Two shirts

Our little fashionista doesn't miss a thing. Her latest observation is that adults often wear two shirts--so she's decided that's the thing to do. Today she went into her room to get dressed and came out wearing this: jeans, polka-dot skirt, polka dot socks, and of course, a short-sleeved top over a long-sleeved one. Both tops were backwards, but so what. :)

Mia was also styled by big sis. Two shirts, natch! I think choosing Mia's clothes is hands-down one of B's favorite parts about having a little sis. She's been picking out almost all of Mia's outfits lately. She likes to lay them out for me on Mia's changing pad. Mom gets final say over what Mia wears, though, since the outfit selections can get a little crazy.

"Two shirts, one shirt, who cares? I'd look cute in a paper bag!"

Delicious autumn!

I came across a beautiful quote about my favorite season:

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
--George Eliot

We've had a gorgeous autumn with our girls and some great fall experiences. Here are some photos from last month that I never got around to posting.

We met Steve's folks at Remlinger Farms. The place is amazing--although, not so much a farm. It's more of a carnival for kids. I don't think we encountered a speck of dirt on our entire visit. Not that that's a bad thing.

Bianca's first ride!

We got more of a real farm experience a couple of weeks later at Schiltin's Farm in Olympia.


Hayride!

Pumpkin pickin'.

Finally, we had a park playdate at Wright Park (yes, Bianca opted to wear her giraffe Halloween costume from last year). I love the enormous, ancient trees at this park--we were standing underneath one, and it started "raining" acorns! We got bonked on the head a few times but we collected a bunch.


All in all, a practically perfect fall.

Happy Birthday Pumpkin!

Whew--a whirlwind birthday weekend! Two birthdays, one party, lots and lots of fun!

First, we celebrated Mia's actual birthday on Thursday. The girls both enjoyed some birthday pancakes:


Friday was Steve's thirtysomething birthday. :) He got his present early this year (a little shopping spree at the Nike employee store in Beaverton, Oregon) so we just had a quiet dinner at home. Unfortunately, his birthday was kind of sandwiched bewteen Mia's actual birthday and her party, so I was pretty busy with party stuff. Happily, he's a great dad and didn't mind letting his girl take center stage. LOVE you, hon!

Mia's party was Saturday. I had a lot of fun with the preparation and decorations, since I love fall, pumpkins, and the color orange.




The pumpkin patch cupcakes were so much fun to make! Pumpkin cake with Swiss meringue buttercream--YUM! I wanted them to look like little pumpkin patches, complete with signs. Thank goodness my mom and Kendra found the little pumpkin candies. They were absolutely sold out everywhere I looked.

Pumpkin hummus.

Pumpkin gnocchi with browned butter sage sauce.

Birthday girl!

Inhaling her cupcake.

Sweets table.

Bianca was a good gift helper. She's wearing another tutu (Grandma made tutus for both girls--thanks!)





We took so many photos and I don't want to make this post any longer. Here's the album with the rest. Can't believe our sweet little pumpkin is one! Thanks, everyone, for a fabulous time!

Onward--Bianca's party is a few weeks away!

Walker

Who needs a fancy-schmancy walker? Mia just needs a laundry basket. :) She's been steering this thing around the house like her own personal car. It's the perfect height for our little almost-toddler.

Sunny day

Is this Washington--in November? Just checking. Our balmy weather is confusing me. But it means more outside time for the girls, so I'll take it! 70s on Wednesday, 60s on Thursday. We're soaking it in. Lots of park playdates!

Sisters making each other laugh. Look at those neck rolls.


Both of my girls love the swings.


Mia's such a big girl now. She insists on being "down" at parks so she can chase her sister and play (and stuff her mouth full of woodchips while she's at it).

Trick or treat!

Should have seen this one coming: after I painstakingly hand-sewed Bianca's butterfly costume (designed to match her sister's caterpillar costume, of course), B decided that she wanted to be a princess for Halloween. So out came a princess dress from her dress-up-clothes drawer and a crown from the dollar store.

I could have avoided several hours of sewing and a few trip to JoAnn's if she'd picked the princess outfit from the get-go, but no matter. That's the life of a mom--doing unappreciated stuff for our kids (and that's how it should be)! Either way, the kids had fun, and looked cute!

We did a neighborhood trick-or-treat in the Proctor district with some friends, and afterward Bianca declared that she had "enough candy". Very true. So we skipped going to houses on our street and settled in for the night.

I think Steve was dressed up as a Sounders fan. :)

Smiling at the people behind us--such a flirt! We're in trouble!

Our little caterpillar, smiley as always! Next year Mia will be running around and we'll have two little ones trick-or-treating! Can't wait!