Texas State Fair

We decided to keep up our (now) annual tradition of heading to the State Fair for the third straight year.  We had picked a date way in advance of our trip to College Station, but we went ahead and forged on with our plans- just altered slightly.  We decided to ride the DART (public transportation) this year, that drops you off right in front of the State Fair.  Emma was beside herself that she was going to get to ride the "choo choo" train to the fair.

After all the waiting, I think the excitement turned into a little bit of nervous anticipation.

All the girls- ready to go!!

When we got there, we checked out big Tex to see if the lighting would be ok for our annual picture; we ultimately decided that the sun was a little too bright and we would try later on in the afternoon.

The first thing that we did (after checking out big Tex) was head to the Pavilion to get our root beer floats (or just vanilla ice cream if you are the girls!). It was a hit all the way around :).

I could sense that Emma was getting pretty tired and was probably in desperate need of a nap if she was going to enjoy the day at the fair.  So into the baby carrier she went and we were off for a long walk to get reacquainted with the fair grounds.  Along the way, we found some ridiculously cute doggie hats and sunglasses to put on Ev's.

In the meantime, this girl slept for about 45 minutes :) so sweet and peaceful :).  There is nothing I love more than baby-wearing a sleeping babe. 

While she slept, we made our way over to the international car show- to get a picture of me with my future/dream car, the Prius.  Sweet bedhead woke up during this :).

After the car show, we made our way to the Dr. Pepper stage to check out my favorite live band- the Kildares.  I look forward to seeing them every year, but especially this year since they did not have a fall show at the Levitt Pavilion.

This girl was all smiles after her nap and discovering that we had picked up a doggie hat for her too!

These two were being ridiculously cute during the show- laughing, dancing and tickling each other :).

When the show finished up, we headed to the barnyard, bought some feed and had a ridiculously good time feeding all of the animals.  Emma was double fisting her feed for awhile.

A little unsure of the giant moo-cow :).

Ev's got in on the action from her time in the baby carrier.

Emma had enough slober on her hands, so she started to feed the animals using the shovels :).

She was all smiles :).

Getting in on the horn action as well.  I really hope these girls never stop loving animals.

Then, we stopped and got our only fried treat of the day- my favorite, the fried grilled cheese with tomato soup (and a hot dog for Emma- not pictured!).

After our bellies were full and our thirsts quenched (we seriously had the most delicious sweet tea ever!), we had someone take our annual state fair picture.  I would say it turned out about as good as expected (considering we were looking into full sun).

Then, we walked down the midway and Emma and I rode the flying elephants :).

We finished out our day at the state fair watching the Kildares one last time and then seeing about half of the Ostrich races :).

This picture sums up life with two girls- pure joy combined with intense chaos :).

We dragged our tired selves back to the "choo choo" train and took the DART back to our car and then finally made it home.  It was a long, fun-filled two days of family fun that I would not trade for the world :).

College Station!

We had the opportunity to take the girls to visit Texas A&M two times during October.  I had a few recruiting type work trips that would only put me unavailable for 2 - 3 hours at a time so we were able to soak up some time in College Station and show the girls around campus.  Here is a look at our first trip!  We stopped for a french fry and chicken nugget break on the way down ;).

When we arrived we stopped in at my favorite place to eat lunch/dinner in College Station- Blue Baker.  I still love going to this place as much as I did in college, but the prices sure have gone up!

Ev's was a little skeptical of this whole travel for three hours in a car to get a slice of pizza thing :).

While Emma was content to chase the birdies- she kept telling the birdie: "come to me, come to mama birdie.".  This girl and her personality- I just love it so much!

The first thing they wanted to do when we got to the hotel was jump on the bed- we obliged :).  This was Emma's first time to realize what a hotel was.  During our second trip, the whole way there she said "I want to sleep in hotel".

I got ready and then Wes and the girls dropped me off at my event.  2 hours later, I was over the moon to see these sweet girls and walk them around campus :). We got in our car briefly and realized how much TRAFFIC College Station has- so we turned around, parked and walked from west campus to main campus.  They helped the cause by being extra sweet once we arrived at the MSC fountain. 

We walked through the Memorial Student Center; grabbed some Starbucks and goldfish and set off on our walk around main campus.

We checked out the new face of Kyle Field- it was beautiful! Can't wait until we get to take the girls to their first Aggie football game!

The sweetest girl stopped by and took a few family shots :).  She couldn't have been nicer. I miss all the extra nice people that College Station has.

