Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Happy Halloween!

JD is hanging out with the grandparents on Halloween, so Jon and I did some pre-Halloween photo shooting.





JD really enjoyed being a pirate this year and I thought the costume was just so cute on him!



Our little tree-hugger!



We hope you are having a safe and Happy Halloween with your families this year!!

Monday, October 27, 2008

10 Years Ago - Tag

My friend Katie had this on her blog and I thought it was cute!


{10 yEaRs Ago I ....}
1. Had just graduated from college - Go Baylor Bears!
2. Was starting my career at EDS in marketing communications
3. Was just starting to date a lame boyfriend who helped me to later realize how wonderful my husband is
4. Was just moving into my first I'm-paying-for-it-by-myself apartment with my roommate Nancy
5. Was enjoying adult freedom for the first time!


{5 ThInGs On ToDaY's tO-dO-LiSt}
1. Baby Boot Camp - got to get our workout with our friends!
2. Playdate #1 - Decorating cookies at Margaret & Tricia's house
3. Work on laundry
4. Playdate #2 - Learning about colors at Anna Claire & Jenny's house
5. Drop off the dry cleaning


{5 tHiNgS i WoUlD dO iF i WeRe A MiLliOnAiRe}
1. Pay off our debts
2. Invest money for JD's education
3. Give money for our church
4. Help out our families
5. Indulge in a little something extra


{5 pLaCeS I'vE LiVeD}
1. Richardson, Texas
2. Waco, Texas
3. Chicago, Illinois
4. Singapore
5. McKinney, Texas


{5 JoBs I'vE Had}
1. Sales Associate at The Limited
2. Department Aid for Journalism Department at Baylor
3. Marketing & PR intern at AT Kearney
4. EDS Marketing & Communications
5. JD's Mommy & Jon's Wife

And I added a picture of me from 10 years ago - From a wedding I went to (I caught the bouquet).

I'm tagging Heather, Krystal and Stephanie for this one if they are game!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Dinner and Trunk or Treat

On Saturday, Jon and my brother in law Josh and our friend Jordan cooked up for a fun concept called Food Creates Community.



Jordan hosted a dinner that used local food stuffs from local farmer's markets and brought people from different walks of life who paid to come together for a fabulous, five course meal that celebrated the autumn flavors. It was in Jordan and Emily's backyard and I have to say, that it really looked fabulous!


Emily, Jordan's wife and I were servers for the event. The boys slaved away in the kitchen for the day. It all tasted so good and perfect for a crisp fall evening. Let me know if you are interested in learning more about this concept, which Jordan has assured me will be followed up by more dinners that are similar.

On Sunday, we took JD to his second trunk or treat! We decorated my mom's trunk in a pirate theme, where JD was the captain! He was such a cute pirate!



Heather and Kenna came by too for a bit! Kenna was a precious ladybug, but she wasn't too sure about JD in a pirate hat!


My sister Dara won SECOND (thanks for the correction Dara) prize for her trunk, which was Cinderella's carriage. My nieces were each beautiful Cinderellas.



We enjoyed the evening, but JD was ready to hit the hay when we got home! He was one pooped pirate!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Mr. Grabby Hands

JD is just tall enough now (or at least his arms are long enough now) to reach up on the counters and pull things off.

Recently, he has pulled down cups of water off the bedroom nightstands. He has pulled down stacks of mail and plates full of food off the table. The scariest was when he pulled a sharp knife off of a cutting board. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt, and Mom and Dad figured out how long of a reach JD really has now! (Nothing sharp stays on the countertop anymore!)

He doesn't really know what he is grabbing for since he can't see where his little hand is reaching, but it is always a surprise when he finds out what he got.

Here was today's surprise:

Daddy was working on mixing some dough for some homemade bread, and JD figured out what was in the measuring cup. Flour!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Back to the Pumpkin Patch

This time it's personal.

We took JD back to the Pumpkin Patch to take some pictures with his cousins Emma, Ellie and Marin today.

He loved the small pumpkins that he could pick up!





Friday, October 17, 2008

Wiggles and Not So Many Giggles

My mom and I took JD and his cousin Marin to the Wiggly Play Center yesterday afternoon. Just so you understand what we were dealing with, let me give you a bit of background.

All week, JD has been dealing with some sort of illness. It could be related to the 2 year molars trying to come in or it could be a little stomach virus. But he has been really picky when it comes to eating and he has been crying a lot more than normal and has a fever off and on.

So yesterday, after not eating very much all morning, JD refused to take a nap. My mom and I had already planned on taking the kids to the Wiggly Play Center since they both love the Wiggles so much.

So I decided to bring the napless JD, and I figured that I would just leave whenever he got too fussy or tired.

We got there and the kids had a ball! They loved the slide and the bounce houses and the cars and the Wiggles music.


JD and Marin did the merri-go-round for a bit.


And then we took a break for some snacks (one of the first things JD had eaten yesterday besides a bottle).
When we got home, I tried to feed JD, but this is what I got (pretty consistent with his eating behavior ALL week).


But he went to bed early after a nice bath and a talk with Daddy on the phone.

This morning he was STARVING. After throwing a tantrum for about 15 minutes, he ate his normal breakfast of yogurt and banana, plus a NutriGrain cereal bar and some of my Shredded Wheat cereal!

I guess it is true that you just have to wait for them to get hungry enough and then they will eat!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Tag!

Okay, Heather tagged me to post the 6th photo from the 6th file of my picture folder. This is an oldie, but a goodie.


