Happy Halloween!!!!

Here are some pictures of our "monkey" boy! He got to wear his costume to daycare yesterday and will obviously get to wear it again today!

Daycare is closed today for teacher in-service day, so I'm taking the day off of work to "hang around" with my monkey.

It's free flu shot day in the office, and Jacob is working there today, so Mitchell and I are going to "swing" in for a bit!

Jacob's going to come home early enough for us to carve our pumpkins and bake the pumpkin seeds!

After that, we're meeting up with our new neighborhood friends for a little trick or treating and then some pizza and cider at one of the gal's houses.

Should be a fun filled day for Mitchell's first halloween!!!!

Pumpkin Hat

Well I tried my darndest to get a cute picture of Mitchell in his pumpkin hat that Jacob's Dad and Diane sent him for Halloween...but that kid did NOT want to keep that thing on his head! Oh, this winter is going to be fun! :)





I guess you can kind of consider this a bloopers reel...

Apparently he did not like the hat on other people's heads either :)
(my dad)

10 Months Old!!!!!

Oh, if only you could see me taking these monthly "chair" pictures :) I used to turn the camera on and get it all ready to go before propping Mitchell up in the chair and then take a few shots as quick as possible before he toppled over forward out of the chair (and yes, that did happen once!)

Not anymore! Not only can Mitchell ROCK this chair himself, he can also slide forward and reach for the ground with his little toes and stand up. Of course, then he wants to crawl right back into the chair...which he still needs a little help doing, but he's getting pretty dang sure footed! It's not going to be long before this boy is walking!

I know I say this every month - but the time is FLYING! He's going to turn 1 before we know it!

Some quick updates of what Mitchell has been up to these days:
- Still waving bye-bye backwards, 'on demand' and more often.
- Clapping and saying "yeeeaaahhh" (it's the cutest)
- Dropping/Tossing a ball to see it bounce, chasing it across the room and doing it again and again.
- Climbing stairs like a mad man. We have not yet mastered coming DOWN the stairs gracefully!

- Signing "all done" to signal when he's finished eating.
- Opening every cabinet and drawer within reach to check out the contents!
- Flipping the pages of board books. He enjoys reading.
- LOVES peak-a-boo, especially when you peak from around a corner. He'll wait and wait to see you again and then LAUGH :)
- Starting to test cause and effect..."If I drop this, Mommy will pick it back up and give it to me. Repeat!"
- Saying LOTS of Mama and Dada, but the jury is still out on whether he knows which is which :)

- Still obsessed with unwinding the toilet paper.

He is a giggle box much of the time, and you never know what will set him off!!!

Each new day brings something new and wonderful! Jacob and I often just sit and watch him and look at each other in wonder. How did we get so lucky!

Oh, how times have changed!

When I started at Ernst & Young in the fall of 2001, I knew practically no one in my start group. I quickly became casual acquaintances with most of them....and lifelong (hopefully) friends with a select few, including Jill and Katie. We instantly shared the commonality of enjoying a good night out! Jill and I are the only girls left in our start group and still have cubes right next to each other at work. Every once in a while you'll notice us slip away into the "privacy" room to gossip or complain. No matter the exact topic of the ensuing conversation, you can be assured it'll involve lots of laughter! Although Katie left the firm a few years back, we always look forward to catching up over a girls dinner! Here is a picture of us in May of 2005.

Katie, Jill and Mandi

Oh my, oh my -- how times have changed! Just take a look at these three little darlings below! Can you believe that the same three girls answer as "mom" to these smiley faces?

Jack, Mitchell and Addison

Mitchell and I joined Katie & Jack and Jill & Addison for a trip to the Deanna Rose Farmstead on Sunday. The weather was WINDY, but it was still a wonderful trip! You can check out all of the pictures in the little slideshow to the left.



Where is your cane, Shepherd?

Here is a few pictures of Mitchell in the goat petting zoo part of the park. I have no idea why all of the goats were flocked around him!

He didn't seem phased at all though :)

This was the last weekend for the Farmstead this season. I have a feeling we'll be making many more trips next year! Hopefully several with Katie and Jill and the kids. Hopefully Mitchell will be able to run around with Addison and Jack by then!

Christmas & Birthday Ideas primarily for the Grandmas and Aunts!

We've been getting some questions about what Mitchell wants/needs for Christmas or his birthday, so I created a little list off to the left. Obviously Mitchell did not pick these out....so if you've already purchased things or run across things that look fun that aren't on the list, I'm sure he'll LOVE them! Each item on the list links to a specific page for you to use as an example, but it doesn't mean we want that EXACT item! (Specifically with the infant sled b/c the only one I could find online was really expensive!)

