Big Sister

I feel Emily has taken the role of "Big Sister" lately.  She seems to show more of an initiative to watch out and care for Lily.  Emily is kind-hearted to give Lily lots of kisses, reassure when she is sad, make sure she has a treat or toy too, and avoid danger.  Of coarse she is still hesitant to share, but Emily sure loves to engage and play with her sister & friend.

The other day I caught Emily singing, "Head, Shoulder's, Knees, and Toes" with Lily.  She then asked Lily, "Where's your nose?" while showing her where it was.  Cute teacher for sure!

Fall Outside Fun

With the weather cooling down into the perfect outside play weather between 60 and 80 degrees, the girls have spent a lot of time outside playing and exploring.  They love to play with the balls, in the dirt, blowing bubbles, and jumping in the leaves.  They love to explore Nana's yard and her neighbor's too.  I love watching them play together and enjoy the sunshine.

Snuggle & Silly Big

One afternoon after lunch before Lily's nap, Lily snuggled next to me on a blanket for about 10 minutes.  She didn't fall asleep, just relaxed.  I love it when my girls are still enough to enjoy these quiet moments together.  Their snuggles are the best!

After Lily's nap on this day, she woke up super happy giggling in her crib.  We tossed binkies and stuffed animals for a while before she was ready to get out.  I love it when she wakes up all smiles!

Peterson Pumpkin Patch

After a few years away from a traditional pumpkin patch, we were excited to take the girls for some fall-time fun.  One evening after dinner, we went to Peterson's Pumpkin Patch.  The girls were enthralled by the field full of pumpkins - different from the shopping store bins in our hot climates of Phoenix and St. George.  They loved trying to pick up and carrying the big and little pumpkins to the wheel borrow.  We ended up with a few extras at times in the wheel borrow, but finally came home with 5 pumpkins - one for each of us including the new baby.

The girls have loved looking and sitting by the pumpkins on the front porch all month long, especially the two tiny pumpkins.  Lily loved to carry these little pumpkins around as they were just her size.  I love the way she investigated them day after day.

Library Lovers

These girls love to explore the library!  We go at least once a week and can spend an hour there reading books.  The fun continues as we come home and we repeatedly read the books over the week.  Emily is so smart that by the end of the week she can retell the stories page by page using similar words on the page.  I love my bookworms.

Conference Weekend

General Conference weekend is something I always look forward to.  I love the uplifting and inspiring messages of our prophets and leaders.  Emily was cute to sing, "Follow the Prophet" throughout the weekend.  On the Saturday afternoon session, my nephew, Haydn sang in a primary children's choir.  It was fun to see Emily watch the children sing and look for Haydn on the TV.

Curious Lily

Lily has learned to walk, providing for new curious adventures to be had.  She has more than learned to walk, but run!  Sometimes I can barely keep up with her.  She loves to wander the house, but even more she loves to explore the outdoors.  Lily loves to investigate the texture of things.  She loves to squeeze her hand through dirt, pick grass, pull at flowers, and pick up rocks.  Unfortunately, she even likes to explore texture with her mouth - yuck.  I have to keep an extra careful eye on her when we are outside because she will be found eating dirt all too quickly.

I love hearing the pitter-patter of her feet against the floor with her jabbers and giggles in the background.  Lily loves to be silly & mischiveous by escaping to climb the stairs.  She can't quite seem to stifle her giggle as she heads of the stairs, which is a grateful help to me to catch her from falling.  Lily can climb the stairs well, but we still need to work on going down by herself.

  

Lily is my independent sleeper, so I get few moments of holding my baby in stillness.  When I do it is a treasure to capture her "smallness" for just a little longer.  Either in my arms or nestled in her crib, I love watching my babies sleep.