Friday Five - Hello Fall!

Hey friends! Happy Fall!

There's just something about Fall. The light is different somehow. More...glowy. Season premiers & the sound of football on the tube ALL weekend is kind of the best, but honestly, it's the marching band in the background of the Florida games that takes me right to my happy place. And now that we live in Virginia, the changing leaves and crisp air - open window & fuzzy sock weather (I'm sure that's starting one of these days). I just love it! 

I think this year I'm more excited for Fall than ever. Maybe because it was surface-of-the-sun-hot for three months, or maybe it's the new baby and all of the big firsts coming his way in the coming months. Even Zoey is excited for football, Halloween, and a visit to the pumpkin patch. She's at the age now where she kind of gets it, and that makes it all so much fun!

 I haven't done a Friday post in such a long time. So here's five favorites for ya on this fall Friday...

I'm such a sucker for a cute flannel shirt...its the 90's girl in me, I guess. I have two of these boyfriend flannels from falls past and they are so cozy and forgiving, especially if you're still holding on to those last few pounds of baby weight. I've got my eye on this one this year. 

It's been fall for, like, five minutes, and it's barely stopped raining here in VB. We had so much rain at one point, that the pond behind our house rose at least 4 feet, submerging part of our fence. So I think its time to finally get some rain boots. I've been swooning over a pair of Hunters for years, and I think it's time to pull the trigger once and for all. If I could just decide on the color...hunter green or purple? Or black? Ocean blue? Gah!! I'm sure the minute I make up my mind and buy a pair, the entire mid-Atlantic will be thrown into a terrible drought, but it's worth the risk!

Now that pumpkin spice is everywhere in everything (pumpkin spice chapstick? really?), I'm super over it. So I gave the new Salted Caramel Mocha a try. Chocolate and caramel is one of my favorite flavor combos and it's waayyy better than that old pumpkin spice any day. It'll be perfect once things finally cool off around here.

Cat & Jack, Target's new line for kids. I feel like every time I'm in there, I'm grabbing something new for the kids. Such cute stuff! Zoey is already obsessed with this Halloween T and I can't wait for the temps to cool down a bit more so Beck can wear this romper. - Not an ad, I just seriously love it!

Not particularly fallish, but seriously yum! Z & I tried this banana-Nutella "ice cream" and, you guys, its kind of the best thing ever! The hardest part about this is remembering to freeze the bananas ahead of time. And cleaning the Nutella out of the food processor. That part was kind of a mess. You just throw the two ingredients into the processor, our the mixture into a loaf pan and freeze. We had ours with purple sprinkles, of course! 

Hope you guys had a wonderful week! We are looking forward to a weekend full of football and, if the weather cooperates, the Neptune Festival down at the Oceanfront. And if Zoey has her way, we'll start building our pumpkin collection so we can get the place more festive.

Happy weekend!!

Beckett is Three Months Old

Another month has flown by in a blink. Beck is growing like crazy, and is already the sweetest little boy. A flash of those big brown eyes, and my heart just melts. And although he's now fallen into average territory when it comes to his weight, people are still acting like he's the biggest baby ever seen. I guess they make 'em small here in Virginia. 

onsie

Three Month Stats

[No doctor's appointment this month, so we took measurement matters into our own hands.]

about 14lbs (48%)  |  24 3/4 in (76%)

I'm pretty smiley & super drooly.

I can fall asleep in a bright, noisy room or even when the vacuum is running, but put me in my crib with some white noise & I'm wiiide awake.
Mommy calls me King of the Cat Naps.

I love to splash in a warm bubble bath, but getting dressed after is kind of the worst.

My hands are delicious!

I've recently discovered my feet and boy are they fascinating!

I'm this close to rolling from by back to my belly.

I'm getting very good at grabbing stuff...especially mommy's hair.

While prepping for this post, I went back and looked at Zoey's three month post. I remember those days so well cuz they were sooo hard. She was such a fussy babe, partly because of digestive issues, partly (we suspect) because she was in pain from her back issues (the fussiness dialed down a bit after she recovered from her surgery at 4 months old). I remember being totally overwhelmed and pretty much home-bound with her because it was just hard on both of us to go anywhere those first few months. 

