Oh How I Love the Fall...(just wish winter wasn't almost here).

Yesterday, I had the best day.  I have a lot of paid time off left at work for this year, and if I don't use it, I lose it.  So, I just took a day off.  Not because we were traveling, not because we had company, not because I was sick....just to spend the day with Glenn and Eliseo.  I even planned it on Glenn's 2nd day off so that I could wake him up relatively early (those of you who work nights,  or whose spouses work nights understand this).  It was a little rainy in the morning, so I took my time waking up and just enjoyed time with my little man.  We took a short nap after breakfast, and woke up at 10.  Luckily all the clouds rolled away and the sun was a-shinin!  We left the house a little after noon, but the places we had planned to go were only about 15-20 minutes away.

A couple of people recommended we went to a place called "Pumpkins Galore," or known the rest of the year as Mikus Farms.  What a great place!  A lot of the weekend festivities were not going on, i.e. funnel cake/kettle corn, punkin chunkin, live entertainment to name a few, but for the things that were open, we pretty much had the place to ourselves (after a big field trip left).  Now don't get me wrong, I love funnel cake, kettle corn, exploding pumpkins and live entertainment, but I'd take a slow day over a crowded day every time.  Especially with an 18 month old.  I didn't have to worry about rushing him along, or getting trampled by the older kids and therefore me having to beat them up.  He just took his time, walking up and down the rows of the pumpkin patch, touching every pumpkin.  And we just let him wander til his little heart was content.  Until he wandered into the goat area.  Talk about some good entertainment.  He was so enamored with the goats!  Constant laughter!  And then the sharing of the apple juice, he offered his sippy cup to every single goat.  And a couple of them took him up on it. 

Next over to the tractors.  He tried out a few different models but found that the Daddy assisted John Deere was the best.  And lastly, we hung out in the "grain boxes."  I have no other way to describe these than as would be sand boxes that were filled with corn kernels instead of sand.  Freakin brilliant!  OK, so I've mentioned that E likes to "cook,"  in these kernel pools, they had all kinds of sand castle makings, shovels, sifters....he played in here for at least an hour.  I jumped in with him....cuz....why not??? 

On our way out, we hit the baby swings, if he wasn't having so much fun laughing he would have totally passed out.  Which he did....in the car and during lunch.

After lunch we headed out to an apple orchard a little further away.  Much of the same type of activities and scenery, but we picked up some fresh apples and cider.  YUM-O. 

What a fantastic day.  I might have mentioned, I'm 39 years old now (ugh).  I've been working for the better part of 20 years.  I have an 18 month old child.  I can afford to take a day off every now and then just to spend with him.  A lot of my friends are stay at home moms, and they get to take their kids to do this stuff any day of the week.  I want Eliseo to know that he is special enough to me that I can ditch work for a day to do nothing other than what HE wants to do.  I plan to do this more often, I work to live, not live to work.  :)))!!!

Now, the insane amount of pictures that were taken...below.

Almost 18 month pictures

This year I decided I'd get his 18 month pictures done before the holiday crunch...it worked out! Although I spent a small fortune this time because I had too much time to go through them all!  These turned out pretty good considering I woke him up from a very good nap just minutes before our appointment.  Best.baby.ever.

Enjoy!

My Superbaby

I owe you all an update about my little Clark Kent! So we had a costume party this weekend and although the origianl idea Glenn and I had for our own costumes fell through...E's came together quute nicely. Probably because I had actually started his more than a day before the party. But it really snuck up on me. Anywho, I feel even better about his costume because I used the tie I bought for a wedding last year (see pictures from last September); the white shirt I bought was from Once Upon a Child and I will totally use it again; and the Superman shirt was from Target and I will totally use it again! And added bonus...he was comfortable in it and didn't even try to remove it all night ;). We drew the glasses on him though, cuz you know those weren't going to last.  He was so funny when we were drawing them on him, he just loved it and sat still. He likes us to tickle his face. So we went through the dry run no problems...no changes to be made for actual Halloween! I'm very proud of myself for dressing him in a pretty cool costume even if I stole the idea from Pinterest.

Making Memories of Us

Days go by so fast, sometimes it's hard to remember that we are making everyday memories for Eliseo.  It's easy to remember the special times, but it's the everyday stuff that sticks.

The other day, Glenn, Eliseo and I were in the bedroom, I had just finished working and Glenn was getting ready to go to work.  E and I were keeping him company as he was getting dressed.  We have one of E's "play tables" in our bedroom (that keeps him entertained when we are showering, getting dressed, or trying to catch a few more winks of sleep).  There is a keyboard on the toy, and it plays songs that E loves to dance to.  He was playing the music, and I was trying to get him to do his baby robot...which is hilarious.  So I was dancing, he looked over at Glenn and wanted Glenn to dance....so he did, and Eliseo was so happy, he started busting out his moves too.  So here we all were, in the bedroom on a weekday, all three of us dancing and laughing.  Glenn said "You know, these are the times that he's going to remember, that make his childhood a happy one."  Yeah, he's right...and I just drank in the moment.  I know E knows he is loved.  We might be accused of "spoiling,"  but not so much with stuff as much as with giving him our love and affection.  He knows he is VERY loved.  We still work on building the special memories but I will remember this one.

Thoughts about E

¤  He isn't a morning person. He wakes up to nurse every morning and then we snuggle in his recliner until he's ready to start the day.  He's also a cuddler.

¤  He has a long torso but short, stubby legs.  He can fit into 18 month shirts and 9 month pants.

¤  He is extremely ticklish.

¤  He currently has 8 teeth but I think he might be cutting #9.

¤  He loves music.  He busts a move to xm serius radio, cartoons, commercials, toys...anything that plays music.

¤  For the most part he's a very chilled out kid.  Occasional temper tantrum but few and far between.

¤  He likes to play with his belly button.  And his pee pee when he can get it.

¤  Favorite foods include mac and cheese, yogurt, puffs, carrots, bananas, cauliflower and sweet potatoes. But he isn't a picky eater (yet).

¤  One of his favorite hobbies is going through the kitchen cabinets and fake cooking with empty containers and utensils.

¤  He has a spoon fetish.

¤  When he gets and idea in his head, you can't change his mind.

¤  He has the greatest laugh.

¤  He will steal your glasses and your phone.

Anyway, just a short list. Love my little man.