my 16 month old

Patriot Shane-

October has been SO fun and full of firsts.

You amazed me when:

• you wraped your arms around me and layed your head on my shoulder in a REAL hug, yesterday:)
• figured out how to open the childproof gate, 5 times in a row.
• decided to walk all on your own --now there is no stoping you.
• sat like a big boy in Colin's overstuffed chair, sipping your milk and watching the game w/ Mr. Matt.
• ran on the beach & played in the surf like you owned the place.
• climbed in to the swing on your play castle, flipped around and swang yourself.
• began to repeat almost everything we tell you, really trying to figure out how to pronounce the words and understand their meaning.
• decided veggies were no longer your friends & became a fruit fiend.
• used a fork correctly.
• flew on 8 flights in 4 weeks w/out any memorable meltdowns!
• calmly let me take pix of you in your adorable lion costume after first hating it with a passion.
• became a cookie monster with a sweet tooth as big as your mom's.
• flash that dimple at me and ask for "moh, waf-waf's" when you've already had 3.
• used sound effects for everything from cars to waterhoses.
• carved your first pumpkin with dada.
• laughed hysterically at something new everday.
• knocked on the kitchen door while signing & saying 'dada' expectantly.
• wore your first pair of Levi jeans and made me think, what happened to my baby?

i love you my sweet son & am thankful for all of the things you teach me to be, daily.

love always,
mama

Wordless Wednesday

Come Camp-out with Creighton

this past saturday evening we attended Creighton's fabulous 2nd b-day party in his own backyard. however, when we arrived, we found that the yard had be tranformed into a tot's wonderland of outdoor activities. from fishing to hunting and s'more to slides---this party was a hit with kids of all ages:) our little man had a ball in his camo attire; check out the pix below for a peek into the party:



fantastic job, kimberly. you and b were gracious hosts---we will party with y'all anytime:)

pei wei with grace

our friend chris, kelli & grace came to town on saturday and brought by a yummy lunch from pei wei for us to enjoy. chris was actually the pastor who married josh and i, oh so long ago and we have been good friend w/ them since college. i know chris took better pix than me, so i'll add those when he e-mails 'em.

okay, so there were no shots of the actual lunch, but here is the playdate afterwards:

such serious babies.

warming up a little...

they both thought chris was hysterical!

it was quite a feat to get these two independent walkers in the same frame, but we tried to preserve it for history's sake:)

Cookie Monster

I think it's official, we have a cookie monster on our hands:) While we were at the park for Creighton's play group party yesterday, Patriot snuck a cookie out of the box and began chowing down. By the time I got my camera out and turned it on, half the cookie was gone!

here's where is all started: the cookie box

As you can see the cookies were a big hit with all the kids. Look closely to see Melissa feeding Brodie one, while my chipmunk stores his cookie in his cheeks!

This was hysterical and alarming all at once! For those of you wondering, I did let him finish the cookie, but after that we were 'ahhh don' with snacks for the morning:)

I have to give credit to Kimberly for the new header pic of Patriot swinging at the park--she's good, huh? She has the beginings of a booming photography business and thankfully Patriot seems to heart her camera!

1st Playdate with Isaac

sweet baby Isaac was born last thursday 10/09/08 while pst and i were in florida. today we stopped in to drop off some dinner and snap some pix of this cutie:)

i heart yawn pix! look how tiny isaac is next to patriot!

the new c family:)

mr. brown eyes: who do you think he looks like?

Pirate Party for Noah

between the ferocious tummy bug and the month-o-trips i know i've been a slacker-blogger lately. so. here are some adorable pix that my friend Kimberly took at our little friend Noah's 2 yr. old b-day party on 9-19 to hold you over! it looks like the new york trip and mexico trip(maybe even pst's 1st ER trip) will be a slide show, so i'll be working on that combo this weekend.

now, check out the cutie in the dumptruck below:

(credit to Avery for posing as an adorable prop in the pink bow:)