I Love Fall!!

We had a great week last week - despite the chilly temp's and snow on the ground :( We didn't venture very far on Tuesday and Wednesday, but on Thursday we met our friends Stacey, Alana, and Parker at the YMCA playgym and then had lunch afterwards. Blake and Alana had fun, while Stacey and I visited!! The little ones were good too. It was Emerson's first time eating out! It sure is a lot more work packing a diaper bag and preparing for a play date and lunch out for a 2 year old and a child who has just starting eating solids ;)

I am very excited about our current weather!! My favorite season seems to be back!! It was +8 today, but it felt like +14 after the taste of winter we had last week!!

We've had a fabulous weekend! Friday afternoon we took our trailer to our storage lot near Spruce Grove. Afterwards, we went to my Mom and Dad's for supper. After supper Cal went to the Oiler's game with my Dad, Dion and Eric. The kids and I stayed and played for awhile. My Mom and I gave the kids a bath (together for the first time!), put them in their p.j.'s and I headed home with them. Blake talked the whole way and Emerson slept!

Saturday morning we cleaned up our yard and put out our Halloween decorations. Blake loves the big blow up ghost we have in our front yard!! Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna came over for supper Saturday night. It was great to see them all! Jenna is growing so fast and is so adorable! Blake and Colby had fun together and played well.

My parents came over for brunch this morning and this afternoon Eric, Christa and Berlyn came over. It was great to see Berlyn again! She has changed a lot since we last saw her, but is still so, so cute!! She's starting to look quite a bit like Christa! We took some great pictures of our 3 kids together and then took some pictures of just Emerson and Berlyn. We joke that they're going to be BFF's! After the Parenteau's left, we went for a walk. I took Emerson in her Snuggli and Blake walked holding onto our hands. He started out walking Heidi, but soon got tired of that!! It was very nice to walk holding his hand though :) Cal, Blake and Heidi continued onto the park and Em and I went home because it was Emerson's supper time!! Apparently Blake met a new best friend at the park!! Cal said their was another family there and the little girl, who was 3 1/2, claimed Blake as her best friend! Her Mom was telling her to come and play with her little brother and she said, "No, I'm playing with my new best friend!!" Cal said she talked a mile a minute and non-stop too!! LOL!

We had a very nice weekend, but it really isn't quite over yet because Cal has tomorrow off too! Blake and I will be going to preschool tomorrow morning, while Cal and Em have some father/daughter time!

Emerson was 8 months old on Friday. She's doing great! Changing more and more each week. She grabs and reaches for EVERYTHING!! Blake thinks it's pretty funny when she reaches for him! She loves playing with a variety of toys and still really loves jumping!! She's now eating 3 times a day and quite a variety of foods - all cereal (her fave), squash, sweet potato, carrots, peas, green beans, prunes, applesauce, pears, peaches, avocado, potato's, and today she tried some toast! She's starting to put things in her mouth. Today my Mom and Dad were helping her feed herself toast! Some days she eats quite a bit and others not too much. She's growing fast though, so she's obviously getting enough! I make quite a bit of her food, but buy a few things that aren't so easy to make! She's very talkative and quite loud - I think she's just trying to be heard over her older brother!! Thankfully, she's still an awesome sleeper!! Her "typical" day goes something like this: Up between 7 and 8, breakfast, nap between 8:30 and 9:30 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, lunch between 11:30 and 12:30, followed by another 1 - 1 1/2 hour nap, snack (just milk right now!), supper around 5, bath and bed between 6 and 7. Needless to say, she's well rested!! And we should be too, but we tend to, who am I kidding, we ALWAYS stay up way to late! Oh well, we can't blame it on the kids sleeping patterns!!

Blake continues to keep us laughing every day! Today he was saying, "Bust my buffers!" and "Thomas is cross!" all day long ... it was hilarious!!! Last night Gerry and Cal were joking about the language in Thomas and Friends and apparently Blake was listening closely!! Of course he knew we thought it was funny, which made him say it even more ;) He is such a good little boy, but as good and funny as he can be, he can also get into trouble!! Of course, being 2 it is expected. He does pretty good with time outs though. Sometimes he cries through the whole time out, but at least he stays where he's supposed to be! We also starting taking toys away as punishment. I don't think that's as effective as time out though. He has so many toys, it doesn't seem to bother him if one is gone!! He's still calling Emerson Miss Muffet or Miss Muffin sometimes! He also uses those nicknames for Heidi and Jazz and even his toys at times!! He'll pick up a truck and say, "What are you doing Miss Muffet! Driving or something?" LOL!! And speaking of Heidi, he is into giving Heidi trouble! If she starts barking he tells her, "Stop it Heidi!!" His newest thing is feeding Emerson. We've let him feed her a few spoonfuls of her food and help her drink her water. He's very proud of himself for helping her eat! He's such a great brother, but at times I think he's also trying to toughen her up a little!? He likes to pull her back and forth and "help" her jump in her Jolly Jumper! He's not intentionally trying to hurt her, but she is a bit sensitive. Tends to be a bit on the dramatic side ... Maybe it's a female thing?!

We hope everyone has had a great week! Lets keep our fingers crossed that this fall(ish) weather continues for at least a few more weeks ...

Take care,

Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson