Lily's 15 month check-up

Today was Lily's 15 month check-up. She is doing beautifully, we were told! She weighs 23.3lbs (72%) and is 30 1/4 in (30%). Her doctor was very impressed with the amount of words she knows and how she knows and can point to all of her body parts. She had 2 shots, and she stopped crying and was fine as soon as they were over! What a trooper!

Pumpkin Carving

So we finally carved our pumpkin this weekend. Sunday afternoon, after my massage from Aileen (THANKS!) we set up at the picnic table to carve our jack-o-lantern. It was a very warm day, we sat at the table, and then Emmalee started screaming and crying and ran to the house. Steve and I look at each other and yell to her to tell us what is wrong. From inside the door she yells back that she had gotten stung by a yellowjacket and was NOT coming back outside. We're thinking - how on earth did she get stung - there are no bees around here. Just as we are telling her to come back outside, we see a yellowjacket walk across the table. I killed it, and then went to check out her elbow, which indeed had gotten stung! After lots and lots of drama, and putting the boo-boo bunny on her arm, we finally got her back outside, and resumed the pumpkin carving. We chose to just carve our big pumpkin, and to let Emmy and Micah each draw a face on one side of the pumpkin. It came out pretty funny. We all learned that I should not be allowed to carve out the faces - I carved out the mouth Emmalee had made, and forgot to cut around the teeth - instead just carving the entire mouth. Steve salvaged it, but she was a bit disappointed. The picture on the right is Micah's side of the pumpkin - I didn't get a picture of Emmalee's side yet.

Lily the Chatterbox

This may come as a surprise to you all, since my other 2 kids are so quiet and shy and reserved, but Lily is a LOUDMOUTH! Not only is she saying random words here and there, but now she is chattering constantly! She has full-length "conversations" with us, with toys, with pictures. All the time, well, that is, unless we want her to say something to someone. She'll be saying "hi-ya hi-ya blabber blabber blabber hi-ya hi-ya" all the way to church, and then when we bring her to the nursery and we tell her to say "hi" to the worker, she clams up. Oh, and she is very loud too. Probably to make herself heard over the other two.

Latest words include:

"rock rock" - she climbs into a chair (or onto a box or whatever), moves back and forth and "rocks".

"yum" - for when she is eating something she likes

"thank you" - most times, when we hand her something, she thanks us

"yes" - like when I asked her if she was ready for her nap, and she clearly yelled "YES" and crawled to the stairs (Emmalee used to do this too - it's very cute!)

She is a funny, funny girl!

Our Evening Visitor

We had a visitor last night. Around 10pm, Steve and I both went to bed. Suddenly, we saw that the motion light on the garage had turned on. This happens occasionally, we look out, and either see nothing, or a raccoon or opossum. We look out the window and see - a huge black bear walk past my car, straight through the gate (which I apparently left open when I got home last night! oops) and into the yard. It walked directly to the garbage can, effortlessly pulled it over, grabbed a garbage bag, laid down, and began feasting. We watched from our bedroom window for a minute, then came downstairs to get a better look. We turned on the outside light, thinking we might startle it, but no. It just continued eating. I got out the camera and began snapping pictures of it. Unfortunately, the pictures being taken through the door were not coming out, so we opened the door and took pictures through the screen. Wouldn't you know it, those pictures were not coming out either. So, against Steve's wishes I opened the screen door just far enough to stick my hand and the camera out, and took some pictures. The bear, less than 10 feet away from me, completely ignored me. It looked up at me once, then resumed eating. I even stepped completely outside onto the back porch to get a better picture (which was difficult since it was very dark and the bear was very black - it just looks like a big black blob!), and the bear never even looked up. *
Of course, we had no idea how long this bear planned on staying, and all I could think was, "what if the wind blows the gate shut? How will the bear get out?" It looked extremely comfortable, lying on the ground, pawing through our garbage; it could have stayed for hours! We started making noises at it, whisper-yelling (so as not to wake Emmalee) for it to go away. It was not tagged, so I thought maybe we should call the police. As we were deliberating over whether to call and report it or not, the bear got up and walked out of the yard. Steve put on shoes and ran out to shut the gate. It was at that moment that the bear spun around and charged him! Just kidding.
So this morning we couldn't decide whether or not to tell Emmalee about the bear. You see, anytime we are away from home and we come back at night, she reminds us to shut the gate so that bears can't get in. I always say, "Emmalee, no bears are going to come through our gate. And even if there WAS a bear and the gate WAS shut, if it wanted to get in, it would."
Also, EVERY night when she says her bedtime prayers, Emmalee prays "and please don't let me have any bad dreams about bears". So I didn't think we should tell her. But Steve wanted to. And there was garbage all over the yard. So he shows her the garbage and asks her what she thought did that. Immediately, she says "a bear", with a very worried look on her face. Then we showed her the pictures and explained that it was only interested in our garbage, not in us. In the background of the picture, Emmalee notices that the gate is open and turns to me, "And why did you leave the gate open??"
It turns out she was fine with us telling her, and even thought it was really cool that the bear was in the yard. And I think from now on we will keep the garbage bins in the garage. As glad as I am that I finally saw a bear, I don't think I want one in our yard again!

