Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Ward family. We had Trunk or Treat this morning in the church parking lot after service. Lillian learned quickly that when she walks up to a car they will give her candy and if she puts it in the bag she will have free hands to get more at the next car. Claire on the other hand took her time picking just the right piece and wanted to hold onto it. Alright, let's be real here, she wanted to eat it. Oh and you know it is Halloween when the band at church starts the service singing the theme from Ghostbusters.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween.

Of course!

We have been spending a lot of time outside lately enjoying the beautiful fall weather. Claire and Lillian laugh as we throw leaves in the air and kick them with our feet. They run laps around the yard and throw the ball to Leia.

Claire ran over and sat down on the stair, Lillian looked over and saw here and sat down along side her. Of course, when I came over with the camera they both took off and the cute and sweet moment was over.
My girls, monkeys? Never!

Trying to climb the tree.

Ready... set... JUMP!

All Snuggled Up

How cute are they all snuggled up together?

Flu Shots

This afternoon we took the girls for their flu shots, but also had an appointment for Lillian. Both girls were talking up a storm once we entered the waiting room. They kept pointing to the giant fish tank and talking about them, playing with the big activity cube and ran around checking everything out. The especially enjoyed the over sized Halloween spider hanging from the ceiling over the reception area. Once it was our turn to walk back to the room, Lillian was a big girl and had to step on the scale for them to weigh her (25lbs) instead of sitting the counter scale like they always have in the past. They both seemed a little unsure when we walked into the exam room, but they warmed up quickly.
Same as last winter, Lillian has eczema on the back of her legs and in the crook of her left knee it has become an open sore. This sore has become infected and we were prescribed an antibiotic ointment to apply three times a day for a week. After that we have a steroid cream to the areas needed.
When it was time for their flu shots we sat them on our laps and they both were injected in the arm. Neither of them cried or really even flinched when it happened. I think it helped, both Josh and I said, "ready, set.... GO" and I think that helped distract them.

We will be heading back for their 2 year check up the end of December and hopefully we have no needs before then.

Apples

This afternoon I took the girls over to my friend's house where she was having an apple bake-a-thon. Kylie was given boxes and boxes of apples and has been working all day cooking them into delicious treats. Since I needed to get out of the house, I decided to take the girls over there with me. They have only been there a few times, but as soon as we walked through the door they remembered exactly how to get to the fish tank. While I was helping pick the good from the bad apples, the girls came over and found a candle plate with stones on it. They took the stones and scattered them through the house. They ended up in empty boxes, on the window ledge, on the table, on chairs, I think you get the picture. Then they notices a table full of apples. Lillian was on the opposite side of the table from me when she reached up on the table and grabbed an apple and took a giant bite. She sets it back down on the table and grabs another apple and takes a giant bite. She was ready to do this again when I stopped her. I gave her back one of the apples she took a bite out of and she had a big smile on her face and took another giant bite. I gave the other apple Lillian took a bite out of to Claire. She had a big smile and took a bite. They walked around chomping on their apples, going up and down the stairs checking out the fish, then back to the table to bite into several other apples. I think it is safe to say that Lillian left her mark on at least 6 apples this afternoon.

22 Months Old

I can't believe Claire and Lillian are already 22 months old, seriously, that means in just two months they will be TWO! They are now talking up a storm learning all sorts of new words, but many you have to listen closely to really understand. They are starting to combine two words together, but not very often. Most of the time it is, "hi mommy," "bye daddy," "bye, cya," "okay, daddy." They have simple phrases like that, but it is a start and they have sweetest little voices.
They both are climbing on everything as usual and I have a feeling it is never going to end.
They love being outside and going for walks holding hands while walking down the street.
They are such great hand holders!
Bath time is still a favorite in the house and they make a mess! They splash water everywhere and I leave the bathroom soaked.
They are still doing amazing with naming their animals and making the sounds.
They love reading and will sit all day looking at their books. We took another trip to the library to return the stack of books we had and they were able to pick out new ones.
They love to brush their teeth before bedtime, but they are never ready for bed, they just want to play.
They love running around holding hands and playing Ring Around the Rosie.
They are doing amazing using their forks and spoons during meal time and most days they keep most of their face and hands clean while eating.

