Happy Halloween!

(Sorry I took a few days off, little blog. Mama needed a break!)

So today we get to celebrate Henry's first Halloween!

Just look at my little lion:)

Seriously, have you ever seen anything cuter!?  
Because no mom ever says that;)

He will dress up again tonight- we plan on staying home and handing out candy to the hundreds of kids that come through our neighborhood.   

The grandmas and some other family are stopping by. 

And I really need to watch Hocus Pocus one more time this year. 

 I can't wait until Henry is old enough for Trick-or-Treating!!!

Yesterday he went back to the pumpkin patch with his best friend.

He LOVED it!

So maybe love isn't the right word...

Basically he acted like it was the most awful thing he's ever had to do 

in his (almost) eight months of life.

We managed a few smiles but basically every photo looks like this

Have you ever tried to put clothes on a small dog and they just lie there, completely frozen?

That was Henry yesterday. And Cassie and I could not stop laughing. It was so sad and funny:) 

My poor baby!

Now here are several more pictures for your viewing pleasure!

done!

Hope everyone has a happy Halloween!

That Time When My Baby Had Two Teeth

Another tooth, another milestone closer to going away to college then getting married then leaving me forever...  

Okay, maybe a bit dramatic, but little man has a top tooth poking through. And all these new little developments are so bittersweet to me. I am so in love with the fun little boy he's becoming,
but sometimes a mom just wants to freeze time and bottle up all that sweet baby-ness.

I decided to grab my camera so we could remember his top toothless gums forever.  His bottom two came in right when he turned five months and I was hoping those would be the only ones for a while. I guess Henry thinks he has some growing up to do. Let's slow it down, little man!

Thankfully, he's still sleeping 12 hours at night but naps are all over the place. He's definitely been a bit more opinionated lately, 
and a little cranky.
Like sometimes he yells at me.
Not very polite, son. (We're working on our manners)

 Things that help with teething around these parts:
-Cold, damp washcloths. But just put them in the fridge- Henry agrees that the freezer is too harsh for those sensitive little gums.
-Hyland's Teething Tablets
-Tylenol at Night
-Chewing on Puffs to distract the little guy
-Cold fruit in the mesh feeders

I pray the other top tooth comes in ASAP so baby boy can get a break from the pain. It breaks my heart:(
Then no more teeth, mister. You hear me?

Weekend Happenings

Well this Monday marks the end of my week off. Lame. 
But it was so nice to just hang out and give Henry lots of undivided attention.

Friday we packed up and headed to my dad's house for the weekend! Henry decided it was about time for a top tooth to pop out so we were really looking forward to a four hour car ride with a teething baby!

He did much better than expected, I'm positive the new car seat helped!  (Also helpful were the banana puffs, teething tablets, 10 books, and 37 toys I packed!)

We didn't do much besides hang out. And eat. It was wonderful!
 
Henry just loves his PaPa and Mimi. He's such a ham and loves to be the center of attention:)

I wish I had taken more pictures, but it was just really nice to just sit around and not stress about anything!

After a huge breakfast Sunday morning, we loaded up the car and got on the road for home. As anyone with kids knows, several extra stops are now necessary on any road trip. We were lucky to find a great little nature trail with a beautiful creek and old bridge to check out for a while!

 All the trees are starting to change in Arkansas- if only we were there a couple of weeks later! Shawn and I decided we have to head somewhere in the next few weeks to hike around and have a picnic! 
I'm dominating my Fall Bucket List!

It was a great weekend! Love my family!!

Embrace the Camera 10.18.12

Hooray for Thursday! 

We had an awesome day here- Henry's first visit to the zoo! 

I can't wait to go through all the photos,

 but I thought I'd at least post a couple for ETC:)

The boy loves animals. His little eyes will follow them around like a hawk. I'm pretty sure he loved it and we can't wait to go back!

 

Switching to a Convertible Car Seat

As I mentioned here, we finally switched Henry to his convertible car seat! We purchased the new seat a couple of months ago and finally decided to install it. I wish we had done it months ago! He seems so much more comfortable and loves being able to sit up more like a big boy!
Looking back, I'm glad we had the infant car seat, even though many convertible seats are safe for 5lb babies! But their little necks are so wobbly you want all the support you can get. Next time around though, I won't keep the new baby in the infant seat for so long.

Henry wasn't a huge newborn, just 7.11lbs. But he quickly started beefing up:) For his infant carrier, we have the Chicco KeyFit 30 and have been pleased with it, overall.
I'm a little obsessive and researched like crazy before we registered. The seat was rated in the top ten for safety on Consumer Reports which was so important to me. It is well made and is very sturdy with out being too heavy. But I will say I wish the fabric was a different material. Little man's back would be so sweaty sometimes this past summer when we pulled him out. Also, he's always been pretty good on car rides but he wouldn't really nap well in the seat.

He was sitting up pretty well at five months so I started my research on convertible seats. Safety was my number one priority so I checked out consumer reports again. I found a few seats I liked that were reasonably priced and we went to check them out in person.  We narrowed the list down to the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70,  Britax Marathon, and the Safety 1st Complete Air 65.

Then through Elena, I came across HealthyStuff.org and read their picks for the safest car seats. Their lists are based on the level of harmful chemicals and fire retardants used in and on the car seats. And I don't know about you, but having high levels of toxic chemicals rubbing on and being absorbed into my baby's body is something I'm not cool with!

