Ten Months Old

AHHH!!!!  I just love this kids smile.  He is such a good looker!  Well for growing up in a month he has been doing a lot.  He has gotten more pearly white teeth.  He is running after the two dogs trying to catch them.  He loves to look at his books and has started to open them up and turn the pages himself.  He is a very curious boy and likes to observe things for awhile before he is ready to get involved and figure out how it works himself.  Funny enough this kid loves to go shopping but is starting to hate being in the car.  Hopefully he'll figure out soon that is just how things are when we go out.  I do feel bad that we haven't done more this month but it has been an off time for me.  I have started to get morning sickness again and some really bad fatigue but I am determined to make sure he has some good firsts.

Okay since you couldn't really see how much Seth has grown in the first picture cause of him attacking Mr. Penguino I was able to quickly get this one.  Yes, he has gotten big.

Like always I put in one more picture for fun.  I do love how one of his favorite toys is Mr. Penguino.  Now I just need to figure out a way to get him to hold still long enough so I can get a better photo of him.

Trunk or Treat

 I have come to the realization that Halloween isn't any fun without kids.  This is the first time in years that I have had a blast.  I was super excited to go to the ward trunk or treat party that they have for families since now we have a cute new family member that can enjoy it with us.  I was also really excited to show off his costume that I made since I new this would be the only place and time that I would get to do so.

 

Seth has been doing so good with his walking that we decided to let him be a big boy and walk into church by himself.  He did need some direction corrections but we made it just fine.

So many people loved his costume.  YEAH!!!  I had two people there take his picture because of how cute he looked.  That sure made me feel a lot better about all the time and frustration I had from making it.

I still get a good chuckle when I see this picture.  I just find it so funny how the batting stomach pushes up so that he can rest his head on it.

This year there was a dinner before the trunk or treating started.  Seth was a good boy and tried a lot of new foods that night.  So glad he takes after his daddy in that regard.  After the meal there was a photo booth up on the stage that we went and did.  Once we finished with that we went outside to finish decorating our car.

This was my second time decorating the trunk and I totally did a lot better this time around.  I even had it matching Seth's costume!  GO ME!  I'm sorry that the picture isn't the greatest but you will be happy to know that I have learned that if you want all your hard trunk decoration work visible then park under a street light.

But really I don't care as long as I get to see a happy smile on my little guy.  He just loved eating up all of the attention that night.  Our car actually ran out of treats pretty quick so we had to shut it down for the night.  Since we really didn't have anything else to do we decided to let Seth walk from car to car trunk or treating too.

He was much more interested in the people putting things into his pumpkin then what he was getting at the time.  I so wish it could stay that way when he gets older but that is okay. 

Daddy and Seth warming up in the church house.  I will admit that I was an over protective momma that wanted my little man to stay warm since I wasn't sure how warm he would be in his costume only.

After all of the fun at the ward party he feel asleep as soon as we put him in the car with his special friend.

Of course I couldn't miss the chance to get a picture of the two penguins together.  After all Mr. Penguino was the inspiration for Seth's first Halloween costume and now a new Halloween first tradition we will be doing with our next child.

With all the fun over, Seth was more then happy to look at and play with the candy that he got.  He didn't get to eat any of it but that is okay with me.  Now I can't wait for Halloween next year to see what he will do.

Pumpkin Carving

Well I have started to hit that point in my pregnancy where I am tried a lot of the time and dealing with morning sickness again.  Some days aren't as bad as others but I am determined to not let that get in the way of having fun with my family and making sure my sweet son has some special firsts too.  A tradition in our family is to carve pumpkins and I made sure Seth had a great time.

 

 First thing we did was let him have fun drumming against the pumpkin with some spoons.  He really enjoyed that.  Of course we let daddy do all of the cutting and most of the gutting out of the pumpkins.

 I decided to be a super cool mom and let him play in the pumpkin gunk.  He loved it!  Sure it made a mess but it was a ton of fun watching him play with it.  He was trying so hard to figure out what this stuff was.  At one point we let him try to grab some out of a pumpkin and he did it. 

 Once our little man was done playing with the pumpkin I cleaned him up and let him watch while we did the rest of the work of cleaning and designing each pumpkin.  Pumpkins from left to right: Faith, Mommy, Seth, Baby sister, Daddy, and Hope.  Yes we did one for the baby even though she isn't here yet because it's fun.  That is why her pumpkin is white.  She is here with us in spirit.

