Halloween, Hunters Creek Style

Another Halloween has officially come and gone...this year was particularly fun since Grayson understood dressing up and saying "trick or treat" to get candy (instead of putting back into other people's candy bowls). I have to say, our neighborhood does it up right. Not only were there sweet treats for the kids, but at various stations throughout our side of the neighborhood, neighbors doled out some good "adult" treats as well (read beer and margaritas). I think at one point, I was double-fisting a beer and margarita while pushing the stroller - is that bad? *LOL* Good thing my parents were with us. Dad carried Conley around most of the night...they were both troopers. Poor Conley was basically in a sweatsuit given our un-Halloweenlike temperatures lately. I think Conley was already starting to de-robe as we hit the corner to turn up the street. Grayson had fun meeting up with his friends along the way...they were quite the bunch. It's so fun to see him and his friends get so excited to see each.

Grayson and Jon head out

Conley and Grandpa hanging out together

Grayson gets a hug from his cutie-patootie "girlfriend", Princess Claire.

Cole, Grayson, and Thatcher

Erin, Natalie, and I pose for the cameras with our "adult" treats

Grayson's Pants

Something funny happened to Grayson today and I could not stop laughing. It was so funny and so stinking cute! I went to pick him up from school today and before leaving, we walked over to talk to our friend, Erin, who teaches there (her little boy is Grayson's buddy, Thatcher). As I was talking to Erin, I noticed that Grayson's pants seemed to be a little looser than usual, but went on with my conversation. When we finally left the building and were walking out in the parking lot, I turned to check on Grayson, as he ususally lags behind, and found him standing there with his pants around his ankles! This boy needs to get some meat on his bones - ha!

Perhala-ween 2008

Jon and I went to our neighbor's annual Halloween party last night. It was fun as usual, but this is the first year that kids were not allowed to attend. I guess the guest list has gotten so big that it would be not as fun for those adults without kids to have to deal with the running around and the loudness that ususally accompanies. But I have to say, it was nice to be there without the kiddos for a change...Mommy got to drink some "happy juice" (maybe a little too much, since I was feeling the effects the next day) and have conversations without interruption. Very nice.











Our gracious hosts, the Perhalas - can you guess who they are dressed up as? Hmmmm....









Some of the guys...









And the girls

Gag me with a spoon, why don't you?!

My sweet little Conley has started having an adverse reaction to everything I try to feed him with the exception of anything that is fruity and sweet. We're trying to work our way through the Stage 2 foods, and slowly but surely his reaction to the new foods has progressed to the point of him gagging whenever I put a spoonful in his mouth. And I'm not talking about just a one little gag, but full-on gagging with coughing, heaving, and teary eyes. Today, he made himself throw up all of the formula he had just taken in, which ended up all in his lap - gross! Just this week at Conley's checkup, Dr. Nail was saying, "don't back yourself into a corner with the foods to where he'll only eat one thing". And whaddya know? So, I've now become the "Fruit Nazi "and we're going back to veggies and non-fruit mixes, one tiny bite at a time. He did eat some turkey and rice yesterday, so that's a good start, but man! You should see this kid gag himself - it's amazing! *LOL*

Also this week, Conley has started to really pull himself up on everything, including the side of his crib. Now when he wakes up in the morning, he grabs on to the crib and hikes himself up and then starts to cry when he's been there for a while and can't figure out how to get himself back down. Gone are the days when he would just lay on his back or tummy and hang out in his crib. Last night, about 15 minutes after I had put him to bed, we heard him crying on the monitor and I went up to check on him. I couldn't see because my eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet and I didn't want to turn on the lights, so I was feeling around the crib for Conley and found him sitting straight up! It was too funny...he was upset because he couldn't figure out how to lay back down again.

Conley's 9 Months and Grayson's a Klepto

Conley had his 9 month checkup yesterday. All's well...he's a healthy baby boy. He's now 27.8" long (50th %) and 16 lb 10 oz (3-5%). His weight is now tracking on the lower curve, but he is gaining, so Dr. Nail wasn't worried at all. Of course, the entire time we were in the office with Dr. Nail Conley was squirming non-stop. Dr Nail's response was, "that's why he's so little...he's burning off everything you put in his belly", and duly noted that I am going to have "my hands full" with him. No doubt! I am trying to prepare myself.

Later in the day, we had to stop in at Kroger to pick up a few grocery items. Since we weren't going to be there long, I decided it might be fun for Grayson to push one of the little kid buggies. I soon reconsidered the wiseness of my choice. At first, he did pretty well. But as we continued through the store, random items started to appear in the cart, so I would have to back track to return the items to their proper place. Then Grayson thought it would be fun to "race" with the cart and was running full speed up and down the aisles with the buggy, not really caring if he ran into something along the way, including the back of my legs, or worse, my Achilles. Ahhhh! I was a nervous wreck! He did actually run into the back of this big guy. I had to apologize profusely. I think it will be a while before we try the little kid buggy again. On top of all that, while unloading the groceries back at home, I found a chapstick package that "found it's way" into our stuff. Grayson must have put it in the buggy when I was grabbing some cough drops. I checked our receipt and we weren't charged for it...how it got past the checker I have no idea. Geez...meet my son, the kleptomaniac!

The Alley Rally

Today we had our 2nd Annual Alley Rally. What is an Alley Rally, you ask? Well, all of our neighbors that live along the alley way (our particular alley forms a "Y" shape so that there's a large area in the middle) converge upon on the Ruster's driveway where we set up the grill, the chairs, the coolers, and all of the stuff for the kiddos. They run around and play with one another in the alley (really safe, right?) while the adults hang out, have some adult beverages, scarf down some food, and try to engage in adult conversations, all while keeping a wary eye on what the kids are doing and playing referee, if necessary. The kids had a great time and played really well with each other for the most part. There were a few spills that resulted in scraped knees, and a few tears over a particular toy, but all in all it was good.

