It seems that everything has been revolving around pumpkins here the past few days! And my belly is starting to closely resemble the "Great Pumpkin" just in time for Halloween. I am just hoping it less resembles the great pumpkin by Thanksgiving. Oy.
On Sunday we were invited to a Pumpkin Carving (painting) party where we saw all of Anastasia's friends that she "missed so much". Food and toddlers and paint make for lots of messy fun.
Yesterday we finally went to the Pumpkin Patch. Sadly, our weekends have been so packed and busy preparing for winter, and a late-fall baby, and the like that we weren't able to go as a family this year. Yesterday we went to Great Country Farm with our friends Stephanie, Stella and Charlie. Our group was supposed to be bigger, but it rained on our drive out and most everyone except us cancelled. Thankfully the clouds broke and we had a perfect, warm, day at an empty, fun pumpkin patch!
This pot-bellied pig, Elmer, won my heart. He was the cutest pig I have ever seen. As in, pick up and snuggle cute. Really. And I am not a pig-person.
And can I just confess a bit here, I broke the rules and jumped on this pillow:
It said it was for 12 and under. But that is only if you get caught right? I didn't really jump being 38 weeks pregnant and all (not that anyone is really counting or anything...) but it was kind of fun lightly bouncing. It was definitely the girls favorite part of our day!
There were many animals (none as cute as Elmer of course) but I was too busy keeping the kids from getting their fingers eaten to photograph them all. But I did get these cuties on the Hayride:
Holy cow they are cute. It was a fun day, and the kids slept well, and I got Chinese food on the way home for dinner. And this evening I made Butternut Harvest Soup, Pumpkin Bread and we carved the pumpkins:
It was a bit too close to bedtime for Isabel, but I think the girls enjoyed it. And this is how they turned out:
Nick always makes the neatest pumpkins! His is the mountains and bats and moon one in the middle. I carved a little face for Anastasia on the right, and an owl (that you can barely see) for Isabel after she went to bed.
Don't you just love pumpkining? Now I just need to make a pie! :)
Our new little baby boy has arrived! He came early Sunday morning, November 14th at 6:09am. He is our biggest baby yet weighing 8lbs 6oz. He is oh, so sweet.
Kieran made his debut after I had had irregular contractions for about 4 days (starting on Nov. 10th, his "Due Date"). I would get fairly regular contractions for a few hours everynight, only to have them stop suddenly. I tried every trick in the book to get them and keep them going. Black and blue cohash, long walks every day, pineapple, kiwi, pizza, spicy food, and lastly nipple stimulation. Not sure if any or all of those worked, or he was just meant to come on the 14th. Either way I was getting really frustrated as each day the contractions gained intensity and I started fearing I would be at the hospital, or feeling really large while having contractions on Thanksgiving. Thankfully after a few hours of really irregular contractions on Saturday night, they evened out and were intense at 3-4 minutes apart. I woke Nick and we arrived at the hospital around 3am, where my parents took the girls to their house. I have to say, after 2 pictocin-induced babies, the contractions really didn't seem all that bad, so when I went in, it was so exciting to find out I was 8cm!!! 3 hours later we met our first baby boy! :) 
I have to say my first natural birth was by far the most peaceful and the most exciting! And quite a bit more painful, but the recovery has been way smoother. And little Kieran is a very peaceful, healthy baby and has two very adoring sisters. So all is well over here and it feels good to not be waiting anymore. I am already working on gnomes and things... because I can only sit still so long! Be prepared for more baby pictures than you can stand! :) Hope your week is going as well as mine! 
Fall is such a colorful season. We have had a very long autumn this year it seems, and with bouts of 60 degree days, one can hardly complain. 
I have also been bitten by the cloth diaper bug. I am addicted to buying soft, natural little nappies to swaddle my newborn's behind... I might have too much as Isabel is well on her way to being potty trained (she only uses diapers when we go out now!). But at least I won't run out! I have some Sunbaby Pockets (cheap ebay diapers that work really well), Tiny Tush one-size cotton and hemp fitteds and quite a few prefolds. I am in the process of knitting and making some wool covers as well. Who knew diapers could be so much fun!
After reading 
Well, it isn't the best picture, but I picked up a charm pack of "
Halloween was so much fun! I finally finished the costumes on Saturday. We had a bit of an adventure friday night after a couple hours of pretty intense contractions. They went from 10 minutes apart, to 7 minutes apart and once we hit 6 minutes apart, we loaded in the car for the 40 minute drive to the hospital. WELL. Once inside the hospital, the contractions just stopped. I had maybe 3 the entire time we were there... and well, after being monitored for nothing, calling my Dr, and atleast meeting some nice nurses... we were sent home. We were home in bed around 1am, and exhausted. My mom had the kids, and so at least on Saturday I had several hours of quiet and peace (and a bit of soreness and tiredness) and I finished the costumes. 
So now that I rambled on, and also just cleaned my house, I am going to head to bed. I hope you all had a lovely Halloween! And if you haven't become a fan, I now have a Little Red Whimsy Fan Page so please check it out!! Hope you are all having a lovely November, and don't forget to vote!
