Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween!

from the sweetest "ghouls" I know!

Nature Walk

A week or so ago, when it was absolutely beautiful out, I decided to take the girls on a wagon ride to pick up some pretty leaves.

 We were well prepared with water, cheerios, sunglasses and hats...and diet sundrop.

Oh, and we can't forget our jewelry. Anastyn made sure she had her ring and necklace for the ride.

We gathered some very beautiful leaves and I had this idea in my head that we would use wax to coat them and then make a leaf garland. Well I dried them but they have yet to be made into a garland. Oh, well. We had fun on our walk anyway. And I maybe I will get that garland made this weekend.

Natalie loved being able to help herself to the cheerios. And I loved getting her to keep this hat on her head. It is almost too small, sigh. And I can't resist getting a picture when I see lashes resting so sweetly on those cheeks.



I set the timer for a quick shot of me with the girls. Yes, folks, I go out in public looking like this sometimes. It is a bit embarrasing, but I wouldn't get much done if I had to get fully ready everytime I stepped outside my house. That's just the way it is!



 Natalie was enjoying playing in the grass and the leaves when we got home. Happy girl

Old Iron Works Days

I am so excited that we got to go the the Old Iron Works Days at Meramec Spring Park this year. I haven't been in a very long time and we happened to be in Belle the weekend my brother and some of our friends had planned to go. We had planned on heading home early to get some things accomplished around our house, but took a last minute detour and headed to St. James. It was just such a beautiful day we couldn't resist being outside. We met up with everyone and had a great time!

 Anastyn and her friend Hannah had fun climing on this antique piece of machinery. Sorry, I didn't read the sign, so I have no idea what it is.

 Posing for pictures...always makes me laugh!

 Natalie taking a break in daddy's arms.

Kesha and Sarah, two beautiful, pregnant ladies!

 I love this picture so much. Trent laughing, Malachi's unsure look, Nate's cute diaper bag backpack...just makes me smile.

We spent some time letting the kids play on this fun slide. Metal slides are so much better than the plastic ones they have nowadays. Much faster! (I know the plastic ones are probably safer...still not as much fun!)

 We explored the furnace and tried to get a picture of all the kids inside. This is as good as it gets. Haha! Anastyn is posing with a cracker in front of her mouth and everyone is truly doing their own thing.

 

 Can't believe this sweet thing is going to be ONE is less than a month!

WILL TIME PLEASE SLOW DOWN!? 

 Anastyn didn't get her nap in and was beyond sleepy. Hannah started playing with her hair and they stood like this for a good minutes. It was so sweet watching them. They get along so well and Anastyn was loving having her hair played with.  

 The girls practiced their balance beam skills.

We tried our hardest to walk on stilts. NOT EASY, FOLKS!

Natalie loves every minute of being outside.

Nathan, Anastyn, Natalie, and Malachi enjoying some bluegrass.

 CRACKS. ME. UP. Hahaha! I LOVE this picture.

The girls were very tired but wanted to "pose" for me.

It took a few tries to get one with some normal smiles.

That's better. What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than with family and friends that we love dearly! Thanks for letting us tag along!



Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

We were in Belle a couple of weekends ago and while Anastyn and my mom were outside looking at the garden they found this little beauty.

  We fixed up a temporary home to transport him home and decided to keep it around to watch it turn into a butterfly. We have had fun feeding it and watching it make its cocoon. Which happens insanely fast. Also, if you have never watched a caterpillar, they eat a ton and get rid of it quickly. We only had to feed it a couple days before it started making its cocoon, but it ate a lot and we definitely had to clean the cage out every day. It was a lot of fun to watch crawl around. Anastyn loved taking it out and holding it.

 Isn't it so pretty?

 Anastyn got this bug house for her birthday, so I was very excited that we had a place to put the caterpillar.

  I was having trouble getting good pictures of the cocoon. It wasn't in a very convenient photo op position. How rude! 

Isn't this so cool? We are loving the process. Can't wait to see a beautiful butterfly emerge!

Making A Comeback

So...it has been a while. Working on some posts about what we have been up to. Until then, here is my version of Embrace the Camera. I have seen it on this blog and think it is a great idea. Technically, you are supposed to do it on the same day as she does and link to her blog so you can see lots of other fun bloggers embracing the camera. But since I am just doing good to get a post up, period, I am just throwing a picture up today.

