A "Bootiful" Halloween

Halloween this year was the perfect temperature with the perfect weather.  What a great day for Leah's first Trick or Treat experience.  We planned to get the girls dressed and join Caden, Cohen, and a church friend, Jonah in the annual "beg for candy" in our neighborhood.  Sarah was overjoyed at this first opportunity to parade around town as a "queen".  You see,  Halloween is not the only time we dress up in the Coleman household.  Try everyday!  I put limits on her in terms of when she could wear this dress until after Halloween so that she would have a pristine costume with no jelly, grape juice, or other signs of 5 year old wear and tear.   Now she was finally able to wear the costume whenever she wanted!
 

Doesn't she look beautiful?  This is by far my favorite costume of hers to date. She has worn it so much, it has been worth every penny!

Unfortunately, Leah slept through the first part of the festivities,  which is always the photo shoot.  Ha!  Sarah had to begin trick or treating without sis.

Caden, Cohen, and Jonah arrive.  Time to go!

Obviously, we were the first house they hit. 

Next it was time to cross the street and visit our very close friends and neighbors, the Shepards.

Kaitlyn handed out the candy.  They even had a special treat for little Leah.  They are so sweet!

I love to see kids faces as they scan the candy bowl.  I guess this is what they mean by "visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads".  I know, I am confusing holidays... but you get the picture.

I took the next few photos so that you can get a feel for just how many people show up to trick or treat.  We live in a small town in a rurally dominated county.  I think many of the country folk drive into the subdivisions to let the kids trick or treat.  In this case, they literally drove around the subdivision and jumped out at various spots.

The crowds went for as far as the eye could see.

I ran back after a short time to check on my little one and get her dressed for the big day.  What a cute little lady bug.

Sarah was thrilled to have her join the group.  Leah, not so much.  I guess trick or treating is not truly for the infants...We dress them up so we can show them how cute they were when they look back in photos or in this case, blogs!

My beautiful girls.  Overall a great time was had by all.  We had candy lying around the house for months!  Sarah is not really a huge candy eater.  It takes great amounts of self control on the parents parts not to raid the bag for goodies.  I can't wait to see our girls next year.  Leah will be two and it should be a hoot!

Goodbye Baby, Hello Toddler!

In some ways, the year has flown, and in others, it has trudged along. There is no more challenging year in the life of a family than welcoming a new member. We survived no sleep, reflux, and more weeks without Daddy than we would wish to count. We enjoyed Leah's first smiles, teeth, words, and crawling everywhere and getting into all sorts of mischief. We can officially no longer call Leah "baby" (although she will always be my baby). She began taking her first assisted steps in October and by December, is off and running. Here is a look back at the momentous occasions of first steps and her very first birthday on planet earth.

Leah and her sis are all smiles, these were the days when you could confine the child to one location without protest.  Sniff.. sniff...

She would happily crawl around on all fours seeking out mischief.  She especially loved her car seat.

All this changed around mid October when Leah discovered the walker.  These were her first official steps. And boy was she proud.  She didn't just take a few, she was all over the house!

How proud of herself!

I especially loved the thumbs up photo.

I know I am biased, but I think she just has the cutest smile in the whole world!

Just a few short weeks later, we had another milestone.  Leah's first birthday!

The house was decked out with doggies.  Leah has become quite fond of our two dogs, Katie and Shelly.  She lights up whenever they are together.  What better way to celebrate than with a room full of dogs!

My friend Brandy was kind enough to help me create my harebrained idea of doggy cupcakes.  This is my first (and possibly my last) time of creating the cake for the celebration.  I thought they turned out great.  Thanks Brandy!

Let's get this party started.

All of our puppy friends "dropped in" to join in the fun.

As you would expect, little Leah just didn't know what all the fuss was about.  Yes this is the same outfit as she wore before with her first steps, but I loved it so much, I decided it would be the perfect birthday attire. 

"Aunt" Brandy and Leah's cousin, Alena, aka her partner in crime, came to enjoy the event.  They are three months apart in age and are so similar.  I am so happy she will have someone so close in her life.  Brandy is Alena's aunt as well, as my brother married her sister.  This makes us sisters (sort of) :).

Papaw McReynolds came all the way from the mountains to celebrate.

Alena's mommy, Aunt Ashley and Alena.

Uncle Jason and our friend/neighbor Daniel.

Brandy came with the cutest smash cake for Leah.  I loved it!

Leah enjoyed opening presents (for a while).  You know the attention span of a 12 year old.  They can't quite make it through the whole event.

Mommy switches off with Daddy to shake things up a bit.  There is Mamaw McReynolds in the background and our friend, Julie in the foreground.

Cake time!  Will she get dirty or won't she?

Not so dirty at al!.  I for one am shocked knowing my girl.  What a fun party!

On October 25, my girl is officially one!

She is getting quite the personality.  She loves to laugh and make others laugh.  She is obsessed with ball, trains, and things that go (do I see a tomboy in the making?).  She loves her Daddy above all others in the world and would move mountains to get to him if necessary.  She now has six teeth (as of December) and eats pretty much everything!  Her favorites are broccoli, beans, bananas, and crackers. 

She will always be my special angel.

Happy Birthday "Le Le bird"

Down on the Farm

We love October in Kentucky! I truly believe that it is my new favorite month. Many farms and orchards open their door to throngs of visitors for food, hayrides, and playground fun. We called up our friends Mollie and little Anna Grace to go for our first visit of the year during fall break.

As you can see, the farm made a great impression on little Anna.  Ha!

Leah enjoyed herself, but wished she could have crawled around in the dirt a little more.  She is my wild child!

The hayride is always my favorite part of the day.

I think Sarah's favorite part was the apple cider slushy from the orchard cafe.  Yum!

What a beautiful day and a beautiful orchard. 

 This year we were given a treat when we were able return to this same local orchard on its' "off day" with Sarah's preschool.  This meant we had the whole place all to ourselves (no crowds).   What fun!

We got there a little early to eat some yummy food from the grill.  I love to sit on this porch and daydream that we live on a farm.  And then I get to leave and have no work to do!  It is the best of both worlds.  Chris came along to enjoy the scenery.

Sarah was chowing down on the yummy food we packed.

Here is Leah in a rare happy moment while being confined to a stroller.  It is all because of the food, I assure you!

Sarah was so happy to see her little "boyfriend", London was there.  I can sympathize with their teacher who says she can't keep them apart at school.  We couldn't tear them apart either.

Leah had fun with the love of her life, Daddy!

Pumpkin pickin' with London and his brother, Keaton.  We have lots of fun with this annual tradition. 

This is Sarah's first time truly getting to pick pumpkins.  We welcomed her to the world at the end of pumpkin season last year.

I just loved this photo of her getting dirty in n the falling leaves.  It so captures her personality.

Sarah loves her little sister so much.  Almost too much if you catch Leah's expression.  Usually the embraces end in cries of protest from our little one.

Being silly together.

Fun on the playground with the Providence kids.

Leah had her own fun on the hay bale.

Throwing hay.

All in all it was a great trip and a great fall season here in Kentucky.