A Weekend of Firsts

Colton had a busy weekend. His first Thanksgiving was spent sleeping most of the day while he fought off a low fever that we figured was teething. Turns out the fever was actually the start of his first time being sick, with the culprit being strep throat. His first time on medicine turned into his first allergic reaction. Turns out our little man is allergic to amoxicillin just like his mom. We got him a different med and now he's feeling much better; and Aaron and I are looking forward to a good night's sleep.

There was one good "first" this weekend. Colton took a nice long nap this morning trying to catch up on the lost sleep from last night. When I went up to get him from his crib this is what I saw....

Yep! He got up to sitting all by himself...for the first time!

We also had the first snow of the season. We woke up Friday morning to a beautiful white blanket on the ground! The first words out of Clara's mouth were as she spied out the window were "Mommy, can we go play in the snow?" She was so excited, how could I say no. We threw some pants on over her jammies, her winter coat, and rain boots! I haven' gotten to the store yet for snow boots. She played outside for a few minutes before deciding it was time for breakfast. But, she was so excited and loved every minute of it!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

I love it! Christmastime is here! And I'm determined to enjoy this Christmas as much as any other and not let what's going to happen in January (Aaron deploying) dampen my spirit. Clara is old enough now that she's really getting into the excitement of the holiday and I love sharing my enthusiasm with her.

We were busy this weekend decorating the house, playing Christmas music and getting our tree up.

Clara insisted on putting the candy canes on the tree, here's a pic of her festive decorating!

Aaron did a fabulous job, as always, with the outside lights. Now our house is the prettiest in the neighborhood...so far!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

Fabulous Fall!

We are loving this weather! Fall here in Kentucky has been absolutely beautiful! Mild temperatures, beautiful, sunny, and just gorgeous! We ventured out into the yard yesterday to play in the leaves and we walked away with some adorable pictures.

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Michelle, Scott, and the kids are coming over, along with several soldiers from Aaron's company. Should be completely crazy, delicious and the start to a fabulous 2010 Holiday season! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Little Man is 6 Months Old!

Are you kidding me? Six months old? Really? Man, I guess everyone knows what they're talking about when they say time flies by even faster with the second child. I can't believe how quickly this first six months have gone by.

Colton is such a happy little baby. He loves playing, laughing, smiling, and watching his big sister. It's nearly impossible to nurse him while Clara is in the room because he becomes more interested in watching her than eating. Colton is loving his baby food. So far he's eating avocado with cereal, sweet potatoes, banana, and butternut squash. He starting to drink water from a sippy cup. Colton is learning how to scoot and is motivated most by his play mirror, chewy giraffe, and Bailey! He still loves when I sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to him. He's got two bottom teeth and looks so cute when he smiles. Our biggest challenge right now is that he's been pushing his bedtime up now and it's starting to conflict with dinner at 5:30. Hey, if that's our big problem - I'll take it! This little guy is such a joy and it's so fun watching him grow!

Rise and Shine!

Colton is such a happy little guy! He usually wakes up from his naps all smiles. I took the camera up to his room with me the other morning and snapped these pics...but I couldn't pick one favorite so I decided to share them all!

Hey Mom!

I'm ready to get up now

Little Devil

Our sweet little baby boy!

First Big Boy Bath

We had the pleasure of treating Colton to his first "big boy bath" last week. Colton has learned how to sit all by himself and I decided it was going to be easier to do one bath instead of two. Of course, Colton was just along for the ride while Clara was the one who was super excited. She couldn't wait to take a bath with her baby brother; she loves helping give him baths in the sink and now she can do it in the big tub. Our little boy is getting so big!

Baby Food Bonanza

Let the baby food making begin! It's that time of Colton's life to introduce baby food. Time to expand on the plain baby cereal - which he absolutely loves! He had avocado yesterday for the first time. That was Clara's first food (after cereal) and she couldn't get enough of it. Colton, on the other hand, wasn't super crazy about the avocado. I mixed it in with the cereal and voila! He loved it! I whipped up a large batch of avocado yesterday, sweet potatoes today, and I'm planning on bananas later this week.

I have to admit that the thought of making baby food this time around overwhelmed me for a bit. With Clara it was a breeze. Only one baby to care for and Aaron was deployed, so I spent evenings and weekend naptimes making countless batches of food. This time around I started to wonder how I would fit it in. But, I felt guilty even thinking about not doing it. Why should Colton get jipped just because he's the second? Now, I'm determined to provide him with the same homemade food his big sis enjoyed. I'm glad I'm doing it! As I was standing at the counter yesterday surrounded by avocados, ice cube trays, and the food processor I remembered how gratifying and pleasing the process is for me. I really enjoy making baby food for my kids. I guess it's similar to the pride and satisfaction I get from breast feeding. I know it'll be a lot of work, but I've decided I'm in for the long haul!

Cuddly Kitty

Bailey manages to keep a low profile when it comes to the pictures I post on our blog. But, the other day he was just looking too comfy and cute basking in the sun that I have to share it.

More Pumpkin Patchin'

Keri and Justin visited last weekend for Halloween. We took full advantage of the beautiful fall weather and headed back to the pumpkin patch. My sister has such a good eye and quick finger with the camera and always manages to catch some of the cutest pictures in our family album! 



Sassy Sister

On a mission

Too cute for words

Best seat at the pumpkin patch

Farmer Clara



Giggles for Daddy

Halloween Pics

Here are a few more pictures from Halloween.

Aaron's Jack-O-Lantern

The Little Princess in her Chariot

Snow White, Uncle J, Auntie Keri and the Little Monkey

Happy  Halloween!

2010 Infantry Ball

Thursday night Aaron and I went to the National Infantry Association Ball. It was in Louisville because it was sponsored this year by the Ft. Knox NIA chapter and 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (Aaron's unit). We had a really nice time and enjoyed the night out. Thanks to Michelle and Scott for taking our little kiddos for the night.



One Handsome Soldier and a Proud Army Wife



Happy Halloween!

Here's a quick pic of our little Snow White and Monkey! More pictures to follow later this week. Hope you all had a nice Halloween.