Steps for Pumpkin Patching with my BOO Bears

Last weekend, we met up with our sweet Fantlet friends to go Pumpkin Patching with our BOO bears. Pumpkin patches and pictures are one of my fall favorites. Through many years of pumpkin patching with friends and family, I realized there are some pretty easy but important steps. So enjoy our little process of patching for pumpkins with the family and friends this fall season. All steps do not have to be in sequential order.

Step 1: Find a pumpkin patch not too far from home. I myself sometimes forget step 1. I promise it helps. Make sure it has great props for pictures. Location is key. For all of your potty training or trained littles, you have to make sure there are some good and clean bathroom options nearby (or right next door). Plus location is key when your littles start to get hangry. You'll want to have a good lunch/dinner option. We use this sometimes as bribery for those extra special photos. This year we made our way to Casey's Pumpkin Patch in Allen. Perfect little patch with great photos, lots of great options, and adorable signs. Plus it had perfect dining locations literally next door .

Step 2:  It's always fun to go with family and friends. Understand that it is next to impossible to get everyone to look at the camera. Know this and be ok with this. These make for the best pictures as it let's their little personalities shine. Like for reals. My child was singing and then talking about her castle. Love her sweet imagination. For family pictures, having a toy or friend making silly noises can help.

 Step 3: Let the littles find their own perfect pumpkin. There are always so many to chose from and I have to say it is beyond adorable when your kiddo finds "their" pumpkin. Mine of course found 10-25 mini pumpkins and gourds and even enlisted a sweet friend to help push a huge cart so that she may carry her pumpkin finds. I love their sweet friendship and team work. Also always carry bandaids or enlist a friend who has plenty. Plus how fun is it when they are kid friendly bandaids. Other than finding her own pumpkin that we took home, my daughter spent a lot of time talking about her cute Shopkins bandaid and how Kristin healed her boo boo. 

 Step 4: For the minis, you must take the customary baby in a basket picture. I mean seriously, let this adorable picture speak for itself. A mini with a mini pumpkin. Enough said.

Also be sure to pose your child in front of a prop. We should have realized hay was not our best option as the majority of the hay went into his mouth or stuck to his clothes. He didn't seem to be too upset by it but it was definitely a photo fail for us. I think I'll keep to the basket.

 

Step 5: Taking the family picture is a must and usually pretty interesting. See Step 2 for instructions. I'm not going to lie. When we do family photo shoots, there is typical food bribery. This was more fun and laid back. A simple question of asking how old big sister was got this gorgeous little smile! Love it!

 Zellner Family Fall Pumpkin Patching Picture 2016

 Liam Owen- 6 months & Aubrey Rose-3

Step 6: Finding family pumpkins to purchase can be a bit tricky. My big wanted us to buy her 10-15 little pumpkin minis, as well as the few we wanted to bring home. This can get costly and if purchased too early can go bad before the big day. We let her pick one of her own minis to take back and then we made this fun little stackable pumpkin family. She seemed to enjoy it. I'm really loving the non traditional pumpkins this year.

Step 7: Of course after finding your perfect pumpkins and taking a few fun family photos, you got to let kids be kids and enjoy the photo opportunities. I sure love our BOO bears!

Step 8: Enlist friends to hold your babe when you are chasing your bigger kiddos and snapping a few shots or taking kiddos on potty breaks. See step 1. Then of course thank them by having them pose for another picture.  (Yes I take way too many pictures!)

Step 9: Be sure to spend time loving on your friends and making adorable fall family/friend memories.

So there it is. Nine easy steps of pumpkin patching with the boo bears. Sending love to you all this fall season. So incredibly thankful for these sweet friends and these sweet memories with our little BOOs.

Watch Liam Grow: 5 & 6 Months

Dear my Liam love,
To my littlest love. I am so in love with you little boy and am so thankful to be your mommy. It is hard to imagine that you are no longer my little babe but are already a half year old and honestly as I write this are closer to entering into your 7th month. You have begun your first steps of crawling, eating more solid foods, sleeping in your own bed, and even picking on your big sister. Life with you has surely been an adventure and I am absolutely loving this ride. Here is to our next adventures to come!!!

