Massive Amounts of Pictures!!!

So... my computer is finally working again. Not working well, but functioning. AND I re-loaded my photo software, so I can put pictures up again! I'm just posting most of the pictures that I'm way behind on- they're on here in the smallest form so as not to make this the longest blog post EVER. If you want to see one bigger, click on it, and a new window will open with the picture in full-size. :)

1. We went to the Finch Arboretum again. I dragged Jay there last weekend, and we all had a blast. Even Jay had to admit that it was beautiful there and SO fun to play in the leaves. We did a little exploring this time and found a cute waterfall and creek. Harry also found some crabapples, which he insisted on taking a picture of to send to his Ga-ga.

2. Mommy and Me Halloween Party- we had a great time! The kids loved having so many of their friends in one place! Plus, candy, games, and treats! Who could ask for more?

3. On Sunday, my friend Rhenda and I took our little ones skating- Harry and Anna had a great time, as did Rhenda and I! The kids were SO cute and did really really well. Harry was loving it and even managed to stand up on his own a little bit. I'm so proud!! Afterwards, Harry and I went and chased the ducks and geese for awhile. It was such a gorgeous fall day I couldn't resist!

4. Random Halloween pictures- we had about 7 Halloween things this week, so bear with me... that little race car driver and his ballerina sister wore out their costumes this year!

UGH

Okay, so I have a TON of pictures to post. However, my stupid computer is acting really really dumb lately and won't work. Jay's in the process of wiping off my hard drive and reloading everything. We're hoping it works, or else somebody's going to be asking for $ for a new computer for her birthday.... ;) Which is coming up sooooooooon!!! 

We're debating going to Vegas for Jay's graduation stuff in December. However, the main event- the graduation dinner- is formal and no-kiddos-allowed. Hence, I need a babysitter. Being that I've never been to a graduation yet (I missed Jay's because Harry was 4 days old!!), I'd like to go and due to other circumstances, won't make any of the future ones before we move. SO- who wants to come to Vegas and play with the Butterfields???? The other option would be for a responsible adult to come here and I could run away and have a romantic weekend with my husband.... hint, hint, nudge, nudge.... :) This would also work as a birthday present....

Pumpkin Fun!

On Saturday, we headed up to Greenbluff for our annual pumpkin excursion. We'd planned to go to Harvest House with our friends, but the pumpkins there were just lumped in a huge pile, so I made Jay take us to Siemer's instead. That's where we'd gone last year and had a great time. For some reason, Harry kept thinking there were supposed to be eggs inside the pumpkins- he kept yelling, "where's the eggs?" every time we'd crack one open. No idea wherehe got that from, but he was quite angry that we'd gotten "broken punkins." :P

Emma in the pumpkin cart!
Harry wanted "THIS one!"Ems with her pumpkin
Jay was not thrilled about going picking.
They each got to take home a mini pumpkin. Emma tried to eat hers!
Pre-carving

Mommy's carvings- Silly face and a moon with batsDaddy's carvings- ghost and monster face

This is last year's pumpkin patch picture- Harry looks little and Mommy looks HUGE!! (This was the weekend before I had Ems!)

Fun in the Leaves!

On Friday, we went to the Finch Arboratum with some friends from the Mommy and Me Group. What a gorgeous place! I got tons of amazing pictures of the kids playing in the leaves and the gorgeous fall trees in the background. Ems got leaves thrown in her face immediately when I put her down, so she was quite ticked for the first while that we were there, but she eventually got over it. Harry immediately ran for the HUGE pile of leaves and fell in love with the place. :) Thanks Kari for planning this for us- we had an amazing time!!!

Emma's 1 yr Dr Appt.

Ems had her 1 yr well-baby visit on Weds. She was thrilled to be naked and have the run of the waiting room. :)
When we got there, she had a fever of 100.4, which I knew was because of the 3 teeth she has coming in. She also ended up with 5 separate shots AND an anemia screen. I don't remember doing that with Harry, but apparently, its standard now. She howled through the entire thing, and Harry wiped out off a chair and hit his head on the wall during it, and of course I couldn't do anything to help either of them. UGH. That's soo frustrating as a mom.
Anyways, 2 of her teeth came through that night and we gave her a little Motrin, and she's back to our goofy giggly trouble-making little princess already. :)

Girls Day Out and Emma's Birthday

On Monday, Jay had the day off for Columbus Day, so we girls headed out for some girl time. :) We went to Coeur d'Alene and went shopping downtown and just had some great bonding. We went to the cute little Christmas store and had ornaments made with our names on them. I'm so excited to hang it on our tree!!

Ems opening her presents
Blocks from Mommy
We went to dinner at Tomato Street, our friend Jason came along, and we had a wonderful time and delicious food, of course!

Emma got free dessert because it was her birthday. This is her face when they set it down and we all started singing- its a cross between excited, confused, and holy cow, they gave me ice cream!! :)

Emma had a WONDERFUL birthday. I can't believe my little tiny one is ONE already. Between her friends party, Shannon and Angie coming to visit, and her baptism, she was the center of attention for about 3 straight days, not to mention all the presents and kisses! Thank you to all our friends and family who sents cards and presents and called her, we really appreciate you remembering her birthday and celebrating with us. These are the days that are the most frustrating to me being a military family- nothing means more than family and friends, and yet, we can't have them around us on our special days. I love that so many of you went out of your way to celebrate with our little pumpkin!! Thanks again!!

Baptism and Party Pictures!

Emma was baptized last Sunday, we got it done in under a year- we were one day close, but whatever! ;) She did pretty well, neither kid wanted to be at mass beforehand, but they were both pretty good during the actual ceremony. Harry was apparently starving to death through the entire thing and kept saying, "but I'm really really hungry right NOW!" Shannon took him for a nice walk around the chapel and thus missed the picture with Father. Again, whatever! She also managed to fall and hit her mouth on my coffee table as we were walking out the door (Emma, not Shannon!)- blood on the white dress, not a good thing. We dabbed it with water and it immediately came out, thank God!

She got a rocking horse, and is absolutely in love with it! Every morning, I hear her climb out of bed and go over and push the button to make him sing, and then hear, "Ohhhhhh, Hiiiiiiiiiii." :)Do these look familiar??? My grandma used to make these for every birthday party Katie and I had growing up, so I thought they'd be perfect for Emma's first birthday! :)

Harry and I bowling- he had SO much fun, and all the kids did much better than I thought they would! They managed to each complete a game and had a blast!Emma playing with the balloons! She's SO cute!

The rest are more party pictures! I know this post is super long and with LOTS of pictures, but we had a such a great party :)