Avery decided this weekend that walking is much more exciting than the crawl. Presley is doing well, she just hasn't come to the same realization yet!

Happy Autumn!

A work(s) in progress

Unlike anything else so far, the walking progress is pretty much the same for both of them. It's going to be fun to see who conquers this stage first!

We started this year's Halloween festivities about 2 weeks before the actual holiday when Caleb's Superman costume arrived in the mail. There were many moments of the flying superhero beforehand!

Along with Superman, we also got to show off two adorable puppies...

These are Caleb's favorite

neighborhood friends...

This is Avery's famous pose...

The examination and taste testing of the goods...(I have vivid memories of dumping my candy out and looking at it!) Caleb willingly shared 5 pieces with both mom and dad. I'm sure next year, it will only be one each!

We went from this

to these,















in a year...AMAZING!
















"Want to taste mine?"

They loved their first chocolate experience!

Happy Birthday to my two favorite girls in the world!

My girls

Avery..

gives perfect "closed-mouth" kisses when she's in the mood

loves to point at the pictures in books, after she's unloaded the whole bookshelf on the floor

drinks her bottles in record time

utilized a unique rendition of crawling to get places quickly (her right leg is extended to the side and she uses her foot instead of her knee, it's kind of hard to explain)

says "uh-oh" every time she or someone else drops something

pushes cars on the floor while making a "vrrrroooom" sound effect

always has her hair in her face, unless mom has succeeded in putting a clip or rubber band in, which isn't very often

would crawl around all day on the pavement in the cul-de-sac (ouch!) if I'd let her

needs more sleep than her sister

understands and usually obeys when I say "sit on your bottom" (in the bathtub)

throws her bink back in her crib when she wakes up


Presley...

always has a bruise somewhere on her forehead (she doesn't understand "sit on your bottom" yet)

gives sweet, open-mouth kisses like Caleb used to do

loves to take her time drinking her bottle

shakes her head back and forth and smiles when I tell her "no"

is an early riser, takes forever to fall asleep for her naps, and is always the second one to bed at night

enjoys cuddling, especially before I put her in her crib

crawls well, but is pretty slow and methodical (her dad thinks she resembles a robot)

almost has both her two front teeth

is a daddy's girl

has begun to follow her sister as she walks around furniture

They both...

love to dance to the sound of just about anything

adore their big brother

have begun to play together and entertain each other, giggle together and kiss each other

let me know when they've had enough of each other and want mom to come rescue them

aren't content to just sit in the jogger stroller anymore, and if I give them a toy to hold it better be the same toy for each of them or a battle for the best toy will begin

understand the words "be soft" (something I have to remind them when they start tackling one another)

know and can point to where mom's or Caleb's eyes are

terrorize Jack

can scream in a very high-pitched tone, especially during mealtimes

are going to be ONE year old in a week!

My 3 1/2 year old

For the last two weeks, Caleb's been going to preschool and oh, how I wish I could be a fly on the wall during those three hours. He gets in the car after his day, smiles and tells me it was "good" and then no matter how many questions I ask on the way home, he doesn't have much more to say...until he decides he's ready. Brushing teeth before bed the other night he told me they say "different prayers" at school, "A B C prayers". On another random occasion he said, "Mom, Joshua was wearing a Handy Manny shirt at school!" Or, "Mom, I did my first painting at school today." If he's in the right mood, I can usually get a few more tidbits of information out of him like how he used purple, not yellow paint. One time it was "Mom, did you tell Mrs. Dunston AND Mrs. Johnson that I could go to the bathroom by myself?" He hadn't said his teacher's names until then, and it caught me off guard!
It makes me so happy that he is having a new experience with different people that he is beginning to trust. My heart overflows with emotion when he kisses me goodbye and jumps out of the car, holding on to his teacher's hand and not even looking back. I am proud of the 3 1/2 year old he's become and yet, wow, is he already old enough to be walking away from me like that? We saw one of his teachers in the hardware store and he was a little shy as she talked to us, but I could also tell he was so pleased that we saw HIS teacher. My Caleb is growing up so fast!

It was Caleb's request last spring that we grow a watermelon plant along with our tomato plants. The plant ended up taking over our small garden area, but produced only one good sized melon. It was pretty sweet, very juice and extremely fun to watch him eat what we grew!