Here are the latest pictures of Clara and William.  They both did so well this time.  Clara was cooperative and really tried her best to smile and stay still while I played peek-a-boo behind the photographer to get William to look at me.  The hardest thing about this whole process was shopping for outfits that coordinated 15 minutes before my scheduled appointment.  I usually wait till the last minute and work best under pressure!

Anyways, Clara is 3 years old and William is just a day or two shy of 10 months.  Such precious babies!!

Double Trouble and the Farm Park

The stroller had to pull double duty this evening.  Would you believe there was no fighting and only giggles from these two sweeties while crammed right next to each other? 

When they were not in the stroller, they were playing in the rocks!  Not good for the baby who puts everything in his mouth.

Yesterday we went to a local park that is really more of a farm.  They have a story time in the big red barn and then bring in one of the animals for the kids to pet.  This story was about a horse, so we got to meet Bandit, a miniature horse.  All the kids were able to pet him.

 Then the storytime guy brought in the rabbit.

Here are some of our friends with William and Clara.

William and Clara had fun on the playground just monkeying around

Sunflowers

Our sunflowers are blooming! 

Tom wanted to grow some sunflowers this year so he tilled up the ground here, planted the seeds, snaked a soaker hose through the rows, and about 2 months later, they bloomed!  The temperatures are so cool today - a good 20 degrees less that what we have been having so we got out in the yard and enjoyed the fall-like weather.  Here are some pictures from our walk today after lunch and before naps. 

Clara had to hold the sunflower upright because one minute before Tom took the picture, she fell over and bent the sunflower down on the ground.  It was the perfect height for her, so we told her just to hold it up :)

William is too heavy to carry on our walks, so we push the big ol' stroller around the land. 

Clara loves when Chelsea chases her around.

Almost 10 months old

William's first year has gone by so fast.  I still can't believe he will be 10 months old in a couple days.  This past month he has become very mobile.  He started crawling and then a couple days later started pulling up on the coffee table and chairs.  He has learned to clap and babbles quite a bit too.  He is also getting very!!  I have his 9 month checkup in a couple days (little overdue!) and am curious how many pounds he is. He feels every bit of 23 pounds or more.  Here are some pictures - I swear his hair just keeps getting lighter and thicker.  His eyes are still so blue - I love them!

I'm Handsome, I'm Handsome!

We have had several conversations with Clara about how she is pretty and William is handsome. Clara then usually says something about William being pretty so that we will say "Nooooo, he's handsome!" Round and round we go. You know how a 3 year old will just say stuff they know is wrong, to get a reaction out of you?!?

Clara surprised me the other day by getting into William's clothes. First of all, how does a little girl who wears 3T clothes, get into a 6-12 month outfit? Still not sure how that's possible. However, this really cracked me up because the second I walked into my closet and saw her, she started singing"I'm handsome, I'm handsome".

Country Life...One year in

We moved out to the country just over a year ago and I have to admit, life is different here!  No longer are we surrounded by other houses, hearing sirens, or strolling through the neighborhood on a daily basis.  We are now owners of 5 chickens (one of which turned out to be a rooster), maintain two big gardens, ride around on a Polaris Ranger, and we look out the front of our house and see woods, a pond, and gravel roads.  This year has had its fair share of challenges...some we would rather not deal with like the Peoria house (I could go on and on!) but other wonderful things like our baby boy William being born, a big house to furnish, and lots of work at the hospital for Tom.  We really do enjoy our place and the work we have put into it.

Clara and Tom picked me these flowers this morning.  Tom artistically arranged them in the huge canning jar.  I think it looks awesome!  So pretty and they fit right in on our farmhouse table.

Tending our gardens...this corn is HUGE!

Canning pickles - a new experience for us.

We had these little 'twins' visit us this morning.  Can you see their spots? 

On a side note, William is almost crawling!  He's doing the army crawl right now and should be moving on to the real deal soon.

4th of July pics

We spent the 4th down in Arkansas at the lake.  It was our first time to actually get in the lake this year and the first time ever for William.  He had his first boat ride, but didn't get to jet ski yet.  Maybe that will come in a few weeks!

Both my parents and Tom's parents, along with my grandparents,  live at the lake full time and we were able to spend some time with everyone. 

We watched fireworks from the state park which was a nice change.  The weather was perfect - cool and a little breeze.  So unlike many of the years we have spent sweating it out.

Clara and I jet skiied around a little bit.  She and Tom also tried to tube behind the boat but wasn't too big a fan once they hit some waves.

William needed a nap!  Luckily Grandma Trent was able to get him to sleep for a little while.  He always sucks his thumb with one hand and holds his ear with the other.

Clara was able to play in the lake and really enjoys it this year.  The life jacket actually fits her (as opposed to years past where it practically swallowed her up) and she is strong enough and coordinated enough to swim around.

We had brunch at Gaston's on Sunday morning.  Yum!  I wonder when Clara will actually pose for a picture instead of just turn around or run away!?