Fall is in the air!

And it's cold. Already. The first freeze usually doesn't come till the end of November here, well tonight's low is 30! It does get us more in the mood for pumpkin carving, though. This year, since Brenden knows shapes, we thought it would be fun to let him draw the face to be carved. I asked him what shape he wanted the eyes, he said triangles. So, he drew triangle eyes. Then I asked him what shape he wanted the nose & he said circle. So, he drew a circle nose. Then he drew a perfect little smile :) Here he is drawing the eyes...

Here is what the pumpkin looked like...I finished the bottom of the mouth, and added a tooth!

While Daniel was carving it, I gave Brenden his little pumpkin & some finger paint, which he enjoyed...

Pumpkin, on his head, being cut open...

Doodle & Daddy...

Brenden wanted his turn to take a picture...look out Bubba, he's doing pretty good :)

Doodle & Mom...

We had our first fire for the season! Love it!

Doodle & Easton enjoying the fire...

We made fun memories tonight!

Weekend What-not's

Our weekend was pretty uneventful, which was nice. My parents & Bubba's girlfriend came over to visit Friday night. Bubba is in New Orleans for like 6 days. He works for Starbucks, as a barista, but goes to school for photography. They are having the big Starbucks conference this week in New Orleans & asked him to come photograph the whole thing! Thought that was pretty awesome. He IS pretty darn good, if I do say so :)

Daniel was pretty sick this weekend. He did try to get sympathy from me-didn't work very well-sorry punkin. I did surprise him with his favorite lunch though! He had a fever & everything he ate, came back up. So, I'm guessing it was a stomach bug. I pray Brenden doesn't get it. He is feeling better today. Brenden & I went a few places together & had lunch together, & we always enjoy that. He's my little date ;)

My mom wanted to keep him Saturday night, so he wouldn't get sick from Daniel (that was her excuse anyway...I'm sure she just wanted to steal him for a while :) ) Daniel was on shift Sunday, so I had the whole day to myself! I didn't wake up till like 9:30, went back to sleep at 2:00 & got up at 5:00. Just laid around the house & read my book (The Shack). It was a great & much needed day-thanks mom!! I did miss my little man though :)

Gonna be a pretty busy week. Beginning of the Holidays, non-stop from here. This week, we are carving the pumpkins, making caramel apples, doing goodie bags for all Brenden's classmates, going to my mom's company Halloween party (which is always amazing), Halloween parade at Bren's school, & then trick-r-treating! Happy Halloween!!!

just ramblin'

5 posts in 6 days, what am I thinkin'!?! just a few things that have been going on...

1. easton (my chocolate man) had an awesome dinner last night. daniel cooked steaks out on the grill. brenden took a plate out to him, to bring them in. well, brenden got side tracked or something & as daniel put all three steaks on the plate, it tilted. the steaks landed on the back patio. as this was happening, brenden asked daniel what they were, daniel said "it's steak, it's what we're having for dinner." not two seconds later he says "well, it's what we were having." haha!! it was too funny. all we could do was laugh, i mean what can you do? by the time i was getting the camera, easton had scarfed that down like no other. as we were at the table eating our green beans & rolls, he came in, mouth wide open, just smilin'!

2. daniel made his hot sauce last night. atleast we had some of that for dinner. oh & i made double chocolate ghiradelli cookies, so we had that too. guess dinner wasn't so bad, huh?!

3. brenden is learning so much. it's amazing! we can talk with him about anything & everything & he just takes it all in. we could have conversations with him all day straight & he'd be just fine with that. spanish...wow, in a couple months he will know more than daniel & i do. now, he likes to say colors in spanish rather than english. it's so cute hearing him say verde! when i picked him up from school yesterday, the director stopped me on the way out & said she would like to talk to me. great...who's butt did he try & look at this time. she said they have an opening in the preschool 2 class (he is in preschool 1), & she asked his teacher to decide who she thought was mature & ready enough to be transferred to the older class. she chose brenden! we are so excited! we will begin the transition next week :) they do this school like a regular school, so in august they move up to the next "grade," but he'll be headed there early, i guess. he has only been in this school since june! she said, he'll do preschool 2, then pre-k, then on to kindergarten. whoa, nelly!! time's movin a little too fast! :) he'll be in kindergarten in 2yrs?!? so proud of him.

4. i'm already done with the cold weather. yea, it's been one day, but who's counting. bring on the heat!

5. tuesday night, we went to one of the new stores (belk) by our house, to buy brenden some new jeans. there were two ladies walking towards us as we were walking down the main walkways inside to get to his section. he was walking right in front of us. he stops, puts his hands up & says "stop! people getting' in my way!" yea, he says this to the ladies. guess they were taking up more of the isle than he thought they should. we just kept walking... i guess, since he got ALL his looks from his daddy, then he gets the attitude from his momma! just wait till he starts driving.

enjoy the rest of the week!!

Need a weekend from the weekend.

