Leaves!

The leaves have finally fallen in out yard!  This is my favorite time of year and I love having our front yard covered in leaves.  I know most people rake and bag them up or blow them away but I just love having them stay.  (haha!  rhyme!)  Anyway, here are just a few pictures of a fun afternoon in the leaves.  Above and below are my forced attempts at a sibling picture.

Caroline was so happy to be out toddling around and be part of the fun.  Our yard is not totally flat and there are small step up here and there and I was impressed at how well she maneuvered everything.  And even when she did stumble and fall, she never complained, probably for fear I would take her back inside.  :)

Here is Bailey and his big pile.  He preferred to 'make a home' and sit in it...

...while Ainsley wanted to make 'the biggest pile ever' and jump in it over and over.  In the background of the second picture you can see poor Caroline getting upset because Ainsley yelled when she jumped in her pile and scared her.

Just a baby and some leaves...

  

Bailey working hard to make another pile...

  

Ainsley... always asking me to take a picture while she poses.

I love these three little people so much and cherish these simple afternoons with them.

Caroline 11 months

The biggest change in Caroline this month is that about half way through, she started walking!  It was really kind of funny how it happened. I have known this whole month that she was capable because she would take a few steps here and there without realizing it. But then one day it all just clicked and she went directly to taking 10-20 steps at a time!  On Halloween we got the first movie of her walking. She is so proud of herself and she hasn't sat down since. She walks non-stop and has gotten really fast. I love seeing her toddle around but it still surprises me how quickly she progressed.  Ainsley and Bailey both started walking a little younger than Caroline but I remember it being a more gradual progression for both of them, ie. they would take one step and then two or three at a time for several days, and then five and so on.  I remember it taking a few weeks as they transitioned from a few steps to actually walking.  Caroline, on the other hand, went from taking a few steps to toddling across the room in just a few days!!  And she has easily learned how to make transitions like squatting down to pick up toys and standing back up without falling down.  I remember this taking longer for the older two to grasp too.  She is just our quick little gal trying to keep up with the big kids, I guess.  Now that she can walk, she spends most of her day just toddling around the house exploring... usually with something small and random in her hands, always leading with her belly, and making sweet little baby noises and giggles.

Another "point of interest" this month has been Caroline's teeth.  Her poor teeth have erupted in such a random order, beginning with her two bottom teeth, then her two outer top teeth so that she looked like a little vampire.  Then this month, her front tooth on the right side was about to pop through and then she fell face first on one of her toys cutting her upper gum.  It was horrible.  She cried and bleed and her poor gum was purple and swollen for several days.  Her gum also sliced open to expose that whole tooth.  We took her to the dr and they said to keep an eye on it but that everything was fine.  So this month, although she didn't "grow" one of her front teeth, she certainly "forced" it through.  :( 

Other things to remember about our baby girl at 11 months...

• She has become quite the little pointer and when she isn't walking around on her own, she is adamantly pointing and grunting to where she wants you to take her.  When I get her up from naps, the first thing she does is point to the noise machine so that I will turn it off and then she points to the window so that I will open the blinds and then she usually points to the floor so that I will put her down to play.  Then she always fusses when I take her over to the changing table to change her diaper instead.  Silly girl.  She is so smart though and I love that she knows the routine!
• This girl loves to eat and tends to favor savory foods over sweet.  Avocado is definitely her favorite food and she will spit out whatever she is chewing if I put avocado on her tray.  She also thinks that she needs to eat whatever any of us our eating and at times this has led to some tears when we refuse.

• I'm still her favorite but she is definitely liking George more and giving him more snuggles, which I'm happy to see.
• Adores being outside and now that she is walking she gets to go out more.  Anytime the big kids are outside she stands at the door and watches them.
• Caroline might be my snugglest baby so far.  She is often content to snuggle on my lap while the big kids run around and play.  She still has a timid personality and always wants to be close when new faces are around.  Even though she is walking around, she doesn't have the busyness of a toddler yet and I am so thankful for that!

