Pumpkin Carving

I love fall. The cooler weather, football Sundays, snuggling by the fireplace, and most of all the traditions that come with all the holidays. A tradition Justin and I have have always done is carve pumpkins. We switched it up a little this year and let Sienna paint her and Kensi's pumpkins. She was thrilled!

I let Kensi help for about 1 paint stroke. She watched from her chair for the rest. 

Last year Sienna wanted nothing to do with touching the pumpkin guts. This year she got over it and helped scoop some out...for a few minutes in between painting.

Justin and I did the actual carving. I did a zombie flower and he did a face with Sienna's traced hands. With the craziness of Halloween night I forget to get a picture of them lite!

Sienna & Kensi's pumpkins.

9 Months

9 months going on 14...It's been another monumental month. Every since you hit 7 months you have been going, going, going and not looking back. This month you are pulling yourself up on everything. At Bita's you love to walk behind the push car. At home you are up on all furniture and toys. You especially love to stand next to Sienna's chair at the dinner table and watch her eat.

Showing off your one handed squats

Everyone thinks you will be walking before you hit 10. You've taken a few tumbles but nothing more than a head bump. You aren't phased by much and usually just keep going. I am predicting you will be my first child taken to the ER. The only part of the house you stay away from is the stairs. I am hoping that lasts cause we still don't have to gate anything yet! (keyword is yet)

You got one more tooth this month on the bottom. A few more appear to be on their way soon. Teething bothers you a lot. Not so much with fevers but you get a little runny nose, clingy to Mommy, and have trouble sleeping. No fun for anyone. When you aren't teething you are still such a happy kid. You already play pretty well on your own too, in small spurts. You are most happy when someone will sit close to you while you alternate between paying with toys and climbing all over that person.

You weren't really having pictures this time. Who can blame you when there are fun door stops in the room?

I figured our scale was a little high last month. We got the official Drs measurements for this one:
Weight: 20 lbs 3 oz - 74%
Height: 30 inches - 99%
Head: 18.5 inches - 98%

They said you are the average size of a 14 month old. Just to compare Sienna was about 18 months when she was 30 inches. Crazy! I can't wait to see when you 2 are the same size.

Apples and Pumpkins

Fall has been flying by. Rick came up for a quick weekend visit. Lucky for him we got one of the only nice, non-rainy weekends so we headed to Emma Krumbees Apple Orchard and Scarecrow Fest. Sienna had a great time riding the train, finding her way through the rope maze, peddling the tractor trikes through the track, and of course picking out some apples and treats from the store. Kensi tagged along in her stroller but didn't participate in any of the activities. 

We still needed to get our pumpkins. Another weekend, between the rain storms, we hightailed it out to a pumpkin patch. It did start to lightly rain on the way there but not enough to keep us from our task. Sienna and Justin braved the rain and picked out everyone's pumpkins. Kensi stayed in the van while I made faces at her. 

And just because she's cute and didn't get much photo time here's my baby. She's getting so big and pulling herself up on everything. 

8 Months

Kensi,
You amaze me. Less than a week after you turned 7 months you decided to hit every milestone I could think of in one day. You got on all 4's and figured out how to crawl (very slowly but you could get where you wanted to). Then you rolled all the way back to where you started. You ended up on your stomach and pushed yourself back up into a sitting position. If that wasn't enough you did it all while saying "Mama, Mama." It was quite the afternoon. Every day you get faster and faster. I was hoping the wood floors would keep you in the family room but a week later you conquered those too and crawled to me while I was in the kitchen. I could sit and watch you crawl and climb all day. I can see you learning and processing with every movement you make. It's fascinating. This also means you are starting to be trouble. Shoes, cords, curtains, Conner's food/water and toys not meant for babies are no longer safe. You are also starting to pull yourself up. You can easily get to your knees, and a few times you've gotten all the way up. You are going to be walking before I can even blink! Slow down kid!

Sienna loves to get in on the monthly photos.