This girly actually 'wanted' me to take her picture :).  Could we have the same enthusiasm around picture day, Emma?

Can you find Emma? She was literally obsessed with these statues- I don't think she has seen anything quite like this before!

There were two more spots that I wanted to take the girls; one of those being the Century Tree.

There are some long-standing traditions around the Century Tree; but, in a nutshell you are not supposed to walk under the Century Tree until you are engaged and then you can only walk under the tree with the person you are marrying or your family (ok, I just made up that family part- but I think it's ok ;)).  This sweet tree is where Wes proposed to me many many years back and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Then, we wrapped up walk taking the girls by my old dorm room where I lived for two years.

The weather was great, the company was even better and I was just so so elated all day to show the girls where I went to school. I hope we have many more opportunities to take them down there and you know, eventually convince them that's where they want to go to college ;).

Our Halloween (According to my iPhone)

It has been interesting- two of my least favorite holidays pre-kids (4th of July and Halloween) have become two of my very favorite holidays after having kids.  As far as Halloween is considered, I am not into the guts, gore or fright at all- but, sweet little kids dressed up as farm animals or family themed costumes- I am all over that :). I had to work on Halloween, but Wes sent me this sweet picture of the pumpkin that him and Emma carved- he said she drew the face (with some 'help')!

As soon as I got home for work, we rushed out for dinner- our place of choice, CiCi's.  In retrospect, I am not sure why we made this decision (maybe, it was the cinnamon rolls that coerced us?), but needless to say, this was the only real drag of the night. They were not ready for the crowd, the girls Emma was antsy to get a lot of candy, nobody sat still and it took FOREVER to get any (mediocre) pizza!  Next year, we will definitely be ordering pizza to our home (it is all about refining tradition, right?!?!). No one wanted to smile for the family selfie- this should have been an indicator as to how our experience was going to go.

Me and my mini eating my favorite treat- the aforementioned cinnamon rolls :).

After dinner, we got the girls all dressed up and made it to our Church five minutes or so before it opened for the night.  I just love the way Everly is looking at Emma!

First things first, we picked up our Halloween balloon.

And for the first time, little miss Ev's, insisted on having her own. After Wes finished tying the balloon to her costume, you should have seen her face- so.stinking.excited.  You would have thought she won the lottery :).

After we had an epic meltdown about wearing our shoes on the bounce house, we were off to do all of the toddler activities.  We golfed for a bit (Everly became unhealthily obsessed with the golf balls, not even a "ba-be" would distract her)

We threw some balls at the target :).

We did the cookie monster bean bag toss :).

We bowled :).

We did the cookie walk (I was surprised at how into this Emma was!).

We got our picture made at the photo-booth and colored pumpkins :).

We go-fished :). This was by far Emma's favorite activity (and the only activity she asked to do twice).  She was cracking everyone up, because she really thought she was fishing and kept referring to her clothespin as a worm.  When she got her "fish" she kept stroking it and saying it was a "really nice fish".  I really love the enthusiasm for life she has at this age.

We finished with the ring toss. I really have to applaud our Church's fall festival- it had so many fun activities for our little moo-cow!

Then, we wrapped up Halloween in the  most perfect way possible: trick-or-treating at my parent's house and enjoying their outdoor fire while "helping" to pass out candy.  As soon as we arrived, Emma ran up to my mom saying "trick or treat Nonni" which was just adorable and so sweet.

Love everything about this picture :).

Even though it's a little dark- this might be one of my favorite pictures; Emma checking out her loot while my mom and dad are talking to their sweet little elephant :).

We really did have the very best Halloween- I hope you did too :).

Emma's Second Year Preschool Pictures

Emma's second year of preschool pictures are in the books- sweetest little cheese face and all. 

I cropped it so that you could see her sweet little cheese-ball face in all her glory!

She has grown so much since last year!

I always go for the candid class picture rather than the one where they put all of their head shots together because I like to see their personalities shine.  Shine, they sure did.  These pictures crack me up!

And last year's class picture.  We just miss her two teachers from last year so much, but are so happy her two little best friends are still in the same class :). 

When I get a chance, I will start documenting all of her sweet artwork she has done this year :).  The stack keeps growing every Tuesday and Thursday :).

Everly at 15 Months

… is obsessed with baby dolls.  Every time she goes to a new place, she scoops up the first baby doll or stuffed animal that she can find and hangs onto it tightly.  This sometimes causes a problem since the baby doll is not technically hers ;).

