A peaceful moment

Playing together

State Fair

I was thrilled to go back to the fair this year. We went three times last year! This year instead of going on the popular can food day we went the day before. Notorious for being a slow day. On top of that it was a rainy, chilly day so it was perfect for crowd control. Before the fair started I bought a ride sheet. I didn't know if Emerson would be interested but figured she could ride some of the "kiddie" rides. Little did I know I had a little dare devil on my hands. First I spotted a carousel.  Emerson loves the carousel so I thought it was a perfect first ride. She hops on with Mark and the ride starts spinning super fast! Apparently it wasn't the little kiddie carousel. I was surprised when she didn't even flinch at the increase of speed. She hopped off and spotted the ferris wheel. I was hesitant but she was full steam ahead. No fear. This was no rinky dinky ferris wheel. It was a big ferris wheel with wobble buckets for seats!

I couldn't even spot Emerson because she was so tiny in comparison.

Until she turned around to peep out. Not the least bit concerned.  After the ferris wheel we found there were several rides she couldn't get on since she wasn't 36 inches. She wasn't thrilled about that. But, we found a few good ones and she had a ball and Ezra enjoyed watching her. He was laid back as ever, enjoying the fair from the stroller. We indulged with some homemade chips, cupcakes, and a corn on the cob. Food, my favorite part. 

Emerson also enjoyed looking at the farm animals. Although she was a little weary being so close to the big cows. They all had their calves and she loved seeing them. I have to admit I love it too as the animals are adorable to say the least.


Here is one of our favorites, a baby donkey. Emerson was insistent that she needed to touch it.  We also saw some super cute bunnies on the way out. She about took them out of the cage she wanted one so bad! After a fun filled time we headed out.

While enjoying the beautiful view of the fair.  Mark made sure to capture some of the fantastic lights. Can't wait until next year's fair! We might need two sheets of ride tickets. 

6 months later...

And he hasn't stopped smiling. :)

Teething Time

Ezra has been working on two teeth for awhile now. Emerson had a teething necklace from Inspired by Finn and it worked wonders for her molars. I'm so eager to get Ezra one before he starts popping all these teeth in to alleviate the discomfort. Good for Mama and baby.

How can you not feel better with a necklace named sunshine?

Bring a Friend

Not a day goes by that Emerson doesn't say, "Where did Addie go?"Literally every place we go she hopes she is also there.  So when it was bring a friend week at dance class Emerson knew exactly who she would invite. She absolutely loves Addie and was so excited to dance with her. The watched the big girls dance before their class began and were completely captivated.

I love seeing Emerson develop friendships. It's very sweet. I think here Emerson is looking at Addie's leotard wishing she had some stripes. Ha!

The girls walked in holding hands and even though Addie is a little younger than the rest of the girl's she did great! As you can see they had a good time dancing together. I'm sure they have many more memories ahead!

Ezra 6 months

6 months has passed since Ezra made his debut into the world. Time really has just flown by and he has changed so much. I'm just amazed at the warm and sweet little boy that I get to love on every day. I continue to see his personality come out and he is really as happy as can be. He loves to have people dote over him. He will grin from ear to ear if some gives him some attention and he will turn his head as to appear shy. His legs are always moving, kicking up and down. You can just see his excitement throughout his whole body and I love it. The big difference this month is mobility. He is scooting along, way to fast for my preference. He can get on all fours with ease and plunges forward to get what he wants. He almost made it completely across the house the other day. So nothing is out of reach at this point. On more than one occasion he has tried to snatch Emerson's snacks. He's pretty close to sitting. He usually can prop himself up, but can sit for about 20 seconds. All this moving has made diaper changes difficult. He rolls over before I can get anything on and I can't seem to turn him over.  He's working on two teeth and it seems to be a very slow process. We are in desperate need of a teething necklace! Ezra still takes two solid naps a day. Night sleeping can still be tricky. He is starting to enjoy his sister, being entertained by her silliness. She likes to put a crown on him and call him Princess Ezra. He even loves going to storytime with her and I think enjoys it just as much as any toddler. Ezra loves any silly noise, or singing and will let out the most infectious chuckles. He is starting to show attachment to Mommy. Which I don't mind at all because I know it goes by all too fast. At the moment he loves any kind of teething toy, and any kind of bright stuffed animal. He also enjoys bathtime by kicking like crazy and dispersing all the water. He always tries to eat the wash cloth so now I give him one, and keep one for me to actually clean him.

Finally he is starting to get some fuzz on that head. Can you see it?

He has discovered he has a loud voice. He loves to squeal with excitement as well as blow raspberries. He has also started what looks like a growl when he gets excited. He raises his upper lip as to show me his "teeth."

All this movement has gotten him stuck a time or two. 

Here he is chewing on a teething toy, aka Emerson's bangles.  I don't have any official stats since our 6 month appointment is not until the end of the month. But, I'm sure he has gotten a little bigger. I hope to have official 6 month pictures in a week or so when he is sturdier at sitting.  Happy Birthday Ezra!

Beans

Over the past couple weeks I've tried to do some intentional learning time with Emerson. She is pretty good at occupying herself and playing but I thought it might nice to try some new things. I can't remember where I saw this activity. Someone's blog or pinterest? But, scooping beans from one container to the other is the activity. It helps all those motor skills and it's needless to say fun for a two year old. I bought a $1 pack of eraser heads and hid them in the mix. She loved scooping back and forth. Even tried to eat a few beans. Everytime she would make it in she would say, "score!" Not sure where she got that! This activity has captivated her attention on several occasions. Never mind that I had to clean up about 300 of them from under the couch. We're learning, right? I guess I'm learning new cleaning techniques. Hopefully I can share a few things here and there that we are doing. I don't want to keep it too regimented but instead fun for us both. Wish us luck!

Farm Day

Back to our farm day adventure. Every week I deliver for The Produce Box. My route goes out to Durham and back up to Raleigh. On the way back I always pass a rural area, which is funny because it's very close to Hwy 70. But, we always stop the car and say hi to the horses. This week I saw a sign for a farm-a-palooza and I was immediately intrigued. I googled the farm and found that they were having food, music, and most importantly you can visit the animals. The goats were super interested in us since we had some feed for them.


This guy was the boss man. Pushing everyone else out of the way to get some food.

Emerson eventually warmed up and feed the goats herself.  She was so excited. We even got to pet a bunny rabbit. 

Another one of the goats. 

Emerson was so interested in the animals but sometimes cautious since they would jump over top of the fence.  There were also chickens, pigs, and sheep. 

We invited our neighbors and Emerson's good friend Addie. She was very excited that Addie was there. They have become great friends! I love how they are both smiling but not looking at the camera. Ha!

We spent some more time on the farm and took a stroll through the fields.  It was crisp and perfect fall weather. 

Ezra enjoyed a snack break, and Emerson "fixed" my hair. One of her favorite pass times lately.

Emerson held Ezra for a little bit but I'm sure that won't work much longer! We had a really great time at the farm and even picked up some freshly laid eggs. We will definitely visit again!

This is real life

Saturday we went to a farm for a morning of fun. I'll share more of our day tomorrow but I wanted to share this picture. Two thirds of us smiling, semi looking. It's close to perfect in my book. I never get a picture with both my kids. 

Then I go to these two pictures. Real life. Haha. Disheveled, wrangling a two year old, while holding a baby. It's just real life.