{Not} Living Vicariously

Happy Thanksgiving all y'all

Mommy and Daddy want me to wish you the Happiest Thanksgiving ever. This cookie is making me Very Happy. Hope your day is Happy and Tasty!

Weeks 39 through 41

Wow am I ever behind! However, this is my favorite time of year and I tend to overcommit myself. So, while I wait for my butter to soften (I'm about to make this), I'm going to quickly share a bunch of favorite photos from the past three weeks.

 

We went to Arrington Vineyards to celebrate my cousin's birthday and actually got a family shot out of it. Wow!

He was fascinated with their spinning in the wind toy. This is similar to the face he makes when he sees the wind chimes. I love how easily he can be amused right now.

He also "helped" in the kitchen and is becoming our A#1 best sous chef!

So there you have week 39. Now on to week 40. You already saw how tall he is at nine months.

 We did go see the family that weekend and here we are playing on the trampoline.

Tadpole also got a splinter somehow and we had to do "surgery" . . .

Plus how funny is he in his winter hat? Love that boy!

Now for week 41 . . .

I also LOVE him in his froggie hat. How can I not just hug him and squeeze him and kiss him all over?

Another shot of him "helping" in the kitchen.

And here are both of my boys. I am so very lucky to have them in my life. They are my blessing and my joy - perfect for my favorite holiday!

Now, while the cake bakes, I'll alternate between cleaning for tomorrow and working on my scrapbook since I'm home alone. I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow . . .

Nine months old and counting

Unofficially we hit 21 pounds and 28 1/2 inches today. We'll see what the doctor says on Thursday at the nine month checkup. Hope you stayed warm wherever you were today - we had snow spitting around!

Project Life - Week Twenty-Six

Oh boy! Six months old . . . and such a big boy. He was 21 inches and 9 pounds, 10 ounces at birth. I never realized I could love someone so very much!

Such a stinker, he choose his six month birthday to sit up by himself for the first time. My overachiever! We also did some more six month photos with him in the oh so adorable VHC outfit loaned to us by Aaron's cousin. How stinkin' cute is he?

Having my parents' dog Shiloh (a black lab mix) here for several weeks, Tadpole also decided this was the time to start crawling. He needs to slow down this growing up thing and let me enjoy it a bit more. Last we showcase this month's cookie. Doesn't that ice cream cone look so very tasty? His Nana was very happy to help him eat it. Luckily he was willing to share.

So, I've now completed and posted his first six months. While today would be his nine month birthday. How the time does fly . . .

Created by Becky Higgins, "Project Life provides an ultra-simple solution that helps us get those pictures into albums without draining our time, energy, and wallets." Learn more about it here.

Project Life - Week Twenty-Five

Ah, week twenty-five. This was a fun week. Tadpole got to feed the puppy (who is twelve plus years old!) treats. We got a semi-decent picture of him playing itsy bitsy spider. He is getting pretty good at using a straw. And even though mushy peas are out, mushy green beans are okay!

I didn't take enough vertical shots this week so I have filled in with one of part of his nursery. Every time I walk in there I fall in love with it all over again. It is actually pretty sad how happy it makes me. I should care more about other things but I can't. It is everything I dreamed of for our baby . . . even if I didn't get it done on my timetable (by his six month birthday).

Short and sweet, that is week twenty-five.

Created by Becky Higgins, "Project Life provides an ultra-simple solution that helps us get those pictures into albums without draining our time, energy, and wallets." Learn more about it here.

Project Life - Week Twenty-Four

Newest trauma? We had our first splinter today and had to do "surgery" but Tadpole was a trooper. He was actually sort of fascinated with what was going on and didn't flinch much. That's my boy!

Most of this week was being excited about hanging out with family so there are several pictures of cousins interacting with our boy. Additionally there are a few of the professional photos in here. I'm sure you can guess which ones those are!

We did discover the first food our boy does not like. However we did not like them either. Mushy peas are the worst!

I'm constantly finding myself referencing book titles, authors, or plots while interacting with Tadpole and I decided that I wanted to document those along with the song titles and lyrics his daddy throws around. Klassen's titles about hats have adult humor (or is that horror?) as well as appealing to children so whenever I see him playing with a hat, I immediately think of Klassen. I'm looking forward to sharing those two (so far) titles with him when he is a bit older. And that about sums up week twenty-four. (Is it bad that I'm only at week twenty-four when we just started week forty???)

Created by Becky Higgins, "Project Life provides an ultra-simple solution that helps us get those pictures into albums without draining our time, energy, and wallets." Learn more about it here.

Project Life - Week Twenty-Three

The baby is sick and we are exhausted. He has caught a cold and it is WW3 to keep that poor little nose cleaned out so he can breathe at all. We spent much of the night taking turns sleeping in an elevated position with him on our chest so he could get some relief. I completely feel the emotion of "please, I'll be sick, just let my little fry guy feel better because he just doesn't understand . . ."

Anyway, here we have Week Twenty-Three:

This was a fun week. He is learning to use the potty already. While we don't expect to give up diapers any time soon, my understanding is that potty training will be much less stressful as he will already understand the concept. He is also putting everything in his mouth from his toes to his toys.

Below you see his first trip to the "zoo" - actually we went to the pet store to pick up dog and cat food and while there cruised by the reptile section. Tadpole was fascinated! We also finally got a photo of the zerbert in action. That is still one of his favorite things to do . . .

And there you have it - a quick look at week twenty-three in the life of Tadpole.

Created by Becky Higgins, "Project Life provides an ultra-simple solution that helps us get those pictures into albums without draining our time, energy, and wallets." Learn more about it here.

Date Night Dinner October 2013

As many of you know, we enjoy a nice dinner out every year in October for our non-anniversary. This year we went to Husk Nashville. With co-owner Sean Brock being a James Beard award winning chef and knowing of their focus on locally sourced seasonal food, we had high hopes for the evening. The atmosphere is on the "hipster" side and in some ways they try a bit too hard. However, the food was extremely tasty and we enjoyed every bite. Sorry for the quality of the photos, we were in an awkward location with lighting issues and I'm not good enough to compensate.

We started with Aaron enjoing a glass of whiskey while I had a nice hard cider while we ate our appetizers. Carolina Rice Griddle Cakes with HUSK Pimento Cheese for me:

and a Plate of Bob Wood's 24 Month Old Country Ham, Mustard, Soft Rolls, Pickled Okra for Aaron.

Next we ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir to go with our main courses.

For those I had the Adam Musick's Pork, Grilled Cabbage, Buttermilk-Potato Puree, Mustard Onions:

and Aaron had the Bear Creek Farm Beef with Shiitake, Charred Brassicas, Brioche, Sauce Bordelaise. (While it looks like he has a very skimpy plate, it is the angle in which he took the photo. Those slices of beef are quite thick.)

Then at dessert we enjoyed a glass of tawny port and some coffee along with our Buttermilk Pie:

and a surprisingly tasty Sweet Potato Soft Serve. We don't remember what was on top but it sure was good!

And here are two very satisified diners . . .

who are already recommending this place to our friends!

Week 38

You already saw Halloween. Other favorites include

I love how much fun he has with a simple box.

He graduated to a "big boy" stroller for this walk. We still have our regular stroller. This is the one that stays at my parents' house and he was quite impressed with himself.

I have been told that puffs are highly addictive to toddlers. Here is proof positive!

Hope you enjoyed this week . . .

Week 37

You've already seen most of my favorites from week 37: the cookie pictures. However there is also the first driving lesson from Grandpa

and a playdate with our friend N

plus reading one of Mommy's favorite books: Moo Baa La La La

It was a fun week.