My girl loves Fall.

Getting so big so fast.

I love this girl.

Click to see more clearly the pure joy that comes with playing in the leaves. :)

Schneider Fest '10

We had a great time hanging out with (most of) the Schneider clan a few weekends ago. It's always so fun to get all of the little ones together. They are so close in age and just have a great time!

Abbie and Gav playing with the stones while the bigger kids paint their pumpkins.

Hay ride!!

Kylie loved the hay ride!

And Gavin loved the popsicles!

Nature walk.

Here are some photos from our family nature walk the other day.

I have fond childhood memories of taking a "nature walk" every fall. Our walks were a little different though; we would all load into the manure spreader and dad would pull us back into the woods on grandpa's ancient tractor. :) Dad would point out all the tree names and we would collect leaves.

I want to continue this tradition with my kids, but knew I had some work to do when Kylie immediately asked for my iphone so that she could "play games"! UGH. "No, you can't play games on my phone... we're on a nature walk, enjoy nature!!" It didn't take her long to appreciate the beauty around her, though. She quickly began pointing out squirrels, collecting acorns and talking about the colorful leaves!

Looking at the "river" under the bridge.

Kylie putting leaves in her bag. We stuck some tape to her stroller so she could collect other little nature things (flowers, sticks, acorns, etc).

18 months and rolling...

I know I say the same things at each new stage... but seriously, where does the time go???

My little sweet man turned 18 months 2 days ago and mommy is having a hard time accepting this. I just can't believe that he is now closer to 2 and that he really isn't a baby anymore, but now a toddler!! Eek!

This little boy brings so much activity and fun and a little bit of chaos to our house and we wouldn't know what to do without him!

He's been MIA from my camera recently. This is a challenging age to photograph since they are so busy and can't be bothered with looking at a camera. However, I was determined to capture him at this stage so we had a little fun photo shoot the other day. I'm so glad we did because I love these photos. This is so Gavo at 18 months!

His big, teethy, dimply grin melts my heart!

When he was born the first thing daddy noticed were his dimples and I couldn't believe how wide his mouth was on that little face. I knew he would have a huge smile.

His frankenstein walk is starting to become a little more graceful but he still waddles with his arms up!

And I just had to include these last two photos. Poor little dude falls about 30 times a day...29 of those times he manages to hit his head (I may start making him wear a helmet during all awake hours), so this is a very real moment in the life of Gavin.

Completely happy and unaware of what he is about to do...

(That darn wheel jumped out and grabbed him)

And BOOM!

He was actually fine this time. He is usually a bit of a drama king (aren't all men?!), but this time he jumped right up and brushed off the pine needles and continued on his way.

At 18 months, Gavin:

*LOVES his big sister (calls her "didi"- sissy)

*Is starting to figure out how to annoy/bother/irritate/get a rise out of big sister

*Is still a cuddlebug

*Gives kisses with a very exaggerated "muuuuaaaah" sound

*Loves Carmen and all dogs (daw-dees)

*Loves to play outside... loves to kick balls, play on the scooter, go for wagon rides, play at the park, etc.

*Meal-time is still his favorite part of the day and I think he would be totally content sitting in his highchair and grazing all day long

*Is a great eater- not picky at all

*Some favorite foods: BANANAS (we think he may be part monkey, he loves bananas so much and eats at least 2 a day), apples, pasta, cheese, broccoli, carrots, edamame, peas, strawberries, blueberries

*Is a huge milk drinker.

*Has a sweet tooth already... loves mommy's cookies

*Is a climber and has been for the last 6 months. He would climb on the kitchen table before he could walk. Has also pushed a chair into the laundry room so that he could climb onto the dryer and then attempt to climb onto the shelf on the wall (mission not accomplished... mommy found him).

*Loves throwing balls and playing catch

*Loves to wrestle with dad and does a pretend-play "ahhhh" sound when they play.

*Loves to play blocks and stack.

*Says thank you and bless you (in his own language but we know that is what he is saying because he says the same thing every time and in context).

*Loves to be read to.

*Loves bath time with Kylie.

*Is overly-dramatic at times.

*Screams at the top of his lungs to get our attention, when we give him the attention he calmly points to or tells us what he wants.

*Does not have much patience. He wants what he wants NOW!

*Loves his blue blankie and cuddles with it a lot.

*Loves to say "bye-eeee" to everyone in public (cashiers, waitresses, general public...)

*Loves seeing big trucks and buses.

*Gets soooo excited when he hears the garage door and knows that means daddy is home (he shouts "daadaaaa")

*Is still in the 90-95%ile for height and is tipping the scales (and breaking my back) at 28 pounds.

*Is mommy's little man :)

Kylie: At 4, you...

* Are getting smarter and smarter every day

* Love your baby brother with all of your heart and you are so incredibly patient and kind with him (95% of the time)

* Are still (and it seems always be) a complete daddy's girl. Your hearts are connected in such a special way

* Are mommy's little helper... you are always willing to offer a hand. You love to cook/bake with me.

* Have daddy's personality... you like to correct people when they are wrong, you always have an answer for everything, you are so observant.

* Have an amazing memory and remember such little details

* Love books and being read to. You also have started "reading" a lot on your own... finger following along under the words.

* Love imaginative, make-believe play. I love to listen to you do this!

* Love music... singing and dancing, watching musical youtube videos.

* Love to ride your bike (go on "bike 'a rides") and play outside with the neighbor kids.

* Love anything little and trinkety. You are quite a collector (nice word for hoarder).

* Love to sort items into like categories.

* Love your dog. You are still best friends.

* Are an animal lover.

* Love school.

* Love to do arts and crafts activities.

* Have a collection of things that you must have every night to sleep (blankies, stuffed animals, dolls and any other toy of the day)

* Love ice cream. You have a serious sweet tooth!

* Say that winter is your favorite season because you love to eat snow!

* Breakfast is your best meal. You can put away a serious amount of eggs, bacon and sausage!

* Have so many cute ways of saying things and I hope you say these words like this forever!

* Are more precious, smart, sweet, beautiful, and fun every day and you light up our lives!

Tea/Pony Party.

Kylie's 4th birthday party was an awesome day! We started off with a lovely tea party. Thanks to grandma Pat for all of her help (as always). We had delicious tea sandwiches, tea cookies, cupcakes, cake balls, tea and pink lemonade.

Everything was very pink!

Birthday Girl!!

After the tea party wrapped up, we headed outside to greet the ponies! In order to spice up the tea party, daddy organized for a pony to arrive so the kids could have pony rides. In addition to the pony, there was also two miniature horses to pet, brush and Kylie's favorite part... paint and glitterize!

The birthday girl taking the inaugural ride!

And, painting the horses! She LOVED this!

View all party photos HERE!

The 4 year old.

Since about October of last year (very shortly after her 3rd birthday "carnival" party), Kylie started requesting a tea party for her next birthday. Because my girl isn't usually very "girly", I took this idea and ran with it. Even though daddy tried to talk her out of it (tea parties are "lame"), we decided that a tea party was a perfect way to celebrate a pretty special little girl turning FOUR!

We had a little photo shoot one day with hopes of getting a photo for her invitations.

We succeeded! :)

So hard to believe that my little 6 pound 5 ounce peanut is already 4! Time needs to slooooow down.

The actual invite...

**Party pics to come soon.**