Oooo how we love October!

It is certainly NO secret that I love October, and Halloween is my favorite holiday. Candy, costumes, parties, and lots of sunshine. Hard not to love this time of year.

Ashlyn was mastering her bike skills, while Austin tried to master walking. By the end of the month we finally had the hang of both. Our summer tans faded, but the hustle and bustle of Fall kept us fully entertained. We picked and carved pumpkins, went on a hayride, had apple cider slushies, was in costume as often as regular clothes, and ate a few too many candy corn pumpkins (YUM).

At our house you'll likely find us making pumpkin stain glass windows, singing Halloween songs, baking pumpkin bread, taking wagon rides up to the pond, and having dance parties. Not sure who likes to dance and be silly more, Austin, Ashlyn or mommy! Daddy thinks we are weird, but we love being silly. Austin is my little boogie king, he's moving and grooving all the time......i LOVE it!

Road Warrior

Ashlyn's buddies Caroline and Cole in the corn maze

LOLCP Barn and Bunk Field Trip (making a scarecrow)

Princess Ashlyn, First trip to Windmill Farm

Hayride through the woods with Faith and Christian (so fun)

13 months.....And He's Off

I have a climber! His favorite pastime is pulling all the books off the shelf

Why not, the Dryer seems fun

Climbing and keeping busy as usual

Ashlyn's preschool Halloween party (she was sleeping beauty)

LOLCP Halloween Party 2011

Hanging out with dad while celebrating Mimi's birthday

My sweet as an apple Snow White (and doll), showing off her Jack O' Lantern

Halloween Day

My Zoo Crew ready for Trick or Treat

Cutest Zebra in Town!

Daddy duty- pulling the wagon through the neighborhood

That is one sweet Cheetah!

We made it around the whole loop, running, I think she likes trick or treating

I LOVE being a stay at home mom, a job I wouldn't trade for the world. It is one of the hardest, and sometimes most frustrating jobs in the world. But the rewards, and smiles, hugs, and "I love you's" far exceed any bad day. Nevertheless, having a little mommy time is refreshing to the mind and soul. Matt and I got the rare opportunity to travel to New Orleans (kid free) for a college friends wedding. Neither one of us had ever been to New Orleans, so it was an even more exciting trip. My first time flying without kids in 3 years, and it was awesome. I read a book, only had my purse to carry, and even snoozed on the plane. Didn't even mind the2 hour layover in Atlanta. Add to that eating, and going around town on our own terms, sleeping in, and sightseeing. I miss traveling, I miss my friends, I miss that freedom, but in the end......I missed my kids more. Was an awesome trip, but I was soooo happy to be home after it all.

Link to Pictures: New Orleans 2011

A month of many Firsts

September:

Going into Fall, we certainly started things with a bang. We had a month of many firsts! 1st day of school, 1st haircut, 1st birthday and 1st steps. WOW!

The temperature is staying hot, more than cooling off, but that keeps us outside and busy... which we love.

Daddy was proud and excited to take the kids to their first Alter Fest. It is not quite as fun when you aren't drinking or gambling, and you are attending at 5:00 instead of 9:00. Needless to say, Ashlyn has been talking about riding the elephants for months, and dadd was pretty proud to show off his kiddos and talk to them about his Alma Mater.

Alter Fest 2011

Ashlyn had a walk through day, with mom in tow, for her first day of school. We ate a good breakfast, picked out our favorite summer dress, and got very excited to put on our backpack for real that morning. She walked right in and paid no attention to me at all. It didn't bother me one bit though, I was more relieved knowing she was confident to be at school without needing mommy. Bonus that I met a few moms that I connected with instantly, and knew would be nice to get to know better

Her teachers Miss Paula and Miss Carla are sweet, caring, and Love her which is extremely comforting. I'll never forget discussing with my camp counselors how trusting parents are to drop their kids off at camp everyday, since they have no say in who is watching their child.... where as a parent we ask for references, talk to friends, worry endlessly about who babysits our children. Makes me really appreciate teachers, and those that LOVE my child as much as I do.

Excited and Ready for Preschool

First day of School (without mommy)

Having fun playing in the tupperware drawer

Loves doing Art projects and painting

Ashlyn was actually really excited for her first haircut....at Supercuts:) She was smiley, sat perfectly still, and liked getting to wear the big cape. Wasn't sure what to expect with an almost 3 year old. Guess I should have known better, she's a pretty cooperative and well behaved girl. Pictures are worth 1000 words, certainly adorable and happy haircut memories. I think she might liked getting pampered a little too much!