Yea, it's Wednesday, & I'm just now getting around to talking about the weekend we had. Oh well, I think it took me that long to process it. We were going, going, going. A couple stores were having a grand opening right by our house, so we went there first thing. Did a couple other errands, then went to Grapevine for the Butterfly Flutterby. The Monarchs are migrating to Mexico now, & they do this event every year at this time. Brenden likes butterflies, so I thought it would be fun. We enjoyed it! Here is his envelope with his butterfly in it, getting ready to be released.

On top of Daniel's shoulders, trying to open the envelope to release the little guy...
Here is Brenden's butterfly!!
Then he also got to see the train pull in, which I think he enjoyed more than the butterfly activities :) After that, we did lunch, nap, shopping & more errands. I'm wore out thinking about it again.
Then, Sunday, we went to the fair. Again. Were there 10 hours. It was closing day & we had a blast. This time I only had fried cookie dough (again), fried oreos, & 2 watermelon drinks. I think I did pretty good! I also rode the Texas Star Ferris Wheel. Which is ginormous! I've gone to the fair every year of my life, more than once & have never ridden it. Probably because I am not too crazy about heights. But, Brenden was so excited to get on it, so I did it for him. We were all able to ride in the same "cage." Here is my mom, Jessica (brother's girlfriend) & my brother. Daniel, Brenden & I were sitting across from them. Brenden loved it. I don't know what it was like. I had my head almost buried between my legs clinching onto anything I could with my hands.
Then, Daniel & Bubba got on a ride together. I don't even know how to explain this thing. It had a G-Force of over 5! It went upside down, round & round & inside out! Serious.
Here they are being flipped around...
And upside down...They love stuff like this. Whatever floats your boat!

Here is Brenden on one of his rides. Look at the half naked mermaid, with her hair covering her boobs. Think that's appropriate for a kid's ride??

Already excited about the fair next year!

Gone. All. Gone.

This was Sunday... (don't ya love the devil eyes)

This was Tuesday...

My hair. is. all. gone. 7 inches off. Gone. But give it a couple months, it'll all be back :) I love that my hair grows so fast. Every year I am able to have a wild hair in me & chop it all off & by the next year, it's grown back, longer than before.

Phone. In the gutter.

Not kidding. This...

Went in this...
Brenden & I got home, went to check the mail like always. I had my phone in my hand. Along with my purse, his backpack & my keys. I was opening the mailbox, when my phone fell out of my hand. I froze (& held my breath), you know, as if me being still will make my phone freeze & not fall into the gutter. Well, that didn't work. The back popped off (stayed up on the street) & the rest of the phone fell into the black hole. I was lost. We don't have a home phone. Only our cell phones. And, of course... Daniel is on shift! Surprise, surprise. You mean, something happened & Daniel wasn't home to help!?! Yea, he seems to be on shift every time he's needed or when something unusual goes wrong. Although he was home this weekend when a little gecko was in our house :)

Anyway...how am I going to get this thing out? Went next door, used their phone. Called Daniel to let him know I don't have a phone. I said "I have a fireman & he's not going to come help get my phone!?" Little Man said "maybe a police officer will come help!" haha Daniel wasn't too sure what to think of that :)

The neighbor called her son & he came & climbed into the gutter & got my phone!!! YAY! I was so thankful. In the meantime, Daniel had called the fire station close to our home & asked them to come help me! I thought that was awesome! So, um, they were already on the way when the boy had gotten my phone out. So, we got to say hi to the guys anyway :) Here they are leaving the house...

It was a pretty eventful 30mins. Then, my parents called & I found out the bottom floor of their house flooded from the washer. Fun. Ok...I have to go make my neighbors (and firemen) some cookies...

totally not planned

Doodle & I wore the same exact thing today-and I seriously did not plan it! As we were getting in the truck to leave this morning, I looked at his outfit & then at mine...um, this is a little weird. Both had on a navy shirt, brown pants & brown shoes.

Don't ya just love the peanut butter mustache he has :) Before we took the picture he laid down his little black & decker hammer he has, and as we were standing there, he said "I want to hammer your butt." Nice.

It's the medicine...not the 3yr old

As most of you know, Brenden is hypo-thyroid. He has been since he was in my belly :) Here's a little background...

At my 20wk sonogram they noticed he had a goiter (which is like a bump in your throat where your thyroid is-kinda like it's swollen). So they sent me to a high risk obgyn. The first thing he did was pull Brenden's blood to test his thyroid levels, which consists of sticking a massive needle in my belly to draw his blood. We knew then, he was hypo-thyroid (his thyroid is there, but just does not produce enough "juice"). Which is supposed to come from your family, but neither Daniel or I have problems with it & don't know of anyone else who does, in our immediate family.

So, starting that week, up until I delivered, we had to go in every week to the hospital & they injected medicine into my belly for him. Which, again, consisted of having a big needle stuck into me, around my belly button-with um no numbing whatsoever! After the first couple injections, his goiter was gone! But he was still (& will always be) considered hypo-thyroid.

I had that done every week. It was the most painful thing ever. (Well, almost. I had kidney stones twice while I was pregnant. THAT was the most painful thing ever. I would not wish those upon anyone.) I did get to see him every week though, with the sonograms & that was awesome!