… loves being touched; if she grows up and her number one love language is not touch, I will be shocked.  This has led to horrendous sleep. Horrendous. I really thought sleep was supposed to take a turn for the better after age 1, but Ev’s sleep has just gotten worse. My mantra has always been ‘this is just a phase, this is just a phase’; but, really, can this phase please just end already?

… mimics everything although hand gestures are her favorite especially holding her finger up to her mouth and saying shhhhhhh; there is something just hilarious about seeing your baby toddling around saying shhhhh

… tells me bye bye in the morning when I leave for work (most other times she won’t let me out of her sight without a lot of tears, but for some reason she is definitely content with telling me bye bye each morning)

… crinkles her nose when she smiles her biggest, two teethiest smile

… has mastered several new words throughout the month (ice, tank you, high five, up, baby, peek a boo, uh oh, shoes, cheese, eye); tank you is my favorite.  When you hand her something she will say ‘tank you’ most times and I nearly pass out from all the cuteness

… likes to read books sitting in your lap; will also ready by herself to herself- Emma never did this so I am loving every minute of the solo playing

… is still breastfeeding like crazy.  She will take only about four ounces of milk from Wes during the day.  She is still so attached and her favorite time to nurse is at night.  I feel like I need to wean her to solve her sleeping problems and have a new resolve to do this every morning.  Then, at night, I just nurse her. And nurse her and nurse her and nurse her.  I just can’t quite her quite yet.   

… knows when we say ‘Everly it is time to go bye bye’ it means we are going somewhere and she will scurry over to the door; this girl loves to go bye bye

… likes to ride on our toy cars; I always thought I would not own these big, bulky, pink plastic things- but really, they are one of the most used gifts we have ever received.  She also likes to be pushed on the toy cars, even Emma (as the pusher) will do ;)

… likes to play peek a boo: she will cover her eyes and say boo! in the sweetest voice you have ever heard

… stayed in a hotel room twice this month- both times in College Station; celebrated Ally's birthday, participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer's, went to the state fair, boo at the zoo, and trick or treat at Weston Gardens for the second straight year

… knows how to point to her belly, nose and eyes; definitely not as interested as Emma in doing these tricks skills on demand

… found an old digital camera the other day; leaned over to pick it up, held it up to her face and said ‘cheese’.  Wes and I nearly died laughing- think she gets her picture taken often?

… obsessed with eating crushed ice.  As soon as she sees me or Wes make a move toward the fridge/freezer- she is there stomping her foot and saying a very demanding “ice!”.  I really thought this was unique to Emma, so I am finding it hilarious that both of my babes have been obsessed with crushed ice

… is still rocking the two teeth look; I have really grown to love the fact that she only has two teeth and am truly enjoying all of the two teeth smiles (rather than impatiently waiting for more teeth to arrive!)

… still takes her naps on me. I have to say this is the part of sleep that I love. Love love love naps with my baby girl and cherish each of them

… had her first tantrum this month.  In true, laid back Everly style- she laid on the floor with her plate of eggs and didn’t make a peep.  It was like she didn’t quite know how to throw a tantrum yet.  Throughout the month she figured it out J.  If she is upset, there is definitely some back-arching and screeching involved.

… has the dreamiest milk breath.  I love leaning in for big, wet, sloppy kisses and getting a healthy dose of her milky breath greeting me (almost as good as new baby smell!)
... is 30 1/4 inches tall and weighs 22 pounds, 14 ounces - our squish baby is slightly less squishier :(

... is growing up way too fast! Slow down sweet baby, don't you know you are our baby!

So Much to Say: Volume 10 (Halloween Edition)

Conversation Number One

Emma: “Mommy I want lots of candy when I trick-or-treat!”

Me: “Oh really, how many is a lot of candy?”

Emma: “FIVE!”

Me: “That is a lot of candy, Emma.”

Emma: “I love candies!”

Conversation Number Two (in reference to Everly’s Halloween costume)

Emma: “You have a nice trunk Eberleah”.

Conversation Number Three

Emma to Everly: “Welcome to my farm, elephant. I am a farmer.”

Conversation Number Four (conversation in reference to mean-looking blow up cat)
Emma: "Do you see that cat?"
Me: "Yes"
Emma: "He looks MAD"
Me: "Oh, really?"
Emma: "Yes, he wants to eat all my candies"

Conversation Number Five (after practicing saying "boo" at least 103 times)
Emma: "Mommy, mommy! Me and Eberleah want to be baby ghosts."
Me: "What do ghosts say?"
Emma: "Nothing."