JD is 5 months old in this photo and still very sensitive to loud noises. The fire truck that he was holding made a really loud siren noise that made him cry almost every time he heard it. This is actually after he was winding down from hearing it, but he was still worried that it might happen again.

I'm including the picture that was right before so you can see what he looked like when the siren actually goes off.

Maybe Not the Best Deal

Like most other mommies out there, I'm always on the hunt for a good deal for JD's clothes. And I have lucked out in the past few weeks.

I found really cute long sleeved t-shirts from Old Navy for 3 for $15 and I got a pair of super cute tennis shoes that were marked down to $20, but rang up for $3.99 at Carter's.

This morning, I put JD in one of his new onesies from Carter's that I found for $5 the other day. Deal, right??


Look closely at the words...


Hmm...maybe I got more than I bargained for - when did we start spelling training like "trianing?"

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Playmates, Planes and Pumpkins

Wow! What a weekend!

On Friday, we hung out with our niece Kenna. We spent so much time trying to get JD not to sit on her head (he wanted to be as close as possible to Kay-Kay), that I couldn't get any pics of them playing together! But I did snap this one of Uncle Jon and Kenna. There is a picture out there somewhere of my dad and my niece Emma that reminds me so much of this picture.

On Saturday, we took JD to the airshow in Fort Worth. We've been trying to explain the difference between cars and airplanes to JD (both make engine noises and have wheels), so we thought the airshow might do the trick.

After buying him his own airplane and watching the planes do this,

His reaction was this.


He was mesmerized by the loud engines and the planes doing loopty-loops! And then on the way home, he kept holding up his new plane and saying Car! Car! Oh well.

On Sunday, we took JD to the Pumpkin Patch in Celina with his cousins Kenna and Luke, his Aunt Mercy, Aunt Heather, Uncle Dan, Aunt Suzanne and Uncle David and Grandma and Grandpa.


JD loved the goats and the cows and especially loved the John Deere tractor that was pulling a "train" with kids in the back. His Aunt Mercy took him for a ride!



He still isn't sure what the big deal about pumpkins are, but I think he could pass as a pumpkin farmer!



Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Getting Ready for Halloween

JD got in the spirit today by getting dressed up in his Halloween t-shirt and socks.


Of course, we had to watch the "Pirates" episode again in honor of the t-shirt.


JD also knows that a pirate says "Arrgh" and will swing his arm too! (That is why the second pic is a bit blurry. I caught it right after his arm swing and Arrgh.)

Our friend Tricia at Baby Boot Camp got him the cute skull and crossbones socks! She is a fellow Chi Omega sorority sister of mine and our symbols were the owl and skull and crossbones.

On a sidenote: JD has really taken notice of owls lately. He carries around my stuffed animal owls all over the house and says, "hoo, hoo!"

Monday, October 6, 2008

Giddy Up Cowboy!

Nothing much is going on around here right now. Just lots of playtime!


JD has been enjoying his rocking horse more than ever these days, especially since he can get on and off by himself now. This rocking horse is great because it has rubber bands that make it bounce too.


We hit the big 18 month milestone this past Friday. I can't believe that JD is already a year and a half old already! If his clothes and shoes are any indication, he will be a 2 year old in no time. We had to buy some new shoes in a size SEVEN this past week!!

JD stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in their new house on Saturday night! Uncle Josh, Michael and Solomon were on hand to play with JD and make sure he knew all of the cool things to do. And Aunt Mercy (JD calls her Mermee) was an extra-specially fun playmate for JD because she likes all of the same things that he does!

I think JD is already looking forward to spending more time out at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Baby Chariots of Fire

I'm lucky enough to be married to one of the sweetest, most supportive and loving husbands around. He has always encouraged me to take care of myself so that we can enjoy being active, even in our old age.

When I first met him, he was big into running. He had recently run a marathon and usually ran a few miles every other day to keep in shape.

I can't really say that I enjoyed running, unless it was toward ice cream. But Jon encouraged me to try it and under his guidance, I ran my first 5K before we were married. We ran a few more 5Ks after that, and I have always felt that this was a pretty good accomplishment.

But I have to say, finding the motivation to run after a hard day's work was always pretty difficult. The last thing I wanted to do, after dealing with the stress of an office, was pull on my running shoes and pound out a couple of miles.

Now that I am staying at home with JD, working out has become something I do every day. We go to Baby Boot Camp most every day, except Sunday. It is a chance for me to get fit and JD likes playing with the other kids. The instructor's daughter Margaret and JD seem to be cut from the same cloth, even though she is a couple months younger. But they play and talk with each other.

I've been working out now for almost exactly one year and I can really tell a difference. I feel healthier, and I have more energy, which is a requirement with an 18 month old boy.


So when our class decided to put together a team to do the White Rock Lake Marathon Relay in December, I thought that this was something I could do. The relay is broken up into legs of 6.2 miles, 5 miles and 4 miles. Even if I do the 4 miles, it will be the longest I have ever run!

We started training this week, and so far I have done two 20 minute runs with JD that ended up around 1 1/2 - 2 miles. Then last night, Jon, JD and I went for a LONG run. We actually ran at the park where Jon and I got engaged (talk about going full circle) with a few more from Baby Boot Camp. Our distance was 3.3 miles.

And it was hard and we were tired when we got done. But I'm feeling good about how this is going so far! I have 2 and half more months to train, but I am going to stay positive. This is most likely the closest that I will ever come to running in a marathon, so I am determined to get there, even if it seems like an uphill battle at this point.

At least I won't have to push a stroller during the actual relay! I'll just get to see JD and Jon on the sidelines cheering me on instead!