The girls next to their pumpkins.  I was pretty proud of how creative I got this year with theirs.  I'm positive I won't be able to think of something this cool for next year but I've got an entire year to think about it so maybe I'll come up with something.

 

 Seth really has enjoyed playing with his pumpkin in all shapes and forms.  We tried to make his look as happy as he is and it even has teeth just like him too.

 

 Of course the kid loved the lights that we had inside.  This year instead of doing flame candles we bought battery ones so there was no chance of anyone getting burned and hurt.

A happy little boy with his very first pumpkin. 

Fast Walker

I have learned that it is very difficult to get a picture of this kid walking.  He moves so fast or he falls right as I'm trying to get a picture or he'll see me with the camera and decides it is faster to crawl to get it then walk to me for it.  I had to get a picture of him walking so I could put it in his baby book.  I'm just a little amazed that it took so long to do but this was the best shot I could get.

 

Hopefully it will do because I'm not sure I will be able to get a better one later on.  I have noticed that he does better walking without his shoes on but with how it is getting cold fast I have been making him practice with the shoes every now and again.  Yes, I'm a mean mom for wanting his feet to stay warm.

Just Like Daddy

Seth always gets so excited when Michael gets home from work but he loves any special time they have together.  Today Seth was a big helper and enjoyed cheering daddy on with computer work.

 

 I just love that cute happy face.  Daddy was also sweet enough to make sure Seth could watch a cartoon show while he used the other portion of the screen to get some work done.

I think the manly bonding time is adorable and I know they are going to come up with several wonderful things to do together too.

Pick A Pumpkin

Traditions are so important to me but even more so when they are Seth's firsts.  I was completely determined that this Halloween we would go to a pumpkin patch to pick out his first pumpkin (to carve).  One of my area friends told me about a great place that she got her families pumpkins at and how it was at a great price.  Funny enough we ended up going to my favorite local farmers place.

 

 Seth really enjoyed the large pumpkins they had and was quite amazed at the size of the field.  I'm sure he didn't know where to look.

 Here is just a small view of the pumpkin patch.  There was another one further down but I wasn't sure if I would be okay walking that far since I was feeling a little sick/off that day.  Sorry about Seth's funny face here but he was just waking up from a nap he had in the car.  It was a busy day for him.

 The best part was once Seth found a pumpkin his size that he liked he wouldn't let it be left behind.  So he picked out his pumpkin all by himself.

 The adorable little man showing off his very first pumpkin.  He wasn't so happy when we had to move him away to cut it off the vine but he was glad when he got it back.

 Now even though our little girl isn't with us in person I feel she is with us in spirit so we picked out a cute little white pumpkin for her.  Seth was also a nice helper in picking out the pumpkin.

 We ended up getting seven pumpkins even though we aren't a large family.  One for daddy, mommy, Hope, Faith, Seth, baby sister and then one to cook up for pie later on.  It was fun to walk the patch and pick them out.  I must say a lot easier then going to a store and digging through the box of pumpkins they have in town that aren't as pretty shaped.

 Before we left the patch I had to get a picture of the great marker they had so you knew where the pumpkin patch was.  Seth was a little confused by it but at least he wasn't scared of it.

Before we left we weighed all of our pumpkins and paid.  I even got to talk with the farmer and he remembered me from the last time I was there.  I can't tell you how much that made my day.  It was a lot of fun talking with him before we left and I'm excited to go back next year.

A Swinging Family

I just love fall; especially in the beginning when it isn't to cold and the leaves are just changing colors.  It is so beautiful that I love to go for walks and feel lucky when we can do so at or close to a park.  Well one day, as a family, we all went to a park and enjoyed the beauty and peace around us.  It was great!  We were even lucky enough that the park we were at hand a swing that Seth could ride in so we stopped and played for a few minutes.

 

 He is really starting to enjoy being in a swing more.  Although it is funny when he thinks it is like his bouncer at home and tries to jump up and down. 

 I had fun pushing him from behind and tickling him when he would swing back to me.  I just love to hear his laugh.

 Daddy and him also had fun playing their own game too with the swings.  Of course I'm going to have to remember this spot because hardly anyone was there and it had two children swings which is great for when baby # 2 gets here cause she can then join in on the fun.

 Sadly no doggy swing for the girls but they did good waiting for us while we played.  I think they were also ready for a bit of a walking break because we had gone pretty far.

Hope had to have a stick to chew on while she waited but she was still a really good girl.  I can't wait to go back to this park soon.

