Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we had all four kids and decided to take a trip to a pumpkin patch.  And when I say "we decided" I really mean that I did.  I'm 99% sure that I was the only one excited about going.  But I'd seen lots of pictures posted by friends of their trips there and it really looked like something Katie Wynn would enjoy.  I made the whole family go, though, because - like every other mom on Facebook - I wanted to take fall family pictures in the pumpkins.  (Spoiler alert: that didn't really happen.)  Besides, what else were we going to do on a Saturday morning?

This was one of those rare occasions when it would've been nice to own a minivan since all six of us doing fit in either of our cars.  The boys climbed into Matt's car and I took the girls and we followed each other on the 50 minute trip to Cedar Hill Farm.

The trip seemed to go on forever but we eventually pulled up the farm and I immediately realized that I'd totally underestimated this place.  I thought it'd be a big yard of pumpkins and we'd be in and out in thirty minutes.  Oh no, it's so much more than that.  We weaved our way through the farmland parking lot, following the attendants' directions and as we did, I watched family after family climb out of their cars and unload their strollers.  That's when it hit me....

Stroller.  Oh crap.  I didn't pack our stroller!  

I kid you not, I looked down at the scarf I was wearing and debated whether it'd be sturdy enough or not to hold Thomas like in a sling.  Anna said her backpack was in the back of Matt's car and putting him in it started sounding like a really good idea.  

As we parked, Matt and I discussed options - carry him in his carseat which would make him much heavier but at least we could sit him down, or take him out of the carseat and just carry him but he'd always have to be in someone's arms.  We chose option number one - leave him in the carseat.

We lugged him up the mile-long walk to pay admission and, after getting our receipt, we heard the sweetest voice ask us the best question ever.  "Would y'all like a wagon to pull him in?"

Heck yeah we would!!

The wagon totally saved the day.  It would've been miserable having to carry him around but the wagon was big enough for him, the diaper bag, and Katie Wynn when she wanted to ride.  Plus, there were lots of dusty and muddy spots that we weren't having to push our own stroller through.  Poor planning for the win!

The first thing we laid eyes on when we walked in was this enormous set of pipe slides.  How cool are they?!  After Katie Wynn's first time down with her Dad, she wanted to do it again and again and again!

There were also some tire swings that everyone took a ride on.  

Wyatt was the only one that gave the zipline a try.  

I never passed my camera off to someone to take a group picture of us, so our family pumpkin patch picture turned into one of Matt and the kids on the tower of hay.  

While the big kids stood in line for Italian ice, Katie Wynn found a pile of rocks to play in.  

This is how it goes these days when trying to get a picture with both kids.  It's just not happening.

All four kids stood against the giant ruler so we could get their heights.  Hopefully we'll be able to go back next year for comparison photos.  

The next area we visited was the petting zoo.  It started with a chicken show and then Katie Wynn was a little overwhelmed by all the animals.  

She spotted the pigs and said "oink, oink!"

She loved watching the animals eat the feed we bought, but was too scared to feed it to them herself.  My hands were pretty gross by the time we were through!

We spotted a couple thieves!

We walked up right as a pig race was about to begin so we lined the fence so we could watch.  We got to see three races and the white pigs that we were rooting on won once!

Probably the biggest downer of the day was our lunch.  It tasted fine, but it took over an hour for us to get it!  Next time we will definitely bring a cooler of our own and have a picnic.  

After lunch we were all pretty tired but I said we couldn't leave without at least seeing the pumpkin patch.  I mean, that's why we came, right?!  We turned in our wagon and hopped on the hay ride to go out to see the pumpkins.

We had no intentions of actually buying a pumpkin since we really didn't have any extra arms to carry it, so we didn't go very deep into the patch.  Most of the pumpkins were really big and made nice seats for a certain little girl!

Thomas was unimpressed.  Pumpkin shmumpkin.  

Our last stop of the day was at the corn maze.  

Matt and the big kids went in alone and raced to see how fast they could do it.  

They made it out in one minute, 58 seconds and rumor has it there was some shoving by a certain 40-year-old so he could cross the finish line first...

Katie bug played on a fence while they were in the corn (and Thomas slept).  

