Final Festivities..

Happy Halloween Eve...are you all ready. Candy bought...check, costumes mended...check, buckets dug out of storage...check. We are ready. I swear I talk about holidays until I am blue in the face, can't help it. I love holidays, any and all. Especially holidays that fall through the months of October-December. Best time of the year is amongst us people...enjoy.

A few final activities that conclude our harvest celebration:



the dreaded pumpkin carving. Celebrated by children, tolerated by parents. I got to say Thiago and I started out very half hearted in this particular tradition. Same thing happens every year. Kids start out very excited and interested. I claim I am going to carve my pumpkin all on my own this year (no help from hubby). We plaster the counter with newspaper/garbage bags, kids start out with sleeves rolled up and we finally end up just stripping them cause they are making such a mess. Lincoln starts crying cause we won't give him his own knife (ha, yeah right). Carson doesn't want to dig his pumpkin guts out. I end up wimping out and make Thiago finish carving my mouth. Thiago does basically 4 pumpkins on his own (with a little help from me). Take kids to the bath while Ash and I clean up giant mess. I guess its worth it...still haven't decided.




watch out ladies...look at those guns


Finished product...yeah, its worth it.

Next up, Black Island Farms. Now that is a tradition I very much enjoy.

We go every year with my sisters and their kids and my mom.

They have a hay ride, they have a cow train, and bounce houses, and kettle corn, and petting zoo, and giant slides and a corn box, and a corn maze and did I mention kettle corn. A great big bag of kettle corn. My all time favorite kettle corn....cause yeah, they have that too.






I love these faces. Cutest three pumpkins in the patch and they belong to ME! (yep, that is straw that Draker-bug is sucking on...I took it away of course, but not before i got my cute picture.)



I love this cute face too...he makes me a happy gal.




Sweet Drake...has no idea that he is missing out on all the fun. I kept catching him kicking away in his stroller and laughing at himself, nobody was even talking to him and he makes his own fun. What a kid.


Cars and Lance...just off on one of their many adventures.


This one...just dreaming up his own adventure



the big barrel slide




probably where we spent most of our time. Had to laugh at Lincoln. He went up with Thiago the first time, was a little nervous so he sat on Thiago's lap and they came down together. They head back up to come down again and Thiago goes to sit down, Lincoln pushes him out of the way and sits down by himself and says "no dad, I not want you....I go by myself". And that was that. We didn't hear from him for the next hour, he just went back and forth on that slide.

After a few hours of fun we packed up and headed over to my in laws. My mother in law is leaving for Brazil tomorrow and was sad that she is missing Halloween. So she planned a little Halloween party for friends and family. We had chilli, cornbread, chips and salsa, wassail, and desserts.


All the little ones. Cars wore his costume but not my babies. My sister is still fixing Lincoln's and Drake's is too dang hot. The kid would have cooked alive.



Little treat bags from Vovo.

With all that said and done, we are officially ready for the big day tomorrow. Sure am glad our weather is going to be decent. Makes it all just that much better.


Happy Halloween friends...

Nine.

Oh, my boy. you are just too precious.
I love you so much, it hurts my heart.

Here we go:


1 month


2 months


3 months


4 months


5 months


6 months


7 months


8 months


and nine. Nine months. He has been out now for as long as he was in. Which is a crazy thought. For heaven sakes we are all but through that first year. And that my friends is heartbreaking.




He wasn't really feeling this photo shoot. None to amused by my antics. Just stared at me with this bewildered expression. Probably thinking you can make an idiot of yourself all you want, but I am still not gonna smile. And he didn't, except for that top picture. The rest were just slightly amused expressions. I'll take what I can get I suppose.

Here's a look at his month



Getting so much personality. Occasionally , if he has had a later nap in the day, he is up later than the other two boys. Just a baby Drake, mom and dad. Its fun. He makes us laugh, and smile, and basically just melt. He is so endearing and has us just wrapped around his little finger.



Pulled out the boys' old excersaucer for him. It is old and dated, but still does the trick. He enjoys it. Thinks he is pretty cool just bobbin' along in that thing. Apparently Lincoln has discovered his long lost love for this toy as well. The little stink is always trying to steal it from Drake. That boy.


Finally...the boy has a few chompers. 2 little teeth poking on through the bottom. They are as cute as I'll get out. Makes his smile just that much cuter when I see those little pearly whites just sneaking out on me. I love it!


What a delightful little eater he is. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. Carson would just flat out not eat it. He would purse his lips closed and not let a single drop in. Lincoln ate the fruits and that is about it. And even that was S-L-O-W! How lovely to have a child that just opens up and eats.


Like I said, he eats any and all flavors of baby food. As well as table food. He will sit down and eat his own dinner and a fruit, and then open up for whatever we are eating for dinner. Rice, potatoes, pastas....he likes it all.

One small bummer though. Took him in for his 9 month well-child check and he has officially dipped in his growth curve. He only gained 8 ounces in 2 months time. Which is not much at all. I am not all that concerned cause I have small kids and Cars and Linc were the exact same way. However, my doctor thinks I am may be not producing as much milk (which I was kinda starting to suspect), so I need to supplement with formula. Which is easier said than done. I tried today and yesterday and it was a no go. He hates that stuff. Not sure what to do. Guess we will just keep trying.



He makes me laugh, he is the most hot-blooded little baby EVER. I have never seen a kid sweat so much. The poor kid, everytime I sit down to feed him, he just sweats bullets and when he is sleeping I try and not cover him a whole lot cause he gets so dang hot. Thiago's mom says he was the exact same way. So sad.


He loves to sit by our back door and watch his brothers play in the backyard.


And every now and then he gets lucky enough to join them.


Which makes him very, very happy.



Our walks together are happening alot less often. Getting too cold. Can't leave the other two boys by themselves and by the time Thiago gets home, it is way to cold out there for my boy. I have had to forgo my jogs and just P90X it. Which is kinda a drag. We got lucky one night that Thiago didn't have soccer, so we gave the boy an early bath and he and I headed out at about 5:00. We both loved it.




Oh how we love this boy. I tell ya, he is just an extra special little baby. He is truly as beautiful on the inside as he is on the outside. He has such a warm, peaceful, happy little disposition. He calms my soul, I tell ya what. I am so grateful to have him as part of our family. I can't imagine our lives without him. He is a joy, through and through.

Happy 9 months love.