This apparently, is quite rare to find like this. Which, it seemed like we were always on the low end of the odds. I have O- blood. So, that meant I have to have Rogam shots at the beginning of my pregnancy & at delivery, because of the risks of mine & my baby's blood mixing. Well, since his blood was drawn every month to check his levels, I was able to get one of those shots every time we did that :) yay. Come to find out...he is O- also! Which there is only a 30% chance of the baby getting the mom's blood type. And, that meant, I did not need any of those Rogam shots after all.

I was induced 3 1/2 weeks early, so they could treat him out here. There were risks of him being deaf & having learning disabilities & other risks. He is the most perfect little man ever! We were so blessed to be able to catch this when we did & to treat it so soon & to have the most amazing doctor. He is perfectly healthy. He does have to take a pill everyday & will for the rest of his life, to regulate his thyroid levels. We go every few months to have his blood drawn & go to his Endocrin doc. There is a 25% chance of this happening with the other pregnancies, if there were to be one :) It just terrifies me to have to go through all that again, so if there were another one, it may be a while.

All this to say...Last week he was all over the place. He would get home from school & just not stop! He did not take any naps, which is totally not like him, & didn't eat very well. We had a feeling his levels were a little high, but weren't for sure. We thought he may just be acting like a 3yr old :) Today he had his Endocrin appt & his levels are high! That is exactly how he should be acting if they are high. So...his medicine is being lowered a little. It's just so amazing how many things your thyroid controls. And, it's amazing what doctors are able to do these days. We are so blessed & thankful to have such a wonderful & healthy little man!

Air Show

Brenden & I (and my mom, brother & his girlfriend) went to the air show on Saturday. This was our second year to go, and we have so much fun. I don't know why, but something about those jets, just gets me. I love it. We live real close to the airport they have it at & can see a lot of it from our front yard, but it's amazing being right in front of it all. Here are a couple of the small planes playing around...

Brenden & I in front of a FedEx plane, that everyone could walk through.
This picture says it all. Sausage in one hand, snow cone in the other. Having a blast!
Here are one of the jets, after he had just landed. There were four of these & then there were five Thunder bird jets also. So often, we will see one or two of these things just flying around playing over our house. It is so amazing what they can do. I so bad would love to ride in one, but I almost feel like passing out just thinking about it, so maybe not :)

i want a donkey. still.

i just can't stop thinking about this dang donkey. i really want one. i think our backyard is plenty big enough for one, but daniel doesn't seem to think so. not sure if our neighbors would appreciate him either. but i would really like to have one. i have already picked out his name too. his name would be kong. get it??

donkey kong.



i need to go to bed now...

Pumpkin Pickin'

We went to the pumpkin patch this weekend. I had found a new one, that we hadn't been to before, that was like 40mins away-but totally worth the drive! We had such a good time! Although, it just doesn't seem right when it's 92 degrees while you are getting a pumpkin. Anyway, here's little man...I think the pumpkin to the far left is one that we got.

The three of us on the 30min hay ride...
This little guy was the cutest thing ever! They had some goats on the farm, along with this donkey. He was so sweet & loved to be loved on! I could have stayed with him all day. I want a donkey.
This place was all country! We loved it!
Daniel & Brenden going through the maze...
While we were on the hay ride, they told us to look out for a "hobo." Here he is. He did a really good skit!
Here are some of the Christmas trees they grow there. We will be going back soon to chop one of them down :) Can't wait!

Chicken Fried Bacon??

Oh, the great State Fair of Texas. We went on Tuesday, which was a beautiful day! I have been every year of my life. Every year. Not missed one (neither has my brother or mom) & we usually go a couple times each year. It's so much fun seeing it through Brenden's eyes now. He has a ton of fun! Here are a few pictures from our day...

Brenden with the longhorn (can't remember his name...something like Pete, maybe?)This pig was going crazy over Brenden! He would not stop oinkin'! He was so excited-it was cute.This is while we were in the petting zoo. Feeding a baby giraffe...Feeding a camel (she had just had a baby who was SO fluffy & soft)...Couldn't help but take a picture of the baby lamb in the tire...Ok, here it is...one of the new foods this year...chicken fried bacon! I feel a heart attack coming as I'm sitting here. They seriously just fry up some bacon. I took a bite of it, & was not too crazy about it, but my mom, Daniel & Brenden liked it. Along with the butt-load of people in line getting it. I, personally, will stick to my usual...ready for this...fried pb&j w/ banana, fried oreos, & fried cookie dough(which just makes me melt)!!Brenden standing in front of Big Tex...Here are a few of the rides he rode... This was a fire truck ride. As it went around, the ladder part went up & down, & he could spray water at the fake fire in the windows...Daniel & Brenden on the caterpillar roller coaster. Which I think Daniel enjoyed more than Brenden. Here he is hanging onto the antennae...One of the rides Brenden & I rode, which went pretty high in the air...And, of course, we had to make a sand bottle thing. I made so many of these growing up. This was his first & he enjoyed playing in the sand :)The ride home...We love going to the fair. It's just a great tradition we've always had. I meet people that were born here & have never been to the fair! That just blows my mind. I mean...look at all the wonderful food you're missing! ;)