Nine Months

I owe a Thanksgiving post but I am running out of "nap" time, ha.

First Halloween

Halloween 2014 was one for the record books.

Joel and I were recovering from Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  It was freezing outside with a serious wind.  Andrew needed to take a deer stand up to the lease that evening so he wasn't going to be around to help hand out candy.  We had already decided that taking an 8 month old trick or treating was like adults begging for candy, so we knew that wasn't going to be in our plan - but we did think we would be handing out candy.  Given everything going on, we turned off the lights, took a few pieces of candy with us, loaded up both boys and took a trip to the deer lease.  Honestly - it was one of the best decisions we have made in a very, very long time.  However, I did take some pictures before we left.

Eight Months

Sorry - my post are out of order now - so insert the one on hand, foot, and mouth and our trip to Georgia if you really want to know what happened in our lives, ha.

Learning to Crawl (Before Hair Cuts)

Here are some pictures of Joel learning how to crawl and before any attempts at trimming his hair.  I'm telling you the rat tail was out of control.

He was seven months to the day when these pictures were taken.

Seven Months

Our Time

Andrew and I managed to get a couple of dates in recently.  The first one was a day at the deer lease working to put up a new stand, hang blind material, and letting me drive the 4-wheeler.

To most women this doesn't sound like the most wonderful thing ever.  But for me, it was great.  I had a babysitter, I was outside, I got to drive the 4 wheeler all day (even found some mud), and I got to spend time with Andrew.  Nothing better.  Really - what isn't to love about this view - except the lack of a bathroom??

Then we took our first trip without Joel.  He stayed with my parents while we went to Biloxi for a night.  We stayed at the Beau, enjoyed people watching in the bar there, walked to dinner at Half Shell, ate way too much by the way, then got up Saturday morning - picked up Tato Nut and headed back home.  It was the perfect little getaway for us.  Joel did great with my parents.  They loved every minute they had with him.  They even begged us to stay away longer, ha.

This is the only thing I took a picture of the entire trip...

I can say a lot of wonderful things about Half Shell.  However, my number one recommendation to women when going there is this - get the wild berry martini and hope they don't seat you upstairs.  Oh and try some of the oysters.  They are fantastic and I don't really care for oysters.

Teeth!

We have two teeth and a third on the way!  Yes, one is coming in sideways - it happens.  And yes, he is wearing conductor overalls...got a problem with it?  I love them.  Actually, I had a bowl cut as a kid and loved to wear these exact same overalls and people thought I was a boy.  So yeah - I'm dressing my kid in them.  Can't help myself.

His father is responsible for the use of the restraint belt in the cart.  I go with the hold his feet down trick.

Bath Time

I did not come up with this idea - I took it directly from a friend.  However, it is wonderful.  When they get to the point of sitting up and pulling up and don't fit in the infant tub or seat any more - you have trouble on your hands.  If you have ever chased an infant around a full size bath tub - you can appreciate this.  They are contained in the basket.  They can't slip and slide or try to crawl in the tub.  Best idea ever.  Try it.  Promise you will love it too.

"What's the Big Deal, Mom?"

I should mention that we find this a lot these days.  He seems to think it is hilarious.

Hand, Foot and Mouth

And then it happened.  Do you see sweet Joel's face?  Notice that it looks sad and sick?  Yep.  Hand, Foot and Mouth was about to make an appearance and we had no idea.  Joel managed to infect John, Elizabeth and ME!  Adults are not supposed to get this stuff.  Let me tell you - it HURTS.  So we missed three days of work and school and hung out (with our baggy pants).  He decided it is more fun to play with the bouncy seat from the outside...he is wild folks.

And I made pumpkin cinnamon rolls.  All I can say is wow!  If you love pumpkin, make them.  Pioneer Woman recipe of course.

Solo Trip to Georgia

My cousin got married in Georgia in late October so all of us were going to load up and make the trip for the weekend.  Turns out, Andrew got sick on Thursday night, so Joel and I went and left Andrew and Tucker at home.  It was the first time that all three cousins were together.  The grandparents and great-grandparents loved every minute of it.  They had a blast playing together and it was only slightly insane. 

 We also had professional pictures taken of the kids.  Talk about wild.  Dad was using a distressed call that you would use to call coyotes in when hunting to get the kids' attention.  I don't think it worked like he planned, ha.

An Update in Pictures - Hair Cut

As soon as I find the time, I will upload pictures from our camera.  I promise I have been taking pictures at each month still.  Please forgive me.

Anyway - let's start in mid-October.

I gave Joel a minor haircut.  It was horrible.  Even Granddaddy noticed and asked about it.

Look - do you see that it is long right behind his ear then super short, then long again??

Then about a month later we took him for a real hair cut.  He was a perfect little boy.  He actually seemed to enjoy it.