But Beck...he is such a different baby! He's so easy-going and the kid is always smiling or cheerfully chattering away. He can go anywhere at anytime and, unless he's hungry or over-tired, he's so easy to handle. I know I'm probably jinxing myself here, but let me reassure you that life with Beck is not without its issues. He's a total gas-bag, spits up tremendous amounts of milk, and is following in his big sister's footsteps when it comes to crappy naps. But hey, nobody's perfect! 

Three and a Half

I'm not sure how it happened, but suddenly I find myself the mother of two. (Anyone who knew me when I was teaching is maybe a little surprised by that. Teaching definitely was great birth control, and I honestly had little desire to have kids of my own.) Now, not only do I have two kids, but one of them is growing up way too fast and it makes me tear up almost every day. It was like when I went to the hospital to have Beck, I left behind this tiny little toddler... and the moment we walked through the door with the new baby, I came home to this big kid. You get a sense of how grown up Zoey's becoming when you pick her up or scoop her into your lap. All legs and arms and heavier than my brain expects her to be. It's an emotional thing for this hormonal momma to deal with, let me tell ya!

t-shirt | necklace

So last Friday, Z hit 3 ½. Half-way to four. When she was 6 months old, we started the tradition of celebrating with half a cake and a gift or two. And this year the plan was no different. So on Saturday, the kid and I set out to make a chocolate cake, and it turned out delicious. Moist and chocolatey, you guys, it was perfection...except for one small detail. Not sure how or why, but the cake came out of the pan in a huge mess. So, after a few moments of swearing panicking (I mean, it was totally ruined and here we were, all of us, excited to eat cake! Disaster!), I figured chocolate covered cake balls could be a clever way to salvage this mess of a cake. (And they were! So good!) 

But before we turned the cake disaster into delicious treats, Damon had the awesome idea to pick up some donuts on Sunday morning. And although she was super excited by the donut surprise, this was the best she could do for pictures.

And because she's 3 (and a half!), she is inexplicably saddened by the donuts. Her two favorite flavors. Whatever, kid. Life with a three year old, amiright?

These days, Z is silly and sweet and sassy and sensitive. And, like with most girls her age, I'm sure, it's a roller coaster of emotions. She loves to dance and sing and make us laugh. She's recently started making up little songs while she plays, and when she thinks no one is paying any attention will belt them out in the most hilarious ways. She asks for "seven more minutes" for just about everything, insists on wearing socks on her hands at bedtime, randomly announces "I like zebras...and purple. I don't like rocket ships.", loves wearing her Nemo swim cap in the shower, and confidently proclaimed, "I wanna do that!" during each Olympic even she watched.

 sprinkler

tunic | leggings | scooter

I've been so impressed by how sweet she is with Beck. The transition to life with a new baby has been a little tough, but through it all, she just loves "her" baby so much!

Three and a Half Favorites

Color: Purple! 

Foods: Pickles (she's never had pickles) and grapes. 

Treats: Kisses (the Hershey kind, not the smoochy kind)

Toy: Kiki (duh!)

Books: Gerald and Piggie!! (The Piggie & Elephant series by Mo Willems.)  

Songs: Cake song (Cake by the Ocean) and Elsa's song (I think she means Let it Go, but who knows.) 

Game: Sneaky Snacky Squirrels

Movie: Frozen, Snoopy Movie, Nemo and Dory

TV Shows: Sheriff Callie and the ants (She means Beat Bugs on Netflix)

Animal: Zebras, mommy. 

Place to go: A tiny tiny store with the little house and the toys. (This would be a kids boutique and consignment shop we go to. They have great toys,)

Thing to do outside: Chalk 

Thing to do inside: I like to DANCE! (This was said with a little bootie shake, of course.)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Uhh...big! 

So there you have it. I tiny peek into the mind of your average three and a half year old.