Pumpkin Carving, Harvest Party and Halloween

This has been a busy couple of days for us! We're getting excited about Halloween around our house. Yesterday, Matt and Madeleine carved our pumpkin. Madeleine did NOT like the slimy feel of the inside at all! :) So Daddy did most of the work.

Grossed out by the insides!

Funny daddy

Since she can't really carve, Madeleine painted some of her little pumpkins. Look at what a good job she did!

The finished product

Today was Madeleine's Fall Party at school. They painted pumpkins, iced and ate cookies and sang Fall songs. I was the parent helper and really enjoyed getting to be up there & see her with all her little friends. She's doing great at school and is really coming out of her shell. They brought the pumpkin patch to the kids & they got to pick out a pumpkin. And, of course, my girl chooses the only not round pumpkin out there! Oh well. She did pick it out herself. :)

Harrison enjoyed watching all the fun from his stroller. All the kids were fascinated with him. Madeleine was telling everyone "this is MY brother Harrison and he's 10 months." So cute. She was so proud he was there. When they sang their "guess who came to school today" song, her teacher even included Harrison. Madeleine sang extra-loud during that verse. :)
After school, we came home and made a cake and iced some cookies (yes grandad we're bringing some to you). Here's our pumpkin cake we made for Halloween tomorrow. It took everything I had to keep Madeleine from it.

Tonight, we went to our church's "trunk or treat" and carnival. Madeleine got out of the car and stated, "Ok, I'm ready to ring the doorbell and yell 'trick or treat'." It wasn't exactly the same thing here, but she had fun going from car to car and getting candy -- and she got A LOT! Then we headed inside for some games. Here she is with her friend, Murphy.
Harrison was less than thrilled with his costume. He's a hershey kiss, in case you can't tell in this picture. And, check out those rolls!
My little cuties!

All in all, it's been a fun couple of days. I'm actually ready for Halloween to be over, so we can start counting the days till Thanksgiving. We're having our Texas family come up this year and Madeleine is getting sooooo excited about seeing and playing with her cousins. :)

Harrison's Happenings

My boy is definitely on the move & becoming more and more fearless by the day! That's scary for me to think about. Madeleine likes to take the cushion out of the chair in her room & yesterday I found him in the chair. I love the look on his face in this picture -- he looks like "what are you going to do with me, mom?" Hehehe.
Later that same day, I found him drinking out of Madeleine's sippy cup.
The next day, I found him playing in his closet with a flashlight. He was having so much fun with it -- why did we spend all that money on toys??????
Finally, I'm posting a video that I took while I was making dinner tonight. I missed the best part of it -- but was able to capture some of their playing on film. Just watching it makes me crack up! The best part is --this in the norm for them; they play together like this ALL THE TIME! I don't know what I did to deserve such sweet children, but I'm thankful. Enjoy!

Happenings

This has been a cold, rainy couple of days for us. The kids have been trapped inside -- going crazy! Madeleine has a new obsession with flashlights and I keep finding her and Harrison (brought by force, I'm sure) in their bathroom with the lights off and all the pillows from her bed on the floor. She says it's her "fort." :) So, I basically pulled out every toy they own today to occupy them so I could get something done. I checked on them and found Harrison in this box (I'm telling you -- he's into EVERYTHING!). He's found our phone jacks and keeps trying to pull them out of the wall along with the carbon monoxide detector. My little electrician. :)

Doesn't he look proud of himself.

Madeleine has also decided she likes to wear pigtails -- or "2 ponytails" as she calls them. The girl that sits next to her at preschool always wears them, so now we have to have them too. Oh, it starts young doesn't it -- the copying of others!!!!! However, I think she looks adorable! I've been bow making the last couple of days, since we needed new bows to match some of our new fall attire. I'm actually getting pretty good at it, although it's taken some practice.

Posing for the camera.

Harrison is 10 Months Old!

Today Harrison is 10 months old! Wow! He's already turning into a little toddler & seems to be less and less of a baby with every passing day. This has been such a fun month -- again! Harrison has to be one of the happiest, most pleasant babies ever created! He is extremely laid back and content with whatever you want him to do (unless he's hungry, he LOVES to eat!). He greets me with a smile each morning when he wakes up and immediately starts looking for his sister. He absolutely LOVES Madeleine, and the feeling is mutual. I really cannot dream of a better baby. I find myself both looking forward to and dreading his first birthday. It's just coming too quickly for me! Just 2 months to go and I know they'll go by so fast. So, here's my 10 month old :