Pictures were hard this month because keeping you in one place is pretty much impossible (as are diaper changes)

You got your first 2 teeth and I think a couple more are on the way. You are now wearing 12 month clothes pretty exclusively. I weighted you on our scale and it said you are 21 lbs! I know you sure feel heavier in my arms. We'll get some official measurements at the Dr next month.

Love you sweet girl!

Cooking Club XVI

It was Justin's and my turn to host. The theme this time was small bites. It came from these super cute dishes I got as a gift and really wanted to use. We tried to make an easier menu because Cari was bringing Baby Christopher and Jenny has been put on limited movement.

Sleeping Baby - We made sure he wouldn't fall off.

Appetizer

Crab Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers served with Avocado Salsa Sauce

These were awesome (and used my new dishes). Justin and I actually stuffed the peppers ahead of time to let them get really chilled before frying. I think that helped them stay together.

Spicy Chicken Bundles

Great lettuce wraps with just a touch of spice. We served them with a soy sauce based dipping sauce. I got this recipe out of one of my cookbooks. There was pretty easy to make and I will definitely be making them again. 

Soup

Banana Bisque with Cinnamon Croutons

This soup got mixed reviews. I thought the flavor was fine but wasn't a huge fan of the texture. It was too runny. I felt like I should be drinking it with a straw. Others really liked it and some not so much.

Entrée

Fat Doug Slider Burger

OMG. Fat Doug knows what he's doing. Soooo good. The tangy mustard coleslaw on top was my favorite part. 

Kale Chips with Lemon Mayonnaise

These also got mixed reviews. I was not a fan at all. I think my quote was they taste like garbage. I really wanted to like them because kale is such a great super food but my taste buds weren't having it. I did like the texture though. Light and airy. Again some others liked them and gobbled them up. 

Dessert

Butterscotch Fondue with Popcorn

Chocolate Fondue

Fondue - need I say more? The butterscotch was a little runny but still tasty. And you can't go wrong with chocolate. Great way to end the night. 

First Day of Pre-School

Sienna,
We have been waiting for this day to come for a long time. When you started potty training, your motivating factor was you could go to school once complete. We also promised once you turned 3, you would start school. The day you turned 3, you were sure to hold us to our word. More than anything you wanted to ride the big yellow bus. Lucky for us you still wanted to go even after learning the bus had to wait a few more years.

After looking into many different school options, we finally settled on school full day, 5 days a week. Even though you were very excited, I was nervous. Very nervous. I was afraid you wouldn't want us to leave, you'd miss Bita and friends, you wouldn't make new friends, etc. All those silly Mom worries. We talked a lot about school before your first day. You got to visit it once and buy a new backpack. We had promised both Mom & Dad would drop you off the first day and we'd all pick you up to go out for dinner after to celebrate. There was a lot of anticipation. I knew you were excited, but also a little scared. The day before your first day you were acting very strangely. At first we thought it was nerves, but it turns out you were sick - with tonsillitis! As I learned early on in this whole parenting thing, plans never go the way you expect them too. You had to miss your first 2 days of school and your Dad had to go out of town and miss your first day.

The morning of your first day, you woke up and cried that you didn't want to go to school. As you woke up more you decided you were ready and very excited. We Skyped with Daddy while you ate breakfast and he pumped you up. We dropped Kensi off first and you ran around Bita's house telling (maybe yelling) everyone that you were going to school. When we got there, you marched right in like you owned the place. You put everything in your cubby and ran into your class room. You hardly even looked up to wave goodbye to me.

You are so proud every day to show us your worksheets from class and want to hang them all on the fridge. Your teacher told us that you are very outgoing and a sweet kid. You are already becoming a leader in the classroom. We are both so proud of you for taking another step in the big girl world!

20 Questions

I came up with a list of 20 questions to ask the kids every year on their birthdays. I tried to do this last year with Sienna but there's a reason why they say to start it at 3 and not 2. (It was a big fail) This year, I was very impressed she focused so long and answered all my questions. I'm sure if I asked her them again today most of the answer would be different but still fun!