Our neighbor Tiffaney brought out the new addition to their family, Boudreaux the hairless cat. The kids got a kick out of him.









Yesterday we took the boys to get their portraits taken. They turned out really well. I took a couple of snapshots with my camera during the session. Conley's going to really hate that I put him in this costume when he's older.

Guess who's gettin' some teeth!

Well, finally! Conley's has his two little bottom teeth starting to poke through!

Gross!

OK. so Grayson loves it when Jon puts him up on his shoulders and spins him around. So last night after dinner, Jon bribed Grayson to go up stairs and take a bath with the promise of a spin session once he got upstairs. Bad idea...Grayson ended up blowing chunks afterwards! At first he just coughed really hard and I noticed that he had liquid coming out of his nose. So we took him to the bathroom to clean him up and thank goodness we made it in time because he just let it go all over the counters, the mirror, the floor...you name it, it was covered. Thanks, honey, for giving me just one more big mess to clean up at the end of my day!

Oh, the drama!

So Thursday afternoon while in SuperTarget, we had our first all-out tantrum over a toy that I was not going to buy for him. You would have thought this kid was being tortured by the intensity and the decibel level of the crying and screaming. I normally let him look at the cars in the toy section, but that day, I gave him the heads up that we would NOT be buying any more cars until he earned all of the ones I already bought for him as his reward for going pee and poop on the potty (which he has put a cease and desist order on lately - ugh). All was going well until he grabbed a package containing "Cars" movie replicas of all the characters in one package (nevermind the fact that he already has all of them but one). He pulled the package into the cart with him and I decided that he could look at it until it was time to go and then he would have to put it back - BIG mistake. So the whole time we're walking through the store, he's saying "I don't wanna put it back", over and over and over again. You would have thought this kid was Rain Man or something. I tried to just ignore it, but after about 10 minutes of this, I finally told him that yes, we had to put it back and that we were not buying any more cars right now. Screaming and lots of tears followed...people would either look at me with disgust, empathy, or pity, depending on whether or not they were childless, had kids, or were grandparents, respectively. So, lesson learned...if you're not going to buy a toy, don't tempt fate by going to "look" at them.

Yesterday, we went to The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm in Celina and met up with all of our neighborhood friends. The weather was awesome and the kids all had a great time. They got to feed some cows and goats, go on a hayride, pick out some pumpkins, and run around all over the place. Conley was quite the trooper, especially since he did not have his usual morning nap.


















Today we went to see Tammy, Tom, and Emily and we watched the TX-OU game together. It was such a great game and our Horns pulled out the win. Hook 'em! Grayson and Emily had a fun time playing with each other.

It's Not Bad

Well, Grayson had his first official mommy-given haircut today (not counting the baby hair trims). I decided to try to cut it myself since taking him somewhere to get it cut is such a total nightmare everytime we go. Grayson saw me trimming Jon's hair with the clippers one day, so I asked him if it would be okay for mommy to cut his hair and he nodded yes. Apparently, Mommy with clippers is not as scary as the stylists with clippers. So, with Mimi and Grandpa here for support, I proceeded to trim his entire head with a #8 guard. Note to self - do not use a guard on the top of his head because even the #8 makes it too short! At least it will grow out fairly quickly. And Grayson was a champ through the entire thing! So proud of him. After we were done, I asked him how it was and he replied, "It's not bad."

Grayson's new haircut

Conley's finally starting to be able to sit up on his own. Today was the first time he sat up on his own for about a minute or so before toppling over onto his side.

Grayson and Mimi raced lawnmowers today

It's Official!

Well, today is a great day (although you might have to ask me again at the end of the day, after I've been with the boys all day - ha)! Today makes it official...as of this morning for my weekly Weight Watchers weigh-in, I have lost 30 lbs and am now down to 115 lbs! I truly didn't think it was possible after having two babies, but Weight Watchers works! It probably helps that I am at the gym at least 4 times a week, too, but I am SO excited to be my old self again! WOOOOOO-HOOOOOO!

Conley's New Ride

Today we bought Conley a new mode of transportation to get himself around the house...I know the pediatricians hate these things, but when Grayson was Conley's age, he thought his walker was the bomb, so I figured Conley would probably get a kick out of it as well (it also keeps him from becoming the human swiffer as he creeps along the floor). And, I was right! Conley seemed to be digging his new ride.

Grayson had his own fun pushing Conley (a little too fast for my comfort) back and forth through the house.

We went to the park today for some afternoon fun. Conley's first ride in the baby swing seemed to go over well. I took some pics. The sunlight shining behind him lights up his baby afro as though it were a halo...awwww, what a sweet little angel (for now)!

On the flipside, Grayson's ride in the big boy swing did not go as well...he asked me to push him higher, I told him to hang on tight, and the next thing you know, "THUMP!" Grayson fell backwards out of the swing...good thing he really wasn't going that high! I think it scared him more than anything. You think he would learn...this was the second time it has happened to him

Grayson has become quite the negotiator with the whole potty training business. Before we left the house this morning, I asked him if he would like to try to poop on the potty. He responded by saying, "I want a car". I told him that if he pooped on the potty I would give him the car right then and there. And you know, this kid can poop on command when there's a new toy to be had!

Grayson and Conley have a snack together