Happy Birthday Esther!

 Esther had her 2nd birthday this week - she's a "big girl" now :)  So much has happened since she was born it seems like at least 2 years ago - and it's hard to imagine there was ever a world without Esther - we didn't know what we were missing!

This picture is actually at an event we were invited too - I didn't know how she'd do with the pony, but she wasn't scared at all...

One of Esther's newest games is taking her doll "babies" with her everywhere - She's quite a good little mother and especially is good at laying them down for naps!

 Esther helped me make her birthday cake - actually, since we have had no lack of sugar lately, we made gingerbread - which I haven't made for a very long time....was a fun treat.

 Look twice - both of the girls are smiling at the same time! Now if only they were dressed up...

 The day Esther was born was quite chilly, her second birthday - farther south - was beautiful!

 When Aaron got home from work we had our own little "party" - we gave her our gift and the ones the Grandmas mailed.

 She figured out that she needed to blow, but couldn't blow hard enough :)

 Even I will concede that whipped cream is better than most frosting!

 Then last night we went up to Aaron's parents and celebrated again - she got this little wheelbarrow (to help Daddy work!) and promptly filled it up with everything she could find laying around.

 Still needed help to get those candles out! This time she got a real cake - with caramel frosting :)

I know that's a lot of pictures, but you only have one second birthday!

New Glasses

 Aaron put Anna in a rocking horse that someone gave Esther, and she thought it was pretty special!

 We did some cleaning on Monday and so I thought I'd better take pictures of the house right away :) Above is the front door.

 This is the dining room, which we're using for a living room. Since the house isn't ours and we'll only be in it a few months, we decided not to put up pictures and things.

 I love the size of the kitchen!

 Yes, that's Anna standing up over there -

 You can see the laundry room off to the side - the bedrooms and bathrooms are pretty normal and there's a few other rooms that are being used for storage.

 This is the patio off of the kitchen. We've seen deer and turkeys in our back yard!

 From the front porch -

 OK, this isn't the greatest picture of me, but now you know what I look like with glasses - when we moved here, I barely passed the eye test to get my dr. license, so we went ahead and decided to get them. I don't have to wear them all the time, but I'm really enjoying being able to see more!

Corn Maze in TN (2 of 2)

 For Esther's birthday,  her TN grandparents took us to a corn maze - the weather was just cool enough to be fall like and we all enjoyed our "farm experience" :)

 For those of you not into corn mazes, this may be a boring post - we took pictures of everything that looked remotely interesting to show my family. And since posting pictures is easier than emailing them, you all get in on our day!

 "Duck races"

 This little people house was probably Esther's favorite part. We had to drag her away...it really isn't that small either - I could stand up inside.

 Hi Mama!

 "Milking the cow" - there was plastic to squeeze on and water came out into a pail...there were also signs up in the shed about dairy facts.

 Animals of course - this is the goat. (Esther's in the purple jacket - since I got it out the other day, she hasn't wanted to take it off!)

 Anna was so good all afternoon. This is the tire pyramid.

 There were several places for photo shoots. This was right before we went home - as for the maze, you'll be horrified at me, but we didn't make it all the way through :( We were lost somewhere at the end of the field and it was raining and we found our way back to the "pumpkin ride" trail and took that out...

 "Rat races"

 "Case IH self-peddled go-karts"

 Esther on the edge of the giant sand box

 There was quite a bit of just playground type things

People were standing in line for kettle corn. There was also a zip-line, giant bubble to jump on, air powered pumpkin shooter, food, pumpkins, bale tunnel, corn bin, and more...

At Home in September (1 of 2)

 I took a few pictures of everyday life this month to share with you :) Above is Esther all ready for church.

 I was washing dishes and looked down to see Anna getting into our "spatula" drawer.

 She was pretty pleased with herself -

 And went on to take out the stuff - one of Esther's favorite activities as well.

 Anna playing with a toy coin -

 She's also been pulling herself up to a standing position this week!

 Our funny baby :) She now has one of her top teeth in, as well as the bottom two.

 Esther in the church nursery.

 Esther hanging out on the couch with "Daddy."

 I haven't got much exersize at all this summer, but the other day when we were at the church I walked in the gym and pushed the girls in the stroller.

Esther got two of the same outfit for her first birthday last year -  both 12 months size - Esther's just outgrown them and Anna's just growing into them!

We've also finished (mostly) moving and Aaron's been doing some yard work. The garden is pretty much done. Some people gave us some apples that we've been drying. That's all for now....