Old MacDonald had a Farm...

and on that farm he had a chicken....



and a squirrel.....EIEI-O!

Here is mommy the farmer with her cute little animals!

Love this picture! The looks on their faces = priceless!

Baxter and Elle didn't know what to think about each other!

About to walk around the neighborhood on Elle's First Halloween!



Elle's favorite part of the night was when a nice neighbor gave her a bag of Teddy Grahams! She rattled that bag around for hours. I am sure she would have loved to have had a little taste, but her mommy took care of them for her! In our previous dress rehearsals, Elle's costume only lasted about 5-10 minutes. I was thinking we would be doing great just to get pictures, but she didn't seem to mind it one bit. She was a chicken for a whole 2 hours! Yay Elle!

Elle about to "help" mommy carve a pumpkin!

I ended up carving 1 real pumpkin (for the neighborhood Ghost Walk), then the pumpkins below were faux pumpkins. I think those were one of the best inventions ever! It makes the time you spent carving worthwhile when you get to reuse them every year!

Elle says thank you to the neighbor that "BOO'd" us and gave her the pumpkin hat and bib!

Thank you Nana and Granny for my gifts!

Hanging with the Besties!

Here is Elle with her two best friends - Anna and Emma!

Anna (in the back) will be two years old in a few weeks. She is a good friend from our neighborhood, and Elle loves her! BJ's mom has been Anna's nanny since she was 3 months old. I don't think Anna knew what to think when Elle came along this year! She has been so good with Elle, though. She tries to be her little mommy! Anna sticks Elle's pacifier back in her mouth when she drops it and wants Elle to have every toy she has -so funny! She calls Elle " EEHHAA" :) We are so thankful that Elle has Anna to play with and keep her entertained everyday - this has been wonderful for her! We feel like Elle has the best of both worlds - a nanny (even better, her granny) who loves her and can spend one-on-one time with her, but she isn't secluded from others. She has a sweet playmate to interact with!



On Wednesday, Elle's cousin Emma (almost 5 months old) came to visit. I almost didn't post this picture because I cannot BELIEVE Elle did this when she first saw Emma! Look at that face! Pitiful! In Elle's defense, she had just woken up from a nap - so she wasn't quite with it yet! Hopefully Emma will forgive her!

After a few minutes, Elle decided everything was ok! Whew!

Aren't they just precious!

On a different note, I found these shoes for Elle at Target and I love them! I have really tried to keep Elle in shoes this fall. This has been very different for us, seeing as how she went around barefoot all summer long! With the weather turning cold, and since she *might* be walking in the next few months -I decided it was time. So, I got this girl stocked up on shoes!

Elle is definitely my daughter because she loves shoes, too....



So much that she always tries to EAT them...




and here is her sweet face when I say "no, no, no!" :)

Wish me luck. I think I am going to venture out and let Elle try different finger/table foods soon. She still loves her pureed foods in the jar, but I think she needs to practice picking up little snacks. Mum-Mums (rice cakes) are her favorite since they are easy to handle, but I think she is past these! I really dread this, but I am not sure why! I think I am just so picky about what is in Elle's food, so I feel like I need to make everything fresh for her - but there is not enough hours in the day for me to do this! I have been using Earth's Best (100% organic, GEI-free, no artificial flavors/colors/preservatives) baby food with her, and have been very pleased with it. When Elle was born, I promised that I would make my own baby food for my children - but I saw really quickly this wasn't happening! It was such a relief for me when I came across EB - they make food better than what I ever could anyway! Also, I am scared to death of food allergies! I have mixed feelings on giving Elle things like cheese just yet (even though it is listed as being ok)! Any advice from you moms out there on this would be greatly appreciated!

Enjoying her Mum-Mum!

Our Little Pumpkin

There is a really neat pumpkin patch across the street from our neighborhood. BJ and I had never been to Gentry's Farm, but have been driving by it for the last 3 years. I was really looking forward to the day we would be able to take our kids. So, this was our year! I was thinking Elle was too young to enjoy it - but being the people watcher that she is, she really liked it (even if she was too little to participate in the children's activities)! She especially likes to watch other kids play. It is so funny how even babies can pick out other babies and kids!

Here are some pictures we took at our house before we heading to the farm!

Elle was fascinated by the pumpkins!

She wanted to eat them, of course!

Everything she can get her hands on goes in the mouth!

Here we are at Gentry's Farm - Elle got to go on her first hayride!

Can't wait to break out the Halloween costumes next weekend!