To say that the past 3 months have been busy would be an understatement. As evidenced by my lack of writing over the past few months. Fall is my very favorite time of year. September and October are always filled with football, birthdays, and fun fall activities. Because we stay so busy I feel like it's the beginning of the holiday season. Before we know it it's Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. I just love everything about this season! My only complaint is the hot Alabama weather - I'm ready for the cold!
We've had months packed with birthday parties, Halloween festivities, weekends out of town to visit family, and watching these precious babies grow way too fast.
In the past few weeks Audrey has popped out 4 more teeth (bringing her total to 8), and has learned to clap, wave and dance to music. She tries to climb on everything she can. Her little personality is starting to shine through and I know the fun is just beginning.
As for Raley, this is our every day - as long as we are at home she is playing dress up.
She is no doubt 100% girl and I love it!
At the end of July we took a trip to Atlanta to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. My niece, Payton is right at a year younger than Raley. We had such a fun weekend getting to visit family we don't see much and letting the little cousins play! We went to the zoo and then went to see the Phillies play the Braves. The girls had a blast at the zoo. Raley's favorite this time was the twin baby panda bears!
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| This is going to be one of those photos I look back on and cherish forever. Such precious cousins! I hope they will grow up to be great friends |
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| We've had this jersey since Chase Utley was still a Philly. It just now fits her. We still love him! |
Once August rolled around I realized I needed to get to seriously planning Raley's birthday party. I had a few ideas, but hadn't started on many decorations. I spent every free minute I had over the next couple months getting ready for Raley's party and a baby shower that I had planned for a friend the following week.
Raley's "Punzel" party came together perfectly! My parents were generous enough to let us use their house for the party (I was afraid ours wouldn't be big enough since I was inviting her classmates this year). I spent the entire day before the party decorating their house with the help of my sister and my cousin. There will be a post coming shortly with more details from her party, but for now here's a sneak peak.
We had a great weekend spending time with friends and family, many of which traveled from out of town to celebrate with the birthday girl!
Each year we like to take Raley out to do something special for her birthday. We've sort of made it a tradition to take her to Bridgestreet for pizza and ice cream and to ride the carousel. I had to stop at Kroger and she asked to ride in the cart with the car. You can't say no to a birthday girl!
A week after her birthday I hosted a tea party themed baby shower for a good friend of mine. I'm convinced I should be British because I adore tea parties and I loved every single detail of this shower. More details here.
The following weekend my aunt and cousins from Kentucky came back into town for a wedding. We enjoyed shopping at Bridgestreet and going to the pumpkin patch at Tate Farms. The pumpkin patch is one of our favorite fall traditions, although I think next year we will try Lyon Farms. As much as I enjoy Tate Farms, all their prices went up this year and I have heard great things about Lyon Farms. I think next year we'll drive a little further and check it out.
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| Sweet cousins holding hands, ready to get some ice cream |
I had floated the idea around the unit at work about hosting a Halloween Party. We typically do a unit Christmas party but this is the first year (since I've worked there) that we did a Halloween party. I really was looking for an excuse to dress up- kid free - and have some fun with other adults. We had a great time just hanging out, having adult conversation, and playing Cards Against Humanity. This will definitely need to become a yearly tradition. Can't wait for the Christmas party!
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| Burt Macklin, FBI and Janet Snakehole (from Parks and Rec) |
I spent the next couple weeks getting ready for Halloween and a sweet little girl's mermaid birthday party (more to come on the mermaid party soon!)
I'm truly not sure if my favorite holiday is Halloween or Christmas. What I do know is that I love decorating the house with spooky decorations (or "scary dudes" as Raley calls them) and dressing up in costumes. I've always enjoyed dressing up and now it's even more fun dressing up the entire family!
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| The girls wore Halloween outfits the entire week |
We had an entire weekend filled with Halloween festivities. On Thursday we went to the Trunk or Treat at church. This is only our second year participating in this but it is so much fun dressing up the whole family, decorating our car and spending time with our church family. This year Raley was Snow White and I was the Queen, and Audrey was Belle and David was the Beast.
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| Our trunk |
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| They were excited Auntie got to come! |
Friday was the Harvest Festival at Mothers Morning Out. Raley wanted to dress up like Cinderella for this party. Whatever you want, Princess! That evening we went to the Halloween Bash at Constitution Village with our good friends April and Brian. It was a fun little event, but I think it will be more fun when they can both walk around and play games and not have to worry about a stroller.
Saturday we went to Bootanica at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens with Gigi. The girls had a blast at this event!
Monday we went trick or treating in my parents' neighborhood. I wanted to take them there because this is where I grew up and still know many of our neighbors. Although it was a busy and tiring weekend, I'm always a little sad when Halloween is over.
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| She was so cute talking to people at every single house we went to! |
The next weekend we took a trip to Kentucky for my cousin's little girl's 5th birthday party. We had a great time spending time with family, watching these little cousins play together and celebrating with Rylin!
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| This is the only picture we got of the cousins together this weekend. Raley was being a grump at the moment. |
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| Audrey and Aunt Judy. We love this woman so much! It's always fun catching up with her. |
This weekend I helped decorate for a friend's little girl's mermaid 1st birthday party. I loved this theme and the colors were soo pretty! See more here!
Sorry I've been absent for so long, but I'm hoping to be more present in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for some party posts coming soon! Have a great week!
For photos from Halloween 2015 and 2017 and other similar posts visit the Life Lately Archive!
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Labels: children, family, holidays, life, Life Lately, motherhood, Our Little Family
