All Dressed up and ready for school!

Emelia LOVES to go to school- the teachers there are AMAZING and they are just on the go all day long! Here she is ready to head out for a hard day's work!

The Halloween that NEVER ended

I am not going to even tell you how many times we celebrated Halloween, but let's just say that Kimberly's costumes got PLENTY of use this year!! I have been putting off doing this post  and you'll see why... there is a LOT to share! Peter was a HAMburargr (as he would say) and everyone LOVED his costume- everywhere we went he was the center of attention.

 The first place we went was SMU for their trick-or-treats in the dorms. The first dorm we went through was Benilde which is the all boys all freshman dorm... they went all out- lights out, scary costumes, lights, and music. Pete wasn't fazed in the least- he went right up to every person and got his treats and said thank you!

 We met up with his buddies while we were there so the three boys got to trick or treat together.

 The next place we went was to the library. They do an arts and crafts project, a story time and then a trip through the haunted bookshelves. The library has a translucent floor that lets some light shine up with the lights above turned off. It was really spooky and fun up there.

 On our way home we stopped at the house on Main St that goes all out! Pete of course liked the train.

 Next, we had a Halloween Party at our house. 

 All of the kids lined up on the couch. There is a witch hiding behind the chicken on the right.

 We carved pumpkins with grandpa and grandma.

 Stuck the kids inside.

 And took a few pictures!

 Then we went trick or treating around our neighborhood! Pete did a great job of ringing doorbells, asking for his treats and telling everyone what he was. We also then went to Oscar's house for their Birthoween (Chris's birthday) party afterwards.

What a FUN week! Hope you also had a spooky week!

Playtime at our House

 Playtime is busier and busier every day at our house. Peter is still spending lots of time with trains, playing in his playhouse and reading books. Emelia is now right in the middle of it all! She loves to play in the playhouse and play peek-a-boo and really loves to wheeliebug around the house. She has learned the small loop and the big loop through the kitchen/dining room. Her other favorite thing is to climb the stairs and this is our go to for the crabby afternoons.

 I also have been trying to get the kids out for a hike before naps at least once  a week before it starts to snow. Emelia has been making it about halfway through before she konks out.

Peter always has more than enough energy to make the distance!

 They also LOVE  bath time alone or together. I usually stick Emi in first and let her play on her own and then Pete jumps in for the last 10 minutes. While I dry her off he gets to play and jump in the tub. He loves telling me that he is a dolphin in the tub. And of course wearing his "ga-goos"

I'm not sure what is going on here... but it looks like Peter is going to bite Emelia's butt!

 We also have gotten into fort building and everyone has lots of fun in the tents that Garrick makes for the kids.

Emelia's First Year

I knew I wanted to do something different for Emi's first year but kept pretty quiet about it since I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish it out. I took her picture almost every day for a year usually at night before bed. I tried to keep it to one picture each time and just took what I got with each shot, it is so fun to watch her little personality develop and to see her grow. "The more I'm me, the more you're you..." sums up how I want to raise my kids- I want to be myself and encourage them to grow and become themselves. Love this sweet girl!

Happy Birthday Ms Emelia!!!

Emelia is 1 year old! She had the week of birthday celebrations going from one weekend all of the way through to the next. We had grandparents visiting, neighbors celebrating, friends over, went to a toy store and we traveled to see the boys in Madison as well since I had  a long weekend!

She is such a sweet, nice baby. That's the best way to describe her. She had gone from not crawling or really moving in the last month to crawling all over our entire house and has her favorite places mapped out. Under the computer desk, the dog's water dish, kitchen cupboards and inside peter's cardboard box playhouse. She got a rocking horse for her birthday from Grandpa Dan and can sit on it, make it rock back and forth and climb off on her own. She loves to push all sorts of toys around and it is obvious that she just can't wait to take off on her own two feet! She also loves to read books and knows how to turn the pages and lift flaps on the pages. You got some baby dolls for your birthday and you give them kisses and snuggle them. You are learning new things every day and when you do you know it! You squeal with delight as if you invented magnetism, gravity or water falling out of the faucet.

Your very favorite thing though is Scout. Or any dog for that matter. You see them and you instantly start to say "da dog dog dog" and reach out to pet it and get mad if we don't bring you close enough. Scout is such a good boy that he just rolls over and lets you crawl all over him.


For your actual birthday we went to Lark Toy's with Julia, Shana and Claire and then to Hy-Vee for lunch and we didn't just celebrate yours- we also celebrated Shana's as well! What a lucky  girl you are to share with our friend!

We love you so much little girl and we can't wait to see what this next year brings our way with you!