My "thirty-minute trip to the pumpkin patch" had already turned into a 3 hour adventure and we hadn't even done everything!  We missed out on the train ride and paintball shooting and corn guns and who knows what else.  

This little girl was bummed out when I told her it was time to go home.  

But - lucky for her - I spotted this lot of Christmas trees on our way out so we may be returning to the farm in the near future for another visit!  Next time, we'll be much more prepared.  :)

International Baby Shower

My friend Catherine is from here in the U.S.  Her husband, Roberto, is from Belgium.  They met in France.  Together, they have been to who knows how many different countries and speak 4 (5? 6?) different languages.  So, when it came time to throw a party for the little boy they're expecting next month, it made sense to go with an international theme!

Now, if you're like me and not very well-traveled, an international theme means...globes.  And maps.  And that's about it.  But I can totally work with that.  

I hosted the shower with my friends Sarah and Dana.  I wish I'd thought to take a picture of the invitation that Sarah did because it was the cutest little travel invite ever.  One side of it said "The world awaits you Baby V..." and so I thought it would be good to tie that in at the party.  I had a pack of map scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby and I used the 4x6 pieces to make bunting flags that I glued letters to.  I used jute twine to string them together and attached the banner to the mantel.

Here's a closer up image of the map paper.  It was really cute!

As soon as we decided to go with this theme, I hit up Matt's parents for some paper maps.  They always use maps when they travel so I had a feeling they had a stash of them at home.  Patricia was kind enough to bring me a whole stack of them when they visited last month!  I used them to wrap up books (cookbooks to be exact...) to use on the tables.  You can see a couple of them here on the coffee table.

We thought these wafer cookies looked European-ish.  Catherine is probably shaking her head no as she reads this but at least she didn't laugh in our faces.  

On the opposite wall from the mantel is our tv armoir...and that's about it.  I really need to move this giant blank wall higher up on my to-do list.  It's so sad and empty.  But at least I decorated the entertainment center, right?

Here's a close-up of the onesie that was hanging on it.  I didn't think to make this until the night before the shower and I'm so glad I got it done because it turned out so cute!  Catherine and Roberto haven't decided on a name yet (the downside to speaking multiple languages is trying to find a name that's pronounced the same in all of them!) so I couldn't have fun with monograms or names on tiny clothes, but this allowed me to at least make them something! 

Then, the morning of the shower I had another idea to make a onesie to hang on the door that said "hello" in both English and Flemish.  I could've just texted Catherine to ask her how to say hello in Flemish, but I wanted it to be a surprise so I turned to my buddy Google.  And that's when I found out that a Flemish "hello" is just "hallo."  Not much variation there...

So I switched to "hi" for the English part and I think it still worked.  Part of me wanted to add a post-it note that pointed to the "hallo" and said, "This is Flemish.  It's not misspelled."  

There was a brief moment in our early party planning when we thought about making international foods.  Or at least Belgian foods.  I'm glad we came to our senses and stuck to what we know because Belgian cooks we are not.  That might've been a recipe for disaster.  

The party was from 12:00 - 2:00 so we were able to serve lunch-ish foods.  We made mini ham and cheese sandwiches (to die for!), spinach pinwheels, apples and caramel dip, snap pea salad (so light and fresh!), spinach dip, and the yummiest ooey gooey chocolate chip brownie bars ever.  

My friend Emily worked her baking magic again and whipped out these globe cookies.  Aren't the perfect?!  Don't look too closely at those continents.  ;)

In the kitchen, we served a delicious blue punch - aka "Ocean Water."  I'm kicking myself because I totally forgot to make a cute little label for the dispenser.  The punch was a concoction of lemonade, sprite, and blue raspberry juice and tasted so good!  We served it in mason jars that were topped with maps and festive straws.  I did freeze blueberries into ice cubes to add to the drinks, so maybe that makes up for my lack of signage?!

Dana and Emily both brought globes that we were able to use as decor.  How cute is this one on top of a pile of maps?

On the kitchen table, we set up an activity for our party guests.  We provided newborn diapers and sharpies so they could write funny or encouraging notes for Catherine to read during those late night diaper changes.  

I provided a few examples to get the ball rolling.  :)

By the end of the party, the diapers were filled up with messages!  We told Catherine she had to wait for the baby to arrive before she could read them.

