He likes it. Mikey likes it!

Oliver finally ate some food for me today!!! I made fresh green beans and pureed them and he ate them for lunch AND dinner!! I am so happy!

"Meow," said the cat. "Quack, Quack," replied the duck.

Trick or Treat was tonight and Amelia really got into it this year. She walked around the house meowing like a cat and talking to Nietzsche. She is the prettiest kitty I've ever seen.

Neither of the kids slept at school today so Tyler and I thought we were in for a LONG night but everything went surprisingly well. We got the kids dressed and headed out for a quick trip to our local hangout (read "bar") Club 185...not to get drinks but to take pictures in their 1962 photo booth — so cool. I'll scan in those photos and upload them soon. As soon as we got in the car Oliver zonked out — his ducky costume was so warm and cozy! We got back home around 7 and Tyler took Amelia trick or treating while I put the little duck to bed. Tyler said that Amelia used her good manners all night long and said "Trick or Treat" as she opened her bag for candy and then added "thank you" as she walked away. (Last year we couldn't get her to say anything to anyone!) Our little kitty cat was so tired she couldn't wait to crawl into bed. She was asleep by 8:15.

The photo of Tyler and the kids is my new favorite.

Out on the farm

Amelia and I enjoyed another "Amelia and Mommy" day. We went to Leed's family farm in Ostrander — what a phenomenal place! Amelia rode the mini-zip line, jumped on the giant pumpkin, rode the banana bus, scavenged through the corn maze, went down the slides, ate lunch and drank hot chocolate, fed the goats, giggled at the piggies and rode the peddle tractors with me. We had a GREAT time! When we were going through the corn maze she kept calling me "partner" or how it actually came out "part-er-ner"— it was cracking me up.

Tyler stayed home with Oliver and got a ton of chores done — thank you Love!!

THANK YOU PAPA!!!

Our bottom step was crumbling right before our eyes and my dad and Karen graciously offered to come down and help us. Tyler took a sledge hammer to it to get things started and then we rented a cement cutter and jack hammer — boy was that fun! There's NO WAY we could have done this without them!! THANK YOU GUYS.

We let Amelia and Oliver put their little hand prints in the wet cement — she loves seeing her imprint in the step every day.

Amelia turns 3!!!

My little girl is getting to be such a big girl. She's been potty trained since she was 21 months old, she talks better than most 12 year olds, and she loves to sing, dance and make people laugh. She really is quite remarkable. Yes, we have our typical stressful days but there are always highlights to each day that stand out and make us proud.

BEFORE SCHOOL

Thank you Aunt Hali for the absolutely adorable leggings and hair clip!!!

AT SCHOOL

Amelia and her best friend, Stella, share a birthday. They were born on the same day in the same hospital and they get along as if they were sisters (they have a love/hate relationship — and all the teachers at school love the dynamic of their relationship)

I brought balloons to school for the girls. They were as happy as kids in a candy store!


AFTER SCHOOL

The night of her birthday we took her to Max and Erma's for dinner. She is sort of like a local celebrity there since Granny takes her to dinner there every Tuesday. They all came out and sang her happy birthday with her own ice cream sundae and 3 candles...it was so sweet.

CHARLES EDWARD CHEESE

Dad and Karen came down to celebrate Amelia's birthday and took her to Chuck E. Cheese (or as Tyler tried convincing me — Charles Edward Cheese).

Notice how she has her arm around Stewart Little in the car.

My Papa and Oliver taking a break.

HER PARTY
My grandma made this adorable merry-go-round cake for the kids. It was a huge hit.

Tyler found a praying mantis and shared it with the kids.

This was the first birthday party that Amelia invited friends — it was a lot of work but thankfully a lot of fun. She didn't care one bit about her gifts either — all she wanted to do was play and run around the yard — and we got lucky that day — the sun warmed up just enough that the kids could run outside for a couple hours. I remember her first birthday party it was 92 degrees! We were lucky it hit 64 this birthday.

Random September photos

Papaw came to visit for a few weeks. It was really nice to have him here with the kids.


I got a much-needed night out (even though we stayed in at Jenny's house) when some of my girlfriends from OU came into town.
(Me, Stacey, Jenny and Meredith)


My little southside beauty eating her spaghetti in the nude with her arm-band tattoo.

Play time

Here's just few cute photos that I forgot to put up last month.




We took the kids to Goodale Park and ran into Amelia's friend, Contessa, and her mommy. The girls had so much fun playing together outside of school.



Oliver's cute little bottom...I just couldn't resist.

Baptismal portraits

I never had a chance to take photos of Oliver in his gown after his baptism so I dressed him up again in the outfit that he wore to church and his gown. He looks so sweet!

Oliver's baptism (Our week in Warren)

After our weekend at the lake I took the kids back to Warren for the week and Tyler headed back home. It was a challenge being away from home for 9 days, but thankfully it was at my grandparents house. We spent the week visiting family and friends and preparing for Oliver's baptism and Jessica's shower.

Nasa and Nasu (Godmother and Godfather) Jessica and Justin helped get Oliver dressed for church. Jess and Justin are preparing for their little boy to arrive in early November!

Father Jim was kind to Oliver — he only splashed him with the Holy water instead of dunking him.
Oliver was the 6th person to wear this baptismal gown made by my great-grandmother (my Buni). It has been worn by Dacia, myself, Ian, Amelia, Ellie and now Oliver.

Oliver knew that mommy took the camera for a moment — he immediately shot a look at me and I captured it. Oliver was SO well-behaved the entire service. And his pacifier is now a holy pacifier...earlier in the service we were standing near the tub of holy water and Oliver spit his buppy out and it dropped right into the water. We all shared a silent laugh as this happened.

Amelia was entertaining herself by reading and singing.

The Godparents, Father James, Oliver and mom and dad.

No, the girls' outfits were NOT planned. Sisters just think alike — even if we don't like to admit it sometimes.

Amelia and Nasa Jessica.

While we were in Warren we hung out with my life-long girlfriend, Rachel, and her family. The boys played together very nicely :-) This is Nolan and Oliver. Nolan is only 12 days older than Ollie but looks a good 2 months older in this photo.

Amelia and Addison (Rachel's oldest who is 2 years old) played like they were old buddies.
Amelia had her very first play date while we were in Warren, too! It was was a big deal for me. I needed to run some errands to get ready for the baptism and Rachel offered to have Amelia come over and play with Addison for the a few hours. It worked out wonderfully.


Jessica's Shower

Our week-long stay in Warren ended with Jessica's shower which was held at Candywood Golf Course. She had a ton of girl cousins there and Dacia managed to gather them all up for a group shot. From left, and forgive me if I get the 3 Opritza girls mixed up, is Ellie (Dacia's), Sophia, Natalie and Olivia Opritza, Amelia, and Addison Allen.

Amelia, Addison and Ellie.