3rd Annual Pumpkin Patch

A couple weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch! This will be the third year in a row that we've gone; hence the title of this post ; ). And as Ellie gets older, each year she has more fun! This was of course Paige's first time and she had no idea, but it will be fun to see her (hopefully) enjoy it more each year as well. I invited a couple other friends and that made it even better. 

First on the agenda was the BIG slide. You have to climb up a ton of hay bails and the guys helped Ellie up it, while us other girls watched from below. I took a video of Ellie going down it and her laugh that echoes in it is so cute. She loved it. 

Next was the corn box which Ellie had never done before. She went back and fourth between liking it and then not so sure. Our friend Andrew got in it with her and that was funny! However I didn't get a picture of them in it together. 

There were a few different bouncy houses and Ellie enjoyed herself in those. She had never been in one before and I wish I had been able to go in it with her...adults weren't really allowed...

To the side of one there was a decent sized slide and she went down that one a couple times as well.

Last activity before the actual pumpkin patch was this fair type swing ride. Ellie is the one who initiated going on it, which surprised Steven and I. We didn't think she'd want to go on something like that without one of us being able to go with her. However, when it was time to load in the swing, she was still all for it. Then we even went on to say to each other, she'll probably be a little scared when it goes. That girl shocked us and she had a blast. I took a couple pictures and a video. As you can tell by the picture below her face says it all - pure joy! And, if you could hear her laugh - priceless! Ellie even wanted to go on it again.

It was a mid temperature day, but as the evening went on, it got a little chilly and windy. Thanks Amanda for keeping our girl warm! 

The hay ride to the patch...

Our friends, Shaina and Josh and Andrew and Amanda...

Paige had dozed while we were doing the previous activities, but woke when we got on the hay ride...

All the girls (Paige hidden in the ergo)...

We'd say Ellie had a content time looking at the pumpkins and asked if she wanted to pick one. But the couple she pointed out, were yucky ones. And the guy who was explaining the different sections of pumpkins kind of gave us the wrong impression, so we didn't actually get off where the cute little ones were and it was kind of hard for me to pick a nicely shaped orange one. Though, I did end up getting a good white one! Also, a few minutes after we'd started looking at pumpkins, Paige started to get fussy and then she was full on crying. I was keeping us out later than she'd prefer, but I had hoped she'd snooze more in the ergo. But, she wasn't feeling it. By the time we got back on the hay ride to the place you buy and leave, Paige was calmed down thankfully. 

We're really glad Ellie had the most fun and we got to make more memories with our friends. We even had them over for dinner after; soup and sandwiches - Amanda's idea for a nice fall day together! Great way to end the night!

September photo favorites

Our girls are growing and changing so much lately and my heart wants to savor all the moments. 

^ Ellie went back to my closet for a little bit and then she came out rocking these booties!

^ Always making a mess with some chocolate chips with the oatmeal balls I give her 

^ In honor of fall...Pumpkin Spice Latte!

^ So one afternoon I was out later than normal and was pushing Ellie's nap time. 

Well, she was exhausted enough to fall asleep in the car I guess. 

This has literally NEVER happened since she was under age 1.

For some reason I snapped a bunch of pictures of Paige sleeping this past month. Ha. 

But who could really blame me; she's so darn precious!! 

^ We went to the movie 'Leap', because Ellie is all about the dancing! She loved it

Ellie wanted to go down the "slide" (couch cushion on an angle) with Paige (photo above)

and look out the window with her (photo below). 

^ First canoe experience (with our good friend Amanda - and Andrew, not pictured), and as you can tell, Ellie was a little unsure at first. She did have a fun time though!

^ Morning show watching all cuddled under the blanket with daddy 

^ Another sleeping picture...I told ya! 

^ Ellie sometimes likes to come sit right by me while I nurse Paige and Paige easily gets distracted by this. She loves watching and listening to her big sister!

^ Little play date that Steven went on with another guy friend and his daughter!

^ We celebrated Steven's 30th birthday with eating out and a little party with some friends. 

Love this guy so much; there's no doubt about the fact I am glad he was born!

^ Got out fall stuff and 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!' book was one of those things. Ellie was obsessed for the first several days and constantly wanted us to read it to her. 

^ Ellie spotted this princess carriage at Walmart and wanted to "test" it out. 

I couldn't get her to look at the camera because she was so in awe of the inside! 

Thankfully she didn't beg us to get it for her, whew! 

^ It's so very rare getting a snap of this one asleep. 

But she was out when it was time to wake her from nap and I had to sneak a picture. 

Plus, we changed her crib to the toddler bed and I wanted to document that some way.

four months

^ She wasn't totally feeling all the photos!

Size: 14.95 lbs (61%) and 25.2" (75.5%). Wearing size 3 diapers. There are a few 3 month pants that still fit, otherwise she's in 3-6 to some size 9.

Eating: Breastfeeding is still going really well, other than Ellie distracting her sometimes and getting sleepy fast if it's too close to when she should be napping/bedtime. And Steven gave her a bottle a few times this last month and it's still kind of hit and miss for her. She's quite picky about the milk in the bottle, how you hold her, etc. - she doesn't make it easy for Steven.

Sleep: Naps are getting more predictable - yay! She usually wakes between 5 - 7am for a diaper change and feeding, then goes back down 2 more times in crib. Then she's usually ready for a nap, 11:30am/12:30pm. We start her off in crib, but if she wakes during that afternoon nap, we usually end up holding her till she's done sleeping and that's been around 3:30/4. Then, she's ready for her bedtime routine at 6 (or earlier if she woke earlier from her last nap) and goes down between 6:30-7pm. AND she sleeps for an average of 10 hours straight. There are those rare nights though that she wakes at a random early time, due to hitting the crib with her feet and/or dirty diaper. Curious if the typical 4 month sleep regression will hit her much...wish us luck, because we've been getting some good sleep!

Milestones/Accomplishments:
- Rolling from back to tummy!!! She had been trying for less than a week, then all of a sudden one day she did it and kept doing it! Granted, the days following she kind of got less busy with that and just hangs out unless you encourage the rolling with a little nudge ; ) same with rolling from tummy to back
- Laughed a couple times one day, but she stopped doing that
...she seems to like teasing us with these big milestones!
-Showing interest in grabbing toys and kind of does sometimes

Likes:
- Crunching up when you're changing her diaper...which makes it quite difficult for us!
- Watching you eat and drink. She'll stare that utensil and cup down!
- Grabbing hair and she's got a good grip - yikes!
- Watching shows. However, we don't let her watch but for a few seconds.

Dislikes:
- Being put down for a diaper change/on a blanket/floor for a minute if she's really tired. But she can usually be calmed down fast if you talk to her or give her the pacifier or of course pick her back up.
- If she wakes or gets woken up before she's really ready to get up.
There's not much to put in this section. Paige is usually a pretty chill, happy girl if she has a full belly and is well rested!

Additional things I want to remember:
The way she grabs the hair tie I wear around my wrist. The way she stares and stares at Ellie and gets excited/happy when she talks to her. How she moves her whole body when she's happy/smiling.