Pumpkin Patches and Purees

I love the Fall so much! There is something about the crisp, cool air (well, in Memphis, not everyday is it crisp or cool...), the scents, pumpkin everything, the rustle of the leaves....you get the picture! I really wish I could capture it, store it in a bottle, and save it for a dreary day. This season has been especially enjoyable because of our sweet little man. Every experience is a deeper experience somehow now. We really are falling in love with him more everyday. He is keeping us on our toes recently as his curiosity is growing, he loves to grab and pinch (especially my cheeks and ears...one day I'll have to break it to him he is the one with the pinchable cheeks!), we can hardly put a diaper on him because he is rolling and flipping around us! We are loving this stage! 

We recently had a little adventure to the pumpkin patch, er, church parking lot full of pumpkins for sale. Caden was so interested in this mini "patch" of pumpkins. I love the above family pic, mainly because 6 months of taking pictures with little man and it is the first successful pictures at all 3 of us smiling and looking toward the camera at the same time. (This would happen on a day neither Brett nor I had showered....but I'm not complaining!)

Not so enjoyable is the teething process! I really have decided teething is from Satan himself-no joke! I feel so bad for the little guy as he is such a happy-natured little baby and it is so obvious he is in pain...with no teeth to show for it yet. I will miss that gummy little smile, but I will be glad when a few teeth break through to provide relief for him!

I'm not a rustic, country-styled kind of girl, but something about fall is rustic and country to me. This is one of my latest Pinterest projects. This little banner was such a simple and cheap craft-5 bucks and 10 minutes since I hot glued the flags on instead of sewing. Not bad!

Little man has officially been introduced to solids. We are at the VERY beginning stages and it is a slow process, but it has been fun for me to do something new with him as well as research making baby foods, how to freeze etc. We decided to skip the rice cereal and oatmeal as the starters, and instead went straight to avocado. (You might be like my in-laws, my parents, and my grandmother and think I'm crazy....but hey, it is worth a shot!) The first two days of avocado he enjoyed the process and playing on his tray, and just being included in meals with Brett and me...but this was short-lived as you can see in the above left pic. Needless to say, we are taking a little break from avocado and have moved onto butternut squash...we will see how this goes!

Speaking of baby food-I got a little zealous about pureeing my own foods and freezing them. (hello http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/, you are an awesome resource!) Apparently, I didn't put carrot peelings, squash and sweet potato guts down the garbage disposal at a good pace....and caused a small large leak under our sink. Oops. I would like to say this is the first time I have messed up our disposal, but I would be lying....

There are a lot of things I am looking forward to currently, two of these things are....

1. My BURRRRFFFDAY is this weekend! (Some of the lovely ladies I am discipling now are trying to teach me the ways of conversation, hence "BURRRFFFDAY" instead of the commonly known "Birthday."  I am a slow learner, but they are patient with me.) I cannot believe I am turning 27 years old. Seriously, I have been a college graduate for years now, been a resident of Illinois, now Memphis, gotten hitched, and now have a sweet little almost 6 month old? 30 is closer than 20 now, I'm gonna embrace it! 

My Tia, precious cousin, and her new little boy are visiting at the beginning of November. I am SOOOOOO excited I can hardly stand it. Lauren and Tia have such a special place in my heart. It has been so wonderful crying together and getting excited together in this motherhood journey with Lauren thus far. I cannot wait to snuggle with her little cutie who is about 3 months younger than Caden! The above pic is one of my favorites, but do not be fooled-though we look very loving in this picture, I was so mean to her at this stage of our lives and it was a VERY rare occasion you could find me in a dress....obviously things have changed!

There are a 100 more things to talk about being excited about (the hubs and me celebrate another wedding anniversary, holidays, New Year's Conference, but those will come later!)

Until next time....