A few weeks ago Nathan was out of town for the week, so we had lots of fun girl time around the Lansford house. One BEAUTIFUL day, we decided to play in the garage. Anastyn rode her tricycle, Natalie played in the little car that we have and the wagon. We were just having a good time singing and dancing and playing in the garage.
Anastyn has been very into dressing herself and picking out her own clothes lately. One of my favorite parts of the day is when I arrive home on the days I work, Anastyn always greets me at the door with a very loving " Hi, mommy!" and she is always wearing a skirt or play dress with high heels. I. LOVE. IT. And Natalie comes crawling as soon as she sees me and starts whining for me to pick her up. It makes me feel warm and loved and I can't help but smile. I love that part of the day.
Now, I will be honest, I wish I could say that is how the entire evening goes. But Anastyn usually has some crazy meltdown, I get fairly frustrated and we have some tears before everything gets back to happy and normal. However, that is our life right now and I really do want to embrace it. I have a really hard time being in the moment sometimes. I get distracted by all the things that seem to need to be done around the house and hear myself saying, "in a minute, hold on" and it makes me cringe. Then I catch a glimpse of my girls making each other laugh (which is by far the best sound I have ever heard!), or playing peek a boo and I try to remind myself that this time is going by so fast and I need to EMBRACE it now! I am working on it.

Natalie: Nine Months

Natalie's first time to the beach, Huntington Beach, CA. August 17th, 2011
 (yep, need to post about that too!)

Yes, I know that I haven't done a monthly post for my daughter since like 4 months? 2 months? not even sure. She is doing awesome though! I am realizing I am just not good at doing lots of things well. The important thing is I have the monthly pictures and I know what has been going on, right?  Maybe one day I will have time to go back and add in posts, but for now there is no time to catch up. We are moving forward!

Cruising in the airport, she was loving being able to be down.

Natalie turned 9 months on August 17th. She is such a big girl now! Her first two teeth busted through a couple weeks ago and they are so stinkin' cute! I can't seem to get a picture but I promise they are definitely there.
Natalie smiles all the time. She loves for anyone to look at her and it takes a smile, a blown kiss, a wave, basically anything and she bursts into her sweet radiant smile. I love these days!
She can wave, blow kisses, give kisses, opens up for a bite, stands when I say "up", and sits when I say "down" (holding onto fingers), she has been crawling all over the place for a while now. She pulls up on everything and cruises along the couch and the pews at church.
She loves her table food. The girl eats more than her sister. CRAZY! But I love it because food fights were not my favorite times with Anastyn. She eats oatmeal with fruit mixed in every morning for breakfast and sometimes before bedtime. She eats some baby food with pieces of food mixed in, but mostly whatever vegetable, fruit, bread, pasta, or baby snack we give her on her little tray. It is fun watching her put food in her mouth, I love how she grabs it with her little pincer grasp and then pokes it in her mouth then opens her hand to assure it stays there, it seriously makes me smile every time, lol, I love it.
She loves to laugh and Anastyn is her favorite person to laugh at. All Anastyn has to say is "Boo" and Natalie is hooked. They laugh together and play in Anastyn's room together some now. I can really see the love they have for one another and that puts all sorts of dreams in my head for them as they grow. I am so proud of my little "sisters".
She says hi and dada and loves to babble and talk. I catch her talking when she has a baby doll in her hands or she likes to babble and chew on things at the same time.
She is a squealer! It is LOUD, whether she is happy or sad she at times lets out this high squeal to let us know, "hey, I am soooooo excited!!" or "I AM NOT A HAPPY GIRL!" I am pretty sure that is what she is thinking.
She is incapable of sitting still, always flipping or flopping or grabbing for things.
She likes to get into things and absolutely everything she finds goes straight in her mouth. I have fished out ponytail holders, foam letters, lint, food that has been dropped on the kitchen floor and I haven't gotten around to picking up yet...yep, EVERYTHING!

Best of Friends

She is quite the sweetheart and I am so proud of her. We are working on her walking, it won't be too long! I think she is simply precious.

Sister Cousins

The last time we were in Belle, my nieces were also visiting so we decided to try doing a photo shoot with all the girl cousins. They really love one another and definitely act like sisters. I wanted to try to show how much they enjoy being together. These pictures just crack me up. At one point I asked the girls to bend their knees so I could see all of their feet behind them, Anastyn face-planted trying to get her feet up, hahaha, I love it!

We let Natalie in on the next pictures, I thought they were pretty good considering none of these girls hold still for very long, mine in particular!