He's growing up....

Blake has had some big milestones in the last month. On a random Thursday night September 16th, Blake went to bed with out his pacifier. That was the first time ever that had happened. So I didn't give it to him the next day and surprisingly he didn't ask. I kept this going and after three days I decided it was time to throw them out. A week later, he asked for his "c" but I told him they were all gone. So yeah we got rid of his pacifier! It ended up being a much easier process than I ever expected it to be. Thank you Lord!

A week later, Blake decided he was done with naps and was going to climb out of his crib. After three attempts to put him back in it and he kept crawling out I knew we were done. We took it down and now he's in his big boy bed. He's still adjusting to it and not wanting to always stay in it, but after a month, he's doing much better.

Along with these two big milestones, he has really started talking. Gongie has finally turned into milk! Yeah for that. And we have sentences now that I can actually understand. It's awesome to carry on a conversation with my little man. He's so precious. I just wish he could stay little forever!

Touch a Truck

The Breese Jr. Women's Club hosts an event each October called Touch a Truck. It's an opportunity where kids get to be hands on with all kinds of motorized things like excavators, helecoptors, fire trucks, a funeral hearse, street sweeper, semis, crop sprayers, buses, boats, etc, etc. The kids love it! So we went again this year. Lauren's favorite was the mini bus (a retrofitted golf cart) and Blake's was of course the restored tractor. Surprise, surprise. One of the surprising "hit attractions" was the hog trailer/semi from Bradley's company! Too funny watching the kids run up and down the ramps in the truck and peek through the side.

Here is a picture of the two of them at the event last year. Wow what a difference a year makes!

Harvest Time

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the cooler weather, changing leaves, apple picking, pumpkin picking, and Halloween. My favorite part of fall though is harvest. We have been able to get to Grandma and Grandpa Bartlow's twice to be a part of things. Blake and Lauren have loved riding in the combine and in the grain cart. It's been fun to see their excitement for things as well. The yields were poor on my parents farm but the best ever on our So. IL farm with 204 bushels to the acre on corn! Yea ha but that in the record books!

Driving Miss Daisy

Our poor cat Pepper is tormented by our pup Sadie every day! So she has come up with some interesting places to get away from Sadie. On this particular day, Pepper took refuge in Blake's car. I thought it was too funny and had to catch a picture. I just hope Pepper can survive Sadie's rough play until she grows out of this stage. Our other cat Peaches unfortunately ran away, at least we think that's what happened. We just say a prayer each day that Peaches found another loving home and is happy.

A change of scenery...

While the girls attended Disney on Ice, the boys went to our cattle partners Greg and Dan's to pick up our bull calves. So we officially have cattle now on our farm. The kids are loving feeding them and petting the one that will let them. It's pretty cute to watch them interact. I've enjoyed getting back in the swing of things with livestock, it's something I've honestly missed. I look forward to when the kids are ready to start showing. So if you are in the market for a registered Angus bull, we've got 5 to sell and one steer!

Disney on Ice

Lauren dearly loves dance and all things performance related. So we could not miss Disney on Ice as it returned to St. Louis. Grandma Vernitta was able to attend this time so now both Grandmas have ahad a chance to go. If you never gone, do so! It really is a great show and very reasonably priced. Following the performance we had a fun girls day out with lunch at Jilly's cupcake bar, shopping at Galleria, and then a trip to Penzeys spices. It was an awesome day with my little girl!

Birthday Highlights

I'm attempting to catch up the blog a bit. I can't believe how behind I am. I guess it's a testiment of how buys we've been! Blake had a awesome birthday with his cousin Delaney. It was fun to watch him open gifts and get into the excitement. It's amazing to look at the pictures from last year and see the changes like eating cake with a fork, saying his name, sitting patiently in a chair, no high chair, etc. What a difference a year makes.

Blake had his 2 year check up on September 17th. Here are his stats.

33 lbs
36 inches tall
19 3/4 inch head

Still a tall boy but he's come of his growth chart a bit. I think that can be easily explained by the meals he often skips and replaces with a sippy of milk! Oh well, I know this is just a stage.