*okay - before you think I'm a complete idiot for going outside - let me rephrase - I stood on the back porch with the screen door open in front of me - I leaned around the door to take the picture, did not shut the door behind me, the door stayed in between me and the bear, who, like I said, was not even remotely interested in me.

I did it!

Update - I made an apple pie this morning. With help from Micah and Lily. Micah rolled the dough, pressed his fingers into the dough, poured the sugar, etc, and taste-tested the apples. Lily just taste-tested the apples and tried to open the oven door (typical Lily).
I have to confess - I'm a little bit white trash this morning. You see, I don't have a rolling pin - although I specifically remember getting both a Tupperware rolling pin and mat from Arlene Bowen at my bridal shower - and I remember letting Emmalee use both for Playdough when we lived in the condo - but alas, I don't have it now. So I'm standing there in the kitchen with a ball of pie crust dough and wondering "how am I going to roll this?" I did it last year, but don't remember what I used then. So I'm looking around the kitchen and in drawers and cupboards, when my eye falls on an empty beer bottle on the counter. Hmmmm, I think, if I peel off the label and wash the bottle real well, that would work. And I did it. I text messaged Steve at the time and asked him if that made me white trash - he messaged back that that DEFINITELY made me WT, for sure. I think we all have a little wt in us...

Fall Festivities!

We have had a busy week! Last Thursday the kids and I went apple picking at Bushy Hill Orchard in Granby with our friends Jenn, Bailey & Jacqueline. We rode a very bumpy tractor/hay ride to the u-pick area and filled our 10-lb bags (and our bellies!) with delicious apples! I have intentions to make a pie, but have not gotten around to that yet. And the way these kids eat apples, I may not get a chance to!
On Monday, we went out to Dad's and went to Buell's Orchard's Open House. The kids had a great time eating popcorn, donuts, drinking cider, and riding the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. We found 6 great pumpkins! One big one, 2 medium sized ones, 2 small ones, and a gourd Emmalee insisted on getting. We will only carve the 3 biggest ones. Steve wanted to carve the Boston "B" on one of them, but the way these games are going, we may want to wait on that!

We came to the realization that Micah is allergic to cats when we were at Dad's. He was lying on the floor playing with Buddy, a big, white, coarse-haired, friendly cat. Soon, Micah began sneezing. In the car on the way to the orchard, he said his eyes were itchy. When we arrived at the orchard, his eyes were puffy, purple, and runny. We had had an incident similar to this when we visited Mom in NC in April - not to this extent, but her cat has different hair than Buddy. We knew he was suffering from some kind of allergy, but thought it was seasonal, not cats! Now we know! Check out the sad looking picture of him!
After the orchard, we visited with Grammy and Grampy for a while. We always enjoy spending time with them!

Kids in the Fall

I'm so glad I didn't have to title this entry as "Falling Kids" - thankfully we have not had any accidents around here lately!
We are just enjoying the season these days - the crisp mornings and warm afternoons - and the cool nights are ideal for sleeping comfortably! Micah and I raked a leaf pile the other day and the kids enjoyed playing in it. I think Micah enjoys raking more, though. He is my helper! Emmy is a great helper with Lily - always keeping an eye on her and keeping her out of trouble! Micah is my work helper - always wants to sweep or vacuum or dust... or rake! And Lily is my pain in the neck - always climbing onto or into something, or trying to stick toys in the central vacuum hole, or eating paper, or pulling stuff out of cabinets... she's very adventurous!
Tomorrow the kids and I are going apple picking with my friend Jenn and her 2 kids - there is nothing like a fresh picked apple! And Monday we are going with Dad to Buell's Orchard Open House like we do every year. We'll get our pumpkins there, and then the carving fun will begin! What a fun season!

Not Much...

Well there is not too much to report on this week.
Emmalee began her dance lessons again on Wednesday - she is focusing on ballet this year, and when I watched for a while through the window, I could see that they will be learning serious ballet this year. The last 4 years she has been in combination classes, and the girls have all been younger - now that they are in second grade, 7 and 8 years old, they are starting to get down to business. There was none of the goofing off I have seen in classes previous - the girls stood in their lines and practiced their positions and *danced*. I am so glad we chose ballet - Emmalee looked so graceful - and she really enjoyed the class. I am looking forward to seeing what she learns and how she grows as a dancer this year.
Micah absolutely loves school - he cried this week when I picked him up because he wasn't ready to leave yet. The last 15 or so minutes of school is playing outside. And Mrs. Tighe, his teacher, has kid motorcycles - which are really just 3-wheel bikes that they pedal, but Micah really thinks he is riding a motorcycle. It is his favorite part of the day - as soon as they get outside until I pick him up, Micah is riding circles in the fenced-in part of her driveway.
And as far as Lily goes -

she has been taking steps by herself now! She has taken up to 4 steps before falling. She is still a monkey - climbing all over everything! And she now says "shoe" (she loves shoes!)
We are having a yard sale tomorrow morning - trying to get rid of a bunch of stuff! I'll let you know how it goes!