This Fall

I have been so bad this fall about taking iPhone pictures and not using my fancy (ish) camera that Craig bought me a few years ago.  So bad, in fact, that my camera's storage capacity has almost been met.  

But I have busted out the "mom" camera a few times this year and then I actually had time to upload them over the weekend.  Here are just a few of the best ones from the past few months.

Okay.  Not the BEST quality of picture but it's pretty hard to get an 18 month old to stand still for any amount of time.  This was her first day back at Ms. Rebecca's house as a "big girl" and although she was a little tentative at first, she quickly fell back into the routine.  

Of course.  The dog kennel is the best place in the house to hang out.

Craig and I took one Tuesday off from work in October and we traveled to the State Fair near downtown Dallas for the day.  We started off the day at the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit but she wasn't really feeling it.  She said NO to the apron and NO to riding around on a mini John Deere tractor.  

Picking the "apples" out of the tree.  See the aprons on the other children?  She would have none of that.

Planting a seed in the dirt.....or you know, playing in the dirt.

Picking out a vegetable from the harvest.  For whatever reason, she chose an eggplant.  Who knows why.

Checking out a baby giraffe at the kid's animal exhibit.  She did not leave my dad's arms for the entire time we were in that place.  There were TONS of people plus lots of big animals and she was perfectly content sitting snug in Granddaddy's arms.

Baby giraffe - probably her favorite.

So intent and focused.

The family checking out the talented jumping dog show.

We even got to meet and pet one of those talented puppy dogs!  She waited so patiently in line while noisy, rude teenagers pushed in front of her and once we got up to the dog, she used her best sweet puppy dog pat.  I will admit - I was a pretty proud Momma.

Natalie loved climbing in and out of several cars at the car show.  My dad has been an autobody repairman for his entire life and cars are one of his great loves.  I know he was happy to see his only granddaughter showing such enthusiasm - she would even turn the wheel and make "vroom, vroom" noises.

The beginning of the whale ride.  She (and I) were both pretty nervous.  She was by far the youngest child on the ride without a parent seated next to them.  But she was a trooper and held on the entire time.

And of course LOVED it in the end.

Another favorite ride was the four-wheeler merry-go-round.  

The only real meltdown we had during the day was the fact that at some moments, she just DID NOT want to sit in her stroller and by 2:00 when we were headed out the gate, I wasn't in the mood to fight her so on my shoulders she rode.  My mom snapped this picture of our little family heading out of the park.

And then of course, what's a trip to the State Fair without the requisite Big Tex picture.  

This is obviously before his untimely incineration.

The best thing about the State Fair is the nap you get to take afterwards.

Switching gears slightly....this was Natalie's outfit on Saturday when we went to pick out her pumpkin.  Such a big girl with her tights, boots and jean jacket.

I don't carve pumpkins.  I don't like the mess and the frustration so I decided to make PAINTING pumpkins our family tradition.  I started out by taping off her initials using painter's tape.

We bought some really great Crayola kids' paint (because I KNOW we'll be painting soon again).

Now.

The actual painting of this pumpkin was pretty hilarious and adorable.  She was naked except for her diaper and freaked out in the beginning because the girl does NOT like to have her hands (or anything else for that matter) dirty.  Craig and I had to soothe her over and over, "it's okay to be a little dirty, this is fun, just paint."  

More and more I'm seeing some OCD tendencies come out in her which absolutely terrifies me, but that's a whole other blog post.

But the painting.  It was full of screeches and hops and slapping our thigh with paint.  And then some paint managed to find it's way onto the pumpkin as well.

But I'm not posting those pictures because she's beginning to be a big girl and I just don't think halfway naked toddler girl pictures are appropriate for the interwebs.  But it makes me sad at the same time, because some of her faces are absolutely ridiculous.

But here she is with her pumpkin all finished and obviously SO excited to be having her picture taken, right?  

Or not.

Nice snarl, honey.

Oh wait!  There's my smiley girl!  Yes.  A tutu.  On a Sunday.  Because, you know, she's 20 months old and it's still cute.

Her new trick?  When I get out the camera...."cheese" and she kind of smiles and looks at me.  Where do they learn these things?

That's all I've got for right now!  I knew I needed to get these pictures and memories out there because pretty soon we're going to be hitting our stride with the holiday season and I have a feeling this year is going to be BUSY.