Oh Christmas Tree!

With our second baby's due date looming, we thought it wise to get the Christmas tree early this year. We returned to the cut-your-own-tree-place nearby, but that experience wasn't nearly as exciting as the fact that our tree just wouldn't stay up when we got it home.

Here, Nick and Nola hunt down the perfect tree

Looks like they found it!

Note: Nola's rock/dirt clod collection continues to grow with each outing.

Poor Nick, it took nearly three hours for him to maneuver this 10+foot tree into our little tree base (as Nola and I could only watch and offer him an occasional, "Good job, Daddy!")

After all that, it still managed to topple over during the night,
so Nick finally conceded and tethered the tree to the curtain rods on either side.

Good job, Daddy!

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.