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.