Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween and when I say that I mean I REALLY love Halloween! 

 It was always my favorite holiday growing up and still is today!

Here's a brief summary of why I love Halloween!!First and foremost fall is by far the best season so Halloween always has a little of that leaves changing, crisp air, bonfire smell to me. Next, when I was little Halloween always meant rushing home from school or leaving early so we could get dressed up and then head to Grandma Gerkie's to Trick-or-Treat with ALL of my cousins!!! And don't get me started on Trick-or-Treating.....Trick-or-Treating meant starting at dusk and walking up and down streets asking for candy from complete strangers until every light was turned off. It meant filling up a pillow case full of candy and not getting to stop even if you were falling asleep on the sidewalk! Once my cousins and I were slightly older Halloween took on a new meaning when my mom along with my aunts and uncles started taking us to haunted houses to scare the mess out of us and then laugh about it!!!

Last year Braxton was only 8 weeks old when my favorite holiday rolled around which meant we had to start small. We spent the afternoon at the Fayetteville Square watching some friends Trick-or-Treating! We then spent the evening at Uncle Kyle and Aunt Lulu's house passing out candy! Braxton slept through much of the event!!

This year Braxton was old enough so we could really enjoy the holiday. We started the afternoon at the Fayetteville square for some daytime Trick-or-Treating. Then we headed over to our friends Owen & Ava Kate's house for the good stuff! We went Trick-or -Treating and Braxton did excellent riding in his truck door to door! We were probably out for about an hour this year before festivities were cut short when Braxton decided to poop in his costume...hehe

Overall we had a great time and we discovered that Braxton loves candy!! I cannot wait until next year to do it all over again! I hope that I pass on my excitement over Halloween to Braxton so that he has fond memories of a fun, family holiday as an adult!

Pumpkin Patch-Part 2

Braxton may only be 13 months old but this is his second year at the pumpkin patch! I must admit that he enjoyed it significantly more this year!! Here is a side by side comparison between years!! Yes of course we took pictures of our 5 week old on a hay bale by some pumpkins...hehe!

 

This year our friend Ansley came with us to the patch and the 2 of them had a lot of fun climbing on pumpkins and riding in the wagon! Braxton's favorite part was leaving a trail of straw behind our wagon and Ansley's favorite part was climbing on the hay bales!! Both kiddos got pumpkins which they picked out all on their own with significant assistance from mommies and daddies:)

After the pumpkin patch we headed back to our house for some fall artwork! Of course the kids needed to paint their own pumpkins but we took it a couple of steps further. Braxton also colored his first pumpkin artwork for our fridge, made ghost footprints, and dug around in a pumpkin for a well rounded sensory experience!

Overall I would say that our day was a success! The kids had fun at the pumpkin patch and they participated in our art and crafts session with a little guidance!!

See you next year pumpkin patch!!!



The Toddler Chronicles- September

I continue to be amazed daily at how quickly Braxton changes. Just one month ago we were celebrating his 1st birthday and he was just learning to walk on his own! Then I blinked and poof at 13 months old, we have a toddler!! Braxton is still our sweet, snuggly boy but now I also have to add in adjectives such as rambunctious, mischievous, mobile, and TROUBLE!

Braxton took his first independent steps (2) on September 9th and then by September 14th he was up to 12 steps at home. On September 23, school reported that he was walking all around and on that day our lives changed forever! By October 5th Braxton was completely over crawling and now walks everywhere. He is even pretty good at maneuvering little thresholds without smacking his face!

Here's a list of some other fun stuff that lil man likes doing these days!!

~Burying himself under pillows

~Playing in forts

~Smacking (luckily this was a short phase-I was not a fan)

~9/15 standing from the floor by himself

~Stacking blocks

~Putting the toy coins in the pig

~Stacking rings like a pro

~Lifting the toilet lid (everyone knows what this means...luckily we have lost no toys or pacis to the potty...yet)

Braxton is steadily growing and is now actually wearing 12-18 month clothes!! Watch out this dude is finally on the growth charts! He is still wearing size 3 Loves diapers and size 3 nighttime diapers. He officially has 8 teeth and just recently had his 4th haircut! Some of his favorite foods right now are yogurt, strawberries, cottage cheese, nutrigrain bars, spaghetti, and bananas. He is still not a huge fan of meat but it is easily disguised in cheese or noodles!

Catching a ride with his bestie!

First bruise!

We are down to using our paci only in the car seat, at bedtime, and in public. We do not even send it to school anymore but as soon as I pick up in the evening, it is the first thing he wants....terd! I really want to stop using it in public but it works so well at restaurants or while shopping...hmmmm
Any helpful tips would be great!



12 month pictures taken at 11 months!

Just wanted to show off some of my favorites from Braxton's latest session with Jillian Thomas Photography! The plan was an outdoor session with a happy, smiling baby. Instead it was raining so we got an indoor session with a semi grumpy baby that decided smiling was for the birds!!!
Also since I was super impatient and wanted his pictures taken for his birthday party invitation, our sweet boy had not figured out standing all by himself yet. Nonetheless they are super cute!!!