Grandma Marian and Brandon came for a visit. It was a wonderful, warm Sunday afternoon. We had lots of fun playing at the Jones Center and spending time together. 

Cousin Brandon holding baby Mia. 

Little Girl eating a cracker. 

We tried so hard to get a great picture with all three, Grandma, Daniel, and Mia. But getting both Daniel and Mia to look in the same direction at the same time is nearly impossible. In this picture, you get to see two of the three, and one desperately trying to get away. 

Daniel sitting in front of a friendly scarecrow at the Jones Center. 

Grandma Marian with Mia at the Jones Center. 

Daniel sat and played with the pumpkins, making for a great snap shot. The red eye was really bad in this picture and even with correction looks more like a bionic eye. But I love the pose so much, I thought I'd put it on the blog anyway so his cute smile could be seen.

Another cute pose with the pumpkins. Again, with the bionic eye. 

Little girl officially ate her first cup cake. Daniel and I did a pumpkin walk together and won a whole box of Little Debbie's. Daniel was full of other really healthy stuff (yeah, right!), so he just held his cup cake in his hand. Mia, spying the yummy snack, drove for the cake and yanked half of if into her mouth before Daniel knew what happened. Holding her little hand out for more, she snatched anything she could from Daniel until the entire cake was gone.

Although Daniel is having a bit of a hair problem, he still has a really great smile. He was enjoying some live music, tapping his toes and doing a little jig. 

We went to a corn maze and pumpkin patch in Southwest City, MO. We enjoyed a picnic lunch, a hay ride, and lots of other activities. Here is Daniel and Shane looking through a cut out. 

Daniel being warm and snuggly with Grandma. 

Daniel had so much fun loading the pumpkins into the wagon, that Mia ended up covered in pumpkins. 

We took the kids to a pumpkin patch. Daniel and Mia are sitting in the wagon together. 

Baby Mia is 8 months old now. She is crawling, can push herself up to sit, and is the happiest baby. 

Grandma and Daniel holding hands. 

Daniel wearing his coat and new hat. It was cold that day. 

Shane and I are not sure what happened to Daniel during the night, but at breakfast his hear was literally standing on end all over. 

Daniel and Mia playing together. 

Mia wearing her new dress and matching hat. 

YAY PEE PEE!!!

The other day, I was out with the kids and I needed to go to the bathroom. Let me get my point across, I NEEDED to go to the bathroom. If I am on the road and I have to stop, get both kids out of the car seats, put Mia in a stroller, get Daniel to walk with me quickly anywhere, and then return to the car, back in the car seats, and put the stroller away (all of which is at least a 20 minute process), I carefully weigh if I really need to stop anywhere. So if I decide I need to stop for a bathroom break, there is some real urgency.

So we stop at Burger King and we all get out the the car. I do my best to get inside and get our business done as fast as possible. After we are done, we leave the bathroom and step into the restaurant. Daniel, who has been working on potty training off and on, decides to announce to everyone what we have accomplished. "YAY!!! PEE PEE!!! YAY!!! PEE PEE!!!" He claps his hands in excitement and tells all who want to hear (and even those who don't). I felt my face begin to turn shades as I see everyone in the restaurant smiling at me. I'm just waiting until Daniel begins to say, "Mama pee pee." In the mean time, I'll just let everyone think he is the one accomplishing the monumental task.

This is a picnic we are having on an afternoon. Daniel's food is becoming an issue for him. The problem: he does not like "broken" food. If I break apart a muffin for him, he cries and says, "BRO-KIN" as he tries to smash the pieces back together. Broken crackers get flipped off his plate. Tonight, I offered him a beef, bean, and cheese burrito. As he picked it up to eat, some of the insides fell out. "BRO-KIN!!!" he cried as he tried to stuff the insides back in. Meals are becoming hard for little Daniel. Here he is eating ham and cheese, both are in "whole" pieces, so there are no tears. 

We went to the park today. Daniel is wearing his brand new Elmo shirt. He is in love with Elmo, pointing Elmo out everywhere he sees him (and Elmo is around more than you might think). Daniel is talking very well; but for some reason, he used to call Elmo "Emmo", but now calls him "At choo choo". "At choo choo" doesn't even sound remotely like Elmo and Shane and I are at a complete loss as to why Elmo's name has been changed. As with many of Daniel's pictures, he also has a nice bruise on his head. So far, we don't think he has sustained an brain damage from the head tramas; but then again, there is the "At choo choo" issue... 

Mia got her first doll. OK, I have been waiting to buy her a doll ever since I found out I was having a girl at the ultrasound appointment a full year ago. But Mia is seven months old now so I figure it is time to make the purchase. And seeing her play with the doll have made the year wait so worth it. She hugs on it, squeezes it, giggles and squeaks as she plays with it. She is so much fun to watch with her new doll. And I have even caught her laying her head on it a few times when she is sleeping in bed. So sweet... I thank God for my baby girl. 

We went to a pumpkin patch and enjoyed some sun and fun. Getting Daniel to sit still long enough for a picture with the pumpkins was not on his to do list. But Mia, who is not quite as fast as Daniel, sat long enough for a couple of pictures. The round thing dressed in a jean dress is Mia. The other orange round things are the pumpkins. 

This is Daniel testing his strength by attempting to pick up a pumpkin. What you don't see, is the pumpkin sliding out of his hands, rolling down a hill, and Daniel chasing after it. After the pumpkin finally stops rolling, Daniel catches up to it and I can hear him saying, "Kick it! Kick it!", and him kicking the pumpkin like it is a soccer ball. Well, round ball, round pumpkin... I see the similarities.