Halloween #1

I'm not sure I can express my feelings about Halloween. Let me just list the things I love (in no particular order)...

1. Costumes

2. Fun food

3. Candy

4. Decorations

5. Parties

At work I used to run a haunted trail for the community ever year. I kind of hated it because there was A LOT of work and time put into it. Now that I get to do it for fun I love it much, much more! This past weekend we had a small party with friends. Let's just say the costumes were adorable, the food was fabulous, the decorations were great and the friends were the best.

E told me she wanted to be a cupcake this year so of course dad and I had to be the bakers.

Here are the kiddos...minus the ladybug and duck.

And the wonderful food...minus the bones and blood.

Rise and Shout

Well...the cougars weren't completely out on Saturday, but we were! This weekend we met the B's sis and hub in Dallas for the TCU vs. BYU game. Although we lost we had a great time with the Hobbs and taking E to the game. Our little future cougar (yes all you BYU-I fans, she'll be a cougar). We also stopped by the Fort Worth Water Gardens before the game... reminiscent of my childhood. Overall a great weekend.

Mommy's Girl

Makes you want to never do anything wrong...ever.

One Year Ago

After 8 long weeks in the hospital, one year ago today we brought our sweet baby E home! Our life was never as good as it is with her in our home. (Yes, I am feeling a bit nostalgic.)

Then (my tiny little 6 lb baby who was red from the blood transfusion she received the day before)...

Now (my little 19 lb - yes we can't seem to break that 20 lb mark - big girl on her new bike we got at the neighborhood garage sell today)...

Captivating

The other day I was at the mall with E. Shopping wasn't going well so we made our way to the indoor play area to let her run around for a while. While we were there the funniest thing happened! She was probably the youngest walking kid in the area and the others ranged from about 18 month to 4 years. I looked over and E had a group of about 5-6 other kids following her around! They mimicked every move she made! If she went down and crawled, they all went down to crawl (yes, even the 4 year olds)...If she went running to one toy, they'd all go running. Of course E was totally oblivious to the fact that she had a following. I just found it amazing that all these kids wanted to follow this little girl who is stumbling on her feet and can't do everything that they can do. You don't see big kids following around little kids very often!

When I came home and told the hubs of this he said, "Well, yeah...E is captivating." That is what she is! Everywhere we go I am stopped by everyone (old, young, male, female...) telling me how cute she is or trying to talk to her. I'm not sure if it is those big blue eyes, that bald head, those chubby cheeks or what but something about my little E is just captivating...don't you think?

Welcome Fall

We welcome you with open arms...or maybe outstretched claws grasping onto you so you will not disappear from us again leaving us with that humid, hot summer weather. Please tell me you are here to stay...but I fear you are not. So we will try to enjoy these few days of fall because they are the reason we think it is bearable to live in Houston.

(E's idea of a fun day at the park includes finding a quite place to sit down out of mom's view so she can eat the acorns and wood chips without interruption).

A Whole New World

My dear hubs had a wonderful post the other day that got erased when trying to upload a video that didn't work...so I will try to recreate his words.

Lately I have been loving life with E. She is at such a fun age where she is exploring and learning. She is on a great schedule and is so easy to take out and about (which means I probably spend more money than I should). There are some hard things (like trying to drop her off at the Kid's Club at the gym...too mommy clingy) but overall we're great. One of the most fun things is watching her progression with walking. This girl is a crack up! We have numerous bumps and bruises but she handles it well. Now that she's fairly confident in walking she has discovered a whole new world...both inside and out and wherever we go! (I know some warn of the independence with walking...but I'm kind of loving her exploration instead of grasping onto my leg all day. I may hate it once my house is destroyed.)

This is another great one that totally shows E's personality. She is tons of laughs these days. Her favorite game is chase and she loves to be spooked. She also loves to be tackled and rough housed. I can't get enough of that laugh.

B is finding himself in a whole new world learning to hunt in Texas. The season opens Oct. 2 so I'm saying goodbye to the hubs for the next several months. He has staked his claim on some friend's property toward Austin and set himself up a deer feeder. He says he is doing this all to provide for his family...ya know, to put meat on the table. I told him I'd be okay with just buying some chicken at the store but I guess that isn't good enough. Hopefully he reaches his quota the first weekend or two so we'll be done. He's got a pretty good shot...and is consistent (notice he shot his own arrow)!

Finally, this is my whole new world. I have the tiniest pantry and am into food storage right now so it just didn't work. We converted a coat closet near the kitchen to my storage. Thanks to my friend Sarah for the deal on the Shelf Reliance system and to my hubs for the shelves I now have this.