Fall Fun

Saturday was the Woodforest Monster Dash 5k Obstacle course.  We didn't run but we did go out and support the event.

This is the first wave of runners hitting the first obstacle, the "Witches Ditch".  Many of the runners ran in costume!


And then heading into the tunnel (I didn't get the name on that obstacle)

Cason decided to do a little running of his own


Then took a little break while we waited on the runners to hit the last obstacle...


...the hot sauce eyeball shot... gross.  The runners were not very happy about this one but I've heard some of these types of events have even worse food items.


There were all kinds of fun activities at the lodge after the race... face painting, snow cones, rock climbing, inflatables, and of course a pumpkin patch.  Cason was pretty tired at this point since we skipped the morning nap.  And, he doesn't like to stay still.  This is the best shot we got IN the pumpkins.


We put him and a pumpkin in the rocking chair on the porch and finally got some smiles when Ryan got the chair rocking.  You can see in the video below that he looked a little spaced out in the first pictures in the chair.  But this picture was all worth it!


Posing as Frankenstein


Ava and her parents met us out there for some pictures.  Cason was definitely flirting with the "bay-bee". And how cute is that tutu???  I can't believe I'm gonna have a little girl to put in tutu's this time next year!


It was a nice morning!  As usual, the Woodforest team put on an awesome event!  Here is a slideshow of an edited set of the rest of the pictures (there may have been 200+ pictures... I was just click, click, clicking hoping to get that ONE good picture).

(Slideshow is high-def... click it to view larger or full screen)

Starting the girly nursery

We started crib shopping right after we found out we were having a girl.  We had sticker shock all over again and went home depressed.  I got an email from USA Baby about their coupon sale over Columbus day weekend so we went back to look at our original choices and then also went to Babys First Furniture to compare prices.  When it came down to it, USA Baby was cheaper and we had a great experience with them for Cason's furniture so I called that Sunday and placed the order over the phone.

They told me it would be 8-12 weeks.

This is what I have in Baby Girl's room right this very moment, I give you the Munire Bristol

And there is a really big dresser in a really big box in the dining room.  Waiting on some more muscle to help it up the stairs (any takers?)

We got the call on Wednesday, after the Sunday order, that everything but the toddler rail was in.

We were in that part of town on Saturday so we went and picked it all up.  We were able to get everything out of the truck without me doing anything except coming up with a brilliant use of one of our wagons as a dolly!

The fabric in the picture will be the bumper and possibly some curtains.  The skirt will be this stripe:

Both from Premier Prints Fabrics, same company as with Cason's.

We plan to paint the walls lavender.

A little of this and that

Just a few pictures that I realized were still on the camera.

Playing with the kid sized wheel barrel

Vacuuming!



Styling in his Adiddas basketball suit.



First "Dough Ball" at Pappasito's

Cason loves Football?

Recently Cason found the football that was in the shelf in the garage.  I'm not really sure when he first noticed it but for the past couple of weeks, every time we drive into the garage he starts pointing at it and saying "Boo, Boo".  If we get it down and let him play, he gets crazy excited.  If we don't get it down and make him go inside, there is often a little meltdown to follow.  He also gets excited when he see's football on the TV.

We aren't really sure why he calls it a "boo".  He can say "ball" and calls most round objects balls.  Our only guess is that he's trying to combine Foot and Ball and its coming out as "boo".  Every now and then there is an attempt at two syllables, but it still comes out as "fa-boo" or "ah-boo".

The weather has been so nice lately and Ryan and I have had a few days that we both got off work "early" (as in not getting home at 7) so we've had a few afternoons playing with the "Boo" in the driveway.  Here are a few shots from this week:







And a video that maybe captures more of the excitement.

Tonight we stopped at Target after dinner to pick him up youth size set... a football, basketball and soccer ball.  Ryan is loving every minute of this!

Halloween Shirt

I haven't been able to find a good, basic Halloween shirt for Cason so I just made him one.  I'm getting a little better at my zigzag sewing. Just don't ask how many times I sewed the front and back of the shirt together.



To make the pumpkin, I just used the Google Image search and found a pumpkin outline I liked, then scaled it on my printer's copy machine features.  The rest is just another example of the "Sort of Applique".

Climbing

Cason got up on the chair by himself today. He's been trying very hard and was successful at the babysitter this week but hadn't made it at home yet until tonight. Game over!

