Atley at One Month

Atley is 1 month old today!  The days flew by, that's for sure!!  There's some kind of weird phenomenon when a baby arrives...I feel like Atley has been with us forever, but at the same time, it feels like yesterday we were waiting in that hospital room for her to make an appearance.  At least, that's my take ;).

She is a good, content baby!  And she's staying awake quite a bit more now, but is still so cuddly and sweet.  In fact, as I type this, she is conked out on my chest and I'm smelling the sweet smell of a clean baby head (it's ok to be jealous)!
We are working on a schedule (I like schedules).  She is good about eating about every 3 hours during the day.  We put her to bed between 10 and 10:30 right now and she generally sleeps until about 3am, is ready to eat, and then sleeps again until around 6 or 7.  Not too bad!

She is gaining weight like a champ!  According to the bathroom scale, she weighs 10 lbs.  She was weighed at the hospital on Tuesday and was 9 lbs 10 oz.
She is loved by her big brother and sister.  They want to hold her and kiss her any chance they can get!  And Nora loves to help with diaper changes by getting a new diaper and the wipes for me.

Our little Atley Jane is the perfect addition to our family and we are so blessed to be her parents!  Happy 1 month sweet girl!  We love you!

Click here to see Miss Nora at 1 month.

3 Years Old

Nora turned 3 yesterday.  It doesn't seem possible that 3 years ago we brought home our (1st) sweet bundle of pink.  She is full of life, energy and...orneriness!!
Some things about Nora at age 3:

• She is right at 3 feet tall and weighs 32 pounds.
• She is super sweet (most of the time).
• She loves giving hugs and kisses.
• She loves playing with the big kids and trying to keep up- especially outside.
• She talks non-stop and says the funniest things (none of which I can think of right now).
• She can spell her name and write an N, O & A (still working on the R).
• She also recognizes several letters and numbers (though, not all).
• Her favorite foods are pizza, pasta (of any kind) and "snack" (I just asked her what her favorite food was and she said snack).
• She loves her baby sister and is very helpful :).
• She and Ethan can get a long and play so nicely one minute and the next be fighting like siblings do best ;).  They can also get into trouble together!
• She is very strong willed and definitely has a mind of her own (which, I'm sure, will be a strength one of these days).
• She has very nice manners and always says "thank you" and most of the time says "please".
• With the above being said...she isn't afraid to ask for whatever it is she thinks she wants/needs, and then not stop asking when she doesn't hear the answer she wants to hear.
• We love her with all our hearts and can't wait to see what God has planned for her and her big personality!

Happy 3rd Birthday Nora Diane!

Here are a few pictures from birthday morning!

Birthday donut!

Big 3!

Presents under the bed (a tradition from my childhood).

Ethan is an eager helper

All 3 kids, ready for church.

Silly Nora, wearing her "party dress" to church on her birthday!

Weenie Roast Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated 2 very special people in my life!  Nora and Jared share a birthday and we hosted a weenie roast in our backyard.  The weather was amazing for this time of year (almost hot, in the sun)!  We had a great time and I would call it a success :)!  Enjoy some pictures of our afternoon celebrating Nora and Jared.

The activity/party favor for the kids was pumpkin decorating.  Nora thoroughly enjoyed it :).  Her pumpkin has about 30 googly eyes!

Birthday girl decorating her pumpkin

The other kids decorating

Fun group of kids!

Present time.  There are always lots of eager helpers for this time during a party!

Working on the tape...

Check out the helpers ;)

Happy girl...who looks SO grown up in this picture.

The fire was great for our hot dogs and s'mores!  Good job, Jared!!

Singing and cupcake time!

3 candles for the 3 year old!

We love you sweet Nora!

Jared gets candles too...just happens to be more than 3.

Couldn't leave Alex out.  His birthday is tomorrow, so he got a candle too!

Atley enjoyed being outside

Such a fun party!

Birthday kids making some s'mores!

Happy Birthday banner

Loving the s'mores!

Such a great afternoon!  So happy to have such wonderful friends and family to help us celebrate!!  Happy Birthday Jared and Nora!  You are loved :).

Boo at the Zoo

We made our annual trip to Boo at the Zoo on Monday night.  Tate & Lyle (Jared's work) reserves a night just for T&L employees and families to attend Boo at the Zoo. It's very nice and well put together.  We get to trick or treat through the zoo (which included a Del's caramel apple!), ride the train, and carousel and dinner is provided.  It's always a fun time and the kids look forward to it every year!  Enjoy some pictures of our visit this year...

Atley, the tiny pumpkin

Luke Skywalker (striking a pose)

Luke and Black Kitty

Nora, the ornery black kitty!

Boo at the Zoo!

Atley is impressed with her first Boo at the Zoo experience

Waiting for the carousel

Ethan and our neighbor, Sarah as Luke and Leia

Trick or Treat!

Found another station

Checking out the penguins on the way by.

Kitty and Penguins 

They liked the pumpkin heads all throughout the zoo

Waiting on the train with Sarah and Lindsey

Apples, Pumpkins & Skeletons

Saturday we decided to head north to Champaign to go to Curtis Apple Orchard.  It was a chilly day, but that didn't stop us.  We had a good time picking apples and choosing pumpkins.  And the kids enjoyed the playground and inflatables!  And as always, we left with some yummy treats.  A bag of freshly picked apples and some apple donuts :)!
Lots of pictures ahead!!

Picnic lunch in the car first!

Getting ready to follow the yellow brick road

Apple picking!

Nora found some too!

Jared got in on the action too

Atley's first apple picking experience... too bad she won't remember or get to taste the apple.

Cute kids in the apple orchard

Pumpkin choosing time!

The 3 kids. 

Now, time for some fun!

How Tall This Fall??

Minigolf

Playground fun

Ethan on the big slide!

Nora got to go this year...twice!  She loved it!

Gotta stick your head in the hole...always with Nora!

Ethan on the zip line

Our Family of 5 on the Big Chair

That evening, we had a couple eager pumpkin carvers.  They were ready to carve.  So they picked out their design and Daddy helped carve it on the pumpkins.  Ethan helped quite a bit with the carving this year, and even scooped a little goop :).

3 concentrated carvers

Being very careful!

Scooping some goop

Clean kids and finished pumpkins!

Skeleton kids

3 cute skeletons

I told you...lots of pictures!  Boo at the Zoo is tonight, so stay tuned for dress up pictures!