The Last Blooms of the Year

My mother-in-law Kathy, planted these beautiful hibiscus plants in my garden in the spring and they have given us beautiful flowers all summer. It is starting to get cooler at night, so I won't be seeing these for a while. I bought a special plant tarp so hopefully they will survive the winter and we can see them again in the spring.

 The color in the leaves have really peaked here and they are so vibrant.
While Brooklyn was napping, Laneah and I walked around the house and picked up the leaves that we liked and then taped them to the door for decoration.

Party Time

Yesterday Laneah went to her first Tea Party hosted by her friend Mia. She was very excited to dress up.


 
Ezra, Mia and Laneah
 
The yummy spread.

Then Brooklyn had her first birthday party to attend, her friend Charlotte turned one yesterday. She had fun playing with the other babies there. And Charlotte's mom, Katie had some cute little games for them to play.

The birthday girl

 Katie made this cute pumpkin and little magnetic faces for the babies to make a pumpkin face.

 Brooklyn waving for the camera.

 Brooklyn and Cullen playing with balls.

It was a cute party, thanks Katie and Charlotte for having us come and play.

The Joys of Fall

There is something about Fall that just makes it special. I love the weather, the leaves, the pumpkins, the Fall treats (pumpkin cookies, yum!), and the festivals. All so fun.These are some pictures from our trips to Homestead Gardens and Montpelier Farms. Jason's stepmom, Darlene, took Laneah to Homestead Gardens a couple of weeks ago and we met up with them later in the afternoon. Laneah was exhausted when we got there and Brooklyn was tired too, so we actually didn't stay long, but did a few things. Of course Laneah wanted to ride the pony again. 


Laneah loves throwing hay in the air, she thinks it is so much fun. 
 
We tried to take some pictures, but the girls were tired so they gave limited to no smiles and after several meltdowns (Darlene said Laneah was happy and perfect until we got there, of course!) we gave up and left without any pumpkins.

Laneah has a fake smile that rivals her dads. Brooklyn just looked at me, like I want to go home and go to sleep and what the heck are these things anyway?

This past Saturday we went to Montpelier Farms and the girls were in much better moods until the late afternoon.

Laneah thought that this Tether ball was the coolest thing in the world. She would chase the ball and just crack up.

Brooklyn couldn't get in the hay maze, but she sure wanted to. Here she is trying to step into it.

So cute, I think she looks like a little ballerina in this picture.

Laneah and I rode the "cows" pulled by a tractor.

 Brooklyn had fun with daddy while we were on our ride.
We went to the pumpkin patch section, but neither of the girls wanted to cooperate for pictures again. I just want one, is that too much to ask? Well, these will have to do.

We got a few of them smiling with me, although they aren't looking at the camera, at least I get to see Brooklyn's dimples:)

 Laneah favorite thing was the hay slide. She rode the first time with daddy. I know it isn't a very centered picture because the camera was zoomed, but I love the look of pure joy on Laneah' s face.

After riding with daddy she insisted on riding herself and went about 6 times in a row.
After the hayride, the girls and Jason had enough so we went to Chick Fil-A for dinner and then went home. It was a cute farm, but expensive, we probably won't go there next year.

Laneah at 2 years, 10 months

 Current Favorites:
 Color: Pink
Movie: Beauty and the Beast
T.V. Show: Kai Lan
Song: Farmer in the Dell
Books: Dors's Halloween Adventure; Halloween Jack
Snack: Goldfish; pudding cup


 
Laneahisms:

*She calls paper money "tickets"

*She calls Rice Crispy Treats "Rice Christmas Treats"

*Whenever anyone says me too, she always yells "me three"!

* Such a dramatic child. Liking something isn't enough for this diva, now its "I love it"

*She has learned that when she says it was an accident she doesn't really get in trouble so now any time she does something she isn't supposed to, she says "mommy, its an accident"

*One time this month she was giving me a hard time about brushing her teeth so I told her that if she didn't brush her teeth, she would get cavities and it would hurt. The next day she said "mommy, I no feel good". I asked her where she hurt and she pointed to her mouth and said very seriously "I got cabadees" (cavities). 

*Somehow she switched the words can and don't. So instead of saying I don't like it, she says "I can like it" or "I can do it" in a negative tone. She is really meaning can't, but for some reason says can.

*She is starting to emphasize "my". So now she talks about "my mom, or my dad, or my baby sister" 


* Whenever I tell her that something she wants, like a toy, isn't hers, she says  "I choose it", like that will automatically make it her toy. Brooklyn's toys are 99% Laneah's old toys that she didn't play with anymore but are now the coolest toys on the planet because someone else finds them amusing:)
*She is a stubborn one, we hear this multiple times a day "I do it myself!"

*This is a really fun age for holidays and I am looking forward to the season. She is all about Halloween right now. She wants to wear her costume and Halloween shirt all the time. I bought her a couple of Halloween books and that was money well spent because we read them several times a day. But her new favorite phrase is "it's spooky"! She loves it and wants everything to be spooky.What else cracks me up is that she gets really confused about mummies. There are mummies in both of her Halloween books and she always says "mommy, it's you"! lol

New and Current Things:

*She loves to have "picnics". We spread a blanket on the floor and either eat real food or pretend food.