As I was creating the list, Mitchell was playing with inkpens, yesterday's mail and my empty water cup.....therefore obviously he will NOT be picky about his presents. These are just some ideas!

Sour Raspberries

Jacob and I had a work dinner last night and my Dad and Sherri were kind enough to watch Mitchell for us AGAIN! They are the best! I promised them that we'd be home by 9pm and when I called them at 9:20 (already 20 min past our time) to tell them that we were headed home, they told us to take our time and enjoy our night since we don't get out much these days.....soooooo we stopped off and met a few of the couples at a bar on the way home :) We were still home by 11pm, and Mitchell was sound asleep, none the wiser!

Mitchell must've known that we needed our sleep, so he slept in until 6am! Whoooo hooo! That's the latest he's slept-in in weeks!

Here's a little video of his breakfast this morning. Check out his face :)

Mitchell's baby tricks

I always get a kick out of my friends who like to show off their dogs' tricks...sit, lay, play dead, etc. We're working on a repertoire of tricks for Mitchell, including clapping.

He's still getting up at 4am each morning! My friend mentioned that things may get better after Sunday (Daylight's savings). Let's hope he follows the sun and doesn't follow the actual time...otherwise he'd start getting up at 3am!

Can't get enough Fall pictures

Just some cute little pictures that I took of Mitchell in the Fall leaves this weekend. I can't get enough of them! As you can tell, his top teeth are now visible and his hair is starting to grow back - yeah! :)

Mitchell's new obsession is balls...especially ones that bounce. He's figured out how to throw/drop them to make them bounce, and will essentially play fetch with himself. It's pretty cute and entertaining for all of us :)

Update on the sleeping situation...he's still going down at around 7pm in his own crib (with minimal fuss) and sleeping through the night - which is wonderful! Our new struggle is his wake time - it's growing earlier and earlier. The past 7 to 10 days we're lucky if he sleeps until 5am, and often it's closer to 4am! EARLY! So I'm stumbling around with my eyes half open and he is all smiles and ready to begin his day! A few days, I've been able to get him back to sleep in our bed...but not today! He's happily playing on the floor while I bring you guys a 5am blog post :) Only good thing is that I get a few quality hours with him before heading off to work! Hmmm...wait - did I just say quality?

Operation Saving Amy

As I've blogged before, my good friend Amy was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer earlier this year. Unfortunately, this week she received VERY disheartening news from her oncologist... He told her to start preparing her family and friends to expect the worst outcome. She is not giving up hope, however much of the treatments that have been suggested for her condition are experimental and not covered by insurance, therefore her friends and family are trying to raise some money to help ease her financial burdon!

She was on the news last week, you can see the video. My high school girlfriends and I had our first fundraiser on Saturday at the Mission Sonic. We raised nearly $1200!!!

The BIG fundraiser is this coming Saturday at J. Murphy's Irish Pub and Grille in Shawnee from 3-8 p.m (22730 Midland Dr Shawnee, KS 66226). There are many exciting things planned for Operation Saving Amy including a silent auction and live entertainment from The Mikey Needleman Band. They will also have three raffles throughout the night. Prizes being raffled include a Pink Nuvi 250 (a navigation system from Garmin) and a 7 day stay in Las Vegas! ANYONE is welcome! A $5 donation at the door is appreciated.

No, we do not let Mitchell drink pop, but he really enjoys the cups! Wouldn't this be a great Sonic advertisement! :)

Pictures from this week

I close my bedroom door and let Mitchell crawl around the bathroom while I shower each morning (when Jacob's out of town). Now that we've made an effort to keep the toilet seat closed, the next best thing for Mitchell to play with is the toilet paper. He loves to unroll and unroll and unroll.... Ha! I caught him in the act the other morning :)

Mitchell ate cherrios and kiwi fruit for breakfast the other morning. I was rushing around getting ready for work and didn't realize that I'd forgotten to put his bib on! His little overalls had quite a collection going on!

Taby and Dylan came over for dinner the other night. Isn't this a cute picture of the boys? For such different ages, they really enjoyed playing with each other.

We had our 2nd parents and teachers home visit this week. She asks a bunch of questions about Mitchell's abilities and compares them to what a typical 9-10 month old can do. Basically, she tries to figure out if Mitchell is progressing as he's supposed to....and he definitely is. It was kind of funny because she asked if Mitchell could throw a ball forward. As soon as I said "I don't think I have seen him do that yet", he picked up a ball and threw it. I gave it back to him and he did it again. Ha! I was obviously wrong!

Wii?

