day trip

Today we took a day trip to Greenville, SC. It's a beautiful city with a very cool, unique downtown area. We spent the afternoon window shopping and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather. There are tiny bronze statues of mice hidden along Main Street in honor of our favorite bedtime story "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown. Emma Jane found two mice and the bronze book too! We also walked along a suspension bridge along the Riverwalk. My digital camera battery died as soon as we got there, so I used our camcorder for still shots. Since this is not my usual way to take pics, many of the shots are blurry. It's virtually impossible to get Emma Jane to hold still these days so the blurriness is fitting!

Boo at the Zoo

Our little cave girl




Walker thought the bone was the real deal!



Daddy's little cave girl



Trick or Treat!



Hey, we're down here!



Spooky maze



Trying to get to the merry-go-round



Fun ride with daddy



Family shots




Emma Jane attended her first Halloween event as a cave girl. She looked adorable in an animal print pillowcase dress. I also made a hair clip embellished with a tiny bone. Speaking of bones, every cave girl needs one! I made a stuffed felt bone (my first pillow-type sewing project) and tied a bow around it with some left over fabric from her dress. Emma Jane actually tolerated a rubberband in her hair so that she could have a tiny "whale spout" on top of her head to complete the cave girl look. We met Lily, Sara, and Josh at the zoo. Lily was precious as a diva cowgirl. It was fun to see how quickly our little goblins picked up on the whole "trick or treat" idea. Emma Jane may not be able to say it just yet, but she was using all her "tricks" to get more treats! Boo at the Zoo was the perfect start to the next few days of Halloween fun.

cool shades

Emma Jane was stylin' in another mom-made dress yesterday at the park. This one was a little short, but it looked cute with her pudgy little thighs. She also got to wear her new Hello Kitty sunglasses. She REALLY thinks she's cool when she's wearing her shades.

walker smooches

Our Walker is a good dog. He's not thrilled to have a toddler in the house, but he tolerates her frequent "kisses" and curious pokes. Here are some pics I took in the yard today of Emma Jane loving on her dog.

dirtying up the dress

I have successfully finished sewing a second dress for Emma Jane. She wore it today during our walk in the gardens. Wearing a pretty ribboned dress did NOT slow this girl down! She proved that she could still climb rocks, spin in circles and dizzily fall down in the grass, jump on benches, and even dump a whole pot of dirt on her new dress! That's our girl....

piggy love

Emma Jane has never shown much interest in dolls or stuffed animals, but she has recently become attached to "Pookie" the pig. I snuck in during naptime to take this sweet picture.

monkeying around at the capitol

With cooler weather finally here, we took Emma Jane for a stroll downtown today. We decided to walk around the Capitol grounds and she thought that was pretty cool. She climbed all the way up the Capitol steps by herself (with mom spotting her, of course) and when we got to the top, she tried her best to open the Capitol building doors. Since it was Saturday, she was out of luck. Emma Jane also enjoyed running all over the grounds, playing in the monkey grass surrounding a giant oak, and climbing the many fences protecting special statues and flags. Although we didn't learn much about South Carolina's history, we had a blast chasing around our little munchkin!

so.....I can sew!

As most of you know, I got a sewing machine for my birthday. My VERY generous friend Sara was kind enough to give me my first EVER sewing lesson. The project...a cute new dress for Emma Jane, of course! It's a pillowcase dress that ties at the shoulders. The steps for this dress are fairly simple and perfect for beginners like me. Beware...you will probably see Emma Jane in several of these dresses until I get the courage up to try something different. When we had the final (and only!) "fitting" today, Emma Jane was thrilled to run around the house in her new dress. If only I could figure out how to keep her from untying the ribbons!

ps...I made the hair clip she's wearing to match the dress. Yes, I am slowly turning into a domestic goddess (except for that whole cooking thing!).