*Laneah is FINALLY potty trained!!!!! I can't believe it, I am so happy.


*She loved to hide in the "jungle" with daddy. They either hide from pirates or snakes. Usually her stuffed animals are pirates and Brooklyn is the snake because she scoots on her belly and even makes a "sss" sound all the time:)
* I have no idea where she got it from, but she started shortening names. So our cat Monty is now Mont, Mickey Mouse is Mick, etc.


* She thinks it is hilarious to annoy me. She will poke me incessantly, or repeatedly to lick me and cracks up when I tell her to stop.


* She has started making up songs and I love it. It is so cute.

 *This little girl was born to shop. She always wants to go to the mall or Target or even the grocery store.


*She loves to play games, especially when they involve being thrown in the air or something similar.One of her favorites is when Jason has her stand on his hands and she locks her knees and he pushes her up in the air.

*She has started to be really clingy with me again, always wanting me to hold her or sit with her.


*Two words: Temper Tantrums. They are intense.

*She loves to cook, for pretend in her kitchen and for real
*She likes to cover her mouth when she giggles. Cute.

*She is still a totally girly girl. She always wants her nails painted, to be dressed up and to have lots and lots of accessories.
*Laneah has actually become somewhat of a home body. A lot of times when we are getting ready to go she will tell me "no, I stay here". I guess that is good, because winter is fast approaching.

I can't believe she is almost three. She is such a stinker and boy does she know how to push my buttons, but she is mine and I love her fiercely. And isn't she so beautiful?  Oh, and did I mention she was a stinker? :) 

Brooklyn is 9 Months!

 Our little Brooklyn is now 9 months old. 

Stats:

Weight: 16 lbs, 1 oz- 10th percentile

Length: 27 3/4 inches- 60th percentile

She has changed so much this past month and reached a lot of milestones as well.

On 9/23 she learned to clap. She was eating and she was so excited for her food that she started clapping. Here is a short little clip of her showing off her new skill. She also claps with her feet and I have a little clip of that too.
Last month, I posted how she didn't really care for solid food and preferred her bottle. Well, she did a complete 180. Now she only wants solid food and could care less about her bottle. It is a struggle to get her to eat two bottles a day, but she eats about 6 jars of solids a day. She will eat anything but chicken (or anything mixed with chicken) or oatmeal, even if it is mixed with fruit. She wants to hold the spoon and I made the mistake of letting her one time and this is the result. At first she was mad because she wanted the spoon, but then when I gave her the spoon, she was mad because she was hungry and couldn't really feed herself. But I won a few smiles anyway.

Brooklyn got her two bottom teeth this month on 10/3 she got her first tooth and on 10/11 her second tooth broke through.

Toys rule supreme. Who needs mommy and daddy when there are so many toys about? She loves playing, exploring and putting EVERYTHING in her mouth. She gets so mad when we take something away that she can't put in her mouth. 

 She wants on the ground all the time, even if she is hungry. She will play and then scoot over and fuss for a drink from her bottle and then goes right back to her toys.

 Brooklyn can crawl a little. She gets frustrated after about 5-6 crawls and then goes back to her belly scoot because that gets her where she wants to go much faster.

I think this is so funny. Brooklyn pushes up on her toes and hands with her but in the air and just holds the position. She does it all the time, and sometimes she tries to move and it is hilarious. 


On 10/4 she learned to put herself into a sitting position from her belly.

 Brooklyn is showing off her temper now. I am not sure if it is learned, or if it is because she is teething, or the age, but it is fierce. If she doesn't get what she wants as soon as she wants it she cries. She threw her first temper tantrum this month too. She was in my room and was making her way to the bathroom, which I hadn't yet scoped for small items she might choke on so I shut the door so she couldn't get in. She scooted up to the door and when she realized she couldn't get in, she threw her first major tantrum. She started screaming and banging her hands on the door and her feet on the ground. It was pretty funny, but it is usually only cute the first time. She is also now in the phase where she hates being on her back, which makes changing her diaper a nightmare.
She still sleeps well all through the night. She doesn't like to be rocked though, when she is tired she just wants you to lay her in her crib so she can sleep.

Brooklyn is a very good self soother, usually she sucks her thumb or finds something to calm herself. She loves the 'Ocean Wonders Aquarium' in her crib and as soon as we put her in her crib, no matter how tired she is, she will scoot over the the aquarium and turn it on and then listen to it until she falls asleep. It is really cute.
She loves to babble and makes noises and is thrilled when you copy her noise. She has also added Dada to her vocabulary.

She loves being thrown and tossed around. I think she is going to love carnivals and amusement parks as much as Laneah does.


Brooklyn is such a little princess. I am sad that she is growing so fast, but happy that she is healthy and is very much loved.