We bought inflatable globes to use as party favors (most of the guests have kids of their own that would probably enjoy playing with them). Dana had the cutest little vintage suitcase that we used to display them in.  

I am totally cracking up at this sign because that "Holla!" was totally supposed to be "Hola!"  He he...oopsie.  

As usual, I did a horrible job of remembering to take pictures throughout the party.  I only got a few and most of the ones I did get are blurry.  Grrr.

This was Catherine's first shower and she got lots of great things for Baby V!  I know she has more showers to go but hopefully she's already feeling a little more prepared for his arrival.

The shower ended at 2:00 but the fun didn't stop then!  Some of my college friends stayed the night for our annual get-together.  I loved having our house full of guests for the night and always enjoy getting to see them all and catch up.  We always pick up right where we left off!  Of course I didn't take any pictures so just picture girls in jammies munching on handmade tamales and sitting around discussing everything from snapchat to baby names to the Duggar family.  :)

Can't wait to meet Baby V soon!!

Thomas: 4 Months Old

Remember how I posted about Thomas at 2 months and discussed him being colicky?  Well these days, he's a totally different baby!  At 4 months, we have moved past the colic and instead of getting hours worth of crying, we're getting lots of smiles and giggles and coos.  I like those sounds much better!  

He had his 4 month checkup this week and his second set of shots.  He weighs 15.1 pounds and is as healthy as can be!  He was a total flirt with the doctor and gave her LOTS of grins and laughs.  He was not so fond of the nurse that gave him his shots.  Katie Wynn sympathy cried for him (she didn't get any shots!).  

He is becoming much more alert.  He loves to watch Katie Wynn.  The picture below is of him standing (assisted) by the coffee table while she opened her birthday presents.  

When KW opened her new baby crib, we knew it was only a matter of time before Thomas found himself laying in it.  He barely fit and wasn't very excited to be in it!  

Thomas is the very happiest in the mornings.  He is still sleeping swaddled up in his own room.  He has become quite the little Houdini and can wiggle out of his swaddle.  For the most part, he sleeps all the way through the night (from 7pm to between 5 and 6am).  If we go in his room it is either to give him his paci back or re-swaddle him if he's come loose.  He can roll from his stomach to his back but not the other way.  We are about to switch to a zipadee-zip to see how he does sleeping in it (Katie Wynn slept in one of these from 5 months until about 22 months).  

These pictures were taken the night we were at the ER (read more about that here).  The little yellow hospital gown just about did me in.  I hope he never has to wear a  hospital gown again!

I snapped them post-bottle but pre-catheter so he was in an ok mood.  After the catheter (to get a urine sample), his daddy was able to get him to sleep while I tried not to fall asleep on the hospital bed.  I haven't been out past midnight in who knows how long and this was not really a fun reason to be!

These two pictures were taken the next days as he started feeling better.  The one on the left was taken on Monday morning and you can tell from his eyes that he still doesn't feel great.  By Monday evening (on the right), he was feeling so much better and acting more like himself.

These days Thomas is a huge fan of bath time.  We have stopped doing bath sinks (much earlier than we did with KW) and instead lay him in very shallow water in the tub.  Katie Wynn loves to watch and then she gets in (with more water) (and bubbles) right after him.  He loves to be in the warm water and would be perfectly fine if he could stay and splash in it all day.

I have borrowed a swing from a friend and it's a complete game changer.  It was like love at first swing for Thomas.  I would seriously like to redo my maternity leave now that we have a swing and I could actually put him down somewhere!  

The picture to the right is one of my favorites.  Katie Wynn lined up all of her favorite babies.  I cannot even begin to describe how much of a little mama she is.  She pats on her babies (Thomas included!) and kisses them and puts them down for night-night all day long.  Thomas is the first person she asks about in the mornings and when she gets home ("Where Thomath go?") and she tries so hard to share all of her food and drinks with him.  For diaper changes, she always picks out an Elmo diaper for him because Elmo is her favorite (I have to remember to use the other character diapers when she's not around!).  

