Pumpkins!

Amelia adores pumpkins!  We have some small pumpkins on the porch that she loves to tote around the house.  When we are driving in the car or walking she points out pumpkins and actually screams "PUMPKINS!" 

So of course we had to stop at Hey by George and get some pumpkins. 

 This girl was in heaven! 

 She had to pat all of the pumpkins. 

 She picked out ones she wanted to take home. 

It was one of the best days of her life! 

On the way there we took a turn too early and we saw a reindeer farm.  Amelia was convinced they were cows until they made their noise.  Only then would she agree that yes, they were reindeer.  On the way home we stopped by a farm that had horses and miniature horses.  She was pretty excited by that and daddy didn't want the fun to stop so we drove by the airport but there weren't any airplanes out.  Then we went down by the train tracks and saw some trains.  Amelia wasn't really interested in those which is amazing since she always has to talk about trains when we hear them.  It was a great family day!

Canning

I've been really busy canning and gardening the past couple of months.

Last year I was thrilled to have a few bunches of grapes on my grapevine.  I didn't really prune it back for the winter so I was a little worried that it might not produce anything at all this year.  Well I ended up with 7lbs and they really aren't good for eating straight so I turned them into jelly. 

Here I have pepper relish, grape jelly, tomato sauce, and pepper jelly.

Then I made pickled jalapenos and applesauce, which I forgot to take a picture of.  That was the same week of the baby shower and I told myself to not do any canning that week but focus on cleaning the house.  Yeah, I didn't listen.
The next week I made giardiniera, and diced tomatoes.  

Here is tomato soup.  

 Apple pie filling

 Pears

 Tomato sauce and salsa. 

I starting to get to the point where I'm wondering when the tomatoes and peppers are going to end and how many jars of tomato sauce can we really use.  I'm already adjusting my gardening plan for next year and won't plant so many tomatoes or at least more variety.

Luckily for me my father-in-law was cleaning around the farm and came across a bunch of jars and then Lucas went to an estate auction with my dad and came home with a ton of jars that he got for $7!  I've already used up all of those jars but canning for the season should be winding down now so I won't need too many more. 

Baby Shower

My sister-in-law Mary Beth and I gave our other sister-in-law Kait a baby shower in September. 

I made a Moby Wrap for her, which I forgot to take a picture of.  I also knit this baby sweater and had enough left to make a matching hat. 

 I didn't take any pictures of the event, but Amelia loved eating the leftover cupcakes!

Slippers

I was able to go to the state quilt show this summer and while there I picked up a pattern for slippers that are lined with the softest fabric ever.  Somehow I decided that Amelia should have a pair to match.  That's the fun of having a little girl right?

So after fussing with the pattern some and having to alter them way down to fit her we had our slippers.  Guess what?  She wanted nothing to do with them.  Gurr.  I was frustrated but hoped that if she saw me wearing mine she would warm up to the idea.  After seeing me wear them she kept coming over and pointing to my shoes and talking about my shoes.  So I brought hers back out and now she loves them!  I haven't let her wear them too much because the weather warmed up again but she loves to tote them around the house. 

Pretties

In September Amelia has become infatuated with "pretties."  Usually pretties are anything that is girly, such as necklaces, bracelets, headbands, or anything else that sparkles.  Her cousin Athena gave her a bunch of old pretties and Amelia has loved wearing them around, even if some of them are too big. 

1st day of ECFE

 Amelia was very excited for her first day of ECFE.  School went over much better than gymnastics.  I think it was for the familiarity of it.  Although we have graduated up and now she gets a snack time and then the moms leave for a little bit.  She loves snack and doesn't care one bit that I leave the room.  The other addition this year is some sort of craft every week involving coloring, glue, or paints.  She loves that and has been obsessed with coloring at home now.  I had to clear off part of the fridge to make room for all of her artwork. 

Then we needed a picture for the bulletin board at school so here's what we took.  She loves to look at the camera and say cheese but getting her to sit still long enough is the problem.

Basement

In September I got to move into the basement!  This area is mine.

While the side by the steps is for all of Amelia's toys.  I'm not sure what was happening with my camera that day but the true colors are this last picture.  We still have to finish the facing and railing for the steps and a couple of other small trim pieces but I was able to move everything in and have been enjoying my new space!

