Pumpkin patch 2010

Let me just say how much I LOVE the month of October- it's my favorite month of the year. I love the cool weather (lately not so much), brisk air, and clear blue skies. I LOVE October because that means fall has officially arrived and everywhere you go, there is a reminder of something pumpkin. I love all the different pumpkins- the gourds, the ones with the "warts", and all the different shapes you can get. Every year I burn Yankee Pumpkin Pie candles, try to get in as many pumpkin spice latte's as one can (not daily people, but maybe one a week), I just finished off ate a batch of homemade pumpkin muffins over the last week, and we always try to stick to the tradition of taking the kids to the pumpkin patch. 

We normally go every year to the Old Christmas Tree farm which has its pumpkin patch on the weekends in Oct., and as much as I'd like to think it will be a cool, breezy day for good pictures, it's ALWAYS warm. This year we tried a place called TGR exotics and it was good but not grand. (The main reason I wanted to go was for the exotic African animals they have. Apparently that's an extra $35/person, so we defintiely didn't do that.) But it was fun, the kids had a great time running around and we came home with some great pumpkins...

 

 Riley got to paint her own mini pumpkin and covered it in glitter, which she was thrilled about.

 And Cole was happy doing some extra work helping out. He pulled it all the way back to the truck, and even gave his sister a ride. We brought home two large ones for us and two baby pumpkins for each of the kids.

 We spent the rest of the afternoon carving them out, which was no easy feat. At least for me because I chose spiders and bit off more than I should have. Let's just say that Brian carved three in the time it took me to carve one. The kids had been so excited to carve them out all morning so once we got to work, they wanted nothing to do with them, except watch!  This is Cole's puppy that he chose...

  Brian did all of these, except my pumpkin with the spiders. My mom and I both worked on it to make it go by faster. I had no idea how complicated it would be. Riley chose hers as a cat on the moon.

 We saved all the seeds and then seasoned them and roasted them. They came out pretty good and made for a good snack. I can't wait to do it all over again next year, when we will have three "pumpkins" of our own!

It's a......

GIRL!!!

Ryann Elizabeth Peterson

We found out Thursday that our little love is another sweet little girl! We actually found out early at 16w b/c my dr. now offers a "non-medical" ultrasound just for gender and so when we heard that at my 14w appt, Brian about jumped out of the chair. Thursday was two weeks later and now the suspense is over. Riley got just what she wanted and Cole actually got very upset. ( I wish I had had a video of it).

I think he had it in his head about him having a brother and so when we told him, he started screaming,

" No! I want BOY!" We tried explaining that you really don't get to choose, but that you get whatever God blesses you with, and he still kept screaming, " NO! I want BOY! BOY!" and then actually hit Neika. Oh man, he was a bit upset. We, of course, were all laughing hysterically because of the expression and unexpected reaction from him. (No, we weren't actually thinking that hitting his Nee Nee was funny)

In any case, I know that they will both just love her to pieces...as we all will.

We  I really struggled with a girl name...from the get-go Brian picked Ryan for a girl. (This was well before we even found out she was a girl) I went back and forth, back and forth and was determined to find something else. We had a running list on the fridge with so many names and then scratch-outs. Every one I thought of  I liked, but for some reason, my mind always came back to Ryan. I just tried to talk myself out of it. My only concern was that Ryan as it is spelled that way, looks like the boy name. So I tried and tried to find something else. And I couldn't. Nothing seemed right to me. And during this whole process, Brian just sits back and listens and is probably thinking that I am driving him nuts..sending him emails at work, texting him, and talking probably non-stop about a girl name.

So then it dawned on me one day that the name Ryan actually has significance. So I started looking at the name/spelling and it occurred to me that I really would like her to have a part of her grandmother's names. (Cole has Brian's middle name and if this had been a boy, he would have been Luke Steven, middle name after Brian's dad and brother). So back on track, my mom's middle name is Anne and Neika's is Elizabeth and then it all came together. She has a name that is unique to her (that we both liked) but that also has part of her grandmother's names. It just seemed perfect, all of a sudden. I love how life just works itself out and sometimes in ways you completely never expect...