Number of months: 6 months  
Measurements: Weight 16 lbs 2.5 oz (17%), Height 27 3/4 inches (82%), Head Cir 17 1/8 inches (43%)
Clothing: You are growing like a weed sweet boy. You wear a few 6-9 month onesies but wear 9 month of everything else including shirts/pants, footed jammies, etc. You are not a fan of shoes, but oh how I adore putting your little piggies into them. You are currently in size 2 diapers but really should be moving to a 3.  
Eating:  We have increased many of your bottles to 6 oz but you have been finicky as to when you want them and how much you want. We have been told that you are a "grazer." Yep that's you are little love. You eat just enough to get what you want at the time but not to fill up that sweet belly of yours. So basically you are the sweetest little guy until you realize you need to eat. Then you turn hangry. We have also realized that some of this fussiness and tummy issues are from reflux as well. We actually just started you on medication and are hoping this is an answer to prayers for eating and further more sleeping. We have also introduced purees. You honestly weren't a fan of eating at first. We began with rice cereal but quickly moved to sweet potatoes and apple sauce. Since then you have enjoyed carrots and pears- from baby food. I am really hoping these little additions will fill that adorable little belly of yours so you may find comfort and sleep. You began with 2 purees a day, but now we are moving to three per the doctor. I've also started making our own and you do seem to enjoy those a bit better. I am so not hating on the store brand, but for some reason, you are a bit picky.
Teeth: 1 bottom tooth and it's matching pair on the way. 
Sleep: What is this? Honestly you may have had a few weeks in there that we have found sleep, but since then we are all going on 2-3 hour shifts again. This sadly has been going on for almost 3 months. Your typical sleep and wake up pattern is as follows: We put you down between 7 and 7:30. You will wake up between 2-4 times within the next two hours. Additionally you wake up at 12:30 and 4. You usually go down easily at 12:30 but at 4 it will take you several hours before you go back down. Then you may wake up at 7 or 8 to begin the day. (Usually it is 6:30) You will typically take 3 naps during the day. Your morning nap is usually in the car and it is usually around 9 and it is usually a 20 minute cat nap. Your second nap I have attempted to match with big sister's nap from 1-3. This has not been the case most days and it absolutely depends on our plans for the day. You may take another 20-30 minute nap on our way to pick up daddy after lots of car fussies.* Per a recent visit, you basically wake up every 3 hours because your little body is hungry. So we have increased your purees as you don't always drink your milk and we will see if that changes some of those sleepless nights. Since mommy has had a few meltdowns as she has seriously become a walking zombie these last few months, we have now introduced you to music at night and a humidifier with pictures. You definitely take your paci at night to sooth.
Personality: You really are a happy little guy when you have napped and eaten. You are loud and proud. You are more rollie pollie grabbing machine. Your little grin and laugh is a heart melter. You are a flirt and oh so fun. You adore your big sister and want to be everywhere she is.You are so close to actually crawling. You are currently doing your version of an army crawl and regular crawl. You will get up on all fours and rock. Then you will take a few hand and knee steps before you flop to your belly and scoot. You are fast little one. 
Activities: scooting/moving, crawling on all fours (short period of time), pulling up on everything, sitting up on own (tripod), holding more objects. Everything goes in your mouth. You love to eat hair, books, and toys. You have the most contagious little laugh. You are loud and seem to love to hear your own voice- squeals, no real mimicked sounds. You make eyes at most people and give a little smile but save the biggest for your sister. You love peek a boo and giggle pretty much evreytime. This is not to be confused with coming up from behind you and saying boo. You absolutely do NOT like being scared like big sister. You will throw a pretty long and sad fit.
Likes: music, crawling, playing, smiling, making loud noises, watching fans and light on tv, being held, seeing out as you do not want to miss out on anything. You are very observant and want to be a part of everything. You love watching your big sister and want to be where she is. You are always on the move. We are so going to have to baby proof... pretty immediately.
Dislikes: being changed-immediately, not being fed when you want to be, when you are over tired, not being able to see out, sitting in your carrier, getting teeth, being hot... honestly I can totally see why you are not a fan little man.

Little man took his well visit and shots like a boss.

Almost THREE & as CUTE as can be!

