Scaredy cats

Thank you Gramma and Grampa C. for our new, kitty shirts. We wore them all day today and yesterday.

Getting crafty

I was inspired by this post and made my own fall wreath to hang on our newly painted front door.  Stand by for the big reveal.

I've been baking a lot of these. Pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins. This time I replaced the 1/2 cup of brown sugar with less than 1/2 cup of Splenda. Still delicious! 

Favorite way to start my morning.  Homemade iced coffee and muffins!

I saw this recipe in a Country Living magazine. S'mores apples.  They don't look as pretty, but they sure taste yummy.

And no post would be complete with out some cute (and in focus) pictures of my girls. Here, Dadda takes his daughters on a date to McDonalds.

The sisters love reading books together.

St. Paul Pumpkins & Eleven Mos.

My cross country head coach, who lives in St. Paul, has a neighbor that grows giant pumpkins.  We took McKinley to get her picture with a 610-pounder when she was nine months old.  This year Bruce's neighbor offered to give us some carving pumpkins for the girls. So, McKinley and I picked out three pumpkins to take home, and I also took advantage of the scenery for Piper's eleventh month photo shoot.  Instead of carving, I'm think of spray-painting the pumpkins....maybe a chevron pattern?
But first....a flashback.

October 2010:

October 2012:

This pumpkin is estimated to weigh around 300 lbs.

Piper is only interested in the rocks and leaves on the ground. 

All our attempts to get Piper to look up at the camera were bust.

So, Miss Piper is a month away from turning one.  There are a few new and exciting things to report.  She transitioned to four milk feedings like a champ.  She is now a swaddle-free sleeper. And she got her first fever (102 degrees), which ended up being a mild case of roseola. She finally says dadada, but not as often as mamma.  I'll wrap it up and leave you with some cute pictures and update this post if new things come to mind.  Besides, I have a birthday party to plan!

A few updates: We've discovered that Piper has a mild tomato allergy. She breaks out in hives around her mouth when I've given her fresh tomatoes, and recently quinoa cooked with tomato sauce. I have also forgot to mention that Piper will lean in to give me a smooch when I lean towards her, pucker up, and say "give Momma a kiss." It's the sweetest thing ever, watching her wide, open mouth come towards mine. 

Her new obsession: waving

Bit 'O Summer

Our summer weather is still holding strong.  And we are taking advantage of it!  We are currently in the process of painting the exterior of our house.  I can't wait to share before and after pictures.  This weather is also great for cross country meets, trips to the park, and last minute pool parties.  In addition, I wanted to reveal a project I finally finished and a vintage find I scored at the grand opening of our local Goodwill.  Rain is in the forecast for next week, but it's obvious that fall is just around the corner. Especially after waking up to temperatures in the 30's and seeing my breath for the first time while painting in the early morning.

 Momma and Bruce after running the open race in Tillamook.

BEFORE:                                          AFTER:

Ta-Da!  A chalkboard calendar. The edges and verticals are wood, which I spray painted and then glued on to the door. The days of the week are old Scrabble tiles.  But the horizontals are green yarn taped to the wood and are temporary (I hope).

 This quilt reminded me of the blog border, and I couldn't resist all the colors and its vintage charm.

Ten Months

Still playing catch-up.  Miss Piper turned ten months old on the 11th anniversary of September 11th.  And now we're less than a week away until she is 11 months old.  I truly can't believe her first birthday is next month! We weren't able to take her to the hospital to get weighed and measured, but she's still a tank.  Solid and thick and getting increasingly difficult to hold for long periods of time.  No significant progress in the walking department, just cruising on everything. She's holding steady with five milk feedings, but I'm considering dropping the snack after her morning nap.  And speaking of naps, she still requires two, but like McKinley, her morning nap ranges from thirty minutes to an hour and is in jeopardy of being dropped closer to when she turns one. Dumpa calls her "the Russian," more specifically Vladimir Putin, for their similar lack of smiling. But at home, she is anything but serious. She is loud, saying mamma and slowing starting to say dadada. She is giggly, especially when McKinley makes her laugh. She smiles real big revealing her two front teeth. And she copies anything silly McKinley does.  She's finally learned to raise her hands when I say "Piper is so big," and turns her hand when I sing the Puerto Rican children's song La Linda Manita.  She has even began to wave.  Since an eleventh month post is quickly approaching, I'll stop here, but leave you with a couple of current nickle names for Miss Piper: Copperhead, She-she bear, Piper-doodle, Pooh-bear, Stinkweed, and Boo.

Dadda's little Copperhead (because of her two fangs!)