I LOVE fall

I wish it could be fall all the time.

(my new wreath - I had to make a new one as the old one was suprisingly destroyed by melting candles in my harvest decor box up in the attic. Duh - I should have known it would be 200 degrees up there!!!)

Today Kellen and I along with our good friends Betsy and Hallie Kate Oldham and Lauren Rivera went to a local apple orchard and pumpkin patch. We bought fresh apple cider, pumpkins, and best of all went apple picking. Kellen unfortunately didn't have as good a time as he kept getting grass and dirt in his crocs (as some of you know he does NOT like things between his toes or dirt on his feet).

Hallie Kate and Kellen picking out "baby pumpkins"




Kellen and Lauren. This is where it all went downhill - I should have put his tennis shoes on! Oh well, the rest of us had fun even though he cried the entire time. Poor thing.

On to bigger and better things........or maybe not.

Kellen is growing up fast - yesterday his BIG BOY bed FINALLY arrived. It's been over 6 weeks since we purchased it so we (I) have been anxiously awaiting it's arrival. Here is the proud boy:

As we were preparing his new room, he found "baby's toys" which is an exersaucer and a little activity gym that I had tucked away for the new baby. He had seen these toys in the closet before, but I really underestimated his attachment to these. He obviously remembered them and constantly asked about them. So the other day before I was able to move the toys into the nursery, he found them again and struggled for a good 10 minutes to get them out of the closet -they are heavy for a small 2 year old. SO I finally gave in and he played with them the rest of the day. It was very cute seeing him remember how everything worked and what sounds everything made. However, he is too big for the exersaucer and kept hollering out at me to tell me he was stuck. He said he wasn't a big boy anymore.

You can't turn around......

It goes to show that you can't turn around for ONE second!

Kellen loves the mini Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs in a can (gross). So as he was eating, I decided to fix some lunch for myself. I turned around for just a minute and when I turned to look at him he was drinking his spaghetti in a can.

These pictures don't do justice to the mess as I had already cleaned up over half of it before I decided to take the pictures. His face was orange tinged the rest of the day and his high chair is still stained. Oh well. I thought it was cute.

CHOO CHOO!!!!!

ALL ABOARD!!!

Yesterday, we headed to Nashville to see Aunt Morgan and Uncle Luke. For Kellen's birthday, they bought Kellen tickets to see and ride Thomas the Train!! Here we are on the train. Kellen was glued to the window the entire time as we traveled the 30 minute round trip to downtown.

The entire event was very carnival-like complete with lemonade shake-ups, a petting zoo, blow-up jumping houses, and a million kids. They had an imagination station where there were probably 10 or so train "stations" where kids could play with the Thomas trains and tracks. Hint Hint: I think he wants this for Christmas!

As you can see, Kellen was super excited about boarding the train (although the train was just an old amtrak being pulled by "Thomas").

Hello Thomas!! We couldn't get a picture of Kellen looking at the camera as he wouldn't stop looking at the big blue engine.

Bye Bye Thomas!!! Let's just say Kellen had a great day.

Afterwards, Kellen napped and Morgan and I got to shop at Opryland Mills. We went out to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant and headed home. Thanks Morgan and Luke!

Look who turned two!!!

Karsten and I can't believe that our little Kellen is two years old!!! His actual birthday is August 29th, but we had two birthday parties for him this year in order to get the great-grandparents there. Last Saturday we had a party at Nana and Pa's house and this Saturday had one at our house in Indiana. All the Slater's and my two sisters came. It was quite a riot when everyone was here because there were also 5 dogs to attend to!! Here are some pics of the main events:

I think Kellen got sick of eating all that icing and no cake or cookie. Although he kept asking to blow out more candles when we were all done.


On my new tricycle!

Isn't that cool - parents no longer have to bend over and push and steer at the same time with this new contraption!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! His Thomas the Tank Engine pillow and New Holland tractor.

Mommy and Daddy gave Kellen his very first outdoor play set. He loves the slide and kept looking through his "peek-a-boo" (telescope).

Uncle Matt and Aunt Shannon gave Kellen a John Deere wheelbarrow. He loves it and spent most of the evening doing lawn work.

We are so thankful that everyone was able to come and share this special day with us. I don't have a picture, but Nana and Papa Slater got him his first sandbox and a picnic table that he ate dinner at last night. Here are some pics of the grandparents.

Nana and Pa Dudley (mom's going to kill me for posting this picture!)

Great-Grandpa and Grandma Gardner

Papa Slater - Nana is the one taking the pictures!

Great-Grandma and Grandad Dudley(in the background)