Aubrey,
My beautiful, silly, milly. My girl of many words. My little mama drama. To a girl who knows what she wants and to my little mini that first made me a mama. You are my sunshine.

It will only be a few days until you turn three. I truly feel I blinked and my tiny babe has turned into a big girl. This year you have brought us so much joy, a good handful of toddler tantrums, lots of laughs, but most importantly a heart full of love. This year we have watched you grow into the sweet girl you are today. You took on the role of the best big sister and you have truly lived up to that name. You absolutely adore your baby brother and refer to him as your own. While this may have not always been the case from the beginning, it has been amazing to have watched to the change and just how much your sibling love has grown. I pray it is always this way. We have watched you make new friendships, learn about the love of Jesus, and find your strength. You love to be brave, but know your limits. You are cautious but are learning to step out in faith. I have loved watching your personality shine this year. When looking back on even the hardest of days, you have continued to teach me and to grow me as a mom (even those days you call me by full name). You love your hugs, your kisses, your books, ninja turtles, and your dinosaurs. You enjoy surprises. You have a heart for sweets like mommy and love yoga like daddy. You are a girl of lots of words with your mommy and daddy. You love to "read," to play with your brother, and to create. Each day is a new adventure and I am so thankful that God gave us you. It has been said that the days are long, but the years are short. I couldn't agree more. Wishing time would stand still as we take in these special moments. I can't believe you are almost THREE but surely are as cute as can be!

So to honor these sweet last days before you are a year older, I want to take down a few notes about this time.

Appointment: You did great for your 3 year well visit. You are a happy, healthy, and sweet little girl (of course I knew this). You are a bit clumsy like mama and honestly make me laugh when you hang upside down on the table telling our doctor you are a bat (Oh how I love your stories.) I would know your exact measurements but baby brother ate and crinkled up your paper. Plus I flat out left it by accident. Per our doctor, you are about 50% on weight (average) but in the 90-95% of height. He estimated that you could be 5.8 and all the way to 5.10 in height. Eek! Genes just like daddy.

Auby Activity Notes
1. This year brought on great change with welcoming your baby brother into our family. While you may have had a few stand off moments in the beginning, you absolutely adore your baby brother and actually call him, your baby.

2. I became a stay at home mommy. While there are many days I feel like I'm still figuring it out and probably will continue throughout the years, and we have all had our cry it out moments at home, I am absolutely loving our special time together. We enjoy days of crafts, play dates, park play, and lazy days at home in our jammies.
3. This year mommy joined MOPS (moms of preschoolers) at our home church on Mondays. You seem to enjoy being with your friends and learning about Jesus.
4. Mommy has also started a bible study on Wednesday mornings at Watermark with a friend. Last week was your first week and you took off running into your classroom. You talked about Noah and his ark filled with animals. You talked about His promise and how God loves His people.
5. Our favorite activity places include PlayStreet, Hope Park, Celebration Park, Jumpstreet, Chick-fil-a, splash pads, friends houses, and church. You love talking about the "barm" and all the "barm animals" including cheetahs, tigers, and gorillas.
6. Favorites: You love dressing up as a princess, playing kitchen and making food (sandwiches, donuts, and pouring daddy's coffee), crafts, dinosaurs, ninja turtles (Donatello especially), playing with friends, watching movies like Nemo, Zootopia, Beauty and the Beast, Monsters Inc.
7. On our drives to pick up/drop off daddy, we count the number of school buses and "Comerican" flags. You can also tell me that there are 50 stars on the Comerican flag but that the flag is white (usually meaning stars). You love to look at cars and road signs. You tell me their shape and color. You also point out the stop lights and that green means go and red means to stop. You are the best back seat driver around, but it is all very funny.
8. You are the best grocery shopping helper around and love to take your note pad to "mark off" all of our food.
9. You are really into high fives and fist bump. You've just recently learned how to "blow it up"
10. Jobs: You enjoy feeding Mattie, throwing away trash, making your bed, putting on the top part of your seat belt, getting dressed, and taking care of your baby brother

11. You are potty trained! You've actually been potty trained for quite some time but it sure has been a great accomplishment this year.
12. You rocked your first dentist appointment.