Gymnastics

This was the first two minutes of gymnastics the first day.  Unfortunately it went downhill after this picture.  First we stretch and she wasn't too sure about that.  Then the class splits in half and we do different circuits.  A circuit could be walking on four different balance beams or four different floor activities.  We have to take turns at this part and wait patiently.  This is where Amelia really struggles with gymnastics.  She cried the whole time the first day.  She didn't want to wait and by the time it was her turn she was so mad she didn't want to do anything.  Then we go play in the foam put for awhile.  Which you don't have to wait turns so of course this part is awesome.  The final thing is to sing a song and receive a sticker.  The first few times she didn't want the sticker. 

In her defense she did come down with her first cold the first day of gymnastics, which was not a good combination.  Each week of gymnastics slowly got better in some ways.  She first got better at participating during stretching.  Then she began to want to do some of the circuit activities.  Then she was better at waiting her turn and last week was our break through week where she was very well behaved.  She finally waited her turn very well and wanted to do all of the activities.  She even enjoys that sticker now and is distressed when it falls off. 

I do have to stand and hold her in between turns.  While waiting we talk about whose turn it is and what each child is doing.  We also cheer everyone on, this helps distract her enough that she has become better at waiting.  It also helps her to watch everyone else so when it is her turn she knows what she's supposed to do.  It has been a very good learning experience for both Mommy and Amelia.

Bed & P

Sometime in July I decided to move Amelia out of the crib and put her mattress on the floor. 

The first couple of nights were tricky and I finally figured that I just needed to keep the door shut and not give her the option of having it opened.  I felt horrible doing that because it seemed like I was locking her in a prison.  But the more I thought about it, that's what the crib was anyways.  She was more than ready for the big girl bed and only gave me those two nights of grief. 

We did eventually get her a bigger mattress and box spring and she's been sleeping on it beautifully.  Sometimes I have to go in while she's falling asleep to remind her that it's bedtime and no playing with toys.  She usually stays in bed after that.  She loves the freedom she has when she wakes up and loves to play with her toys.  If she wants me to come get her right away, she'll knock on the door. 

She was napping in the pack and play at grandma's house until one day she climbed out of it.  Now she sleeps on a mattress at Grandma's house just like at home. 

Towards the middle of August I felt like Amelia had been doing so well with the bed transition that it was time to try and take away P.  She hadn't been using P during the day for several months and was only needing it at night.  So one night I didn't grab it and did our routine as normal.  She only asked about it once and I ignored her while continuing to read.  She forgot about it and went to bed just fine.  The next night went exactly the same and after that night she didn't ask about P again.

Como Zoo

Our final August event was to go to Como Zoo with godmother Hilary. 

 It was a beautiful day and Amelia liked looking for the animals but was very annoyed that most of them were sleeping. 

Her favorite animal of the day was the large fish.  Yeah we travel all the way to the cities and she is most excited about a fish.  Oh well.  

She did enjoy the monkeys and the gorillas were her favorite.  Her other favorite part was looking at the seals who were waiting to go on for a show.  They were in their own little room with a pool that was right next to the window.  While she was looking at them one jumped right up to the window on the other side of her nose.  She giggled and thought it was pretty funny after she was certain it couldn't come through the window.  

August

Here are some random pictures and stories to finish up August. 

I switched out Amelia's earrings one day and it wasn't as bad as I was dreading.  It helped that I distracted her with Curious George and a comb.  Since then she has pulled on them a few times but I just explained that they are pretties for her ears like mommy has and she leaves them alone.  She is now sporting butterfly earrings she got from Aunt Kait and Uncle Jeremy for her birthday.

Swimming at Grandma's house.

 Kole ended up getting in the pool with her which she loved!  I actually think she has a bit of a crush on Kole.  She has started calling him Koke, I'm not sure where that came from.  Since school has started our Wednesday routine is to pick Kole up from the YMCA and go to Grandma's house for dinner.   All of the cousins end up being there which has been a lot of fun.  Last week on the way to get Kole I was talking about how we are going to pick him up and Amelia said, "No kisses."  I had to laugh at that one.  Then when Kole got in the car he said, "Hi Baby!", to which she responded "Amelia."  I'm convinced she was telling him that she isn't baby, but Amelia. 

Back to August...We went to the ECFE open house.  There was singing and dancing which she enjoyed but she was upset with me that I didn't bring pup pup with us. 

 Sitting in the lockers. 

 Her absolute favorite toy in the diaper bag is the etch-a-sketch.  Then she broke it by stabbing the pen onto the screen too hard.  It was leaking some sort of goo so it had to be tossed and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.