My Favorite Season

Fall is, hands down, my favorite time of year. I know so many people who are sad to see summer end and miss the warm weather... not me!

I love crisp, sunny fall days. I love the change in colors. I love wearing warm, cozy sweaters. I love harvest and Halloween decorations. I love seeing pumpkins everywhere and I especially love seeing the sign outside of Starbucks that says: "Pumpkin Spice lattes are here!" This year, I am really loving fall because it gave me an excuse to photograph Kennedy with some beautiful fall leaves and a couple of pumpkins. And, it was pretty fun buying her first Halloween costume (a ladybug) and putting her bib on that says "My First Thanksgiving."

It seems that everything is more special when there is a baby involved...

This photo is clearly not related to my "fall post" but it was so stinkin' cute, I had to include it!

Stay tuned for Halloween photos this weekend!!! :)

Liam's Birthday

We celebrated our nephew's 4th birthday on Saturday... it was a beautiful fall day! the birthday boy! Kennedy playing with her cousin, Moraiya grandpa John with Kennedy and Roderick
Sean, Harv and Colin with their kiddos
(and good friend Jerry K. in the back)

Kennedy took her first spin in a swing!

She absolutely loved it as you can see!

Ready for Halloween!

Well, we did not make it out to the pumpkin patch this year... sorry Kennedy! Fortunately, you are only 8 months old and you really don't know the difference. :) We will go next year, I promise. I did pick up a little pumpkin for you though. Here you are trying to figure out what the heck it is!

And, here we are together... after all these months, I am trying to be better about getting pictures of the two of us!

Aunt Rachael

My mom had a few pictures of the girls on her camera from this past summer. Kennedy and Rachael have a great time together and Kennedy gets a major kick out of her auntie Rachael. Rachael already looks out for Kennedy and is so excited when she accomplishes something new (i.e. standing up next to the couch or saying "ma-ma"... the look on Rachael's face was priceless). We are excited to watch these two grow up together... they are both very special little girls!

Grandpa Aldo

Sean's grandpa Aldo passed away this past weekend. He was a wonderful, dear man who will be greatly missed by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We feel lucky to have had the chance to celebrate his 80th birthday last month. Here are a few of our favorite pictures of grandpa Aldo over the past few years...

Celebrating his 80th birthday in September
Kennedy and her great-grandpa (April 2009)

Sean and Aldo (December 2007)

Amy and Harv with grandpa Aldo (December 2007)

Aldo, Sean and I (December 2007)

Lazy Sunday

We had a lazy, relaxing Sunday. Sean watched the 'Hawks play football... I went to the gym and took a nap while Kennedy napped. We took some cute pictures of and with our girl... she is finally feeling better after her double ear infection and cold. Yuk!

Cousins

Kennedy got to play with her cousins, Hailey and Tyler this weekend. Here she is trying to steal Tyler's pacifer ... Sean had to stop her (as you can see, she did not like that very much)! Tyler at 6 weeks... he is SUCH good baby!

Hailey is a great little helper... here she is consoling Kennedy. She is such a little sweetheart and she has a vibrant personality on top of it. As I was rocking Kennedy to sleep in her room, Hailey stood next to me and said matter of factly "Well, it sure is dark in here." :) Hailey had fun taking out every single toy in Kennedy's toy basket. Kennedy didn't quite know what to do with the plethora of objects soooo... she put as many as she could into her mouth!

a Quick Shout-Out

I have to give a shout-out to this great cooking blog I found via Katie's blog. I don't know if she has used it much yet but I have been making recipes off of it and they have all been delicious. It is called "My Kitchen Cafe" and there is a link to it right here on my page (on the right hand side under "fellow bloggers"). The author of the blog is a mom of four kids and she is constantly assembling delicious, easy, and for the most part, healthy recipes. I have made 7 or 8 dishes and Sean and I have both loved each one of them. If you have a chance to check out this website and you enjoy cooking, I highly recommend it!

Growin' Girl

At 8 months old, Kennedy is a petite 15.9 lbs and is able to:

Stand up next to the couch for a few seconds...

and, we really love her too (see shirt)...
Get up on all fours... she is sooo close to crawling...

Pose for super-cute pictures in her bath towel... :)

Kennedy is a drooling machine but still does not have teeth, much to our dismay!

This month she started saying "da-da."

Although she does not yet associate it with Sean, she says it often.

I am patiently waiting for "ma-ma!" :)

She continues to be the happiest little squirt and we love her quick and constant smile.

Could we be more blessed?

Playdate

Katie's sister, Emily, invited us over for brunch and a play date last week. Emily's daughter, Ellis, is just a month older than Kennedy. It was cute to see the two girls together... it did make me realize how short Kennedy is. Ellis is so tall! Maybe she will be a great basketball player! Here are a few photos of the girls. Little Finn is just hanging out in the last one... soon enough, he will be able to play right along side the little ladies!

Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of Emily's little boy, Sawyer. He is quite possibly, one of the cutest little two year olds I have ever met! He has a fantastic personality and a large vocabulary for such a little guy.

Reunion

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of having lunch with some wonderful old friends. Brie, Kailyn, Margaret and I all went to St. Patrick's together through elementary and middle school.

Brie moved at the beginning of high school and we lost touch over the years... thanks to Facebook, we were able to reconnect and we planned this wonderful lunch. I had not seen Brie in about 12 years and I hadn't seen Kailyn in about a year and a half. Both are newlyweds and are doing great. Margaret and I see each other all the time and she is busy planning her upcoming wedding as well. Thanks for a great reunion girls!

Cool New Chair

Kennedy loves her new highchair (thank you Curtin family!)... we ditched the "hook on" high chair as it didn't have a tray and I was sick of trying to keep food off of the carpet (yes Sean, you were right)! :)

Buddies

Kennedy and our big orange cat, Max, have become good friends over the past few months. Kennedy has taken an interest in him and Max has realized that she is always up for petting him so he loves to hang out near her!