Time to Get Messy: Pumpkin Carving

We bought a couple of pumpkins today and decided to turn them into jack-o-laterns. Last year, we had pumpkins, but we didn't carve them.  Bailey was so excited to stick her hand in there and get all the seeds out, even though it was messy!  She wanted to make sure to save the pumpkin seeds.  Daddy told her how he saved the seeds, baked them in the oven and then ate them after he carved his pumpkin as a little kid.  Afterwards, we had to go outside on the deck to light them so she could see the pumpkin-turned-jack-o-lantern flicker.  Sydney was long asleep...she'll have to join in next year!

Fall Days

These are a couple of cute pictures from October. We have had an "Indian Summer" with some nice fall days in the 70's, but this week looks like back to the 60's. I have finally made the summer-to-winter switch for both girls' clothes. Sydney probably has 30 pairs of pants! All thanks to Aunt Julie and cousin Mackenzie for passing along the clothes...and Nana, as she probably bought a lot of them too.

Bailey is very excited about the "fall" weather, the leaves turning colors and falling off the trees, and upcoming Halloween. She wants to be a superhero...and a worm. Two costumes in case she pees in one, according to her. Not sure where she got that. She says, "I have a butt crack," when she means she has a wedgie. Lots of "Guess what?" to begin any sentence.

We have started Sydney on rice cereal 2 weeks ago and she attacked it! We have a great video of her first time and Daddy stopping to clean up a spill. Sydney grabbed the spoon and put it directly in her mouth! Very coordinated! This weekend we started Oatmeal which she seems to like as well. Next week we'll start some fruits and vege's! We'll probably try sweet potatoes first--as that was Bailey's first food and she loved it. Sydney is getting closer to sitting up. She'll balance for a few seconds, then begin to topple over before being caught. She is getting stronger each day. And when she is on her belly--and especially reaching for a toy--she can spin 360 degrees! She's getting more mobile each day. I can't believe how fast these 5+ months have gone. She'll be 1-year-old and walking before we know it!

Harrison Classic Oct 2011

Bailey ran the 2011 Harrison Classic today. A one-mile run/walk for kids 13 and under. We were in the last group to go, with the strollers, as Sydney and I ran and walked it with Bailey. Daddy was on-call yesterday and had cases today. We saw Magnus and Scott at the start as well.

It was a beautiful fall afternoon--sunny and in the upper 60's. We started off running but soon switched to walking. We went back and forth the whole mile. I told Bailey it was fine to walk and take a rest--I wanted her to have FUN! She sure did. She got an apple, string cheese, organic baby carrots, and chocolate milk at the end. And, a medal for finishing! On the walk back to the car, she told me she wanted to get some more (race) numbers so she could have five in her room to play with. I think I will start a binder with all her race numbers. It was a great day!

Bailey earns Bowling game!

We started a sticker chart for Bailey for incentives to help around the house and take care of herself. She was so excited and proud of herself when she got a sticker. We told her when she received 50 stickers, we would take her bowling. It only took a little over a week. We had a wonderful time bowling. B bowled 66; Mama knocked down 80, and Daddy had a whopping 154! Four strikes and 3 spares! Bailey and I each had a spare. Bailey tried kicking the ball like a soccer bowl on one turn. By about the 6th frame she got bored and wanted us to play with her hair. She needed a buddy to bowl with! After the bowling, we played some video games and skee-ball and she got a lot of tickets. Instead of turning in the tickets for a prize, she wanted to keep them for herself. We had a great time and Sydney did great too--she slept through the whole thing!

Sydney Rolls Over!

Sydney rolled over today, on 9-10-11. She had been so close this week (yellow shirt). Lying on her back she would swing her hips to the left and start to get her shoulders over, but just couldn't get all the way over...beyond her left shoulder. Saturday she did it! These pictures are immediately following. She looks a little surprised. Her left arm still looks a little stuck under her body. She can really squeak and squawk while she rolls. Great job Syd!

UPDATE 9/17/11: The very next Saturday she rolled from belly to back! Although she doesn't go that way often, she can still do it. She usually gets mad and starts squawking when she is tired of being on her belly.

First Day of Pre-K Blue

Today is the first day of school for Bailey. Three-year-old preschool. Some days she tells me she wants to stay home with me and Sydney. (I can't blame her. I dropped out of 3-year-old preschool because I wanted to stay home with my Mom and little sister!) She is in the Blue room and will be with the same two teachers for the next two years. Miss Whitney and Miss Chinoah will help Bailey and her classmates prepare for Kindergarten. We are looking forward to learning a lot and having a great year!

TJ goes to South Africa

TJ was gone for 9 days on a work trip to South Africa. It was a special course on spatial frames and he got to do a lot of hands on learning. The girls and I had a busy week without him, but we were so glad he returned home safely. And Bailey was so excited because there were presents in the suitcase!

Bailey Quotes

Bailey and Sydney and I went for a walk this morning. Bailey saw a bird in this pine tree. She tried to point it out to me and said, "In that pineapple tree!" I proceeded to take the picture of the tree to put here on the blog...and afterwards, she said, "The tree isn't smiling Mommy!" Oh right. Why would I take a picture of something that isn't smiling? Her comments made me giggle.

Bailey was wanting to play with her DeeDee while I was feeding Sydney a bottle one late morning. She had a corner and wanted me to grab the other corner with my feet and hold on. I did and she would laugh as she pulled and then I would let go. She would say, "No DeeDee for you!" I responded "No soup for you!" -- the famous line from one of the Seinfeld episodes. She ran to the kitchen and returned with a Cars the Movie can of Chicken Noodle Soup and shouted, "Yes! Soup for me!!!" We ended up eating the soup for lunch.

I started to do an Ab routine on an App from my iPhone one day. Bailey asked what I was doing. I commented how I was working on getting rid of my tummy after being pregnant with Sydney. She came over and lifted up my shirt to take a look at my belly. About 5 minutes into the routine, she came over to me and lifted up my shirt again. "Is it all gone Mommy?!" she exclaimed!

On a side note, Bailey has started to call me Mommy instead of Mama. Pretty much around her 3rd birthday. Not sure where she heard that...I kinda liked Mama. But Mommy is good too!

Bailey's 3rd Birthday - Part 1

We had a couple of parties for Bailey's birthday this year. We had a family BBQ at our house on the 7th.

Bailey Swim Lessons

We signed up Bailey for Parent-Child swim lessons through the Boise Parks & Rec for 2 weeks. Four days a week, 30 minute sessions. She had a great time and learned about "ice cream scoops" for learning the crawl, kicking, blowing bubbles and listening to the fishies (putting her ear in the water). We played Ring-Around-The-Rosie, Sharkie-Sharkie, and Motorboat. The water was cold, but it still was a great experience to get her in the water. Aiden and Kenzie had lessons at the same time, so Julie was able to watch Sydney while I was in the pool with Bailey. Thank you to Grandma Kemp for coming and cheering her on and taking pictures!