We have started feeding him whole food at dinner time.  We first gave him cereal about three weeks ago and he hated it.  I thought it was the cereal so we began mixing in some stage 1 foods to give it some flavor.  So far he's tried sweet potatoes, pears, and carrots.  Aaaaand I don't think it was the cereal he hated.  I think he just hates eating with a spoon in general.  He won't close his mouth around the spoon so we have to scrape it off into his mouth and then stick his bottle in so he'll swallow it.  It's quite the process and he cries all the way through it.  Who could hate eating so much??  I don't know who he gets that from as his daddy and I both love to eat.  Hopefully he starts learning to love the spoon soon!

Lately our bedtime routine has been me getting Thomas lotioned up and dressed after his bath while Matt bathes Katie Wynn and finishes her up.  We usually finish first so Thomas sits in her chair and waits for her to finish her hemming and hawing around so they can have a bedtime story and go night-night.  He loves to sit up and is getting better with his balance by the day.  I think he'll be sitting up on his own very soon.  He also still loves having his hands in his mouth and is in the major drooling stage.  No teeth buds yet but maybe some will sprout soon?

I am trying to do his monthly pictures like I did for Katie Wynn but I am not doing a great job of getting them done right on time or putting much effort into them.  Typical second child problems, huh?  Here are the standard chalkboard sign ones for all four months of his life so far.

The next set I've been trying to do is him with his big sister.  These are such a disaster.  I'm only keeping them for the laughs they'll create when they're big and look back on them.

The third and final set is themed to go with the month, just like I did for Katie Wynn.  These are the ones that make me feel like the biggest failure because I have only halfway tried on them.  Hopefully once he starts sitting up and it gets easier to pose him I'll get motivated to try harder?  

Watermelon = July?  I think Katie Wynn's July picture had a watermelon with this galvanized tin too so I was trying to have it kinda match.  He was so tiny though and couldn't sit up and it was too bright for him to really open his eyes.  Ugh...I did I mention it was like a hundred degrees?  I gave up quickly.

Pumpkin hat = October!

Swimming in August!

Golfing in September.  I know September doesn't really make you think of golf but I just loved the pictures of him in this hat and I actually think his dad was playing golf when we took these, so it counts.  :)

Here's a fun little side-by-side comparison of both Katie Wynn (left) and Thomas (right) in the exact same outfit.  Katie Wynn was 2 months when she wore it and Thomas is 4 months in it.  The pumpkin hat is definitely tighter on his head, and never mind that slight ruffle on bottom of the pants.  :)  I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to attempt to sit 2 babies that can't sit up on their own on a slick bench.  That's why they're blurry...they're falling over and I'm hurrying to snap the picture before the face plant!

Even with all the chaos that comes with having two small kids this close in age, I still wouldn't change any of it for the world!  Who knew Thomas was what we were missing to make our family complete?  And to think I was so scared about Katie Wynn feeling replaced or not liking him.  I think having Thomas is her favorite thing I've ever done for her!  We have loved this little guy from day one, but now we are starting to really like him too!  He brings us so much joy!  :)

Katie Wynn

I've decided to break my next installment of random pictures up into two posts - one all about Katie Wynn and one all about Thomas.  Katie Wynn is my first born, so she gets the first post. 

Like I said in this post, her actual birthday was pretty much just another normal day.  She got to eat cupcakes, but that was about it.  But, her paternal grandparents arrived the next day so we invited my parents over to join us all for birthday cake and presents.  I was hesitant since I knew my parents couldn't come until 8 and I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep her up that late, but I'm so glad we did.  She had the best time opening gifts and blowing out her candles with all of her favorite people! 

When Thomas was born, I let her open every gift that was brought to us for him, so she's gotten really good at opening presents.  Maybe too good...I have to hide gifts from her that are for other people and don't need to be opened!  Below, she is opening a very cool gift.  It's a bracelet sent by Matt's sister, Jill.  The bracelet was given to Jill by her grandmother and since she had boys, she is passing it down to KW.  Isn't that so sweet?  We will have to take very good care of this special piece of jewelry.

Pat made "Matthew's Chocolate Cake" and brought it with her.  She makes this cake every year for Matt's birthday and it is so good.  I tried to make it once and I pretty much failed.  Matt suggested she make it for KW's birthday...probably so he could have an excuse to eat it again!

She sat and stared at the candles while we all sang and waited to blow them out when the song was over.  I was impressed!  Maybe they do this at daycare?  I really don't know; I figured she'd have no clue what to do.  And, as expected, she loved the chocolate cake too!

