Matching

I love putting the girls in matching outfits. I can hardly think of anything cuter than the two of them in matching dresses. They don't have a ton of matching things (yet), but I found these dresses and had to have them. Then, of course, we had to do a little photo shoot after they wore them to church a couple weeks ago.

I can't begin to explain how excited I am for the girls to wear their matching Christmas dresses. Oh. My. Goodness. They are adorable. Thanks in advance to my Mom who found the dresses and sent them out for us.

Cox Farms

Cox Farms is a fun pumpkin patch not too far from our house. We took Natalie last year, but it was mostly for me. This year, however, Natalie got into it quite a bit more and had a fun time running around and seeing all the sights. And at the end of it all we got to pick a pumpkin. Definitely a family tradition in the making.

 The family shot

We could hardly pull Natalie away from this tractor. She was in heaven. 

 Cute Isla and the beautiful fall leaves

 Natalie loved the big slide

Natalie picking out her pumpkin

Halloween 2012

We had a great Halloween this year with many opportunities to dress up and celebrate. Our first opportunity was at our church Trunk or Treat. It was Natalie's first time trick-or-treating and she thought it was amazing, no surprise there!

 "Next car. More candy please!"

 my sleeping strawberry

 checking out her loot

Our second Halloween activity was a fun party at our friends, the Hawes', home. Natalie was able to dress up in her second costume, a traditional Peruvian outfit, that my parents sent for her. 

 Most of the cute kiddos at the Hawes' party. Thanks for inviting us to your Haunted House, Ava!

 The girls in their cute pumpkin shirts on Halloween day.

Lastly, of course, was actual Halloween night. I was so glad that the storm had passed and it was nice enough to go out. We only hit a few houses (let's be honest - Natalie didn't need much candy and neither did I), but it was fun to go out and about and try to coax her into saying "trick or treat". Mostly she just said "candy please!" or nothing at all. After initially knocking on each door she almost always tried to open it and walk on in. We had to repeatedly remind her that it isn't a good idea to let yourself in to a stranger's home. Hopefully she catches on to that one eventually. 

All in all we had a really fun Halloween season and I couldn't have asked for a cuter ladybug and strawberry!

5 months

I can't believe my little Tiny is 5 months old! She is growing up right before my eyes. I missed posting about her at 4 months, due to a lovely little kidney stone that I'll mention later, so this will just have to count for both months.
For the sake of the record, at 4 months Isla weighed 16 lbs, 4 oz and was 26 1/2 inches long. At 5 months she weighs 17 lbs even and is still 26 1/2 inches long.

A few more things about Isla at 5 months:
 - Her hair is getting lighter and thicker.
 - She wears size 3 diapers and is in mostly 6-9 month clothes (some 3-6 month and some up to 12 month items).
 - Isla loves playing with her feet, which means I now have two girls who take their socks off everywhere we go.
 - She is so-so on her feelings toward the binky. Sometimes she takes one and sometimes she doesn't care to. She does suck on the first two fingers of both hands.
 - Isla is a babbling a lot now. She is definitely discovering her voice.
 - She is more and more aware of everything going on around her, which significantly impacts nursing and diaper changes. Nursing in particular has become more challenging as after the first few minutes when her initial thirst is satisfied, she wants to look around and see who is in the room and what else is going on.
 - She still goes by "Tiny" and her list of nicknames has grown to include "Isla Bird" and "Cutie Putie" as well. Cutie Putie came about after I called her a cutie patootie one day. Natalie copied me, but it came out cutie putie instead and it stuck.
 - Isla watches every move Natalie makes.
 - Isla is still a total mama's girl. She does ok with Russ and is not so great with everyone else. She can be screaming with someone else and as soon as she is handed back to me she is fine and smiley again. It makes me feel loved and also makes for an often sore and very strong left arm.

I love you my little Isla Bird!

October Round-Up

I can't believe we're now past October. It is one of my favorite months. All the leaves changing, the crisp air and breaking out all the fall recipes. Russ thinks I'm weird for categorizing recipes into ones that can only be made in cool or hot weather, but I think it's totally normal. And even if its not, I'm sticking to it. After all, I like looking forward to making certain soups and pumpkin things and apple crisp. I don't think they would taste as good if I made them year round.
All that said, this October was a little painful. Actually, a lot painful due to one big, annoying kidney stone. Thank goodness for modern medicine, but it still made me sad to miss out on one of my favorite months. I tried to make up for my almost two-week long kidney stone situation by spending every day for the last two weeks outside as much as possible. The girls and I love being outside. A few highlights of our month:

Isla tried oatmeal cereal for the first time. She isn't on any set eating schedule yet, but she seems to like it so far.

Isla tried out the swing for the first time. I didn't really push her, but she enjoyed sitting in it.

Natalie doesn't exactly love having her picture taken, unless of course I'm taking Isla's picture and then she wants to be in on the action.

This girl loves the park!

My little cutie after church

 The picture is not great, but I was proud of these homemade tortillas. They were so delicious, I'm going to have a hard time buying flour tortillas from the store again.

We have been loving the fall leaves around here. Virginia is so beautiful this time of year.