Happy Halloween 2008

We have waited a long time to celebrate Pumpkin Day with a little one. It was worth the wait. What fun! First we carved our Jack-O-Lantern. Daniel did all the carving and I was so proud of how it turned out. It looked awesome and the trick-or-treaters all thought it was really cool! It got me thinking about an idea for a pumpkin carving party in the future.



Then into the costume....... James made a precious frog as we trick-or-treated at the neighbors' homes.



And time to say a quick hello to his favorite friend the witch....

Then our little frog checked out his loot from us and from Nana and Granddaddy.... Halloween books, a couple of little toys, and some new clothes for the cooler weather. And he sure was eyeing all that candy....for now he seemed content to just put the sweets in his pumpkin. I am sure that will change by next year when he discovers you can actually eat what is inside of those shiny little wrappers.

And my favorite one from the day......the frog that stole mommy's heart

The Pick of the Patch!

We had a SUPER busy weekend! Nana and Granddaddy came into town and as usual, we had an AWESOME time hanging out with them. James impressed them with his new walking skills. He can now go about 8 steps at the most before he falls down and crawls instead. We also had a garage sale and got rid of some of the junk that needed to go. I cannot tell you how glad I am that we actually cleaned and organized our closets! On Saturday we attended Jack's first birthday party. Yes, Jack is one! Can't believe it! I remember visiting him in the hospital when he was only one day old. Feels like yesterday. James had a good time crawling around and people watching at the party. I enjoyed watching Jack with his birthday cake...he was so careful and sweet with it! So cute. I hope to include some pics of James' best buddy's party sometime soon. Then, on Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch with the Merrill Family. All in one weekend! Man oh man! Can we cram the fun into one weekend or what?! Kelli took some pictures at the pumpkin patch and was nice enough to send them to us. Our little pumpkin is ten months old today!

One small step for Jamer, one giant leap for babykind!

Ok, so my blog title is a little goofy. But what can I say....we are a goofy family!

Our little man took his first steps today! He took two or three steps from our ottoman to my leg, with a huge smile on his face the whole time. I was so excited! He also stood some today without holding onto anything. Hopefully, sometime soon I will get some pictures of James' new skills.

In the first picture, James playing with his new toy that I got off of Craigslist. He loves the little cash register on it, and I love the price of the toy! Only $5! Thank you Craigslist!

The other picture is our bottle drying rack after a "paci roundup" last night......Daniel found ALL of these pacifers behind James' crib. We have to have a round up each week. Now that James' crib doesn't have a bumper, he knocks (or throws?) his pacifiers out of his bed all night, every night. And to think there were more in the ktichen drawer. I think we have a pacifier addict on our hands here. I think we have enough pacifiers for every man, woman and child in the United States. It's crazy!

Last thing, please send healthy thoughts our way. James is dealing with his first major fever/cough/cold episode! Poor little baby....

Family Picnic

Daniel's work hosted a HUGE family picnic complete with a maze, pony rides, bounce houses, sack races and fun of all sorts! James was too little to get in on all the action this year, but can't wait until he is big enough to run the three-legged race. Lucky for James he has a goofy Daddy who is super entertaining! Who needs the water balloon toss when you're having this much fun?!?

First Signs of Fall

So here in the Metroplex, it feels like an Indian summer. Today we had a cooler day, but it still topped out in the 80s. Fall....WHERE ARE YOU?!?! We are all ready for a change of season!

Today, I was thinking about how last October James was not here yet, and how this is his first Autumn. What a difference a year makes and how life can change from one year to the next! Fall is my favorite time of year. I just love the feel of the crisp, cool air. I love the smell of apple pie baking and cozy crock pot meals. I love pulling out the sweaters and putting my flip flop feet back into some real shoes. I love carving pumpkins, and all the Halloween traditions that go along with it. I love that it is finally time for high school football and SEC football. I love finding the few North Texas trees that actually change color, cooking a big Thanksgiving meal and spending extra time with family. I am so excited to share this fall with James!

We have not really had any cool weather YET, but I think Fall is waiting for us right around the corner........Halloween-themed clothing has made an appearance at our house! Fall can't be too far off!

9 Month Stats and Updates

Daniel took James in to the doctor for his nine month check up a couple of weeks ago on one of the afternoons that he was off. I missed the appointment because I need to save my days until Daniel gets more vacation time in January. I hated missing the appointment, but was glad to hear the visit went well. So here are the stats on our little man.....22lbs 2oz and 30 inches long. That puts James in the 95th percentile for height and the 75th percentile for weight. Oh, and his noggin! He is in the 97th+ percentile for head size, so the trend continues. James got a good report, but the doctor told us that he might be suffering from a few minor allergies leading to his puffy eyes in the mornings.

James is busy cutting another tooth and is really into finger foods right now. Somedays he eats so many cheerios I think he might turn into one! I guess we have come to the end of homemade fruit and veggie purees. We will have to look up some of the toddler foods in his cookbook. James is also getting pretty close to walking. While cruising along furniture or the wall, he will let go for a second and take a step or two on his own before grabbing ahold again. He will also walk along if you hold on to his hands. It is so exciting! A new development, that we knew would come sooner or later, is stranger anxiety. When new people talk to him, he gets a scared look and puts his head down on our shoulders. So sad! What happened to our social butterfly? I am sure he will be back in a few months....

Oh! I almost forgot! I am blogging on our brand new Macbook! Loving it! I finally got Adobe Photoshop and can't wait to use it in my scrapbooking. Gotta run for now, heading out to a family picnic for Daniel's job. Looking forward to a fun day......it is BEAUTIFUL outside today. It will be nice to spend some family time together.