Seth's Halloween Suprise!

I love happy surprises that happen in life, not the scary ones.  Well Seth was an extra lucky boy because he got a surprise in the mail from his grandma which we didn't know was coming so it made it all the more fun.

 

 He got a special present for Halloween.  Funny enough this is also his very first present that we let him try to open all by himself.  It gave him good practice for when Christmas and his birthday comes around.

Of course the dogs are both pros now at opening gifts and since this one smelt like grandma they really wanted to help Seth open it.

 

 Thankfully my little man was tuff enough to tell them to back off and let him try to do it himself.

 Although he did need to have daddy's help in the end to get it open but he still enjoyed himself.

 Inside the present was a adorable hat, bib and sleeper for him to wear this Halloween.  I think the hat looks super cute on him.

 Here is a picture of the sleeper.  I LOVE the little feet's pumpkin faces.  They just make me smile and Seth has enjoyed playing with his toes when he wears his pajamas.

Now all ready for bed and looking fabulous!  I wish for Halloween I could show him off in his costume that I made and these adorable pajamas too.  I just love them!

Get Bigger Little Girl

It has been almost a month I think since I got my last ultrasound.  I love ultrasounds because I get to see my little girl and know that, yes, she is still there and she is doing fine.  Thankfully at this last appointment I got some wonderful news.

 

Her heart rate is great and we got to finally get some photo's/measurements that they couldn't last time.  It sure put me at ease.  The best part about this appointment though was last time I had too much fluid around the baby and was going to have to go on bed rest if it didn't correct itself but thankfully it did go down to a normal level and I don't have to be on bed rest.  YEAH!!!  I was at a total loss of how I was going to stay in bed while having to take care of a nine month old but thankfully I don't have to even think about that anymore.

 

At this appointment we also got several great 3D pictures of her.  I think this photo is the best one of them all.  I got seven pictures this last time.  She is actually quite different then her brother because she made it easy for us to get pictures of her.  She was face up and didn't try to hide in the placenta like Seth would do when I was pregnant with him.  One thing that I love that is the same with both of them is that they like to have a hand by their face.  It must be a comfort thing.  Now I am even more excited for her to get here to see if she looks anything like her pictures that they game me. 

Nursery For Two

With the diaper station board done we were finally able to complete the shared nursery update.  I am so excited this is done in advance so I can get use to the new set up before baby girl gets here.

 

 I know this wall looks pretty crowded (and yes it is) but work with what you've got.  I have it set up so that Seth has one side of the dresser for his things and our daughter will have the other side.  I also love having the dresser a little cleaner on the top looking then what it was before.

 Here is the super cute board all finished and hung up.  I just love having separate compartments for the kids diapers.  I am hoping this will help babysitters to know which diaper for which kid (when we get to that point of letting someone else watch them).  You'll also notice I've got a sack hanging on the side of the board.  Well each kid gets a sack to put their socks into.  That way when I do the washing I won't have to worry about losing any socks or what one goes where.  I know this will same me a ton of time with putting laundry away later on.

 The closet is pretty simple.  I took one of my craft room bookshelves and put it in the kids closet so they could store their toys and extra items (like diapers and wipes).  There is a mini bookshelf in there too that stores shoes for the kids as well.

 Here you can see the inside a little better.  Each kid also gets their own clothing rod too.  I know that the closet will have to be changed at one point but for right now I think it works pretty well.

 Since we have to have two kids in a room that means two cribs in a room.  We got one pretty cheap but it had too many problems so we just decided that we would buy a new one.  This crib was suppose to go for our baby girl but as my hubby was putting it together he discovered that it can become a toddler bed so Seth got first claim on it.  He LOVES bouncing on his bed and had trouble falling asleep the first few nights because he would play too much.  Of course when he isn't napping his special things get to hang out in the crib.  His growing buddy and a special blanket made by great grandma (and me).

 Baby girl gets to enjoy Seth's old crib (which isn't that old).  She even gets to have the pleasure of using his old blue bumper pad too.  I really don't care that it is blue.  I just want her to be safe and since I know how well it worked for him I feel pretty good about it being there.

Of course while we wait for her to arrive her special growing buddy (who still doesn't have a name) waits in there with a special blanket made by great grandma, totally awesome running aunt and me.  Although when she does get to come home she won't be moving into this room for quite awhile but at least everything is ready for her when she does move in.  Well maybe not her big brother but we have time to work on that.