Happy Halloween!!!

When we tried his costumes on him before Halloween, Tyler had a fit. You would have thought that we were amputating something. So we feared that we would have to go to our "backup" costume. But something clicked tonight, and we were able to dress him in the costume bought by his MawMaw Ange. THANK YOU MawMaw Ange (and Wagner & Waylon too!). We took him to a few houses in our cul-de-sac, and it didn't take him long to figure out just what was going on. Once he figured out that people were giving him something, ANYTHING, for looking cute and saying "pleeeeeeease", he was all into it. (And as you can tell from a few of these pics, he was inspecting the "goods" in his pumpkin often tonight.) Happy Halloween all!

Fall is here!

And with fall comes changing leaves, pumpkins & Halloween, and cooler days. We took Tyler to Ashland Berry Farm this weekend to pick pumpkins. It’s not too far from our house and is a very popular place in the fall. We drove up so that we got there right as we opened, and boy, are we glad that we did! When we got there, there wasn’t a line or a long wait for a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. We were able to hop right on and go. But when we came back, the line was really long and we probably would have had to wait 30 minutes or so. That wouldn’t have been fun, since yesterday was actually pretty chilly with a light breeze. Anyway, we got on the tractor and we think Tyler enjoyed himself. He sat perfectly still in my lap and just looked all around him as we rode.

We got to the patch and let Tyler run around and look at all the pumpkins. (And he can say “pumpkin” pretty clearly now too!) The crop looked really good and Tyler helped us pick out a couple of really good ones, and he carried around a very, very, very small pumpkin (that he ended up smashing when we got back home, but whatever). Ashland Berry Farm has an “all you can carry for $20” deal, so we loaded Travis up with the four decent-sized pumpkins to take advantage of that deal. And thankfully, the rain from the previous days had dried up for the most part, so it wasn’t too terribly muddy, but we definitely walked away with a much dirtier little boy than we came with! Poor thing lost his footing several times, through the vines and irrigation pipes.

We took the tractor back to the farm, and walked around a bit more. We went into one of the farm houses, which had lots of Halloween and Christmas decorations on display, and also had 2 pigs! They weren’t doing anything exciting, just sleeping, so I think that’s why Tyler wasn’t too terribly interested. But it was still neat to see them. All in all, we had a great time, even though it was a bit chilly. We look forward to being able to take him there each year.

Also this weekend, Travis started the dreaded chore of raking leaves. Our trees in the backyard have been dropping leaves for a few weeks now, and we’ve been waiting in agony for the big tree in our front yard to start dropping. Once that tree starts, it feels like it never ends. So Travis got to work on that, and Tyler thought that was the most fun ever. He loves running through the leaf piles and jumping in them. He liked to ride in the wheelbarrow as Travis made his trips to the back of the house with leaves. And he even got his own rake from Gramme and Granddad this weekend, which he simply calls “stick” (and sort of uses like a weapon – oops). But he had a great time “helping” in the yard, and even helped me pull up some of our old, dead pansies. There’s lots more “helping” to be done so hopefully his love of yardwork will stick around a while!

We made it!

Well, folks, we made it through our first child-free mini-vacation. Last week, Travis and I headed to Las Vegas for 4 nights and left Tyler with his Gramme and Granddad for the duration. We dropped Tyler off on Thursday night. We ate dinner with him, got him bathed and dressed for bed, and then came the worst moment of my life. Leaving my baby. Tyler shed many tears, but I think that I win for most hysterical breakdown. I was inconsolable. Even the thought that I was going to be in Vegas for a few days with great friends and no parental responsibilities didn't calm me down. I was leaving my baby. I cried most of the way down 295 on the way home. I wasn't sure that I wanted to go to Vegas anymore. But once we got home, got packed, and didn't get any frantic phone calls from the grandparents about what to do, I was able to sleep and be excited about the adventure ahead!

We left for Vegas on Friday morning, and this started Tyler's fun time with Gramme and Granddad. He got lots of outside play time in his log cabin that they have for him, visited with his Great-Grandma Smith, went shopping, played with his Aunt Jenn and wrestled with his Uncle Brian. We called and checked on him every day, though he rarely wanted to actually talk on the phone. We knew he heard us because he loves to hold a phone to his ear, but he rarely said much. I was starting to think that he didn't really miss us much at all!

Though he was confused when we got home and he was back in his own house, he warmed up quickly and he's back to being the clingy Mama's boy that he's always been. And I wouldn't have it any other way. He picked up lots of new words and sayings while we were gone. He says "Aw, man!" (which is hilarious) and "diaper" to name a few. And I swear that he got bigger and that his hair got longer in the 5 days we were gone. He uses a fork and spoon really well now. He walks down stair unassisted. It's amazing how much you miss in just those few days.

We did come back with gifts. We stopped by FAO Schwartz in Caesar's Palace, and bought Tyler a Brio train set, which he loves. I'm hoping to find him a wooden train table for Christmas (shhh, don't tell him!) so that he can have his track and trains out of the way and easily accessible! All in all, Travis & I had an amazing time with friends in the great city of Vegas and we all survived being apart from each other. I'm not ready to do that again anytime soon though. For now, I'm ready to just keep soaking up as much time and love from my little boy as possible.

We're off to Lynchburg next weekend to visit Grandpa Ed, Uncle Eddie, & Great-Nana Woody. We haven't been there since mid-August, so it will be great to spend some time with them.

And a final note: CONGRATULATIONS to our friends Marty & Meredith and their little girl, Elise. They welcome Lucas to their family this past week. CONGRATS!