TinyPrints

Have you heard of TinyPrints? I was first introduced to TinyPrints through coupon bloggers (hip2save.com and moneysavingmom.com) because of their great steals and deals - and TinyPrints has been featured many times due to their many, many great deals! TinyPrints has run lots of specials where you can order a free card for Father's day, Halloween, and multiple other occasions. What better way to try out a new (to you) company than with a free sample? I have taken advantage of this promotion and have always been impressed with the amount of designs to choose from and the quality of the products. This year, I will be ordering our Christmas cards from TinyPrints. The problem will be trying to decide which card to choose since there are so many beautiful ones!!

As Christmas traditions go, I will forever be participating in the following: baking Christmas cookies and treats, sending Christmas cards, and driving around looking at Christmas lights just to name a few. Matt and I were just talking last night about Christmas traditions, and he suggested that we keep the Legge tradition of eating Christmas goodies while watching a Christmas movie going in our little family. I looked forward to that night maybe more than any other tradition we did, excluding sleeping under the lights of the Christmas tree (try it - so fun!!). It was fun to watch a movie together as a family and eat as many sugary snacks as our tummies could handle. That's some quality family time! Yep, it's definitely going to make our list of Rustand family traditions.

If sending Christmas cards is one of your traditions, I'm going to encourage you to check out TinyPrints. Their selection of Christmas and holiday cards is huge and you're guaranteed to find something that fits your style. Please check out their Christmas cards here! I'll be sending mine out shortly; be checking your mailbox!

Lake Isabel

Sunday, 2 October 2011

The family took a trip to Lake Isabel to view the fall colors. In Colorado, the fall colors consist of the aspens turning yellow.

The place we went to had a nice stream running through it so Charlie was able to one of his favorite activities, throwing rocks in the water.

Julie and Charlie with some nice aspen trees behind them.

We finished our walk with lunch at the picnic area.

Fall Festivities

This year, the family did everything we could do take in the fall. We visited Diane's Pumpkin patch in late October to kick the season off. Charlie enjoyed riding around in the wagon and playing in the corn crib. He even helped us pick out our pumpkins.

Charlie was pretty excited to show the gourd to Julie and I.

I think he could have played around in here for hours upon hours.

Sometimes, Charlie enjoys pushing the wagon, stroller, etc. rather than riding in it.

Here is the pumpkin he picked out. It was a little on the heavy side for him, but he grunted and strained and eventually picked it up and handed it to me.

What's fall without a little sweeping of the driveway.

The Canon City area was known at one time for orchards, especially apples. There are still a couple around so we went for a little walk in one of them and picked some apples.

Here was one of many apples Charlie tried to eat. He would get through a quarter of it than accidentally drop it on the ground. Julie would pick another on for him and repeat. Overall, he probably ate at least two whole apples that day.

Downtown trick or treating in his robot costume.

He even helped carve a pumpkin this year. I did most of the carving, but he helped to pull out some of the insides.

Apparently, the insides don't taste very well. Notice the pumpkin seed on his belly . . . Cute.

Trick or treating on Halloween night.

He walked nearly ten whole blocks by himself. It was a great night for it, clear and cool enough for a sweatshirt. It took Charlie a few houses to figure out what was going on, but once he realized people were giving him stuff he was all about it. Every once in a while someone would let him pick his own candy, we would tell him just one, but he'd come out with a fistful.

We had a good fall season, and in Canon it will likely last nearly all winter long, so that means more outdoors time to come.

Crib School

We put Alanna in the crib with Charlie one day after Charlie woke up from his nap. Charlie gave Alanna a quick orientation to the crib. :)"Sometimes, I like to put my feet through the rails and kick the wall. I'm not sure why it's fun, but it is!"

"This is my favorite sleeping position. You'll have to try it!"

"And this is my ribbon blankie from Grandma. I like to rub the ribbons before falling asleep at night. It's very calming."

"The crib is the only place I get to have my pacifier anymore! You're lucky - you get yours whenever you want it!"

"Sometimes I wake up grumpy, like this. Usually, it goes away once I start playing again."

"Let's see if your soft blankie is as soft as mine. A soft blankie is very important to have in the crib!! Yep, it passes."

(Sweet baby Alanna!!)

"Welcome to the crib, sis! It looks like you know just what to do in here. I get to sleep here for a few more months and then it's all yours. I sure like the crib and hope you do, too."

12 and 13 days old!!

Alanna is 12 days old in the first few pictures. Love this one of my babies and me!!

Circle of kisses! We just needed Matt to complete the ring.

Charlie holding his 13-day-old baby sister. He's so proud of her!!

Sometimes Charlie will whine until he gets to hold her. It's so fun to see him checking her out! When Charlie's done holding her, he kinda just pushes Alanna off his lap.

Our camera's been busy!!

Here we go again with the weekly photos! This is Alanna at 2 weeks. I'll be taking her picture with the bear every Wednesday to document her growth. 11/16/11

Bright eyed right before a sponge bath. She's been in this outfit quite a bit since it fits so well right now. Alanna's only had 4 diaper explosions, 2 in this very outfit and 1 in another outfit that we're borrowing. She's only blown-out in one of her own outfits! Luckily, everything is coming clean. Thanks, Resolve! 11/16/11

11/16 - 14 days old.

Just had to throw one in of Charlie so he doesn't feel left out. Alanna's in the swing about 6 inches behind him, trying to snooze while Charlie's playing with a noisy toy right next to her. Good luck, baby girl. :S 15 days old.

An evening swing. She likes it! So does Charlie. He helps out by turning it on and off and stopping the swing while it's moving. Sooner or later, all the "don't touch" and "just watch" phrases will sink in. 15 days old.

More of Miss Alanna

Our sweet bundle of joy, 5 days old. How precious is she?! We love her so much!!

Are we really a family of 4 now? Wow... Alanna is 5 days old here.

6 days old and being held by her big brother. Charlie has been so sweet to her; very gentle and attentive. He comes over when she makes a noise and likes to get up in her face and take a closer look at his beautiful little sister. So fun!

5 days old. Charlie's schooling Alanna on his new car from Grandma and Grandpa Rustand and giving her some loves at the same time. :)

Alanna Faye Rustand

Hey everyone, I would like to announce the newest member of our family, Alanna Faye Rustand. She was born Wednesday, November 2nd at 12:08 PM. At birth she weighed 6lbs 10oz and was 19 inches long.

Julie was scheduled for a planned c-section on Thursday, but Alanna had a different plan in mind. Julie started going into labor around 2AM on Tuesday morning, and by 7AM the contractions had become frequent enough we had to rush off to the hospital. Of course we were in the middle of a winter storm at the time, but we arrived at the hospital safely in Colorado Springs. The c-section went as planned and now we have a beautiful baby girl. Julie does a little narration of how it all happened in the video below.



Here are several pictures of the newest addition to our family.