13. You love your loveys including Penny the Penguin. (He's a boy.), Lulu your dolly, Fox, Dotty, Sea Horsey, baby blankie, your Chick-fil-a cards, Chuckee Cheeses tickets, plastic dinosaurs, and Donatello ninja turtle blow up, etc

14. You have started dancing and singing more. It is honestly one of my favorite things.

15. You talk to Alexa and tell her to "end timer"

16. You are more interested in bugs but do like to "shoo" them away.

17. You will correct us but honestly have some pretty awesome manners so can't hate too much.

18. We love spending time with friends, giving hugs and kisses, and always want to play with their toys. You are also pretty good about inviting friends as well as random people to our house.

3rd Birthday Interview per Auby

Favorite Color: pink or yellow

Favorite Dinosaur: Triceratops
Favorite Letter: The A
Best Friend: You
What job do you want to do when you get big: Police officer and go to the fire station
Favorite Movie: Zootopia
Favorite Animal: Giraffe
Favorite Book: Animal Book
What does Daddy do: Do some work and his work is white. My work is pink. I do my pink jobs.
What is mommy's job/work: working out
Where is your favorite place to play: Playstreet

Favorite pet: Tiger
Favorite Princess: Belle

Favorite Food: I like cookies and toast
Favorite Toy: play crackers

I am so excited to see what this next year will have in store for us. Through the good days and even through the challenge ones I am so incredibly thankful for each moment spent with you and your brother. You will forever be my most favorite little girl in the entire world! All my love sweet angel. I am so proud to be your mommy.

Watch Liam Grow: Weeks 15-20

 Dear my Liam love,

To my littlest love.
You are an absolute joy. You bring so much happiness and light to every person you meet. I secretly  (or maybe not so secretly) love that you have special eyes for mommy. While it may have taken you a few months to really let that little personality shine as you were a bit serious, my boy you have grown. You are full of smiles, loud squeals, eye brow raises, and body rolls. You grow stronger each and every day. You love playing with toys, grabbing anything you can get your hands onto, rolling back to front and front to back, talking and giggling. and observing all that goes on around you. I love the way you "play" with big sister and the beautiful growing relationship that you two have together. As I say each and every time, you continue to grow right before my eyes. Time is flying, but I am trying to soak up each and every newness that you learn. Thank you for being so go with the flow and putting up with second child problems. Mommy loves you with all my heart and I cannot wait to see your new little tricks that come with our next month together.

 

 

20 Weeks of Liam Love'n

 

While some days are not filled with unicorns and rainbows, I do have to say that we do have a lot of love and a lot of fun over here. 

Number of months: 4 months
Measurements: Measurements taken at 4 month appointment: Weight 14 lbs 8.5 oz (19%), Height 26 21/4 inches (79%), Head Cir 16 7/8 inches (72%)
Clothing: You wear a few 3-6 but mostly 6 month footed jammies due to your long legs. Most of your clothing, shorts, shirts, are 3-6 months. You are wearing size 2 diapers and wear night times at night.
Eating: You are eating 4 oz every 2-3 hours. You are in the 19% so it doesn't hurt me if you want an extra bottle. I can tell we are just about ready to move you to 6 oz (bigger) bottles. Some days you eat ALL.THE.TIME and others you don't seem as hungry. We are officially starting to move to more formula as you are needing more and mommy can't catch up. You are still taking breast milk as well. You do have a problem with spitting up which is definitely something we aren't as used to. We are told it's not reflux at this time. 
Sleep: Well I remember using the term "magical" last time I wrote and I can honestly say the fourth month sleep regression is real. We actually hit it early toward the end of three months and are currently still going strong. We attempt three naps a day, but many times our first nap is a bit on the go and our afternoon can be heavenly or non existent. You are still currently in the pack n play but I do feel the big move is coming soon! You sleep with a sounds machine that makes ocean/wave sounds as well as sleep with your paci until your fingers can do a better job.
Personality: You are so fun. You are a very happy little boy with the biggest gummy grins. Your dimples are so stinking handsome and I can see you already have both mommy and daddy wrapped around your finger. You have a voice on you. You LOVE to hear yourself gab. You love to giggle and are truly a happy easy going baby until it's time to eat. Then you mean business. You love to grab and touch everything. I am thankful big sister and the pup are ok with you grabbing their hair. Everything goes into your mouth. You are a paci baby but love to suck on your fingers, fist, our fingers, toys, etc. You love music and noise. You also seem to be drawn to big sisters shows and will turn that direction to observe. You are a very strong and determined little man and oh so loved.
Activities: make lots of noise, "talk" to us, have found hands and feet, chew on everything (signs of teeth?), love music, are a super go with the flow baby, roll forward and backward, can lift head very high, mimic facial expressions, curl your toes when you stand, love to stand, observe everything around you, enjoy putting big sister down for bed, looking at books, dancing, like to face outward when you are held, enjoy mirrors.

