Pumpkin Carving Showdown

Jon and I decided to carve our pumpkins last night. We built a fire, put on some tunes, and let the slashing begin.

Of course, the mood was pretty intense and competitive, but I am pretty sure I came out the winner...I 'll let you be the judge :)

My pumpkin (after Jon tried to stab it...yikes!) I went for the more traditional scary jack o'lantern face.
Jon's pumpkin. I am not exactly sure what he was going for.
Side by side comparison...
and all lit up!
(using those little battery powered fake tea light candles...those things are so cool!)

I mean, I may be biased, but I like mine much better ;) Jon says he should get points for degree of difficulty...hmmm not so sure about that.

Jon DOES get extra points for toasting the pumpkin seeds, which were delish. He seasoned half sweet and half of them salty.

After all was said and done, I felt kind of bad that we didn't let C join in all the fun! I think she'll enjoy it more next year, anyway...right?

***Keep scrolling down for THREE more new posts!***

Halloween Picture Party!

Caroline and I hosted a Halloween play date on Monday, and it was so much fun!

Our friends got dressed up and came over to play. And our photographer friend, Carly, was here to do mini photo sessions of all the kiddos in their costumes. It was HILARIOUS to see everyone dressed up! The weather did not cooperate, so we couldn't do the pics out in the yard as we had previously planned. But, the back up option of the front porch seemed to work out just fine.

We had yummy snacks...

I made these pumpkin spice muffins, that were actually really good! And EASY (which is why I made them of course ;)) A box of spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin. That's it. Just beat the dry mix and the pumpkin together, then bake them for 15-20 min. No egg, no oil, nothing. See? I told you it was easy...believe me, if I can do it ANYONE can!!!


This was the big debut of Caroline's Halloween Costume...Surprisingly, she seemed to love it! She actually wore the hood for quite a while.
Quack!
a view of the tail...
About to enjoy her snack...
I didn't get pics of many of our friends, but we did manage to catch Connor, the pirate...Arrrrrgh!
Just a few more pics of my little duckling...

Thanks to everyone for coming, and of course, thanks to Carly for being awesome as always! I'll share the photos Carly took as soon as I get them :)

***Keep scrolling down, for TWO more new posts!***

Homecoming

Mimi and Papa Al came to visit this weekend, so that Jon and I could fly solo to Baylor Homecoming...such a treat :)

Jon has organized a big tailgate this year. He has been at every home game, and it has been a lot of fun!
The girls enjoying the tailgating festivities...
Paige, Kristin, Ginny (with Mattie), Halston

It was so much fun catching up with old friends and actually getting to watch the game. Although, the Bears looked terrible, I do love watching football :)

While we were reminiscing about our college years, Caroline was having all kids of fun!

Mimi brought her a special new toy to further her obsession with all things DOG!
She pulls it behind her everywhere she goes. It pants, barks, and whimpers every time she stops...So yes, it is an really annoying toy...gee thanks, Mimi! Luckily, it has an "off" switch ;)

She loves to hold it and hug it, and even pretended to take a nap with her new puppy.

She went to the park, which is one of her favorite things to do!
Papa helped her slide sooooo fast!


She ate lunch at McDonald's, then took a trip to HEB. She played in the pumpkins...
And Mimi bought her some little pumpkins to play with at home!
She loves to have them near her at all times....along with her purse.

and to top it all off she got a pumpkin balloon!!! What fun!
After such a busy day, she was finally ready for some cuddle time with her Mimi!

Of course the best part was being the center of attention all weekend ;)
Thanks, Mimi and Papa Al for spoiling me all weekend long!!!!!!!!!

(Caroline busted her lip last week, as you can see in all the pics. I have lost count of how many busted lips we have had!?!?! I guess she is just a rough and tumble kinda girl :))

***Keep scrolling down for another new post!***

14 Months and 12 weeks

Today marks Caroline turning 14 months, and it also marks me being 12 weeks along in this pregnancy.

Caroline is as fun a busy as ever! She loves to be outside so we try to go out as much as possible. Her new favorite words are "ball" and "go"

Playing with her basketball at the park.

Taking a snack break. She would prefer to carry one of these snack cups with her at all times. Even if it's empty, she just like having it around.
Seriously! This ball chasing is hard work!!!

We spotted a butterfly, but scared it away by shouting..."Go, Go, Go!"
It feels good to be past the 12 week mark of pregnancy, too! Although, I have heard conflicting reports about when the 1st trimester really ends (12, 13, or 14 weeks?), 12 weeks still feels like a milestone.
I had a check up last week and all was well with our little bean. The heart rate was in the 170's (fast!), and everything is moving right along.
To date, I have thrown up one time. I am pretty sure it was just an isolated incident, because I haven't really felt sick since. THANK GOODNESS!
This was one of my HUGE concerns about being pregnant again...How was I going to handle morning sickness while chasing a toddler?!?!? What an answered prayer indeed!!!!
Oh, and we scheduled our 20 week ultrasound! We'll find out if we are having a boy or a girl on....

