decorations one year (front and back): so every year, for the past six or so years, jeremy and i have thrown a huge halloween bash. this year? not so much. see, this year, our budget is just a little bit tighter, and well, with cayden around, i guess priorities change just a little bit. i wish i could say that i wasn't disappointed that we're not having it, but honestly? i am a little disappointed. but that's ok.
we have plans to go trick-or-treating with rachel and ethan tomorrow night. (not that cayden will be participating in the eating of candy, but we thought it would be fun to take him around. please keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain!)
in lieu of dressing up this year, here are a few photos of halloween in years past. such fun...
ok, guys... so to keep everyone from getting tired of hearing about my etsy shop, i decided to start another blog just for it. so, if you feel the need, hop on over to it and follow it to keep up to the date with the latest going-ons in etsy-land. (i made it easy to follow – just click the "follow" button.)
oh, and yes, it's still very much a work in progress. i promise it'll start looking better soon.
one would think that mid-october would be seasonably chilly, no? yeah, it wasn't i was so thankful to have short sleeves and flats on rather than long sleeves and shoes with socks. it was beautiful weather though. not a super-eventful trip, so i'll leave you with some photos...
on saturday evening, we went to boo at the zoo with the whole family. i'm thankful the event was only $7 a person as it was pretty lame. if we had extra money (and hadn't arrived so late), it would've totally been worth getting the extra $10 wristband that allowed you into all these other types of activities. as it was though? lame.
except for this guy: we stood there for a good few minutes trying to decide if it was a real person. justin decided to go sit with him... and he could see him breathing and blinking. what an incredible costume. so, after we walked away, we saw a larger group of people approaching him. one even went up and touched his head. and then, as one person leaned in to get a closer look, he attacked! jumped out and screamed at the same time. i nearly died laughing at the group of people screaming and jumping back. i don't think this guy was affiliated with the zoo at all. i really think he was doing it just for kicks. but it was awesome.
ok, and some of the decorations were neat... there was a whole area of the nightmare before christmas (love it): my niece was lookin' all pretty as belle (from beauty and the beast), and my nephew was cracking me up in his luigi costume: cutest skeleton ever: and all three of them (we couldn't get ethan to be happy for a group photo): all in all, we had a good time and it wasn't too cold either... if we go next year, we'll go earlier and buy the wristband.
i wanted to write you a little letter here just to tell you how much joy you've brought into mine and daddy's life. while you were in my belly, i thought i knew and understood how blessed we were with the opportunity of having a child. but having you in this outside world... it's just so hard to put into words how you make us feel.
you constantly amaze us. from the new sounds that you make, or the new expressions that you find. from finding your feet, to trying to put your feet in your mouth. from crying on your tummy, to realizing that you can flip over. from straining to sit up, to sitting up on your own. from trying oatmeal, to actually eating the oatmeal and opening your mouth for more when you see the spoon approaching... seriously, we just can't get over it.
every morning, when we walk in and turn on your light, seeing you floundering around in your crib brings us such elation that we sometimes have no idea what to do with it. and that tongue. oh my god! no one has a cuter tongue and manages to stick it out in the cutest of ways.
and at night, when we give you that last bottle... your eyes get so heavy. and we go to burp you and you just quietly fall asleep on our shoulders. and the weight of your body as you fall asleep... it's just so precious.
all of this is to say, sweet cayden, that mommy and daddy love you so very much. and are so very blessed to have you in our lives. i don't think a day will go by that we aren't amazed and confounded at what we've created. and we thank god for it every day.
ok, ok... so while we were out at ethan's game, this momma couldn't resist snapping a few shots of the cutest kid ever (outside of my niece and nephew, of course!)... that's all.
saturday morning, the family loaded up (including nana, who drove all the way from tennessee) and went to see ethan play his first ever soccer match. picture this: two groups of eleven three-year-olds, forty-something degrees, no sunshine and lots of parents, family and friends.
seriously, it was cold. but the cutest little girl running across the field during the first "match" screaming "i gotta potty!" made it all worth it. well, that and seeing our nephew play his hardest. these kids were just too cute, and you can definitely tell there are some future soccer players in the making.
i was busy holding cayden (and trying to keep him warm). all these photos are courtesy of jeremy. pretty good lookin' stuff, no?
the week of the 5k, i decided to buy some new running shorts. i knew i'd love them cause practically everyone i know runs in them. and i wasn't disappointed. so, after the 5k, when i decided to take on running much more seriously, i decided that i was going to need more of these running shorts...
... which is where ebay comes in. any time you want something, but want to see if you can get a better price somewhere else, always try to check ebay out (or amazon for some things). seriously. these shorts normally run at least $28. i got this lovely pair for $14.50 (a last minute bid and win! score!), plus $3.99 shipping. which still puts these lovelies about $10 below what i would pay retail. and they're brand spanking new.
a few weeks back, some good friends of ours were in town visiting (hi brad and kim!). unfortunately, i was experiencing my first episode of food poisoning, so i didn't get to go visit, but jeremy and cayden did.
brad and jeremy went to college together and then lived together forever (at least it seemed that way). anyway, brad and kim were blessed with their beautiful little girl, hannah, about three weeks before cayden came along. kim was able to take some great photos of cayden and hannah visiting together.
