little lola

Here's a post about little Lola.

She is so sweet.

here she is at 2 1/2 months

Still pretty skinny and small.

then at 3 months

She's starting to fill out a bit here.

a week later

She's getting fat!  My favorite thing in the world is a fat baby!

I've been lucky enough to have TWO fat babies!

Noah LOVES his "stister"

He is so sweet to her.  Sometimes he's a little too rough or takes a toy away, but for the most part he is a very nice big brother and very helpful. He LOVES to make her smile and laugh.

here she is swimming with her aunt Brandy at almost 5 months

she loves to stick her tongue out (5 months)

She's so smiley and fun and sweet!

She's such an easy baby.  She naps really well and is easy to please.

here's all her little fat rolls!  look at that knee dimple!  nearly 6 months here.

Cutest and fattest baby ever!

she never quite figured the binky thing out.  neither did Noah

Noah gave her a pretty flower to put in her hair

She started sitting up around 5 months or so.

hanging out with me doing laundry

one of the two times I tried a pony in her hair

here she is with her daddy at 7 1/2 months

she likes to make funny faces for the camera (8 months)

What a fun addition to our little family!  We love Lola so much!

She's such a sweet and pretty little girl.

wow

Seriously???  Has it been nearly 6 months since I posted last??

WOW!!!

Well, this post comes with shop news

and a warning.

The shop news is that we are having a sale!

A big one!

It's Christmas time and sales are all around us, so...

we are joining in.

We are doing 40% OFF all SINGLE PRINTS!

Yay!

It starts today!

So click HERE to save big at the shop!

Now for the

WARNING...

This blog is a look behind the scenes of our little Pickled Pumpkins Company,

but... it's also a family record and a place for friends and family to see what's happening with us.

With that said, I will be doing a LOT of back blogging.

I just can't believe how far behind I am, and with a new baby in the house there is a lot to catch up on.

So now you are warned... there will be a lot (hopefully) of new posts coming up, but I'll be back dating them.

Thanks for being patient with me as I adjust to having more than one kid.

summer swimming

This year we were lucky enough to get passes to Cherry Hill, our local water park!

It's a fun place for toddlers because they have this huge area with shallow water, a giant wooden pirate ship and a mini water slide.

We'd pack our lunches and stay for several hours.

Noah's favorite thing to do there was to chat with the lifeguards that sit at the top of this slide.

He would sometimes wait until the line was gone so he'd have more time to chat them up.

Most of them were super nice and friendly with him.

Lola mostly napped in her stroller waking up occasionally to eat and get a few rays of sunshine.

It was a really fun thing to do in the heat of summer.

lagoon

We got to go to Lagoon (our local amusement park) twice this summer!

Noah LOVES it there!  He talks about it all the time.

Noah was a little scared on the pirate ship.

He LOVED the swings!

He liked these cute little cars too.

tiny airplanes

I love this picture!  He kept getting his bumper car stuck.

They got soaked on Rattle Snake Rapids.

(and no, we didn't mean to have Noah and Abe be matchy-matchy)

Mini roller coaster!  Puff the Magic Dragon!

He loved the "helidoctors"!

We had lots of fun and hope we get to go again next year!

the potty

We started potty training Noah in January of this year.

yes, that's his underwear on his head

Nobody warns you how terrible potty training is.  

I can easily say that it is one of the most frustrating things I've ever done.  

It was soooo hard.  

He just didn't like it.

He took a good six months before he was ok with it.

He was tall enough that he could stand, so I figured out that he was much happier about it when he could stand to go potty.  "Just like daddy!", he said.

Now he does a really good job.

Yay, Noah!  You did it!

Daddy and I are so proud of you!

jumping

Another favorite thing for us is...

...jumping on the bed!

These pictures were taken in March of this year, just a week or so before Lola was born.

Now he likes to bounce Lola on the bed.  I'm sure he has lots to teach her!

He looks so little and fat in these pictures.  I miss that.

camping in escalante memorial day weekend

Abe took Noah camping in Escalante (south-east Utah).

I stayed home with baby Lola since she was only two months old.

It's a beautiful place!

They went on several hikes that were pretty long and Noah hiked them all by himself!

He had so much fun!

What 3 year old wouldn't have fun here?

Such a cool picture!  Here is Noah with his cousin Hank.

It was a super fun trip for the boys to bond and a lovely relaxing time for us girl to bond at home!

lola's blessing

We had Lola's blessing on May 1st at our church.

here's a little family photo afterward

Abe gave her the blessing and it was beautiful.

Her lovely little dress was made by my mom.

I really can't even put into words how much I love her dress!
It's a creamy eyelet fabric with white lace trim.
So beautiful!  Thank you, mama!

here is a picture of four generations of women

My cute grandma, Gayle Maxwell, on the left.  My sweet mom, Maurine Harris, on the right.
And of course baby Lola and me in the middle.
The women on my mom's side are very strong, smart and capable women.  I only hope Lola and I can inherit those traits.

While we were sitting in church, Abe and I were overwhelmed with gratitude and love for our families.  So much of my family was able to make it, which is rare due to the large number of us.  Five of my seven siblings made it along with my parents, grandma, and a whole bunch of my nieces and nephews.
Abe's younger sister, parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle were able to make it as well.

We are so thankful for our family and friends and all the love and support they give us.
We are especially thankful for the gospel and how blessed we are because of it.

Thanks to all our family for basically doing everything for us!  Cooking, serving, cleaning, entertaining, etc. so that we could relax and enjoy the day.

It was a beautiful day that we will always remember.

bike

This summer, we helped Noah with his new training wheels and helmet on a great little hand-me-down bike.

He loved it!

Since we have a gravel driveway, we have to go next door to Grandma Apple's to ride in their driveway.

He's starting to catch on.

A few times I took him to the park and walked Lola in the stroller while he biked around the whole thing.

We'll do a lot more of it next summer I'm sure.

In addition to riding his bike, Noah kept Lola busy this summer.

He treats her a bit like a little doll sometimes.

big brother

Noah is a very good big brother.

He loves his "stister" Lola very much.

He's certainly had to adjust, but he's doing really well with it.

he ALWAYS makes sure she has LOTS of toys to play with

he's learning that maybe some toys are a little too big for her just yet

he pushes her in her swing

he makes sure she has LOTS of toys to play with

holds her hand and comforts her when she cries

and... makes sure she has LOTS of toys to play with

In this one, he had given her a pair of his (clean) underwear in case she had a poopy diaper.

I thought that was pretty thoughtful of him.

He's such a good big brother.



anniversary #4

Today is our wedding anniversary!

Abe and I have been married 4 years.

We think it's funny how short 4 years is because it feels like we've been married forEVER.  I mean that in a good way.

Abe is such a sweet man, he is so good to me. 

He loves me like crazy despite my MANY faults.  He always makes me feel capable, worthy, beautiful and happy. 

That's no small task when you're married to me.

He has such a laid back attitude

that compliments my high-strung attitude.

Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed or upset or crazy, he can make me feel calm.

We find each other funny.  We have fun giggling together.

I find him quite handsome.

He's a wonderful husband, an amazing dad and I love him so very much.

I love you, dear!

Happy 4th Anniversary!