During the present-opening and cake-eating, Frozen was on the TV.  We tried to pause it to her but she melted down into a puddle on the floor.  So the birthday girl got what she want and we left Frozen on...

Her two big gifts came from each of her grandparents and were a matching stroller and baby crib.  She was incredibly excited to see them!  My mom made bedding for both that matches her room and makes them even cuter.  She spends most of her free time rocking babies to sleep or pushing them around the house.

She also opened the cutest pair of yellow rain boots and a matching yellow raincoat.  To top off the outfit, she also got a cute clear birdcage umbrella!  Admittedly, I was probably way more excited about these gifts than she was, but she was a good sport and tried them on for me.  :)

Matt and I both had to work the next day but Lala and Poppa were brave enough to keep both kids at home by themselves.  Katie Wynn got to pick out her hair bow for Lala and below, you can see what she chose.  Lala is way nicer than I am and humored her by putting a few in! 

I think they got to play babies a lot that day.  Sometimes Katie Wynn was the mama and sometimes she crawled into the stroller so she could be the baby.

They played outside too where Katie Wynn grilled up some food to feed to Thomas.  She helped him eat some corn on the cob and a chicken leg...

...and then he got to wash it down with some good ol' yellow mustard.  Tasty! 

After her birthday party on Friday night, we waited until Saturday morning to open even more presents.  She opened this tiny baby doll that came with its own food and bottles and oh my goodness! that baby gets fed a LOT.

We went to a "Pajamas and Donuts" themed birthday party later that morning.  Katie-bug didn't really know anyone there so she spent the majority of the time clinging to me.  I was able to peel myself out from underneath her at the end of the party when she found this puzzle.  She still hovered against the wall but she worked so hard on putting Logan's letters in the right spots!

She is pretty good and roping her Lala into playing games with her.  :)

Bath time got a lot more colorful with these new foam letters she opened!  They stick to the wall so we've had fun spelling out her name and picking out colors.  (Orange is still the only color she really knows.)

We have acquired a swing for Thomas and when he's not in it, you can bet some of Katie Wynn's dolls are.  The picture on the right shows her love of ranch - just like her mama.  But what these two pictures really show is how long her hair was...

...until we got it chopped off!

I had been wanting to get her hair cut for a while to even things up a bit (it was pretty scraggly on the sides) but put it off so that she could still have pigtails for her birthday party.  Now I kinda wish I'd done it sooner because she is rockin' the cutest little bob I've ever seen!  These were taken right after we left the salon.  She did not do a great job of sitting still for the hair stylist, but she seemed to really like it after we left.

Her new 'do didn't affect her love for wagon rides!

It finally rained about a week later so we got a chance to try out the new rain gear!  I put on my rain boots and rain coat and grabbed my umbrella too, but Katie Wynn wasn't easily convinced.  She did put hers on but I couldn't get her to jump in a puddle for anything!  She thought it was hilarious when I did it though, and I'm sure I looked like a big fool to all our neighbors.

After church on a gorgeous fall day.  "I wunnin'!"

Sometimes I take pictures of her before school and send them to my mom so she can see her in her new clothes.  I loved this outfit!

She has started wanting to sit in the big kid swings but immediately wants out when I push her too high.  And then wants back in.  And then out.  And then in...

On the right, she's having a pretend meal by herself in the dining room that we never eat in.  I love her imagination.  :)

This is the most recent picture I have of her so that officially gets me caught up! I took these this morning before school for two reasons.  First, I wanted to send my mom a picture of her outfit.  My mom has been busy making her ruffle pants for this fall/winter so I wanted to show her they fit ok.  Her t-shirt is size 24 months and I had to roll the sleeves up three times.  I have been buying 2T clothes for fall and they all swallow her!  At yesterday's doctor's appointment, we learned she weighs a whopping 25 pounds.  I know one-year-olds that weigh that much!  Also, she was excited to wear her new "el-fint" shirt with the floppy ears. 

The second reason I was taking pictures was to get a shot of her scratched up nose!  She had a little tumble on our brick stairs the night before and used her nose to break her fall.  It bled a little immediately afterwards and I just knew she was going to have black eyes in the morning.  So far her nose is a little red but no bruising yet.  Fingers crossed it doesn't happen!