(seriously, if you can't stand uber-cute, you should stop reading this entry now!)
hey, hannah, there's something on your head:
it's right here. let me help you with it:
i think it's stuck:
oh well, i'll just pat your face and tell you how pretty you are:
listen dude. take your hand off my face, and leave my flower alone:
and then, here are a few of miss serious hannah, and mr. funnypants cayden. i'm thinking he'll be voted class clown before we know it.
we have a tripoder. (sitting with the help of an arm/hand in front.) he hasn't quite perfected it yet; see frame three. but it was fun watching him try. and he was having a pretty good time too.
such a big boy...
eta: after posting this, i noticed that he has quite a noticeable boogie making an appearance. and well, i was going to edit it, but then decided not to. cause see, he kept face-planting on the sofa... and it caused that boogie to come out. just makes it a little more real, no?
so, maybe it's lame to be excited about it, but thanks to caroline, i feel kinda special today. so yay me! so here are the rules: you can only use one word! pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers! alert them that you have given them this award! have fun!
1. where is your cell phone? purse 2. your hair? red 3. your mother? beautiful 4. your father? hilarious 5. your favorite food? sandwich 6. your dream last night? dream? 7. your favorite drink? sunkist (diet, please) 8. your dream/goal? family 9. what room are you in? cubicle 10. your hobby? new? sewing. favorite? photography 11. your fear? clowns 12. where do you want to be in 6 years? happy 13. where were you last night? home 14. something that you aren’t? unforgiving 15. muffins? please! 16. wish list item? clothes 17. where did you grow up? franklin 18. last thing you did? resizes 19. what are you wearing? comfort 20. your tv? visio 21. your pets? cats 22. friends? passionate 23. your life? awesome 24. your mood? hungry 25. missing someone? always 26. vehicle? zippy 27. something you’re not wearing? socks 28. your favorite store? target 29. your favorite color? orange 30. when was the last time you laughed? a.m. 31. last time you cried? tuesday 32. your best friend? jermy 33. one place that I go to over and over? target 34. one person who emails me regularly? ha! 35. favorite place to eat? firebirds
he's such a lil cutie. funny thing is, he's seemed to have forgotten that he can roll over from this position. sometimes, he remembers that he can... but other times, he'll throw a fit while laying on his tummy and do nothing about it. and it makes me giggle...
despite not having worked out in, oh, about a year (me; thankfully jeremy's been working out some), jeremy and i decided to participate in this year's susan g. komen's race for the cure. it's a 5k run that takes place in downtown birmingham that supports breast cancer.
even though i couldn't do much running (and honestly, i did more than i thought i'd be able to), jeremy and i finished in under an hour. but the amount of people there supporting this great cause was astounding. and the amount of people there just to cheer everyone participating was encouraging and uplifting. several times we would pass corners where there were large groups of "cheerleaders." and they really were that... seriously, almost brought tears to my eyes several times.
overall, i was really proud of myself. i pushed more than i probably should have (and as a result, could barely walk this morning!). i was glad we were there though. and very glad to have participated. the cool part? i'm now super-motivated to start exercising again. our good friend jodi may have even convinced us to drive to pensacola to participate in another 5k in december. no worries, i plan on training for that one :)
seriously addicted. here are just a few swatches that i got my eyeballs on. (and one or more of them may have been purchased.) who knew that i'd enjoy this sewing thing so much? certainly not me. and it doesn't hurt that my hubby is really proud of me for finally doing this. he tells me every time i pull the machine out to work on something... and that makes me feel good. really good. (thanks jeremy!)
so our second showing guy went with the other house. it was between us and this other one... and he liked the other one just a little bit more. wish we knew what it was that house had that ours didn't. but that's okay. i feel like that's the closest we've been, so it was a tad bit disappointing to get the news... but surely there's someone out there that will love our house just as much as we did.
that's right. my first attempt at bib/burpcloth making is done! and i'm a little impressed with myself on how they turned out (mom, i used my sewing machine!). this is just the start of my etsy shop that will slowly begin having items listed (maybe this next weekend?). hugs & kisses designs. i'm really happy with how these turned out. that's even some vintage polyester fabric there (which was a little more difficult to work with than i thought it would be).
i'm going to continue working on some other fabrics this week. i promise to keep everyone updated and let you know when i officially "launch" my etsy shop. i promise to keep prices reasonable, so be sure to share with all your friends who might be looking for something a little different for their kids, or their friends kids.
jeremy and i are hoping that this takes off just a bit. it always helps to have a little extra cash flowing in these days...
mr. fussy-pants refused to take a nap today. he even tried to escape from his swing. but guess what? it's not even 7:30 and he's already in bed... i wonder if we're going to have a midnight feeding tonight?
i walked in to check on cayden during his nap on saturday, and that's what i found. his foot was literally wedged in the slats of the crib. i could not resist taking his photo... and of course, he woke up shortly thereafter. either way, it was incredibly cute.
we tried out rice cereal with cayden last weekend. overall, i'd say that it went pretty well. it took a few tries for him to figure out what he needed to do with it.
push it back out the mouth? hmmm, nope. mush it around in my mouth? getting closer. swallow it? yes! that's it! oh, wait, now i think i'm gagging. what is this stuff they're shoving down my throat?
it was quite the experience, and we quickly learned that no shirt under the bib was a good idea. this stuff got everywhere! his hair, the bouncer, his pants, the floor – you name it and it was probably there.
since then, we've tried it one other time. he screamed like a banshee. so we stopped and gave him his bottle, and all was well. i think we might try again today. wish us luck that he's more receptive!