Tried to do a little something special on the day of each of the kids birthdays. We got Austin a cupcake to smash and then opened presents. He was spinning in circles with excitement for the elephant popper uncle larry gave him. It was quite amusing (and all caught on camera). Ashlyn started walking the week of her 1st birthday, so I am curious to see if Austin follows in her footsteps (no pun intended).

Messy Smiles

Opening Presents

The weekend between their birthdays we threw a big birthday party for both the kids. Mommy went all out, splurging on the party. I didn't do anything for Ashlyn last year (since I had a baby the week before), so it seemed ok to go a bit bigger this year- plus it was Austin's 1st birthday. Since I call them both my little monkeys, I ended up doing a "Go Bananas Birthday Bash". We had a house full of friends, kids, and good food. The bounce house was definitely the biggest hit. I wouldn't change a thing, it was a perfect sunshiny/happy birthday bash. Enjoy all the photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/lindsey.england/GoBananasBirthdayBash?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPHvztnopai9TQ&feat=directlink

For Ashlyn's birthday, she woke up to a Tiara and more presents. With the birthday party the weekend before, and her preschool birthday a few days prior, the celebrations just kept going for her. I think she was the most excited about getting a highchair for her doll, and a balance bike. Luckily the pleasant Fall weather will continue for weeks, so we'll have plenty of bike riding time. We ended the day with a cake and pizza at Championi's with cousins.

Princess Ashlyn turns 3

Trying out her cooking supplies (thanks to the Bogards)

Kids LOVE the sand/water table from Mimi and Papa

Cooler evenings bring capris and long sleeves. Gotta love Fall!

Mommies little helper feeding Bailey

With 1st words and birthdays, come 1st steps. Austin will take 6-8 steps than fall down, then get up and do 4, then get up and do 2. Followed by frustration and annoyance, and then giving up on walking. Gotta love those wobbly "walk to mommy/daddy" steps. My baby isn't a baby anymore he is officially a toddler. Tear, tear!

Big Boy Steps

On to Apple Cider and Hayrides....

Let's start from the very beginning.....

Summer Smiles with Daddy!

Seeing as i last left off updating my blog 4 months ago, life has certainly moved forward quickly in that short time. With a 1 year old, 4 months is like an eternity of missing out on documenting milestones. So how to begin, on catching up on what we've already left behind. Guess i'll start by going over each month. Summer and Fall, being a very busy time of year, had lots going on. So i'll post each month and hopefully can remember what all i've missed out on writing about. So......here we go!

August:

The end of August brought close to pool time. Ashlyn got very good at swimming confidently on her own with her life vest on. She'd jump off the side, go under and try to touch the bottom, and did awesome kicking and paddling. Pretty awesome for an almost 3 year old with no lessons. I think we will certainly get swim classes on the calendar for next summer. We've started prepping lots for what to expect when school starts. There is more excitement than anxiety from her regarding school. She's got my olive skin, the girl sure can rock an awesome tan!

Austin is cruising a ton, but still not showing much interest in wanting to take steps. I am certainly ok with that, as i'm in no rush to have another little one to run after. His first and favorite word is Dog, and he is saying it all the time. Points out Bailey, and every dog he sees and gets excited. If only I could get Matt to feel the same excitement for dogs:) He has a little mischievous side, i think he enjoys being told no a little too much....laughs and laughs then tries to do it again! Takes after his sister in that aspect. He loves to look and point at books, and as always.....smile!!

Brotherly/Sisterly Love is the best. Big, tan, fun summer smiles

Up and Coming.....

I got my new MacBook Air computer this weekend and I am one VERY excited momma. Hoping to get some photos on here and be back up and running ASAP. I miss blogging and documenting what is happening in our life.

Foreshadowing

In my last blog post I made a comment about how Ashlyn is becoming quite the photographer. No lie, she is obsessed with taking pictures. She pretends, she uses my cell phone, she find the real camera. When I turned on the camera last week, this is what I found....I could not stop laughing!

She then started posing herself with her doll and asking me to take pictures!

Some more of her fine photography work!

Am thinking I need to get this girl her own camera for her birthday!