22 Week Bump

Not much new to report.  I'm getting bigger.  This little girl seems to be much lower than Cason and seems to really love using my bladder as a pillow or a punching bag.  She moves all the time and is starting to follow Cason's pattern of being very active while I'm sitting at my desk working.

22 Weeks Baby #2	23 Weeks Cason

I edited this to add a comparison to 23 weeks with Cason. I definitely think I'm carrying this baby lower.

DIY Lacing Toy

The ladies of A Teacher at Heart are three of the dearest people to me, Ryan and Cason. I'm sure you are wondering why, so let me tell you.  :)

You know how as a kid, you have that "other Mom" or "second Mom"... you know, your best friend's Mom that loved you like her own, fed you, disciplined you, called your real Mom and tattled on you. I think we all had them. They don't, in any way, replace our real Moms but they are important people in our lives. So, for Ryan... that was A Teacher at Heart's Rita... Ryan's best friend Brandon's mom. And then along with the second Mom is the second Family and that's where A Teacher at Heart's Sarah comes in. Sarah is Brandon's little sister and in turn was like Ryan's little sister.

But see, these two aren't just special to Ryan, they are special to me too. Because the first time I came to visit THE Woodlands with Ryan, I know I met Rita and Sarah and they treated me like family too. Then I went to graduate school at A&M and Sarah took me in... literally. After a semester on my own, she asked me to be her roommate. We worked out together, watched girly TV together, went to Breakaway together... in general, did the roommate thing. So not only did I inherit the second family when Ryan and I got married, but really, they already felt that way.

But there are THREE ladies of A Teacher at Heart. There is one more fabulous lady that I adore... Brandon met Suzie the year Ryan and I were planning the wedding. I really do think it was love at first sight for them (if they don't mind me putting words in their mouths)... at the least, we all knew very early on that Brandon was smitten with Suz and when I met her the first time, I knew why. We became fast friends and today, I don't know what I'd do without her. You've seen me talk about her and her boys on the blog all the time. She was my go to while pregnant, is my go to now when I have a baby, I mean toddler, question. She's the one I call when I need to vent or laugh about something.  She plans Friday play dates for me... really, she's the best and I am so lucky to call her my friend.

I'm pretty sure Cason will grow up thinking Hudson, Luke and Carter are like brothers to him... we just have to get Sarah back to Texas first!

So all this is to say, I love these three ladies... they are like having another family away from home. And between them there is a wealth of teacher knowledge that I love to steal... like this super easy project!

Here are a couple of pictures of Cason trying out his Lacing Toy from A Teacher at Heart.



I threw it together last night in 5 minutes. Ryan said he was pretty sure it would be more of a pull toy (a souped up version of that measuring tape Cason likes to pull around, seen in a previous video). Well, he was half right. I sat with him for a few minutes and showed him how to lace it. He really liked to pull the thread and did try to put the string in and out of the holes. But then, as Ryan predicted, he picked up the long piece of string and started walking around the room with the can behind him. Ha, Daddy just knew it. I will say, later tonight he went back to the toy and tried to put the string into one of the holes. He got upset when he couldn't do it and needed my help, so I think he's into it.  We'll keep trying.

Thanks Rita, Sarah and Suz for loving us and for inspiring me to bring out my inner teacher!

Say Cheese!

Today at lunch, I gave Cason some cheese and turkey and told him what both were.  Well, he wouldn't stop saying "Cheese".  So when he started playing after lunch I told him to "Say Cheese" so I could take a picture... and he did!  Here are his first "Say Cheese" pictures.

10 Minute Onesie Dress, Take 2

I wrote this post sometime last year when I first attempted the onesie dress.  I don't remember that process as fondly as I wrote about it and I know for a fact I ended up taking the whole thing apart later and using the fabric on something else.

Now that I am having a girl, I decided to try again.  This time, the final result was much better but it's no 10 minutes... it still takes me that long to do the simple hem and to pin the fabric to the onesie.  Both times I've gotten stuck on the same part of the process so I finally decided to just change it and do it the way that made sense to me and it worked.

This is a recycled onesie of Cason's.  I think I'll probably need to hem it again once I know how long Baby Girl is.

I'm going to try to recycle a few of his neutral printed ones with coordinating fabrics and maybe some ruffle-butts too!