Third time's the charm

The little red coupe is making it's third and final rotation thru the Jones house. It's looking pretty good for a used vehicle!  Of course that is because it's never been driven outside! 

A little first time driver jitters as she opens the door and gets in.

Trusty "blank" at her side and she is ready to roll.

"Where are my keys?"

And she "starts" it up.  I absolutely love her expression in this pic.

Back home after a hard day shopping!

17 Months already?

Can you believe that 17 months have passed?  I know I have been here in the trenches for the whole time but I still sit in awe that 17 months have passed.  Sweet Baby M is quickly becoming a full-blown toddler!

In case I haven't said it before, she's AMAZING, just like her big sisters!  She is scary smart and demonstrates it daily with her vocabulary.  Her list of words keeps growing:  get down, up, night-night, water, snack, yellow, pink, blue, purple, green, animal names and sounds, Sesame Street character names, etc.

She is still on the petite side.  A size 12 month fits in weight but is too short and a size 18 month fits in length but is too big in weight.  She can wear a size 12-18 month just about perfectly depending on the brand.

She has 4 teeth on top and three on the bottom (still looking for that 4th tooth in the front) and I noticed last week that some of the upper back molars are coming in.  The first clue was the ezcema rash on her face and the change in her night-time sleep pattern :-(

No one has told her that she is only 17 months old!  She follows the big girls around like she is one of them--complete with climbing on the furniture and whatever else she can find to stand on.  She loves her big sis G and will run to her when I tell her "no".  G is her "little mama" and K is her playmate and cohort in family room destruction.  K is also the one that she shares true sibling rivalry with.  They will squabble over the most mundane things.

I'm excited to see her reaction to all things holiday as we go into the holiday season!

Love this girl's smile!

Baby M and her favorite "Mammy"

Falling into Fall......

It seems Fall is finally here.  The weather was so warm thru most of October that we didn't even need jackets on most days.  This morning when I went outside, it was 31 degrees and the grass and car were covered with frost--time to trade the jacket for a coat :-(

I'm happy to have the use of both hands back now!  I didn't realize how much appreciation I had for my left hand until it was bandaged and my thumb was immobile.  For YEARS, I had what looked like a varicose vein at the base of my left thumb.  It had slowly grown until it was noticeable and slightly painful when doing everyday tasks.  One of the concerns was that I had "nicked" it a couple of times and it was difficult to stop the bleeding.  R was worried that I was going to accidentally cut myself or that it would burst when I was home by myself with the girls and that it would quickly become an emergency situation.  I being the procrastinator,  put off his concerns (nagging :-) for as long as possible. It was a same day surgery procedure and with the exception of swelling, and the awful, immobile bandage, I'm glad that's it's done and gone.

K's preschool class took a field trip to the pumpkin patch and here's my sweet girl hammin' it up for the camera.   The field trip was rained out on it's scheduled day and so Grammy and Aunt M volunteered to go on the make-up day since R and I had long-awaited dentist appointments scheduled.  Believe me when I say I wish I could have gone to the pumpkin patch instead----two crowns in my treatment plan later :-( 

Lots of pictures from October, so bear with me as I try to catch-up.

The field trip was rained out on it's scheduled day and so Mimi and Grammy got to enjoy the pumpkins and the festivities!

G getting her "official" induction into American Heritage Girls.

Pics from the State Fair.  Guess who had a great time?

And guess who was just kicked back?

She's only laughing this hard because she is "bumping" Grammy all over the place!

K and her friend at one of the last games the girl's cheered at.  Cute!

How did she get this grown-up?

"HEEELLLLLLOOOO!! Anybody in there?"

"Okay, you caught me!"

The girls with their Cheerleading awards.

Who said you can't have fun in a bucket?

G's class also took a trip to the pumpkin patch.  I will forever remember this trip as the day I broke a tooth and added a third crown to my treatment plan :-(

I just loved this shot because of the natural lighting on my two beauties!

A little early trick-or-treating because we were afraid that Hurricane Sandy was going to derail Halloween plans this year.

Snow White, a Zebra, and Stacy London as a cat.