My little girls never seem to amaze me. I look at them and fall in love with them all over again. I cannot get over how beautiful they are. They make my heart melt.



Friday we kept busy by starting our day off at gymnastics. I don't remember if I posted about it the last time we went, but there is a place in town which has an open gym on Friday mornings. This was our second time going and the girls love it, I wish we were able to go more often. They have giant trampolines, foam pits, balance beams, ramps, and just about everything you could imagine. This week Lillian and Claire enjoyed building with the foam cubes.
After gymnastics we took a family trip to Target and then headed home for lunch. Once we finished lunch, the girls and I headed outside to play while Josh got ready for work.

I wish this picture wasn't so blurry, but it is too cute not to post, Lillian is giving Claire a hug.

After we came in from outside it was time to take naps. When they woke up Claire was very grumpy. She did not want me to put her down to get Lillian out of her crib. She did not want snack or water as she usually does. She did not want anything but to cling to me. The only other thing she said she wanted was to "walk." So, we took our daily walk up the street. On our way back inside they decided they needed to stop and dig all the rocks out of the mulch in front of the house. They had a blast and did this for almost 20 minutes.

It was difficult, but I managed to convince them to come inside so I could cook dinner. After dinner we spend most of the evening reading all of their books, most of them more then once. We ended the day with a bath and brushing their teeth.

Videos

An Evening at the Pumpkin Patch

Sunday evening we took a trip to Carolyn's Pumpkin Patch in Liberty. We had never been there before, but it was the one that was recommended by many people. The weather was perfect, mid to low 70's and the sky was clear. When we walked through the entrance, Lillian heard the music and saw the stage, she wanted to go dance so badly, but loved being able to feed the goats instead. We bought a bag of feed when we came in, but it was sort of pointless since the ground was covered and the goats had no interest in eating anymore that day, but that didn't stop Claire and Lillian from trying.

After "feeding" the goats we headed over to the chicken coop. They tried to feed the chickens as well, but again it was a bust. Luckily the chickens were pretty tame and didn't care the girls were sticking their fingers in the coop and trying to poke them. Could have been a tough life lesson learned that day.

Next was the peacocks, feeding again a bust, but they did love them.

Our next stop of the evening was standing in line for the hay ride to the pumpkin fields. Claire sat with Josh and giggled along the way. Lillian sat on my lap, turned around and gave me a giant bear hug the whole way; she was a bit unsure of the ride, but seemed to enjoy the breeze blowing on her face.

Walking through the pumpkin field was like walking through an unkempt beach. We left with sand in our shoes but smiles on our faces. We let the girls run around and check out all of the pumpkins and explore. The made sure to touch just about every single one of them, tripped on a few vines, but hopped right back up and continued forward. They also thought they were Wonder Woman and attempted to pick up pumpkins that probably weighted as much as they do.

After running through the fields we had to stand and wait again for our ride back to the main area of the farm. After about 10 minutes of standing and waiting we were too slow or just not pushy enough to get tractor trailer, so then we waited for the next one to pull up, but for some reason more then half the people who rode out to the field did not get off and again no room for us. Finally, a third came along and we were able to get a ride back.

This was the only sign we could find with two faces. I thought the girls would love it, because they are currently obsessed with the moon. However, with it being so huge it was hard to get a decent picture.

We then attempted to take one last picture of them sitting with a bunch of pumpkins, but as you can see, it is very blurry.

When I tried to snap another one real quick, this is what I got.

Pumpkin Painting

What did you spend your Saturday evening doing? We spent it finger painting pumpkins! Both Lillian and Claire had a blast taking turns doing some painting. They were both a little cautious at first, but it didn't take long to warm up to sliding their fingers through the cool paint. Lillian went full wax on wax off painting all over the paper. Claire on the other hand did just enough to get her hands completely covered and then she was happy.