The Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend we finally had time to make a trip out to the pumpkin patch.  Thanks to Living Social we found out about a new pumpkin patch in our area and decided to give it a try!  It did not disappoint that's for sure.  We started off the morning with a Children's Corn Maze.  Cole loves doing mazes and so he thought this was super fun.  They even had a game along the way for the kids to play.  After we finally made our way out of the maze (Rhonald ended up taking the lead from Cole when we realized we had walked in circles for about 20 minutes) we made our way over to the huge corn kernel pit.  Again, Cole loved it...Lily Kate however hated it.  She refused to be set down in the pit - Rhonald even got in with her but she still did not want anything to do with it.  Once Cole had played in there awhile he was able to go on a pony ride...he rode Bear!  He loves a good pony ride and wanted to do it over and over!  The farm also had wagon rides and we quickly hopped on the wagon for a 15 minute ride around the farm.  Both kids loved it so much!  It made us wish we lived on a farm...for a second.  There was a huge petting zoo area where you could feed all kids of animals...many of which Cole had never been up close and personal with.  The workers were so nice to share information about the animals which made Cole's day.  Just in case you wondered....Lily also hated the petting zoo!  Ha!  Then we made our way over to the pumpkin patch with our wagon.  Cole would have brought home every pumpkin but we narrowed it down to 2 since we already had some at home.  Lily actually did enjoy crawling around the patch and investigating the pumpkins.  When we asked Cole what his favorite part of the morning was he said, "All of it!"  Can't get much better than that!  It was a wonderful fall day and we are so glad we found out about this place!  We will go back next fall for sure...and hopefully we will all enjoy every part of it :)!

Lily Kate at 12 Months

Look at that face?!  Have you ever seen anyone cuter???  Lily Kate had her 1 year check up today and we got a perfect report!  She was so sweet and smiled at everyone like she owned the place.  I just love our pediatrician and love how much she cares for our kiddos.  Lily weighs 21.4 lbs and is 29.25 inches long (both are in the 55%).  She is officially lactose intolerant...something we knew but had to wait a while to "officially" say.  She does ok with yogurt and cheese but we have to buy Lactose free milk for her and stay away from things like ice cream...boo!  Lily is so close to walking that Dr. F kept calling her "a walker."  Why did that make me so proud?  She will cruise all over the house and will take a few steps alone.  She really feels best walking while holding just one finger of ours so that is how we do it...for now.  All too soon she will let go and be on her own.  She is saying "Mama" and "Dada" and babbles quite a bit.  Lily Kate is really showing us how much she understands us though which is so much fun!  For example, if I say, "Time for dinner." sister crawls to her highchair and when I say, "Bath time!" she crawls to the gate at the base of the stairs.  So cute!  She has not shown much stranger anxiety unless she is not feeling well or sleepy.  She is so laid back and in love with anyone who will love on her.  Lily's very favorite thing to do right now is to put things in containers...you have to watch her (or watch your stuff I should say.).  Today I found about 7 socks in a cabinet in the kitchen, a bunch of toy gumballs in a basket in her room, etc.  She loves it.  She also loves to play peek-a-boo and really anything she can play with Cole.  Lily is working on her 4 one year molars all at once - yuck!  She is handling it well with just a few rough nights here and there.  She has 8 teeth that are all the way in and 4 that are each half way in.  She still will not eat veggies!  It drives me crazy...but she is good about eating most other things.  She is much more of a picky eater than Cole ever was but I know from watching him that all of these habits change over time.  She is a great sleeper!  She is still taking 2 naps a day but does ok if she has to miss her morning nap for some reason.  She still loves to read and loves to take her bath.  I still cannot believe that an entire year has gone by!  As I was rocking her tonight I could not help but stare at her sweet face and her little hand holding her blankie and be thankful....simply thankful that I get to be her mom.  I get to watch her grow and develop and I get to love her no matter what.  I am so thankful for her and the change and joy she has brought to my life.  Being a mom is life changing but, for me, becoming the mom of a girl was terrifying.  I want to be the best for her....I want her to look up to me and know that I love her and that I love the Lord.  I want to show her, in word and action, how to be a Godly woman, wife, mother, friend....I want to show her how special and wonderful she is every day.  I want her to never have a doubt in her mind that she was created for something amazing and that, in some way, she will change the world.  I want her to know I am proud of her.  But mostly I want her to know I am thankful for her.  I love you Lily Bean!

Lily Kate's FIRST Birthday

At 2:13 pm on Friday, October 7 our sweet baby turned ONE!  I still cannot believe it.  Friday was a very low key day around the house...we opened a couple of presents but other than that we just enjoyed our precious one year old.  Saturday was the big party and it did not disappoint!  I am not sure who was more excited...me or Cole.  That sweet kid wanted to help with every thing and kept telling Lily all about what was going to happen on her big day.  It was precious!  We were blessed to share the morning with many of our wonderful friends who have loved on Lily Kate throughout this year.  Many of them even came to see her on the day she was born.  It was so much fun and such a beautiful day.  We hired Miss Jules to come and entertain the kiddos with singing and dancing - they all seemed to enjoy it.  She had them running all over the yard and jumping up and down and all around!  Lily was a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing at first but quickly got in to the "party spirit!"  The only thing that really shocked me was the way she handled her cake.  I kept thinking about Cole and how he dug into that smash cake like there was no tomorrow but Lily....not so much.  She stared at it for a bit, I ended up putting her hand in it, then she tasted it, smiled, then made a horrible face and never took another bite!  No mess to clean up for this birthday girl!  After the party we opened her gifts and Cole and Lily Kate played their hearts out and then crashed for a 2 hour nap!  It was such a fun day celebrating our sweet girl.  We are so thankful to have her in our lives!!!!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

As many of you know, Rhonald and I went to the same university (although we did not meet until 3 months after I had graduated...right as he was starting his Senior year - but that is a story for another time).  Rhonald's parents live in the town where we went to school and yet we never make it on to campus.  We always find ourselves busy with other things.  I have always wanted to take Cole there because he asks so many questions about it and we have so many good memories from our time there.  A few Sundays ago we were in Searcy and decided to make a trip over to Harding.  It did not disappoint!  Rhonald and I had very different experiences there...both good but very different.  I was 18 and very far away from home, living in the dorms and submerged in college life.  He was living at home, hanging out with friends, focused on school and very used to life on campus because he had lived there forever.  It was so much fun to show Cole where we studied, lived and hung out.  He loved it too!  He was running around like he owned the place (making all of the college girls laugh).  We told him stories and showed him things that even we had forgotten about.  It had been 10 years since we had been on campus and it was just as beautiful as we had remembered it.  I am so glad we were able to make the trip there and I am so excited to take the kids back again as they get a bit older.  There are many more stories to tell...