Halloween

Halloween is such a fun time with these little people.  This year Ainsley was Queen Elsa (along with almost every other little girl on the planet!).  She wore the Elsa dress and tiara she got for her birthday along with a new Elsa wand and necklace.  She was in heaven!  Bailey asked to be man-man (Superman) again this year.  For a while he alternated between wanting to be Spiderman or Superman, so I went ahead and bought him a Spiderman costume.  He tried it on once and declared that he hated it because of the 'muscle pads' it had.  So, he wore the same Superman costume that he wore last year and was so excited about it!  I love boys!

Caroline was my cute little piggy.  The costume was a little big and the hood didn't fit very well so she went without it.  That was fine with me because I thought that she was the cutest in just her pigtails!

And just for fun.... since Ainsley was Queen Elsa but also had a princess Anna dress-up dress that sort of fit Caroline, I ordered an Olaf hat and made the kids pose for a Frozen picture too.  They are pretty stinkin' cute if you ask me!

Halloween fell on a beautiful night this year and so we all enjoyed being outside.  To start off the evening, we went to a block party held by some of our neighbors.  It was fun but the big kids were really anxious to trick-or-treat and Caroline was bored and sleepy, so we didn't stay long.  We went back to the house and left Caroline with a sitter and then George and I drove the big kids over a few blocks to meet up with some of our other neighborhood friends.  Ainsley ran into one of her sweet buddies from school and I took them from house to house gathering goodies.  I was surprised with how many kids she recognized and knew from school and activities and she was in her social element all night and was so happy.  I love Halloween but I'm not comfortable with the kids going off alone yet so I stuck pretty close to Ainsley and her gaggle of girls most of the night, while George did the same with Bailey.  Bailey had fun going up to all the houses and gathering candy but he isn't as outgoing as Ainsley and was not as into it as she was.  He was happier to just be with Daddy out late at night.  And fittingly, when we asked them at the end of the night what their favorite part of Halloween was, Ainsley said seeing her buddy Brynn and Bailey said getting to ride in the car with his head through the sunroof with Daddy!  Perfectly describes their personalities!

Pumpkin Carving

After we gathered pumpkins, the kids were quite excited to carve them this year.  So we did it up right and embraced the mess... with football on in the background of course.

Caroline was cute and felt apart of the action getting to hold this mini pumpkin.  I love how blue, blue her eyes are.

Both Ainsley and Bailey loved getting all the gooey pumpkin guts out of the pumpkins.  We separated the seeds and toasted them in the oven. Then we made pumpkin pie (with a canned pumpkin).  It was really so fun!

I was helping Bailey carve out this pumpkin face and when we were done Ainsley asked George to make the exact same face on her pumpkin.  So we ended up with pumpkin twins.

Here are the kids with their finished products... they were really proud!

Spooky, spooky!

Baby Snuggles

This sweet baby girl loves to snuggle me and I'm so thankful for that.  She will often toddle over to me and bury her head in my neck for some cuddles.  It might be my favorite thing.

But they often don't last long... before I know it, she is on the move again.

Lollipop Dragon & Raising the Flag

At the October Sing Song, Ainsley was recognized for her hard work and got the Lollipop Dragon award for her class.  This is a huge deal in her world and it comes with the special perks of getting to wear a glittery dragon award, standing on stage and being applauded, but most importantly having a lollipop before lunch!  Above she is with her class during the singing part of Sing Song and below she is walking up to the stage to get her art work to show off.

Standing on stage with her work...

Walking back to her seat and waving at Bailey...

Then back at her classroom with her teacher, Ms Sencenbaugh, and her lollipop!

Bailey at Sing Song... this is one of his first performances and as you can tell, he is still a little unsure about it.  I remember the first year of these shows being a little hard on Ainsley too.  It is amazing the changes they make in two years!

Ainsley's turn to raise the flag was a few weeks later.  She was over the moon that she got to raise the flag with her lil buddy Juliana!

This was her third and final time to raise the flag at Casner since next year she will start elementary school.  This has been such a wonderful school for her and our family!  Here she is with the headmaster, Mrs. Dabbs.

Her and Bailey... he is excited for his turn after getting to watch Ainsley the past two years.

Ainsley and Juliana leading the rest of the school out to the flag and then waiting on the stage while all the students file in...

After a few words of introduction, Ainsley got to raise the American flag.

Then they led the school in the pledge of allegiance.

These girls are such cute little buddies...

Bowing her head in final prayer before the start of the day.  I love this girl.