Hiking at Petit Jean State Park

This past Sunday we went hiking at Petit Jean State Park. We hiked down to the waterfall, let the kids burn off some energy and hiked back up to the top. The kids have been enjoying hiking around! Typically Adam will carry Sarah in the backpack and I'll carry Andrew in my Moby wrap. The waterfall was beautiful with the fall colors!

An update on the kiddos...Sarah is doing great at potty training! She's starting to ask to go potty even when she has a diaper on. But we still have the occasional accident. Andrew is doing wonderful! We recently started weining him from nursing in light of our upcoming trips and our move to NC. He isn't fond of taking formula from Mom, but Sarah is always a willing helper when Dad's not around! He is doing great with it so far. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Schaefer's Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we took the kids out to a pumpkin patch with some friends. The kids had a blast and I had fun shooting photos. Sarah enjoyed seeing all the animals, taking a hay ride (though she did not like touching the hay) and picking her own pumpkin. Andrew enjoyed himself as well. He favorite parts were riding in the wagon with Sarah and Mars and watching all the other people and kids. It turned out to be a long but enjoyable day! This weekend we will take some Halloween pictures and will post them soon. Sarah is going to be a cow and Andrew a skeleton.

Happy Halloween to All!!!

I swear she said she loves him!

I just love this photo of Andrew!

Ahh, finally one I can pick up!

This one is MINE! I don't have to pick it up, I'll just roll it!

Climbing out of our Crib

Here is a video from a few weeks ago. Adam went to wake Sarah up from a nap and discovered she wasn't in her crib. Curiously he scanned the room to find her reading (playing with) her books. His reaction prompted me to join in the gazing back and forth at Sarah out of her crib. After a few moments I believe I had the same "oh my" reaction. Once we gathered ourselves from wondering how we are going to survive without having her "jail," I asked her to show me how she got out. I was curious and wanted to know! After I put her back in her crib and asked her how she got out, sure enough, within seconds she was out again. Adam needed to see it as well. Now the third time was not a charm however. Her dismount was not as successful as the first two. She did not get hurt, well, I take that back. Her pride was hurt. We decided we needed to get this on tape. I know your saying, "why didn't you get it on tape from the begining?" We just weren't thinking about it. If I remember correctly images of waking up at 3 am with a pair of 2 year old's eyes peering at me while I'm sleeping kept going through my head. Or a lovely little girl waking me up saying, momma I "vwake."

Also, notice the "landing zone" she created of all the stuffed animals, blankets and pillows from her crib. At least she had a soft landing when her dismount wasn't so successful! Since this last dismount she has been found in her crib each and every time. I love having a whimpy daughter! hehe. We are hoping she stays in her crib until we leave Arkansas as we are currently sleeping on what will be her "new" bed.

Enjoy the video!!!!

Family Photos

Here are some of the family photos we took this morning at "The Old Mill" here in Little Rock. This is Sarah's favorite place to go right now. She likes seeing (and feeding...shh) the ducks and turtles. Thank you Michelle for being our photographer! Enjoy the pictures. Andrew is sitting himself up on a more consistent basis now. He enjoys when we put him on his knees or standing next to his toys. This enables him to play with more things that were out of reach before! Sarah is starting to use the word "no" more often and is definately into the mimicing stage!

Looking at the Old Mill

Looking down the lake to the right of the mill.

First Family 5K

Saturday morning Adam, the kids and I ran our first 5K here in AR together as a family. It was an early morning for us, but the kids did wonderful! Sarah's favorite part was seeing the ducks and bundling up like we were in Alaska again. Her least favorite part was the approaching train's horn, twice. Andrew on the other hand was just hanging out perfecting his thievery skills by swipping toys or food from Sarah. At first he wasn't quite sure about having a hat on his head, but once his bald nugget was exposed to the cold air he quickly decided it was better to wear the hat. We received a lot of cheers as we passed spectators and other runners, because not only were we the only ones pushing a stroller, we were pushing 2 kiddos in the stroller. Despite it being early in the morning, in the high 40's to low 50's for temperature and foggy we had an absolute blast. We finished ahead of about a quarter of the runners at just over 32 minutes. Its wonderful to be able to participate in events like this with the kids. I'm ready for my next 5K on Oct. 17th and hopefully we'll do another family one soon after that!!!

I've also included some pictures of the kids playing below.

Here are some pictures!!

Andrew and Sarah all bundled up waiting for the start.

1st of hopefully many more post race family photos!

Watch out, drool bomb!!!

Our First Blog

Welcome! We are all doing wonderful here in Arkansas. So far we are enjoying our time here and making the best out of it. Sarah is growing up more and more everyday. She recently climbed out of her crib so its just a matter of time before she won't stay in it at all. Luckily she hasn't done it again and has succombed to taking naps. She is enjoying going to the lake to see the turtles and ducks. Her favorite past time however, is gymnastics. Since she started in June she has come a long way. Our newest project with her is potty training. While at home she wears panties and we will soon start the transition to potty training outside of the house. Andrew is getting stronger and stronger everyday. He is army crawling across the house and will occasionally get up on all fours. He hasn't crawled yet, but has put himself into a seated position a handful of times. We are working on his leg muscles to help stabilize his standing. His new big trick is signing "sleep." We are working on other signs without much success so far. He'll be communicating soon enough though.

Andrew standing up. Well more like leaning.

Sarah at the Old Mill.