• He has 7 teeth & is working on getting #8. Thankfully, the doctor said that he can get up to 8 in his first year & we're there & looking forward to a couple of months without cutting teeth!
• He LOVES to eat! His new favorite food is cheese -- any and all types. He also likes pudding, yogurt, apple juice, and bananas.
• His favorite time of day is bathtime. He gets sooooo excited standing at the side of the tub before his bath & tries to climb in. :)
• He can say "mama" and "bye-bye" and will wave, too.
• Today he started to blow kisses! So sweet! He thinks it's funny when I blow them back to him & he'll laugh and laugh. He also now gives hugs & kisses to us. He will tackle Matt when he gets home in the evening and hug him and give him kisses.
• He is into EVERYTHING! Nothing is safe anymore. He can get somewhere before I have time to blink & has started trying to open cabinets & drawers. Boys!
• He adores Madeleine & they play together so well. I really couldn't imagine this being any better. She looks out for him & he just follows her around and destroys her stuff! Ha!
• He still has those dimples! They are here for keeps, I hope! He's got such an easy smile & will smile and "talk" to anyone that looks his way -- such a flirt! Every time I go out with him, someone stops me to say what an adorable little boy & when he starts to smile at them, they just ohhh & ahhh over him.
• He still loves to play with the toilet. Even with the lids closed, he'll stand there & pat-pat on the lid. :)
• He loves to snuggle. When I rock him, he just turns into me and snuggles right into me. I love this and have taken to rocking him and holding him on those mornings that Madeleine's at preschool. He's only a baby for awhile....
• He loves Bible class and has such a big time there! His teachers love him!
• He's just about to walk! Wow! He's ready and getting a little frustrated with himself, so I know it's coming. He's now able to stand by himself for a couple of seconds before he lowers himself to the ground. He's a super-fast crawler so he'll give up on cruising and just crawl when he wants to get something fast.

Before lunch -- he's still clean!

Getting into Madeleine's "stuff"
Uh-oh, getting mommy's things!
10 months old!

Weekend Adventure

This has been a crazy week for us! Matt's had two days where he wasn't home until almost 9 pm, which definitely made for a verrrrry long day for me! But, he had Friday off so we planned a day with just Madeleine. We started with a trip to Krispy Kreme for donuts (which she says "doonuts, like a northerner-- it's so cute!). When we got there, we ran into one of my old friends who was there with her kids & their playgroup -- and they were going on a tour & she asked if we'd like to join them. Of course! So, Madeleine & I toured the Krispy Kreme & then she got to make her own donut with chocolate icing & sprinkles. Fun! She loved that. Her donut was plastered with sprinkles and she ate every bite. :) So, on that sugar high, we headed off to the zoo. She's been learning about zoo animals at school & has been talking about wanting to go to the zoo practically every day for the past couple of weeks. So, this was a BIG adventure for her. It was a perfect day & lots of animals were out. First off we saw the lemurs (don't know what they are) & Madeleine asked me what they were called. I said "lemurs" to which she replied, "lemurs, phhhh." So, they weren't too impressive. Then we headed for the elephants. They were definitely her favorite! We actually had to see them twice. She just watched them for the longest time, even though they weren't really doing anything exciting. :)

We also went to the petting zoo & fed the goats. She was brave and kept wanting to feed just the baby goats. Those goats know what's happening when you walk up -- they follow you around and clamor for the food! Then we stopped for a popsicle (after washing the goat slobber off our hands). As we were leaving we heard a loud sound & headed to see what it was & we found a monkey putting on quite a show! Madeleine just laughed at him swinging and making all kinds of loud noises! Then, we noticed the koi fish pond and that you could feed the fish. Madeleine would feed them one little drop of food at a time & they would literally jump out of the water & on top of each other to get to the food. It would splash her and she loved it! We had a great time and it was so good, I think, for her to have some time alone with us. And we enjoyed being able to focus all of our attention on her.

Madeleine and Tasha -- she goes everywhere with us now!

Also, this weekend Harrison has really started to move again! He's pushing his walker everywhere. He's been cruising on the furniture, but not walking with his push toy. I'm going to try and post some video of him walking. (try not to notice my annoying voice & Madeleine picking her nose in the first video!)

Pumpkin Patch

This morning we took the kids to the new Pumpkin Patch here in town. It was a blast! Madeleine had such a fun time and it was an absolutely gorgeous morning. They had lots of stuff to do: a corn maze, a mini haybale maze for kids, some animals to feed, tractor/hay rides, and lots of places for photo ops! Madeleine loved just being able to run and jump and yell -- it was so good for her! We had so much fun just watching her!

Here we are walking into Pumpkinville

Madeleine and Daddy by the sunflower. Who's taller? The mini haybale maze

Hayride

Madelene loved the ponies.

I guess Harrison got bored!
Running and jumping.
Picking out a pumpkin.
Harrison's STILL snoozing.
At the end, we went and bought our big pumpkin for carving, along with about a half dozen little one (as many as Madeleine could carry). All in all a fun day.

Emery Kate has Arrived!

Today was such a wonderful day! Emery Kate Wilson was born around 11 am this morning and is absolutely perfect! Now we're Uncle Matt and Aunt Rachel -- fun! We were able to spend a good part of the day with her mommy and daddy and even got to hold her! She's such a sweet baby and so tiny. Her mommy and daddy are so proud and they're going to make such wonderful parents. Emery is already blessed because of them!

Madeleine is sooooo excited! When we left to go home tonight, she told me that she wanted Emery to go with us! So cute. She's also saying that Emery and Harrison are going to be best friends. :) It's going to be such fun to be an auntie!

Proud mama

Aunt Rachel & Emery
Madeleine and Pops looking through the nursery window at Emery

Uncle Matt and Emery

And, of course, I couldn't post without some pictures of my babies! This morning Madeleine started yelling "mommy, mommy, come take my picture" from the living room. This is what I found (yes, that's all the clean, folded clothes on top of her).
Harrison's found Madeleine's kitchen & know how to turn the nobs to make sounds! Isn't he smart!