Pumpkin Patch and Pumpkinville

We have been trying to take advantage of all the Fall things this season. One afternoon we took the ferry over to College Run Farms with some friends. The kids had fun pulling wagons and running through the corn maze. The main even was the pumpkin ice cream, which I got no pictures of.

We took the ferry back home right at sunset. It was beautiful!

Then we went to Pumpkinville this past week. I got Bonnie's obligatory yearly photo. Apparently Riser is chopped liver because I didn't even think to get his picture here.

They also had a little corn maze this year which was new. You could tell it was their first attempt, but that didn't stop B from loving playing hide and seek in the corn field. 

Wouldn't be Pumpkinville without a hayride!

We love going to pumpkin patches! But we still buy ours at Walmart. 

Riser is 7 months old

Our sweet guy is 7 months old! At his check up last month he was 15 pounds so we are guessing he is somewhere in the 16 pound range. He still doesn't have any teeth yet, but that hasn't stopped him from taking off in terms of eating. This boy loves to eat anything we offer him. I have to be careful not to give him a bite of something unless I'm prepared to sit down and feed him an entire meal of it (otherwise he turns into a ravenous little monster). I honestly couldn't tell you what his favorite is, he's pretty pleased with most of it at this point.

The major milestone this month is that he is crawling!! He started crawling a little over a week ago, very slow to start. Since then he has picked up major speed and will be clear across a room if you look away for a second. It is once again standard practice to wake up in the morning and lay pillows all across the brick in our family room so he doesn't smash his face on them (something we did for Bonnie for months). It can sit independently but he is still very unstable.

True to his angelic form, Riser kept his sleep regression brief for me. He is back to sleeping through the night from around 6:30 pm to 7:30 am. He typically takes 2 naps a day (shorter one in the morning and one longer one in the afternoon with his sister). He has the deepest belly laugh and absolutely loves personal attention. He is very ticklish and thinks it's hilarious when something moves close to his face, away, and back again (i.e. me pushing Bonnie on a swing while he is in the carrier, or me coming in for a kiss over and over again). 

Sophie the kitten

One day while we were on a golf cart ride we heard a kitten meowing in the woods just outside our neighborhood (sounding clearly distressed). Eric pulled over, walked to the tree line, reached in and pulled out the tiniest little kitten. We stayed for a while looking everywhere for a mama kitty or any other siblings nearby and found nothing. We weren't entirely sure what to do so we brought the kitten home.

We took some pictures of her and posted on our neighborhood Facebook page to see if anyone was missing a kitten. We thought briefly about keeping her but realized quickly it was a commitment we were not ready to make with two little ones at home and (at the time) still getting little sleep. Thankfully we had a couple people reach out on Facebook saying they would be happy to take the kitten in. 

We enjoyed a little time with her before Eric took her to her new home. As you can imagine, Bonnie was over the moon to hold an actual real live kitten. 

We told her to "say cheese!" and she immediately grabbed kitty's face, pointed it at the camera and said so sweetly "Say cheese kitty!"

As excited as she was, she also handled the hand off surprisingly well. The new owners have named her Sophie and have since sent pictures. She is very happy in her new home.

September extras

September was a busy month for us! We had various visits from family and friends, Eric's 40th birthday, and the start-up of all our regularly scheduled Fall activities. 

We had a small group cook out to close out Summer and kick off our new season.

We have enjoyed the Farmers' market, Bonnie especially enjoys the live music.

I believe I took this one day to remember this stage of carseats filling my backseat. 

Benny took Bonnie on a daddy-daughter date.

I'm loving everything about this stage. I know I've said it before, but I just feel in this phase of life I've felt more in my element than I ever have. I'm sure it has everything to do with having the perfect baby and a toddler who is so sweet but also is becoming hilariously more silly by the day. It is wonderful. 

And they have the best daddy!

Bonnie continues to be my hiking buddy, seeing how many different types of animals she can find along our walks.

She has really been getting into her big wheel.

And has been thriving with all her 'classes' starting back up. It has been a much easier transition this Fall than it was last year.

Benny loves the blackstone (which means less cooking for me!).

I'm still wearing this little guy as much as I can.

Lots of morning snuggles.

Both the kids fell asleep on us on this particular golf cart ride.

Riser got to meet our friends' baby who was born 6 days after him. 

I get to wake up to this face every morning.

Riser has been loving exploring new foods.

Bonnie has been playing with her baby doll a lot more often. She even finally named her - Lily. 

Thriving.

Dad and Racheal came down for a visit.

It was a wonderful month and we are loving getting to open our windows to let that fresh Fall air in.