Tobin's AutumnFest 2013

     We decided to make the most out of our day and headed out to another fall fest before the Steelers game started. Today's autumn fest was nice, but not as child friendly as Port Farms was yesterday. They had a bunch of local crafters and vendors set up with a few areas that were decorated and set up for the kids. Big Brother REALLY wanted to push Froggie in the umbrella stroller and despite images of him pushing her right into the pond or nearby ditches we let him. He did a great job and only needed help steering a few times. I think he was really proud of himself for pushing his baby sister. Hubby got to buy his apple cider and Big Brother picked out 2 more "little pumpkins" for he and Froggie.
     Big Brother then got to go get up close and personal with a horse! A local training camp for horses had brought four of their smaller horses out for children to ride. He said he wanted to ride but we weren't sure if he would be afraid once it was his turn. We were lucky enough to be able to let him meet the horse and have me walk alongside him while he rode. Hubby and my mom couldn't get any smiles out of him while he was in the saddle but as soon as we got off he said he wanted to get back on!

   

Big Brother pushing Froggie

Doing a good job

Picking out "baby pumpkins"

The kids and their pumpkins

Happy Froggie

Apple cider!

Meeting the horse

waiting to ride

Riding the horse

Doing great on the horse

making laps

Happy little pumpkin

Just for fun!

Port Farms 2013

     Because we still don't know when Hubby will be heading out for schooling we decided that we were going to take advantage of the amazing weather today and take the kids to one of our local pumpkin farms.
     It was such a blast to be out of the house, hang out with some friends and embrace fall. Port Farms has a TON of stuff for the entire family and we didn't even get to do everything! Admission to the farm includes EVERYTHING (hay rides, corn maze, slides, play equipment, animals, etc.) and today was mascot day so there were mascots from local sports teams and a variety of other places walking around throughout the day.
     Both kids had a lot of fun today but I think Froggie especially liked the corn box because she was free to play on her own. Despite the fact that she looks less than enthused about being covered in corn she really did enjoy it and stayed like that for a little while. Big Brother says that the pumpkins were his favorite part of the day though I would bet that he had more fun running around the hay bales!

My Weakness

     Hubby mentioned dessert after Big Brother went to bed so he made a run to get us ice cream. I must say this is my weakness! It doesn't help that the girl at our cold stone ALWAYS over makes our orders and we end up with a size bigger than what we order. 

Strawberry Banana Rendezvous 

Welcome Back Lazy Thursdays

     Froggie and I are cuddled up on the couch watching season premieres of all of our favorite shows. As an infant Froggie really could probably care less what I'm doing as long as she is comfy and fed. So far we've watched The Big Bang Theory and are now sucked into Grey's Anatomy. We're also recording The Michael J. Fox Show and The Crazy One's. We'll probably watch those tomorrow if we don't end up doing something else.
     Froggie seems to be having some more teeth coming in (or something). She's been pretty irritable and doesn't seem to be sleeping as heavily as she typically does. She's more finicky about nursing and doesn't seem to be eating quite as well.
     Big Brother went through a similar phase I suppose, once he was more aware of the fact that things were ALWAYS going on around him. He would be so distracted by anything and especially noises that he would just stop eating.
     We may be investing in an amber necklace soon to see if it helps out on the teething front.

A sleepy, grumpy Froggie

Counting Down the Days

     One week from now I will be packing up for Thursday morning a little differently. I will be preparing to leave a little earlier in the morning so that I can drop Big Brother off at school before heading away from work to return to Shriners Hospital for the first time since July.
     We will be heading in for an X-ray to determine whether Froggie's hips are still at the proper angle. Hopefully it will be the last trip we have to make for a check up and I'm not really sure what the treatment option would be if things are not still lined up. But we will just play it by ear and hope for the best.
     Here's a picture of my cute sleepy Froggie... just because.

Family Dinner

     Hubby was on the road a bunch today and since it was a little cooler (fall has definitely arrived!) I decided to make soup and sandwiches for dinner. Big Brother helped me make the soup and did a very good job of mixing everything together!

mixing up our soup

     Froggie was REALLY happy when Hubby came home. She's such a Daddy's Girl!

Hubby and a happy Froggie!

Here We Go Steelers!

     I'm posting a little early today because I want to be able to watch the game this evening without worrying that I haven't done a post. Posting has become a part of my daily routine and I at least start a post every day (though on really busy days they don't seem to ever get published). This started as a means of coping with Froggie's diagnosis and has stuck as something I need to do daily.
     Anyway... I would like to say that the ENTIRE family is decked out in Steelers gear for today! Hubby, who honestly is more of a fantasy football fan than a fan of any particular team, has told me since day one that he's a Bills fan. This bothers me because A.) he watches more Steelers games than any other team and B.) the Bills black out Steelers games all the time because of where we live so I just dislike them. However, Hubby must be growing fond of the black and gold (or got sick of being the only one in the house in different colors) because he put on the only Steelers shirt he owns. Granted it is from the Steelers 5K and not REALLY a football shirt but it does say "Steelers" on it and it's the right colors!

Froggie and Hubby in their Gear

     One a Froggie related note - she's doing more standing! We brought up an old toy of Big Brother's last night that is a table for kids to stand an play at. She tried really hard to pull herself up on it and almost toppled it over so Hubby held it while she played. She had a lot of fun and I'm sure will be getting into more stuff very soon!

Almost pulled over the table

Happy Froggie

Really getting the hang of playing

A Wild Celebration

    Today we headed out  into the rainy weather to go to a birthday party at the zoo. As you can probably imagine there weren't very many people at the zoo in the downpour and we tried to stay as dry as possible as we walked through the zoo to the party area. We spent a few minutes playing around in the children's area and looking at the animals within the building before we headed into the party room to kick off the celebration. First we walked to the carousel and went for a ride before returning for the rest of the party.

Big Brother had a hard time deciding

Froggie on an otter!

Not so sure about it moving

     We had pizza and saw some animal visitors. The kids really seemed excited about the animals and they didn't bring in anything too exotic (a ferret, hamster and chinchilla) so no one was really fearful of them. Froggie even pet the hamster and chinchilla!

Big Brother petting the ferret

Froggie petting the hamster

Big Brother petting the chinchilla

Froggie got to pet the chinchilla too!

     Then it was time to sing to the birthday girl and have some cake before opening presents.

The Birthday Girl!

She had some help opening her gifts

     On our way out of the zoo we got side tracked by the orangutans who just happen to be an indoor exhibit. Big Brother has always liked to see all the animals so it was nice to be able to go to the zoo and see at least a few animals. Since it was so quiet the orangutans weren't hiding like they normally are and the kids got to play hide and seek with the "baby" orangutan. It was fun to watch them and it was really neat to have some personal interaction with the animals.

Ollie the orangutan

Big  Brother with Ollie

Froggie and Ollie playing Peek-a-boo

Ollie really liked Froggie

     I almost forgot to mention that my sister and her fiancé recently came back from Walt Disney World and had brought home some little things for the kids. Froggie got a new stuffed Rapunzel Doll which she has been playing with and chewing on since she got it. Big Brother got a Lightening McQueen football, some candy, and a picture of my sister and her fiancé with Lightening and Mater at the park for him to hang in his room.
     They went trick or treating while they were down there so Hubby and I inherited a bag full of candy. While digging through the bag looking for something I found a baby peep! I LOVE peeps... I don't necessarily like to eat them but I think they're fun and really cute so I was pretty pumped to find 3 little mini peeps in the bag.

Froggie and her new doll

Big Brother getting his gifts

He loves his new Lightening football!

Our loot

BABY PEEP!