brother. She loves him already. It's very sweet. The girls keep reminding me that they used to be in my belly. As hard as that is for me to comprehend it's even funnier to me that they can fathom it to whatever degree they do!

Well time is ticking away and I can't wait to meet this little guy. Kris having a son will certainly make this family feel that much more complete. I can't say that this is the LAST baby we will ever have...but at least while we own a Honda Civic it better be!!!

Either way, we are incredibly blessed!

Cailen's 4th Birthday Party TINKERBELL

Of course, my red head fairy loving daughter would choose to be Rosetta for her Tinkerbell party. Even her cake had to be adorned by Rosetta, NOT Tinkerbell. She was very excited about this party, for months...and once it all came into effect she was kind of overwhelmed. Grammy made the girls fairy costumes, (we can't thank you enough Grammy!!! THANK YOU!!!!) and I think even dressing up in them at the start of the party was just too much for Cailen to handle. Riley didn't wear her Tink dress until much later in the party

She got ready and then hid under the table as guests started to show up! Eventually she warmed up, played with friends and enjoyed her party, but her tunnel vision included presents and the cake!

It was a nice little party. Afterward, Daddy

took her on a special date to Walmart where she picked out her own presents with some of her b'day money. She wore her flower in her hair, a new purple leopard print tutu, sang through the store and got many compliments from passers by about how cute she was. She bought 2 puzzles and a Little People Fairy Tree house. I was afraid she'd want to come home with Barbies in hand...but alas, my little girl is still a little girl. :) She had a wonderful time out with daddy and sang about it on the way home...I thought for sure that was the highlight of the day, but when I asked what her favorite part of the day was...she said "my cake"....That blessed me so much. I put so much into those cakes and that one frustrated me as I had to pull apart the original design (at 11 pm) and start over, but in the end, I was happy with it.

Cailen's friends made for great company at the party. We were blessed to have each and every person there and she was blessed with lots of wonderful presents. Thank you all for making Cailen's 4th birthday so special. :)

Best buds

*saturday*

My girls and I wentshopping yesterday, we went to Joanne fabrics. The girls chit chatted the whole way through the store about everything they saw. A lady stopped me and said "I just love hearing their little voices throughout the store."They were really good, just chatting nonstop!

So we carried on to Target, and as we walked in holding hands in the parking lot, I asked "Isn't it nice to go out by ourselves?" (as if the THREEof us were actually alone!) You know girl time! I said "just the three of us friends" Cailen said "best friends!" I said "Bestbuddies!" She said not "best buddies, best BUDS!!"(referring to her new toy box pun.)

I love the fact that she gets the pun, she knows it means flower buds, but more importantly she realizes it is describing a very special bond she has with her sister.[Image]I hope they will always remember to love each other and treat each other as the best buds that they are right now. I hope the toy box is a constant reminder of their special relationship. They are so sweet.

We bought Tinkerbell fruit snacks amongst a few other items and walked out happily. On the way home, we sang together at the top of our lungs. The first tune was Dora the Explorer. We sang that through about 3 times. Suddenly Riley said "Dora to abwore makes me happy!" Cailen and I both had the same thought at the same time...(Last month's nursery theme was "Jesus makes me happy") While for a second I was sad that Riley would use that phrase regarding Dora (not that other things can't make us happy, but I felt like she knew the phrase from church.) Cailen jumped in and corrected her saying "NO!! Jesus...loves ME...." (I am certain she meant to say "Jesus makes me happy") Suddenly regardless of her correction, she burst into song with "Jesus loves me" and we belted that song out on the way home as well...The jokes, the giggles, the smiles, hugs, laughs, kissies and songs today were just so extraordinary. I had such an amazing day with these girls right down to snuggling at bedtime. They are just wonderful little blessings to me. I am so thankful for every day with them, but this day was particularly very special to me. :)

*sunday*

Cailen collected acorns today, she just told me she is going to feed the squirrels in the morning with them. :) ♥ And she can make them into "nice new plants...like acorn trees!!...for squirrels!!" :) "I'm just going to leave them in a safe place, right in this pocket"....She's KILLING me with how cute she is!!!
Today in church, during worship, we were singing "Desert Song" and I was holding Riley and rocking back and forth a little bit, I leaned my head down and realized that she was kind of having her own worship moment as I heard her sing "...the Bible tells me so..." while the rest of the church was immersed Desert Song. :)*

Best buds

*saturday*

My girls and I went

shopping yesterday,

we went to Joanne fabrics. The girls c

hit chatte

d the whole way

through the store

about everything t

h

ey saw. A lady stopp

ed me and said "I just

love hearing their lit

tle voices throughout

the store."

They were really good, just chatting nonstop!

So we carried on to Target, and as we walked in

holding hands in the

parking lot, I asked "I

s

n't it nice to go out b

y ourselves?" (as if the THREE

of us were actually alone!) You know girl time! I sa

id "just the three of us

friends" Cailen said "best friends!" I said "Bes

t

buddies!" She said not "best buddies, best

BUDS!!"

(referring to her new toy

box

pun.) I love the fact th

at she gets the pun, she knows it means flower

buds, b

ut more importantly she

realizes it is describing a very special bond she has with her sister.

I hope they will always remember to love each other and treat each other as the best buds that they are right now. I hope the toy box is a constant reminder of their special relationship. They are so sweet.

We bought Tinkerbell fruit snacks amongst a few other items and walked out happily. On the way home, we sang together at the top of our lungs. The first tune was Dora the Explorer. We sang that through about 3 times. Suddenly Riley said "Dora to abwore makes me happy!" Cailen and I both had the same thought at the same time...(Last month's nursery theme was "Jesus makes me happy") While for a second I was sad that Riley would use that phrase regarding Dora (not that other things can't make us happy, but I felt like she knew the phrase from church.) Cailen jumped in and corrected her saying "NO!! Jesus...loves ME...." (I am certain she meant to say "Jesus makes me happy") Suddenly regardless of her correction, she burst into song with "Jesus loves me" and we belted that song out on the way home as well...The jokes, the giggles, the smiles, hugs, laughs, kissies and songs today were just so extraordinary. I had such an amazing day with these girls right down to snuggling at bedtime. They are just wonderful little blessings to me. I am so thankful for every day with them, but this day was particularly very special to me. :)

*sunday*

Cailen collected acorns today, she just told me she is going to feed the squirrels in the morning with them. :) ♥ And she can make them into "nice new plants...like acorn trees!!...for squirrels!!" :) "I'm just going to leave them in a safe place, right in this pocket"....She's KILLING me with how cute she is!!!

Today in church, during worship, we were singing "Desert Song" and I was holding Riley and rocking back and forth a little bit, I leaned my head down and realized that she was kind of having her own worship moment as I heard her sing "...the Bible tells me so..." while the rest of the church was immersed Desert Song. :)*