Pumpkin Carving

We have pondered each Halloween about carving a pumpkin, but always decided that Anna was still too young to really get it. This year, however, after hearing 587 renditions of the "Mr. Jack-o-Lantern" song and reading umpteen books about Halloween, I knew we were at prime pumpkin carving age! This afternoon, Anna picked out the perfect pumpkin from our collection to carve. We took it out on the deck and started the process. It was so funny to watch her as we carved out the "hat" and scooped all the seeds out. She decided she wanted round eyes and a triangle nose. She was absolutely thrilled with the results! I have to admit that we did a pretty good job with Mr. Jack-o-lantern on our first pumpkin carving attempt as parents. Anna decided she was going to name him "Snowflake" (I don't get it either) and preceded to stand outside well past her bedtime telling me a story about how she had gotten all the "twinkle, twinkle stars" to go inside Snowflake and that's why he was so bright and happy. What an imagination! After a meltdown when it was time for bed, she had to give him a kiss and hug goodnight!

Preschool Fall Festival

Monday night was Anna's fall festival at her preschool. She was so excited because we pulled out her Halloween costume for the first time and she got to wear it. Cinderella was proud of herself! It was so cute seeing all of her classmates and actually talking to some of the other parents. Since she is old enough for the drop-off/pick-up line, I feel like I never see any of the parents this year! Mrs. Susan and Mrs. Jane had some yummy snacks and the kids showed off their classroom. It was so cute!

Anna and her "favorite friend" Bryce. When we asked her at the dinner table one night why he was her favorite friend, she responded with " because I just love him!". Will put his head in his hands and couldn't believe he was hearing this already! At the festival, they immediately held hands when they saw each other. Here we go!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

For old time's sake...

2008

2009

2010

My Niece, Penelope

This past weekend, Sarah and Anna and I raced to Wilmington to get our hands on Baby Penelope. She was born on Monday, October 11, 2010 after Johnna was rushed to an emergency c-section for a prolapsed cord! We are so thankful that there were skilled nurses and doctors there who were able to keep everyone healthy! It had about killed us to wait until Friday to drive down, but it probably was for the best. Johnna was feeling better and they all came over to Mimi and Papa's for an entire afternoon and evening to hang out. It was so much fun! And Penelope is absolutely precious! She is the best ol' thing--so content and relaxed anywhere but on the changing table! The funniest part was watching my brother, Jeff, be a dad. He was hysterical! Everything had to be just right for Penelope and poor Johnna was not getting to do a thing--Jeff had to do everything. It about killed him that all of us were holding her and he couldn't! I just never thought he would be this way--too funny!

Anna talked all week about how she was going to share her Bo-bo with Baby Penelope!

The proud cousin and big sister, Nia!

Sweet Nelly!

Proud Papa making sure everything is just right...

The Collins women fussing over the newest member!

Proud grandparents

Doling out some love!

Johnna finally got to hold her after Sarah yelled at Jeffro to give her up!

Wrestling with Uncle Jeffro!

It's going to be so fun to watch Anna and Jack and Nia and Penelope grow up together. Family reunions are getting much more interesting!!!

A Special Treasure

Will and I are both blessed to each have a grandmother still living. It is so special to us when Anna gets to spend time with her great-grandmothers and to witness the family heritage and love being passed down. Although my grandmother doesn't get to see her great-grandchildren nearly as often as she would like, she is now up to eleven of them! Our Jack and Sarah's Caroline will make thirteen!

As part of her sweet legacy that she is passing down, she knits each great-grandchild an afghan to match their nursery. She made a beautiful pink one for Anna before she was born. She knitted a brown and blue and green one for Jeff's Penelope. And recently, we received Jack's Carolina blue and white one in the mail. It's gorgeous! Anna had a hundred questions about Jack's "blanket". We went upstairs and got hers from her room. Now she has to sleep with it every night! What a special treasure from my sweet Granmama!

Four generations (Anna at 5 weeks old)

The Fair 2010

Will and I were both so excited about taking Anna to the fair this year. She is three and is finally tall enough to ride all of the kiddie rides. She had a blast! We couldn't believe that our little girl was old enough to ride many of the rides by herself!

Her faces on this fire engine ride were priceless!

She was SO excited about getting to ride the pony again. We didn't have a meltdown when her turn was over this year, but she still wasn't very happy. I think she would have ridden for days!

Big girl on her first "roller coaster"!

What a face! This was the ride that Will strapped her into and then she looked at him and said, "You can go sit out there with Mommy!"

Happy, tired, and sticky sweet delirious with her cotton candy! What a great time at the fair!

Anna's Introduction to Barbies

The other day, Anna and I were looking through one of her Scholastic Book Club fliers and looking at all the different books. One of them was about Barbie and had a picture of a Barbie beside it. Anna said, "I wish I had a doll like that!" I looked at her and said, "I still have my Barbies from when I was a little girl up in the attic. Would you like to go get them?" Her eyes instantly lit up and she said, "That would be perfect!" So, up we went into the attic and retrieved the age-old shoe boxes. After sorting through everything, I was pretty impressed at how well they had held up. Except for some splotchy patches on the Barbie whose legs could bend, and a few articles of clothing that were starting to fall apart, everything else looked pretty good.

Anna was in heaven and spent the rest of the afternoon absorbed in Barbie play. Of course the Barbies had to be introduced to the princess dive sticks that go everywhere with us! Anna was excited that Barbie could hold the princesses and even wear ballet slippers so she could dance!

Oh, the nostalgia! It's strange remembering so vividly playing with these Barbies myself and now watching my daughter play with the very same ones. I hope she has as much fun with them as I did!

Carolina Tailgating

Well, folks, we are in the throes of UNC football season, meaning lots of fun, but reeeaaaalllllyyyy long Saturdays. The fun part is that our great friends Block and Talley are only a week behind us with their pregnancy with Baby Charlie, so we get a weekly update (unless we have away games) on the pregnancy status. Here are some pics from our fun times!

The Mommas

The Baby Bumps at 21 and 22 weeks

Go Heels!