Ladybug Adventures

We've had two chances to put Scarlett in her Halloween costume already! What a great way to get our money's worth (I mean grandma and pa's money's worth!) Scarlett did not like the itchy costume when I first put it on her, but she's used to it now. We think she makes a pretty darn cute ladybug!

First, she wore it to our weekly music class.

Heading inside

Under the parachute. She loves to get right in the middle!

Apparently the sticks were much more interesting than sitting on that blanket.

Shaking the bells

Story time

Then last night she got to wear it at the fall festival at church.






Now we're all ready for Halloween night and trick-or-treating!

Fun at the Farm

My Grandparents' farm is such a fun place to be. So many of my childhood memories are from playing on their acres and acres of land. We were there this weekend, and it was fun to see Scarlett enjoying it too. She loved riding the horse swing, running around, riding on the golf cart, and the pond. I was only able to get a few pictures, but we had a great time with my family before heading back home to Texas.

Here she is with her cousin Jaxon.....why won't anyone look up?!

Sweet boy!

Giddyup!

Pumpkin Patch

It feels like we were just at this pumpkin patch which was actually a year ago. Scarlett was just learning to sit up on her own! A year has flown by whether we like it or not, and we all packed up again to head back out there. It was cold, but the kids had fun. My parents and my sister and her family were all with us. Chris was home sick, and we found out the Monday after this outing that Scarlett had Strep so she was sick too, but we just didn't know it, poor baby. It sure didn't stop her from having fun with her cousins and grandparents!













And one year ago...sniff, sniff...

18 Months

Dear Scarlett,
How on earth are you already a year and a half old? I cannot fathom that you are months away from being two. You are the joy of my life sweet little girl. Our world revolves around you, and we love it that way! You are learning so much right now. I am amazed by how smart you are. You are a little firecracker bursting with energy!

You can identify your ears, eyes, noes, head, belly button, and toes. You know what a cow, monkey, sheep, and cat say. You can say many words and some phrases. You can count to ten pretty good! You talk nonstop it seems. You only take one nap now after lunch, and you sleep really good in your crib all night. You have nine teeth.

You love to sing songs with mommy. We also sing in the car, and you love the song "If You're Happy & You Know It," and you know just when to clap, stomp, and shout, hooray! You also love trying to sing, "Jesus Loves Me." You say, "Yes! jibberish, jibberish, Owe Me!" and you also like trying to sing your ABC's. You love the "Wiggle, Wiggle" song from your show, and you love to dance! You dance to mommy's cell phone ring tones, and you even know how to push play!

You want to do everything by yourself! You don't like getting help brushing your teeth or going down the stairs (you pushed my hand away today in fact), and you especially want to feed yourself with a fork and spoon. You love asking for crackers, and it sounds like "Go-gur!" Daddy spoils you and gives them to you whenever you want.

You love, love, love being outside. Many times during the day, you say, "Outside!" which usually sounds more like, "Side!" You love to slide and climb around at the park, but you really love to swing the most. In fact, you just love going anywhere. You get excited when we're about to leave and you say, "Go! Go!" On the other hand, you are not a fan of strangers, eating vegetables, or having your face wiped.

You love Sesame Street, Elmo, Abby, the computer, feeding your babies, running, throwing balls, looking at books, eating apples, your kitties, playing dress up, Yo Gabba Gabba, drawing on your magnet board, your paci, and watching yourself in the mirror.

I never want to forget how sometimes you call our cats "kitties" and sometimes you call them "meow," or how you kick your little leg out karate style and say, "Hiiiiya!" or how you ask, "Where are you?" when you look for things you can't find, or how you scold objects that have hurt you by telling them, "No! No!"

You are asleep right now, and I wish you could really understand how much mommy and daddy love you. We would do anything in this world for you, and we love being your parents. We are so thankful that God chose us to take care of you. We just don't know what we ever did to deserve an angel like you.

I love you,
Mommy

A is for apple!

Scarlett didn't want the little apple slices I was cutting for her the other day and kept pointing to the whole thing. She loves saying "Apple!" So I gave in and just let her have at it. She worked on that thing for a good twenty minutes...and cried and cried when I finally took it away. Everything is drama these days! But is was pretty fun watching my baby eat her first whole apple all by herself! Wasn't it just the other day when she could barely chew a banana???

The Show Must Go On

Last week was the absolute pits. I was sick with an upper respiratory infection (nope, not the swine flu), and I felt horrible. This is the worst I've felt since I've had Scarlett I think, and her little 17 month old mind just didn't understand why mommy was laying around for days.

The first day, she liked laying on the couch with me to watch her shows while I snoozed on and off, but that didn't really last long. Luckily Chris stayed home from work two mornings, but when it was just me and Scarlett, it was really hard! I remember back in the day when a "sick day" from work meant sleeping on the couch and watching movies for hours and hours. Well, those days are LONG over to say the least!

I had to make myself get up (pounding head, throbbing ears, burning chest, sore throat and all) to play with little miss. When she would actually play alone in her room, I would go peek in on her to find a complete mess. Drawers emptied, toys everywhere, and clothes pulled off of hangers. She was rebelling I think! It was so sad when she would literally try to pull me up off the couch. She would cry and plead, "Outside!" (Because that's all she wants to do these days.)

Well, thankfully I'm feeling so much better now, and things are getting back to normal. Here's two pictures I was able to get of her during the rebellion!

Everything came out so she could go in...

I found her just standing in front of the mirror like this...perhaps she would like to be a ghost for Halloween!