Fall

Fall is by far and way my favorite season!  What's not to like about back to school, apple cider, sweaters, changing leaves and comfort food?  I love this time of year when the weather is cool and Colorado could be any more gorgeous, so we have been trying to get out and enjoy it as much as we possibly can. 

For the past few years I have had my eye on an apple orchard up in Longmont that lets you pick your own apples.  They are a pretty small orchard for now and only allow for picking with reservations,  the catch is that you have to plan your visit months in advance to get one of those coveted spots.  Last year we were still able to visit the orchard for a picnic, hayride and apple cider donuts, but after the past 3 years of failed attempts to get on "the list" I finally figured out the system and got our name in early this year so that we could pick own apples.  Our favorite Longmont residents, the Nichols, came with us too...yeah! 

After a little bit of instruction on how to pick the best ones, Riley and James started in on the cute little trees.  She did a great job of helping me fill our bag and also filling her little tummy with some apple along the way.  The orchard has an adorable little farm store where they sell apples, cider, pie and the most scrumptious apple cider donuts that you have have tasted (I may have been dreaming about these for the past few weeks).  Before dashing out with our haul of apples to go dig into our cider and donuts, Riley also wanted to buy a basket of apples to feed the horses that live there.  It was such a fun fall outing and all of the apples allowed me to indulge my other fall fave...baking!  We made a really yummy apple pie.

This past weekend was the peak of fall color up in the mountains, so we packed a picnic and our girls and headed up to Kenosha Pass for a hike.  It turns out that us and half of the Denver Metro had the same idea.  Despite lots of people along the way and a little whining from my self proclaimed lallygager, we all enjoyed the walk and the amazing colors up there.  Piper could not have been happier plopped down in the leaves and could not take her eyes or hands off of the dirt, leaves and sticks it was a complete sensory experience including the tree bark she sampled during our photo shoot.

Happy Fall!



Oklahoma!

It's been about a year since our last trip down to Oklahoma and we couldn't wait to get back there to see our family!  Despite the almost unbearable heat and humidity, Labor Day weekend was the perfect timing for our little vacay. 

Piper's last trip was back in May when we were in Florida....she had a less enthusiastic reaction to traveling this time around.  For her first time in Oklahoma, our little miss was pretty unsettled for the week that we were there.  She wanted to be in my arms nonstop and if there was any break in visual contact, screaming ensued.  I had hoped that when her daddy was there over the long weekend that she would be a little calmer having him around too, but no...no Gigi, no daddy and definitely no one else but mama.  Her sister on the other hand was having a ball being surrounded by some of her favorite people!

There is always plenty of playing, reading, ice cream eating, candy and special surprises when Riley stays at Aunt Judi and Uncle John's house.  She loved every minute!  After spending A LOT of time in her special princess cave she came home with a special new saying "I'm a princess and princesses don't wait!"...thanks Valerie!

A pile of beanie babies bigger than my baby...

Piper's favorite thing to do was pull all of the Oprah magazines off the bottom of the coffee table and just sit in the huge pile of magazines.  So we just kept stacking them up to let her destroy them, whatever makes her happy!

 

Riley has been asking to play with her cousin Reece pretty much all summer and we tried our best to get plenty of time with her.  We took them the to Payne County Fair...a first for miss Riley who as it turns out in pretty much a carnival junkie.  She wanted to ride all of the rides and also slide down the giant slide. 

The animals were also a big hit and Riley even stepped right up to milk a goat

We also hit Eskimo Joe's and the Oklahoma City Zoo with the little girls...as it turns out the zoo is not really the place to be when it's a 105, but Riley and Reece made the best of it.  Piper however was not at all amused....

We even got our picture with Joe and Buffy...where is Riley you might ask?  She was terrified of the Eskimo and his dog so she hid under the table.

Our friends, the Shoemakes, just moved up to Edmond from Dallas last month so we were equally excited to be able to see them while we were there too.  Kerri and I have been friends since childhood and although we don't get to see each other all that often, I love that Riley and Audrey are such good little friends too and I know that Madeline and Piper will be right there with them before long!

We also spent an afternoon with some extended family in my mom's hometown.  It was here at her cousins house in the midst of lots of new faces, a few babies and a ton of new toys that Piper was actually completely calm and independent for about an hour.  Riley loved that there were more cousins to play with and spent the entire day doing what everyone wants to do when it's 107 degrees and 100% humidity...playing in the water!

Our Oklahoma family is the best and we had so much fun down there!

9 Months!

Happy 9 Months to Piper! Our baby is on the verge of becoming a curious toddler and she has been busy exploring her world. 

I absolutely love this time of babyhood and I'm not gonna lie there are times that I wish I could freeze time because this first year is going by so quickly! But I do love to watch my little miss grow and I am always excited for the new changes that each month brings!  This month's we were in Oklahoma when Piper turned 9 months, so our photo shoot was at Aunt Judi and Uncle John's house and they even had a perfect kid size chair for her!

A few things to know about our 9 month old.... 

Our little princess is sooo close crawling that I keep waiting for her to go for it any day now.  She will sit up on hands and knees and bounce back and forth likes she's reving up her little engine, but so far she will just push back onto her bum of flop forward onto her belly.  While she's practicing up for the real thing, she employs a unique combination of maneuvers to get where she wants to go...which is usually closer to some cool 4 year old toy. 

Piper is turning into a little character like her big sis and is pretty quick to figure out what gets the laughs.  She will make her "cheesy face" on command and will do it over and over again if she's got an audience.  Her fave new game is peek-a-boo and she will pull her shirt or blanket in front of her face to play or if there's no loose material around she has been known to bury her face into our neck and pop back up!

Animals have been a brand new discovery and she is obsessed!  Especially dogs and our kitty, Bella.  She gets all quivery and excited anytime that we see one and loves to be right down on the ground with them.

We are hoping she has gained some major ounces at this months check-up, we have certainly been trying our best to help our babe pack on a little bit weight.  We have been adding a few extra calories to her food (Ahhh to have cream or butter with every meal) and just trying to get in some higher fat foods too.  She has upped the challenge a bit this month by deciding that   Mom + Spoon = Boring, which pretty much means that she wants nothing to do with purees and has instead plunged straight into finger foods.  She is crazy about cheese and she also loves scrambled eggs, avocado and chunks of fruit.

She loves her baths in the big tub with Riley! 

Piper is still my biggest fan and pretty much loves to be stuck to me like glue most days.  Having a baby tied to you 90% of the day has it's challenges, but it is absolutely the best reward ever to see that her huge grin and get her excited hug around my neck when I pick her up.  I love this little girl!