Wednesday, December 23rd!!!!!!

What a wonderful Christmas gift...I can't wait :)

Pumpkin Patch!

Saturday Morning, we took Caroline to a pumpkin patch. This place was great! There were tons of activities and fun things to see and do.

First, we got a wagon. Thank goodness C was there to help Daddy push!
Don't worry guys, I got this.


This is fun!
Next, we wandered around a maze in the corn field. Daddy used his height to our advantage ;)
I know my Daddy will get us out of here!
Then, it was the hayride!



Yea for hay rides! More hay ride, please?


Posing by the pumpkin truck we just fell off of...Ha ha ha.

In the back of the truck with all the pumpkins.
Checking out the tractor driving by. Not quite sure what to think of it :)
Exploring all the different pumpkins...They had every shape, size, and color!


I found a keeper, Mommy!


Yup, we got some good ones!
Heading home with our purchases.
It was sooooo much fun. Caroline absolutely loved everything about it! She barked at the goats and meowed at the cat, and wore herself out running around to check out everything. They had scarecrow stuffing, face painting, pumpkin painting, and all kinds of stuff for bigger kids, too. SO we'll definitely be back next year :)

Our little family of pumpkins of the front porch...

Daddy, Mommy, Caroline, and Baby ;)

Baby Libby's Shower

This past weekend, I headed to Waco to help host a shower for Kristin and Baby Libby (due in December). It was awesome to have time with just the girls!
We had a great time and Libby got some of the CUTEST stuff! Girls are just so much fun!

Mommy-to-be, Kristin, with the hostesses

Baby pics of Kristin and Jared on the sign in table. We had the guests sign a copy of "Goodnight Moon" and write messages to Libby on the pages.

Ginny's mom made the banner...so cute! Libby is named after both of her grandmothers...Elizabeth (Beth) is Jared's mom, and Camille is Kristin's mom...They'll call her Libby for short!

The Baylor girls...

Cami, Halston, Brooke, Kristin, Paige, Ginny

Now I just can't wait for sweet Libby to arrive :)

While I was away, playing with my friends, Caroline was home playing with Daddy all weekend. I have no pictures from any of their activities, but I have been assured that they had a TON of fun ;)

13 months

I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep going with monthly updates once Caroline turned 1, but there are just so many things I want to remember about this age! So here we go...again :)

Caroline turned 13 months (a week ago), and she is busier than ever!

She runs everywhere, climbs on things, crawls under things, and is just plain ACTIVE.

Under the picnic table at the park. She also loves to get under her picnic table at home.
Going up the slide...a favorite activity. WAY more fun than going down.

She still "jibber jabbers" all the time, non stop, really. Her new favorite words are "down" and "more". "Down" means pretty much everything...down, up, or just anything she wants. She says "more" for anything food related. If she is playing and decides she wants a snack, she comes over and says "more" (while signing 'more'...although he sign for 'more' is basically a clap ;)). It's fun to see her initiating. I feel like she is really starting to put it all together! This whole communicating with words thing actually works!

She is still a Daddy's girl, but her affection for Daddy has officially been trumped by her obsession with Luci. Jon and Luci were gone on a hunting trip all weekend, and Caroline really missed her little buddy, Luci! She kept searching for her all over the house. Funny how she woofs, pants, says "dog", "doggy", and "Luci"....but still doesn't say Mommy...SIGH.

Don't let her shirt fool you...Here she is panting at Luci.
(while sporting her new big girl Nikes)

Caroline is quite independent these days. She prefers to eat things that she can hold and take bites of. String cheese, apple slices, etc. She doesn't like it when I tear her food up into small pieces any more. And feeding her with a spoon? Forget about it. For the past couple of months, I could still feed her with a spoon as long as she had her own spoon to hold at the same time. Now, she must do it all by herself. She is actually getting pretty good at it, but it's hard for me because it's MESSY :)

Arms folded, telling us like it is.


She is really into books. She has loved books for a while. Carrying them around, looking at them briefly, but more recently she really enjoys being read to. I mean REALLY enjoys! It's so fun for me, because she is actually still and cuddly...even if just for a moment.


A couple of weeks ago, we were at dinner with friends. The kids were all running around and playing outside, and Caroline was right in the middle of it all. She was running along and a whole entourage of older kids were following right behind her (some friends of ours, others just random kids). The dad of one of the random kids stopped Jon, and said, "You know, I think your daughter has some real leadership potential." Ha!

**keep scrolling down for an update on our other baby ;)**