I can't wait to see what next month has in store for our growing little man!

Our Red, White, & Blue Fourth 2016

July 4th was celebrated on a Monday this year. We adorned our family in red, white, and blue and waved our American flags proudly while saying prayers for the service men and women both past and present who had given us our freedoms.

 

{Sunday's red, white, and blue baptismal church service}

 

 {My Sunday school beauty}

Our Sunday morning would begin with delicious red, white, and blue (pan)cakes with my perfect little seus chef by my side.

On the day of the Fourth, the weather was a bit overcast. It had also rained the night before. I couldn't miss taking patriotic pictures of our littles. They turned out adorable.

Loving my patriotic boy!

This was our 3rd year attending the hometown red, white, and blue parade as I love fun family traditions.

 Aubrey loved waving her flags and watching out for horsies and other parade animals.

After a few family fourth photos, it was time for the parade to begin. 

 

  

The kids did amazing, including my sleepy little boy. The parade was an absolutely perfect picture of patriotism and full of July Fourth fun. After the parade, we had made plans on visiting sweet church friends for a cute family get together that afternoon, but would quickly be cancelling. Yep, we quickly realized little miss had lice. So sparing you any of the horrific details (even though the lady reminded me that it was not Ebola just lice), it took us 4 hours of debugging the whole family (we all were gifted with this wonderful little greatness) and 7 hours of house cleaning. I am so grateful for our wonderful friend who came, on a holiday, to rid us of our big problem. So it was definitely not the day we had in mind as almost everything was quarantined to the garage including little misses toys that went on "vacation."  But I am thankful for the morning of denial that we had while we enjoyed some July fourth fun with our family.

Summer Shenanigans 2016

Since becoming a stay at home mommy of two and learning to figure life out as it comes, life has gotten a bit busy. We are faced with the most extraordinary of days as well as the challenging ones. Our life is perfectly imperfect and to be honest, sometimes it gets a bit messy. But with that being said and after many tears and glasses of wine or spoonfuls of ice cream, we make it work. Plus I wouldn't have it any other way. I get to do the best job, the hardest job, a rewarding job, and sometimes an overlooked job. So while life has gotten a bit busier, I look forward to stolen little moments where I can sit down and get to my happy writing place. So here's to our summer shenanigans and all the fun, exciting, and crazy little moments that we've enjoyed this summer.

So here it is, our smorgasbord of activities, a picture post with a few details as I'm writing on borrowed time for sure.

We love to enjoy a little bit of summer fun in the sun (or shade of our backyard) by playing in the water (yes we need a little pool;), chalk art, Pandora music, and sidewalk painting. 

Auby's potty training success chart. Day One!

We started Day Two of potty training off with a plastic pretzel and a quick picture.

My littlest Aggie love says "Gig 'Em!"

Waters Creek Crafts

A is for America: Summer Crafts @ Waters Creek

Upstairs play with the Littles: Liam is sizing up his new toy while big sister is reminiscing over her favorite baby toys. #canthistoyfitinmymouth

Midday movie and popcorn with Arlo & The Good Dinosaur

"Hello baby brother. I love my brother, mama!"

Liam loves his Teddy Bear

Petting the duckies at Waters Creek with my big girl. 

 Father's Day Fun Sheet

 Little Elm Family Beach Fun with Daddy for Father's Day.

Reunion Tower "Take Pop to the Top" Fun

 

 While little man may have only taken a 20 minute nap today, it gave me enough time to get ready for our first parents night out date night. And then I got to cuddle with this munchkin.