Next update is all about my T-man!

Thomas's Baptism

Two days after Katie Wynn's second birthday party, we had Thomas baptized.  I had planned both events for the same weekend since Matt's parents would be in town visiting.  Everything was organized and planned to a T so that the weekend would be smooth sailing.  What I didn't count on was Thomas running a high fever all day on Saturday and us ending the night at the ER.  Sigh...

After hours of a burning hot head, we finally decided to take him to a weekend clinic to see if it could be an ear infection.  The idea of getting a round of antibiotics in him before the baptism seemed like a good idea.  But....we waited too long and pulled up to the clinic at 8:06pm.  The website said it was open until 9:00pm but it actually closed at 8:00pm.  Did I mentioned that we'd driven 45 minutes to get there?  You better believe I heavily knocked on the door, but they wouldn't let us in.

So we went to the ER, still thinking it was a simple ear infection and we just needed to get our hands on a prescription.  But then Thomas got extra fussy and the triage nurse thought he should be totally checked out and....fast forward four hours and we were finally walking out the doors shortly after midnight.  His ears?  Totally fine.  Everything about him was totally fine, except for the fever.  We left with instructions to give him Tylenol and continue to watch him.  Ugh, I could've figured that out on my own.  The fever lasted about 2 and half days and we never really figured out what it was.  Just one of those unexplained things babies get!

Back to the baptism.  It was already planned and in the bulletin, lunch had already been ordered, his gown had been handmade and ironed, and family was in town.  102 fever or not, Thomas was getting baptized!  

Matt's mom, Pat, took pictures of us during the service.  We walked up on stage during the singing of a hymn.  That's always awkward because I don't know if I should sing or not while I'm up there.  If you've ever heard me sing, you know that my voice accidentally being picked up on a microphone could be tragic.  

My mom plays the piano during our church services but walked out from her normal spot to sit in the front pew and watch.  Katie Wynn spotted her immediately and squirmed out of my arms so she could go sit with her.  Do you see that look on my face?  That's a look that says, "Please don't fall down those stairs and make me run and trip over there in my heels to pick you up.  Don't you even think about getting hurt and crying.  I already have one sick baby, I don't have time for that."

Thankfully she made it down the steps just fine and we were able to move on with the baptism.

Didn't my husband do an excellent job of holding Thomas and his draping gown?  I was the one looking awkward since my assigned child ran down the steps.  Note to self: stand with legs together and don't twist your arms up like that.

Pouring the water - nice action shot, Pat!

And a prayer for sweet Thomas.

I don't have good pictures of the actual baptism because Brother Tom turned his back and was blocking the view.  His head was so hot, though, that the water sizzled when it was poured over him.  I'm kidding.  But it was really hot.  So hot that the picture below is of Brother Tom telling the congregation that he was not going to bring him around and introduce him to them because he was sick.  We appreciated that.  Why do preachers always wad up the gown?

We had a catered lunch at our house for all of our family.  Since everyone was present and in nice clothes, we took family pictures again.  Here's our whole crew.  I've just resigned to the fact that we're gonna have bad family pictures for a few years until the little kids know how to look at the camera and smile.

This is my oldest brother Nick and his family.  They are the most photogenic family in the world and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit jealous.  

My other brother, Ben, and his family.  I should've arranged them a little bit better, but Ben's leg was broken so he couldn't move much.  At least I took the crutches out from under his arms!

Everyone in this picture is shooting little death rays out of their eyes at me.  They are so mad that I'm making them take pictures again.  Well, everyone except for my mom maybe.  Don't they all just look like a happy bunch??

The last pictures we took were of Matt's parents with our kids.  Aren't our little ones the most precious things you've ever seen? 

I honestly have no idea what people mean when they talk about the terrible twos.  My two-year-old is a little angel who would never entertain the thought of not sitting pretty and smiling for a picture for her mama.  Meltdown she does not.  

And Thomas?  He's screaming his head off because he still has a 102 fever.  This was the best we could get before I told them they could go inside and eat (or, in Thomas's case, chug some Tylenol).  

It was an exhausting day but we are so glad to have had it done.  As parents, we know this is the best gift we could ever give Thomas and we hope that we will raise him to love Christ and live according to his examples!