We've missed you, Blogspot

Unbelievably, we still have some unpacking to do. Most notably (well, with concern to our blogging frequency), we just unearthed this magical little cord that enables us to upload images onto our computer.

Hallelujah! Blog readers, prepare yourself for some serious catch up. That is, if mommy's third trimester energy levels permit...

In the meantime, we thought it best to share a little bit of our October with you all.

Nola picks her pumpkin at the Pumpkin Patch, as well as 1 of about 250 clumps of mud she dutifully collected along the way.

Bee at the Zee? No, Boo at the Zoo! Nola met up with her cousins in Santa Barbara for some trick-or-treating and awkward pictures with strangers dressed as fairy princesses. This was so much fun, thank you, Smiths!

Here, Kim and Taylor's crew poses with the fairy stranger. Although the picture is grainy, I thought it was cute to note that both girls are dressed up as ballerinas/princesses, which seemed to inspire the remaining days of the month for our little princess...

...whose biggest milestone, as of late, seems to be contributing a generous helping of slobber to any drink mommy has on hand.

Oh that, and hoarding lots and lots of dirt clods.

All Boxed Up and No Place to Go

We closed escrow two weeks ago, but have some minor home improvements going on at the new house (to be blogged about later), so we are in a funny kind of holding pattern. We were supposed to get over to the new house to start cleaning up and moving in, but the painters were still hard at work, so we decided it would be best to have a Nola photo shoot back at our current house.

Nonnie, who came down from Aunt Kim and Uncle Taylor's house, just to help with the move, took these pictures of our precious cargo. Thanks, Nonnie!

The Farm

We joined the Princes on their most recent trip to Underwood Family Farms, as Sarah and Tony take Wednesdays off to spend time with their twins, Fallon and Fletch. The farm in question is about 7 miles southeast of our new home (well, the home that will be ours THIS WEEKEND!) It's filled with all sorts of animals and activities for the kiddos. Our activity level is a bit below the twins, but I still got an action shot of Nola (thanks to Sarah reminding me to take pictures.)

In Escrow

Part of my nesting for the-very-recently-blogged-about-little-Akl has involved some serious stressing out over our 940 square foot slice of heaven. While pregnant with Nola, we house hunted, but decided that the three of us could fit into our cozy little home. Now that we are growing (well, I guess I've been doing most of that lately) we've decided it's time to broaden our square footage. Here's a street-side picture of our future house, and the reason we won't be doing anything crazy like eating out for the next several years.

I'm Going to be a Big Sister

We've been building it up for months now, so I hope some of it is sinking in... but Nola will have company in the little Akl department at some point in December. More pregnancy rants to follow.

I'm (Almost) One!

Nola's not yet one, but we decided to celebrate while we had most of Kristie's family in town. We had a great time, even though Nola slept through most of the day's events.

Rocky, the "DAH!"

Quick disclaimer: We do have a dog (or "Dah!" if you ask Nola). Yes, he's part pitbull, but he really is the greatest dog on earth. Even so, he's never, ever left alone with Nola.

I figure I had to get that out there for anybody who shares the same fear of the breed that I had (and still have). I wanted to honor our Rocky dog for just a moment, as he's a big part of our family and our daily life. Nola, Rocky and I are pretty much attached at the hip during the day, and Rocky has been wonderfully tolerant of Nola's frequent eye pokes, ear inspections, and attempts at an open-mouth kiss (he actually kind of looks forward to those).

I thought I'd take a moment to show off some of Rocky's extreme talents:

Rocky is very good at watching television. Here, he's catching up on the "Planet Earth" series, but his current favorite thing to watch is "Baby Einstein." Seriously. He's really into the puppets.

Upon returning from a walk, Rocky sometimes opts for alternative sources of water...

...that is, if I haven't discovered that his water bowl is empty... poor Rocky!

Rocky looks like he's telling the paparazzi to back off. I think he's yawning... well, that, or thinking about eating our child.

You didn't think that we could just put one picture of Nola in her fancy headband in here, did you? We all just love her, and "dah" does too!