Jacob is obsessed with is Wii...and I am not a fan :( I have played a few times, and I know a lot of other girls like Wii better than other video game systems, but I just can't talk myself into liking it. Anyway, although I would love to think that Mitchell is also unimpressed -- I can't help but notice his ears perk up and his eyes turn in the direction of T.V. as soon as the "Wii sound" plays.

He also enjoys chewing on the controller, which Jacob thinks affirms his love for the game. I didn't remind him that Mitchell chews on just about anything these days!

Tigerific

My sister bought Mitchell these cute little animal puppet/washcloths. He thinks they are very funny....either that or he likes my Tony the Tiger impersonation. Maybe both?

Can-Can

Yes, I'm a complete dork, but Mitchell gets a "kick" out of me doing the can-can...no pun intended! Jacob caught me in the act the other morning. FYI - The screaming in the background is my teapot.

Now -- don't get the idea that I do this all of the time! But yes, I will make a complete fool out of myself for a laugh!

Lip smackin'

My sister and I like to give my Dad a hard time because he smacks his mouth when he eats! He has always done it and it's one of those things that used to drive us crazy, but has now become kind of endearing. :)

Well....I'm wondering if our little Mitchell is picking up the bad habit. You gotta watch the above video and listen to him smack while eating his dinner the other night. As you can easily tell by his weight, he is SUCH a good eater. He'll eat just about anything these days and can even do the "all done" sign-language sign when he's finished.

(Yes, this video was filmed PHC - prior to the haircut!)

Look at those lil' legs a movin'

I've decided that this is going to be random video blog week. Check back each day for a random video of little Mitchell.

The first is a little video of Mitchell walking behind his little push toy. We took this one last week, so he's even BETTER at it now! It's amazing how accomplished he's getting...and you can tell he enjoys our praise :)

Don't you wish you had people clapping and cheering for you when you walked across the kitchen. Ha!

Sergeant Folks

Before

I made a HUGE blunder today :( I've been thinking that we should give Mitchell his first haircut, and we've become pretty good at shaving the cat (ha!) so for some reason I honestly thought I could give Mitchell a good haircut. My friend, Celeste, cut her sons hair and it turned out good, so why not right? OMG - I seriously miscalculated the length of the guard and used one MUCH too short!

After

He looks like we enlisted him in the military! :( Jacob and I referred to him as Sergeant Folks or "Sarge" all day.

I feel TERRIBLE! I know it'll grow back in a matter of time, but I'm seriously embarrassed to take him to daycare tomorrow. I really wish I would've just left it alone -- I guess now I'll know! On the plus side, I had some LONG red locks to tape into his baby book!

We finally took our first family bike ride today! We went to the park down the street and had a picnic. Jacob was the lucky puller of Mitchell's attachment. Yes, Mitchell is inside, but you can't see him because he feel asleep! (See below!) The route to the park is rather hilly. In the midst of one of the hills, Jacob claimed that it was harder than the half marathon that he ran last fall. I'm not so sure I'm ready to give it a try :)

We had our neighborhood picnic this afternoon. I put a hat on Mitchell and didn't take it off even when the sun went down! There are three families that have babies in Mitchell's age range (one is actually 1 day older than Mitchell). We're going to go trick or treating with them on Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch!

We visited the KC pumpkin patch this weekend! We had a great time! Mitchell was a bit too young for many of the activities, but he wasn't too young to pick out pumpkins!!!!

Jacob and Mitchell on the hayride on the way to the pumpkin patch.

We searched high and low, far and wide,
to find the perfect pumpkin for our perfect guy!

This is the pumpkin that Mitchell picked for himself :) It's now sitting on our front porch at home!

Happy Friday!

Just thought I'd post a few cute pictures that we took of Mitchell this week in his new vest (courtesy of Jacob's mom) and his new shoes (courtesy of my mom)! Yes, he's spoiled! He is getting more and more "little boy like" and less and less "baby like", I can hardly believe it!

As I've probably mentioned before, Mitchell's daycare is in a Retirement Community. The old people LOVE to wave and comment on him as we walk in and out each day. The most popular comments are 1)"Oh, look at that red hair!" 2)"What a healthy little guy, look at those pinchable cheeks/legs/arms." 3)"Well aren't you a happy one." as Mitchell flashes them a smile.

A while back as we were exiting, we stopped and talked to 2 old ladies for a minute. As we were walking away, one of the old ladies said "Oh, Peggy Sue, do you remember those days of carrying your children around on your hip?" Peggy Sue responded, "Oh, yes....like it was yesterday." It almost brought a tear to my eye to think of how fast this time is going to fly by!