It’s that time of year.
The mornings are becoming cold and dark.
Warm blankets and sweatpants call out to me a little louder than usual.
My sweet tooth runs wild and all I want to do is bake.
A tired puppy cuddles up against my back to keep me warm.
Snuggling and nursing my baby is the very first thing I look forward to each morning.
Leaves are falling.
Winter winds are coming.
I love autumn.
Sometimes, you just have to interrupt nap time to let her play in her favorite pajamas in the leaves.
Every year around this time, I start to get a little nostalgic. The fall seems to have so much meaning for me.
The cool air and crunchy leaves take me back to ten falls ago. My dad, brother and I would ride our bikes in the evening, just until it got too dark. My mom would have warm cookies waiting for us when we returned home.
Seven falls ago, when I first started going to church.
Five falls ago, when I first started dating Michael, and no amount of time we spent together was ever enough.
Two falls ago, when all our hopes revolved around adding a sweet baby to our little family.
And last fall, when we were blessed with the most beautiful (and crazy!) baby girl.
I’m so thankful for falls.
Saturday was our day to go pumpkin picking! I was sooo super excited, because when I was a kid, this was a yearly tradition. I couldn’t wait to take Kaya and have fun as a family. (We did go last year, but Kaya was tiny and slept through the whole event!)
We tried a new farm this year and loved it! It was perfectly located in the beautiful, rolling Virginia hills, and it wasn’t overpriced like most places we’ve been.
Kevin and Tori were passing through town on their cross-country drive, so we were happy to have them join us. It’s not every day that all the Irwin siblings are together!
We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch!
Love these two with my whole heart (plus some…)
Of course, we got a little crazy (it wasn’t even a long ride… but apparently this is the only way we have fun!)
They had a corn maze. We all split up in different directions and still made it out alive! The pumpkin patch was right up the trail, so a-pickin’ we went!
Kaya’s excitement definitely didn’t disappoint. She LOVED the pumpkins and just couldn’t stop pointing at them, holding them, or trying to lift them.
There was a tractor made out of hay bales, so naturally, we had to “drive” it. Kaya was really unsure of it.
We visited with some ewe lambs (chunky ones, at that).
Kevin and Tori chucked some pumpkins!
And then I took waaaaay too many pictures of Kaya. But just look at that face! No mama could resist.
Like I said, she loves pumpkins (I also wish I had a picture of what was going on behind me to get her to laugh… we have a crazy family!)
We paid for our pumpkins and browsed their tiny shop of homemade goodies… including some amazing fudge! We might just have to go back sometime soon 🙂
Happy Fall!
Our family is coming into town this weekend for Kaya’s birthday party! Of course, I still have a million things left to check off my to-do list, so I’ll just leave you with a short post of this week’s highlights 🙂
Fall weather has arrived and we are loving the cooler temperatures (although I might not be loving how dark it is when I go running in the morning)… Kaya and I took a walk and she had fun pointing out all the trees. She even wore a hair bow! 🙂
Kaya has learned to “throw” the ball for Jax to fetch! As always, here he is kissing her right IN the mouth. My two crazy kids…
I stripped our bed down to wash the sheets, and someone made himself a little too comfy on our pillows and comforter. He does have his own blanket, you know… that he ripped to shreds.
We gave Kaya a cupcake last night to celebrate her birthday, and she barely touched it! Michael had to encourage her to taste it. She seemed to like it but only tried a small bit before she was bored with it. (C’mon Kaya… it’s chocolate!)
I’ve been crazy busy this week making all sorts of things for her party tomorrow. I made fondant for the first time ever and had so much fun playing with it yesterday… here’s a sneak peek of the cake!
Happy Friday!
On Saturday, we finally went pumpkin picking with some of our favorite people- our parents, and our friends, Mike and Amanda! (Yes, Mike and Michael are all matchy-matchy, and no, they didn’t plan it… they are just that cool. Or they share a brain. I don’t know.)
We were lucky that we were able to go, since it had been raining cats and dogs that morning (okay, maybe I just included this detail so that I had an excuse to post pictures of a random cat at the greenhouse, and Scrappy…)
We had a really fun time, and if you’re wondering how a field and a gravel lot can be so entertaining, all I can say is “boys will be boys”.
There seems to be some unwritten rule that every baby needs her picture taken with pumpkins, so here it is! She slept through the entire event.
And just in case that wasn’t an adequate number of pumpkins for you…
We actually went home with both a traditional orange pumpkin and a white one! I was so excited about that little white pumpkin, but I couldn’t really justify getting two, until my mom-in-law said, “Well, you need a Thanksgiving pumpkin!” and I was sold. Who knew that turkeys and pumpkins go together, too?
Now all we have to do is carve some amazing pumpkin art!
crunchy leaves
orange and maroon
Hokie football
warm sweaters
holding hands
a cuddly baby
hot chocolate
baking cookies
chocolate-chip pumpkin muffins
costume-making
homemade soup
buttermilk biscuits
pumpkin picking
pumpkin carving contests
family walks (all bundled up)
…my favorite season!