Wild Weekend

Josh got tickets to the Titans game through work, so my entire family came for a visit this weekend. There were three kiddos age 4 and under and 8 adults. It was loud and crowded but tons of fun! I hope we can do it again sometime soon!

A full house

These two precious cousins played together so well!

Piper is wearing the Halloween dress that Nana made for her.

Matching cousins

We spent Saturday night at Gouls at Grassmere, a Halloween event held at the Nashville zoo. Most of the animals were in bed for the night, but we saw a cool show with some animals and their handlers and got to see some flamingos up close and personal. Then we trick-or-treated for about an hour. We didn't realize that the kids were supposed to wear their Halloween costumes, but we had fun anyway!

Once we had to put Piper's sweater on, she looked like a ghost.

Getting ready to watch the animal show

Both girls stayed out way past their bedtimes but were good sports the whole time we were at the zoo. They went to bed very dirty from playing outside most of the day.

Reading a story together on Sunday morning

While the boys were at the game on Sunday afternoon, the girls and Ian went to a fabulous playground in Brentwood. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera, but I doubt I would have snapped any good pictures because all our kids were all over the place!

After going to bed dirty Saturday night and spending the day at the playground on Sunday, these two little girls desperately needed a bath. Ian helped keep them entertained while Nana scrubbed two days worth of dust and dirt off of them.

Both girls missed their afternoon naps, so they both had meltdowns in the early evening. Lyndie's happened to occur in the bath. Poor baby!

Click here to see a video of the girls playing together. Lyndie is learning to share, but she wasn't feeling particularly generous this time :-).

Two sweet cousins playing together

Little Pumpkins

Yesterday we began a new family tradition with Piper: Halloween pumpkin carving! As you can see from the pictures, she was part of the whole process. Can you tell who her pumpkin looks like?

What's in here?

Yuck!

Let me help you, Daddy.

Hmmmmmmm...this is interesting stuff.

Let me get a better look at it.

Ready to carve!

Dinner and a show!

All done! Let's check it out!

I think I can climb on this.

All mine!

Look a likes!

Doggies

Piper loves her pups, and they are starting to like her a little more, too. Watch these videos and see for yourself!

1st Video

2nd Video

Eight

What an amazing month this has been! This month Piper cut teeth and became mobile. Her world is filled with new possibilities!

• Piper's crawl is FAST. She can also hop furniture legs, toys, or anything else that might be in her way.
• She's always finding new things to pull up on: Ally, a step stool, her toy box, the refrigerator, the baby gate, etc. Sometimes she tries to stand up while not pulled up on anything, so she looks like she's doing pushups.
• We broke down and put a baby gate up at the top of the stairs. The dogs aren't too fond of it, but it serves its purpose well.
• Shortly after cutting her second tooth, Piper bit me twice. That was definitely not fun and resulted in shedding tears and blood, but it hasn't happened in several weeks (knock on wood!). We brush those two little teeth twice a day. She loves it and helps by turning the water in the sink on and off.
• She sits in the tub like a big girl--no more baby tub! She likes having the freedom of the bigger space and has to have lots of floating toys to play with.
• New foods this month: chicken, turkey, blueberries, kiwi, and puffs. She's also being fed chunkier foods to prepare her for table food one of these days. She eats chunks of kiwi, bananas, and avocado. She hasn't quite figured out how to feed herself, which is ok with me.
• She makes noise ALL the time. It's mostly oooohs, ahs, ughs, and ohs, but occasionally a consonant slips in there. I swear I heard her say mama yesterday. It might have been wishful thinking.
• I actually got to sit through church today without being called out for an inconsolable baby. We're making progress!
• I've complained about how cuddly Piper isn't, so I must mention that she has given me probably twenty kisses over the past two days. She is so sweet!
• She is the proud owner of two new pairs of shoes. These were so hard to find because her foot is still so small. Most of the shoes made in her size (1.5--tiny!) are crib shoes, meaning they don't have any grip for babies learning to walk. Walking shoes don't start until size three, but I was lucky to find a couple pairs at Stride Rite that seem to be made smaller than their actual size. Piper LOVES her new black patent leather shoes.

Dinner out

After our trip to the pumpkin patch, the three of us went out to eat at McDougal's, one of the best chicken places in Nashville. This may seem insignificant to most, but this was the FIRST time the three of us have been out to eat in SIX months. We stopped going out to eat when Piper's allergies surfaced and when we started making almost all of our meals at home. I'm still nursing her and she still has the same allergies, but we're learning to manage a little better. It helps that Piper's able to sit and entertain herself now, too.

Little Pumpkin

Today we took a family trip to Gentry's Farm, a farm and pumpkin patch just outside of Franklin. We were too late to get into the patch, but we got to pick out a couple pumpkins for ourselves from those they had outside the entrance to all the fun stuff. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Apparently, the rest of Middle Tennessee thought so, too; the place was packed! Piper was enthralled at all the kids running around and screaming.

Best seat in the house

To say Piper loves her little pumpkin is an understatement. She squeals over it!

Then she eats it.

Posing with Daddy

Piper loves the Halloween dress her Nana made for her!

Josh thought he was taking a picture, but the camera was set for video. Here you can see how much Piper enjoys her pumpkin.

Zoo

Piper and I joined Ashley, Meg, and Mary Clark for a trip to the zoo today. It was a beautiful day for her first trip! I'm not sure how much Piper actually took in, but it was fun nonetheless. The Nashville zoo is only about 15 minutes from our house, so I foresee many more trips in our future!

Three sweet girls! (Mary Clark is in the back of the double stroller, sleeping away)

Piper was not quite sure about petting the goats. Meg wasn't a bit afraid.

Ashley and Meg counting goats

Videos

I thought that some videos would be appropriate since our little monkey never stays still. Her favorite pasttime is sitll pulling up on anything (and anyone) she's near.

Click here to watch Piper bang and clang!

This video is dark, but I think it captures her perfectly!

Watch her try a cracker for the first time.

Mommy is funny!

Mommy's day out

For two weeks now, I have been subbing at my old school. It's the perfect setup: I can work as much or as little as I want, and Piper can attend the on-site daycare so I can see her several times throughout the day. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an adjustment for Piper, but that's one of the reasons I'm doing this. She has had such a difficult time realizing that other people love her besides her mommy and daddy. She barely makes it through an hour of church on Sunday (and sometimes doesn't even make it that long). Today was our sixth day at work, and Piper had her best day yet. She still doesn't sleep very well there, but at least she didn't scream the whole day.

The picture above is of Piper and two of the other babies in her "class". The redheaded girl is five days older than Piper, and the boy is Piper's friend Baker. They have really started to interact with each other in the last week!

Bath time!

Mommy's birthday

Piper and I spent a beautiful day at home for my birthday. She even let me sleep in until 7! We played outside, shopped a little, and I pretended to be a jungle gym. Click for a cute video!