So I was thrilled when I saw the Maxi-Cosi and Safety 1st both on the "Best" list, (and so happy when I saw his infant seat he's spent the last 6 months in was also a "Best").  The Britax was clearly out of the running, having made the "Worst" list. I was sad about that because they have a great reputation for safety!

I was happy to have either of the two and Henry fit well in both. Both the Maxi-Cosi and the Safety 1st have the "Air " pillow things on the side and both have a great material that seemed to breath more. No more sweaty baby! Heck yeah!!!

So being the bargain shopper that I am, I decided to go for the Safety 1st, saving about $75. The next day I happened to get a Target email showing several baby items on sale.  I want to say it was an extra $50 off. We then used our Target debit card to save and extra 5% and received free shipping!  An awesome, safe, highly rated, comfortable car seat for close to $100?!  Sign me up!!!

We've been so pleased with the new car seat, and Henry sits in it so well. He can see all around him and just chats non-stop to himself in the mirror.  Also, we have a mid size SUV, and it fits just fine!
I'm so happy with our purchase!

Henry Goes to the Pumpkin Patch!

There's no way I was going to post just one picture of our 
pumpkin patch visit!!!
My little pumpkin had so much fun. He is at the best age right now- full of personality, so alert, babbles all day to us... but he can't move when Mama sits him in the pumpkins for a million pictures:)

Because we're crazy, we headed to the pumpkin patch while it was still raining. I just knew it would let up eventually and it did!
We went to Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch. I remember going there when I was little and have been counting down the days to be able to take my first baby:)
It was overcast, nice and cool, and hardly any crowds. Just perfect! Fall is my favorite!

Weekend Happenings

What a great weekend. I love when we have a weekend full of fun with out a bunch of obligations!
Without a doubt, the best part of our weekend was that little man started sleeping 12 hours straight at night again. Not having to get out of bed in the middle of the night is such a treat! Keep it up, baby!!

Friday night started with a much needed girls night There was too much wine so I forgot to take pictures:)

Saturday was the famous OU vs.TX game. Aunt Jen Jen came over and we had some yummy food and drinks. OU won big!

Then we all braved the rain and headed to the Pumpkin Patch!  The rain had stopped when we arrived but started back up again while poor Henry was sitting on a pile of pumpkins 
(mother of the year award!).
It finally cleared up and we all had a great time!

Saturday night was full of crafting and more wine:) I headed to Cassie's house and stayed up way too late helping her get ready for Griffin's first birthday!

Sunday was nice and relaxed and we all got ready to head to Henry's best friend's party!
The party was western themed and so stinkin' cute. There was a bouncy house, cowboy hats, pony rides, and all kids of delicious food. 

Henry did so well so well and we all had a great time! I can not believe G is now one year old! I'm soooo not ready for Henry's first birthday:(

This morning we had Henry's photo shoot and it did not go as well as I hoped:) Henry, the baby that never cries, was not a happy camper. He was not going for any hats or wardrobe changes, but I'm sure our amazing photographer got some great shots!

It was a great weekend and now I'm enjoying my week of vacation!
Happy Monday!

Friday Randoms

I don't know about you all, but I'm so excited for this weekend!
We had a pretty good week here, besides all three of us coming down with a little cold. Hearing your baby coughing away in his crib will break a mama's heart! I'm so so grateful we have a healthy, perfect baby!

A few accomplishments this week:
-Finally switched Henry into his big boy car seat! Yes, this is an old pic- we bought the seat almost two months ago. Just never got around to installing. But he just LOVES it!

-Shawn and I sneaked away one evening to see Taken 2! We both really liked it-loved the first one. 

-We decided on/bought Henry's Halloween costume! Cuteness overload!

-We met up with GiGi for a burger date. They just love each other:)

-Shawn went to a fun cigar dinner last night and tonight I'm having some girl time. You can be sure there will be lots of wine and and yummy treats involved!

-We met up with Aunt Jen Jen at the mall today. She helped me decide on Henry's outfits for his photo session Monday morning! You better believe there will be a bow tie involved:)
I need to start thinking of what we're going to wear for our family session in a few weeks!!!


Tomorrow we hope to make it to the Pumpkin Patch- I can't wait!

Sunday is Henry's best friend's birthday party! Griffin is turning one! I can't even believe it.

And I'm actually looking forward to Monday because it means my week of vacation starts!

Happy Weekend, All!!!!!

Our Honeymoon!!! (Part 2)

Now onto the second part of our honeymoon- Paris!  And by the way, to the lovely person that reads my blog from France... If you want to become best friends and invite me to come visit, that could work:)

After we ate our way through Rome, it was time to catch a flight to Paris!  We flew over the Alps (incredible!) and landed in an overcast, chilly Paris. 
Paris, in the Fall, with your new husband?!  It doesn't get much better than that!  Paris was so beautiful and I was really surprised at how nice and helpful everyone was. It's the most enchanting city. I really wanted us to just drop everything, find a little apartment and I could become an artist and eat crepes everyday. So maybe I'm stereotyping a bit. But seriously, I already wear black almost daily. 
It wouldn't be a big deal. 

A few of my faves: Musee d'Orsay, a night time boat cruise down the Seine, and the obligatory kissing on the Eiffel Tower:)  I cannot wait to get back! For sure by our 10th anniversary, right babe? :)