There She Goes

As I told Coach Marcelo, this is the longest she's walked on her own!

Goooooooooooooooal!

That's how they say it in Brazil, right? Annie started soccer this morning. She's been really excited for this for awhile, but this morning she must have forgotten about it. She came downstairs with tights, a jean skirt and red sparkly dress up shoes. She was not happy when I said we couldn't wear that to soccer. After some debate, she ended up in sweatpants and sneakers (my choice), as well as hair clips and necklaces (her choice, and I even had to talk her out of a bow for her hair. She resolutely refused a ponytail.) However, most of the girliness was cast aside once we got there. She ran around like a crazy person for nearly the entire 45 minutes. She even let Coach Pedro do some little drills with her. When I asked to her to smile with her soccer ball, she immediately struck a pose. Coach Marcelo started laughing and then commented on the three necklaces around her neck. I'm sure he has high hopes for her. Kate got in on some of the soccer action, too. She crawled around and pushed the ball around a little. :)

And here she is in action:

A Matching Set

I am not ashamed to say that I love dressing up my girls. They are often my own personal dolls. After Kate was born, matching outfits became my new obsession. I do it all the time. It's just so cute. I've always known that the girls would only submit to this for a finite period of time. Eventually, they will just tell me no.

Or will they? Annie has adopted my love for all things matching. When she picks out her own clothes, she chooses things she knows will match an outifit for Kate's. I spent 10 minutes this morning trying to figure out that she wanted Kate to wear her owl shirt because it went with the shirt Annie had on. She's also taken to picking out pajamas for them both. (She's also notified me that she's planned ahead, and they will be wearing the Halloween jammies tomorrow night.)

Have we gone too far? I still say no.

The cost of five minutes of "peace"

....is my hearing. Annie and Kate are destined to be drummers. Or at least follow bands around. I've tried to convince them to strike the bowls gently, but it turns out that gentle is not all that much fun. Their show starts every night around dinner time.

Fall Farm Fun

Last weekend, Matt was off work both days! So we hit the local farm/pumpkin patch/hayride scene. The weather was perfect, and the girls loved being outside. It was a fantastic fall weekend!

Kate and the giant pumpkins

Hayride #1. It was pulled by a tractor and was not very exciting. Annie still loved it, and a nice old lady gave me some handwarmers for Kate and made a few not-so-subtle insinuations that the children were cold. They were fine.

Annie searched high and low for just the right pumpkin. She ended up with this small one with the weird tumor on the side. She's quite pleased with herself about it, though.

We took a short break in the fall farm festival-ing to eat some homemade chili. This was my first attempt at chili and was rather successful. Although, Kate continues to eat anything that remotely resembles food, so she's not the best judge. :)

Hayride #2. We were warned just as we pulled away that this was an intense hayride. And it was. It was pulled by fidgety horses that liked to gallop. Luckily we managed to keep the girls aboard.

Whenever people she doesn't recognize talk to her, Kate holds on tight to Matt or me and lays her head down. It is absolutely the sweetest thing. I love it every time.

We had so much fun it was just exhausting.

Water Colors

Annie begged me for these paints at Target. I gave in and got them for her. I was glad I did. She had so much fun painting pictures for everyone she knows, which I mostly threw away. Then, she saw one in the trash and was very sad. And I've never felt like such a mean jerk in all my life. I'm sorry Annie!

Caught Red Handed

...and blue handed and orange handed and green handed...

It's October

and that means it's time for pumpkin pictures! We hit our first fun pumpkin place this week.

Kate and Annie on the pumpkin cart

Kate

Annie and her friend Emma

Annie and Daddy

Kate (Her head looks huge.)

We took a picture of Annie on this bridge last year. It is crazy what a difference a year makes. Click here and prepare to be amazed.

The Final Installment...

...of Kate's monthly posts until her first birthday! Kate is 11 months old! As previously mentioned, Kate took her first shaky step at Grandpa Ralls' house last week. She's taken a few more steps to me here and there, but mostly she thinks it's funny and then crawls.

Kate and her Great Grandpa Ralls

This past month, Kate has continued to be the world's best baby eater. The only food she roundly rejects is green beans. She didn't want her broccoli once (at the Puchmeyers), but other than that she will inhale anything. It is so easy and so nice. Thank you for that, Kate.

Also, Kate has a new friend back at home. We finally got Sydney back and Kate could not be happier. She crawls after her, laughs, pulls the dog's tail and generally crawls all over her. It's very cute. Although, while she tolerates it, I'm not sure Sydney thinks it's all that much fun. :)

She likes to crawl all over Annie, as well. Sometimes Annie think it's great fun, other times not so much.

Still has her dimples :)