Baby Girl is 2 & 1/2 (and not so baby anymore)!!!

The title is all the truth. Emma Kate turned 2 1/2 today, which means she's now closer to 3 than 2...ohhhh my! And I'm reminded daily that she's not my tiny & dainty 6 pound 13 ounce baby that was placed in my arms 30 months ago. She is a funny, beautiful, smart, verbally gifted, strong-willed, moody (at times!), sometimes challenging girl! 3/4 of the time this is my favorite stage of Emma Kate's life & the other 1/4 of the time it's tough having a 2 year old...but it is what it is & I wouldn't change it. :)
Today, Emma Kate had a busy day. At MDO it was "Donuts with Dads" & the Noah's Ark Parade where the kids dress as animals. This morning she was in a bit of a "mood" hence only 2 pics in her cat costume before she left. Brett reported back with me after "Donuts with Dads" & said she was shy & quiet while he was there. Maybe it was the different type of activity of having all the Dads there in the classroom. However, she did fully enjoy her donut & asked for another. :)
When I picked her up she still had on the cat costume (yay to no accident at school today!). I took her to the bakery to buy cupcakes for the 2 1/2 year old celebration after dinner tonight. Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon watching Care Bears & Toys Story 3 since it was a cold rainy day. Here at the pics from today. :)

Emma Kate- I love you forever, like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be! xoxo

Does this face explain the 2 1/2 year old "mood"?!?!

A little smile with Daddy :)

Lovin that donut!

 Afternoon at home. Quick pic with Mommy.

Watching Toy Story 3 with Lolly in the movie room. 

 Now that's MY GIRL!!

 Brother loved the cupcake too. :)

 It's pretty cute lately anytime you say "Emmmmmaaa" in a special voice he cracks up laughing. This is the result again!

 Pretend blowing out the candle. :)

 Daddy with his babies

 Cupcakes make everyone happy!

Wrapping up the day with milk & reading books.

Park Time with Good Friends

We go to the park many times every week now that we moved to Castle Hills & have so many within walking distance. However, Friday morning we had a fun park play date planned. We met up with my good friend, Katie (we taught together @ Borchardt & ran my 1st half marathon with...Katie was the only way I made it through that race. Thanks friend for being so tall & skinny & leading the way!) 

Katie's baby boy is Carter. His due date was after Jackson's , but Carter was very anxious to join the world early (in Feb.)  

Anyways, we enjoy our time when we do get to catch up & play together. We had a wonderful time playing at Frisco Commons Park on a beautiful Fall morning. Emma Kate played in the sand mostly, Carter & Jackson played & stuck close to us (mamas boys...love.)

I snapped a few pics on our way out on my phone that melted my heart.

Family Pumpkin Patch Visit

Sunday morning Brett suggested we go to a Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound (like 15-20ish mins away).  We threw outfits on the kids, ourselves, got the diaper bag ready, & off we went.  This place had bounce houses, a bouncey slide (Ek loves!), hay rides, other rides, animals, horse rides (okay, ride in a circle.) It turned out to be hotter than expected so we only stayed for an hour, which was plenty of time to wear us all out! Overall, a fun family fall outing!! Enjoy all the pics. :)

 First stop a Mickey picture!

 Jumping & bouncing

 Off he goes...

 Another bouncey.

Staring very intently on the animals. The big black pig is right there.

 Emma Kate's 1st time on a horse!!

 Getting comfortable & giving him pets.

 Priceless memory :))

 Going for a ride in a barrel pulled by a golf cart...kinda funny sight.

 Biased, but the MOST BEAUTIFUL people I've ever laid eyes on!!!

 Fun take-off

 He's trying to find Daddy following along.

 EK spotted him.

 "Look Jack there he is with that camera again."

 One last slide before heading out (with a slight fit being carried to the car not wanting to leave!)

First Fallish Attire

Okay silly post, but to me it truly neverrrrrr felt like it was going to get cool around here after the hot temps we've had this summer. It finally happened this week, those fall temps came! It feels refreshing!
Today the kids actually wore fall clothes so Brett snapped a few pictures before Emma Kate went to MDO & Jackson had his mama to himself day.

Also, another milestone Jackson @ 19 months old started saying a 4 word phrase yesterday. He turned & handed me something & said "there you go Mama." Ahhhhhh!!! Melt me!!!

 Ready for the day :)

 Happy for school! Warms my heart!

 While EK is a school on Thursday, it's Jackson/Mama time. We stopped at Market Street for a few items  to make dinner with & I heard that they have kid sized carts so I thought it would be fun & something I could only do with one child in tow. Needless to say he loved his cart & thought he was pretty big time!