Parents Night out with this handsome hunk to Waters Creek

 

This was one of my favorite date nights with my man and seriously most delicious. We dinned at Gimaldi's, and then took a nice stroll hand in hand without the kiddos. True perfection!

 We swam with our Fantlet pool pals.

 I was able to workout while my littlest of minis was napping! #Winning

 Sweet Summer Treat & Yogurt Date with the family!

 Painting Party and Girls Night with Jenn

 Library Fun with our church friends

 Splash Pad fun with our Duke friends

 Upside Down splash pad fun with Jacob & Aubrey.

 Aubrey & Haley enjoying a snack at the Splash Pad

 Aubrey & Robert Hugs

 Frisco's Park-a-Palooza Fun with our Cox Crew to see Hook

 Family Fun @ Park-a-Palooza

 Craft Madness at the Casa with Auby

 

Our silly girl decided she would be "nakie" after her lack of nap and crazy afternoon yesterday. But hey while keeping me on my toes sure is pretty adorable sporting her daddy's hat. She also wears her head bands over her eyes too. Oh I love her determination.

 We loved our trip to the Dallas Zoo with Nolan, Parker, Miss Courtney, and soon to come baby Lincoln.

 Auby's 1st ride on a pony.

 "Hello Little Tiger"

 Jumpstreet Jump fun this Friday with our friends, Nolan & Parker.

 Happy 15 Weeks to our munchkin

 We loved spending our afternoon at the pool with these beautiful almost 3rd graders and their families. I' so blessed to have been their teacher. Also what a special treat it was for them to love on my littles! A perfect day of fun in the sun.

 Playstreet fun with our Ogle ladies.

 I'm so in love with this fuzzy haired munchkin.

 Who's that handsome boy in the mirror?

 We love our pretty princess and handsome little hunk. Fun at home with mommy.

 When your sleepy sidekick is blocking your popcorn, you get creative! #don'twakethebaby

 It's been a hard day here in the Zellner house. But nothing looks sweeter than little man finally getting some rest in the pack n play. Sweet dreams my littlest.

Our Friday Fourth started a bit early. We enjoyed lots of fun Fourth activities with the babes.

Family outing to the theater to see Finding Dory. Little man did amazing and slept through the entire movie. Other than two trips to the potty, Auby loved all of the wonderful characters and raved about the movie the entire way home.

 So this is what your day might look like after a very long night, and stressful few days. Now both kids, dog, and green dinosaur are currently tucked in so that mommy can eat lunch and finish off a mountain (and I mean Everest) of laundry!

 What a perfect afternoon of celebration and fun with our Cox crew. Many blessings on Will's baptism. I absolutely adore these friendships.

 We enjoyed our play time at Playstreet with our sweet friends, Miss Kami and Kambryn.

 Family selfie at The Grapevine Aquarium. We loved seeing all the Dorys, Meemos, Mr. Rays, and of course a Hank, Peach and Gill.

 Love for our 3rd annual Cow Appreciation Day with our favorite little herd.

 A mall play date with Erin and her sweet girls. The ladies were rock'n out with their stuffties at Barnes & Noble. It made for a great little show.

 Aubrey giving love to her Liam... and probably trying to steal a bit of daddy's lap. Yep, that's my little girl who has now started to refuse pieces of clothing since we moved into panties.

 I love my fuzzy wuzzy bear cub after his bath.

 We found our piggies at 3 months.

 Afternoon chats between the babes are my absolute favorite.

I love jumpstreet. It is an all day ticket which allowed for daddy to get in on some of the action after we picked him up after work. We love Friday fun with the family.

 This summer we enjoyed sweet moments at Chuck-E-Cheeses!

 High fives to Chuck-E with Haley & Jacob this summer

 Art & Craft time with my girl. Oh how she loves some Auby Art

 Chick-fil-a fun with our Fantlet friends

 Lucky Duck Kids Club has amazing free programs for children every third Sunday of the month. This month our activity was all about bugs! Oh how we adore our own little love bugs. It was a fun afternoon outing with our Ogle girls.

To all of our many shenanigans and for those to come. To the busy days with friends and family and to the lazy days at home. So thankful for these amazing and sometimes crazy messy moments, but I'll definitely hold onto each one of them for a lifetime.