Playing Catch Up......AGAIN

You'd think I could manage to be a little more consistent with my posts.  I've started running again, so I have less spare time than I used to, which wasn't a lot to begin with.  Now that December is here, I'm sure I'll only get busier, but I really will try to keep my posts somewhat regular.  I'm almost done Christmas shopping (thank you Amazon), the house is decorated, and the wrapping has started.

Anyway.....

Brian works late one day a week now, so on that day he comes home for a long lunch.  I've started cooking lunch on that day instead of dinner so we can all sit down and eat together.  It's been really warm and pretty much just perfect weather, so we went to go play at the lake and then stopped for ice cream.

I've been trying to learn how to work my camera outside of auto mode and let's just say everyone is sick of me taking pictures now.....even Brian.  Here he is getting annoyed that I'm taking his pic while he's trying to drive.

I did manage to find a goose that didn't mind being my subject.  This one turned out just how I wanted....subject perfect and back ground super blurry.  Now if I could just get my kids to hold still long enough to get a portrait in this camera setting......

Austen found a stick that made for a perfect fishing pole.

I just love this pic.....isn't the sky amazing?

This boy is so handsome!  I love his cowlick....aka the superman curl.

Austen carried that stick everywhere and because it was so long, he was having trouble keeping it away from people.  Namely me....that stupid thing drew blood!  The joys of being a mom to boys I guess.

Throwing rocks.

LOVE!

Brian is really just the BEST Dad alive!

8 Months Old

My sweet boy is 8 months old today!!!!

He is still a really happy little guy, but he's developed somewhat of an attitude especially if you take away something from him that he wanted. His favorite food is squash, even though he's not big on food.  He doesn't like strangers invading his personal space.  He loves books!  His favorite book is Little Blue Truck and any book with a baby face in it.  He is obsessed with his brother and loves to watch him do just about anything.  He is super ticklish and loves to laugh (especially at Austen).  He can grab his passa and put it in his mouth, but he's not super attached to the passa despite my best attempts.  He thinks it's very fun to cover his face with his blankie and play peek a boo.  He loves to dance aka bob his head up and down.  He makes the "t" sound a lot and I'm pretty sure he says "hi" and "dadda".  He still won't crawl even though he gets on all fours and rocks.....he's pretty good at going backwards and NOT on purpose.  He scoots around while sitting up and that gets him pretty much everywhere he wants to go.  He gives me hugs and big slobbery kisses which are pretty much the best thing ever!

Prepare yourselves for picture overload because I was having trouble narrowing them down.

He is looking so grown up.....sad sad sad

I absolutely LOVE it when he sucks his lips in like this!

And then this happened....

"hmmmm....what's this?"

"Am I supposed to be touching this?"

"This is really on there."

"Let's see what it tastes like."

"She's not stopping me, so I'll keep at it."

"Success, I got it off!"

Those stickers only work for babies about 5 months or younger!

7 Months Old

I'm a little behind, but only by 10 days (I also noticed that I haven't put Halloween pictures up yet).  Brian  started a new job a couple of weeks ago and we're still adjusting to the new schedule.  He went from working about 20 hours a week to  now more than 40.  We miss him, but he's happy, so we're happy!

Anyway, about our little Archer man.  He is still just as happy as ever, but he has developed a serious face and I love it!  I can't wait until I am able to catch it on camera, but for now you just have to trust me that it is cute.

He still doesn't love eating, but when he cooperates, squash is his favorite.  He has only tried squash and sweet potatoes though.  I will sometimes let him chomp on an apple slice under close supervision and he loves that.

He is great at sitting and can balance really well, he almost never falls over.  He gets up on all fours and rocks, but so far no forward movement.  He is really good at scooting backwards though.

This is by far my favorite picture that we got today.  He is just so dang cute even though he's not feeling great today.

I'

Corn Maze

My sister was taking Hunter to a corn maze and she was nice enough to let us tag along.  I've never been because, well, I have an irrational fear of being stuck in places and consciously avoid all things that prohibit a quick escape.  Anyway, I put my fear aside and went so Austen could have the experience.  I'm glad we went because Austen had so much fun running around with Hunter, Brian had fun picking corn (which was not allowed, so he also had to try and evade the security guard), and I even had fun laughing with my Mom and sister.

Picking corn

He had quite the collection.

These two had so much fun running ahead of us and finding the right way to go.

Austen thought he could sniff out the correct way to go for some reason.

The boys being silly.

How cute are they?

My cute family!

Boy cousins!!! Can you tell Austen was DONE having his picture taken?

He talked us into buying him cotton candy which he ate in record time!

One Last Trip To Farm Country

We took one last trip to Farm Country before the weather turns cold.  It was really fun and they had it all decorated for Halloween.

Austen insisted I take a picture of him in this pumpkin which was a miracle considering it is so hard to get him to do pictures lately!

He was petting and feeding this sheep and the sheep LOVED him!  He was following Austen all over and loved his pets.

This guy was happy to just be out and looking around at everything as usual.  He is such a people watcher.

They had just switched the ponies out that give rides and these guys were lined up perfectly eating their lunch.

Austen riding a horse.  He chose the biggest one.

The Day After Halloween Is Awful

Halloween SEEMS like it should be fun, and it is, but I am paying for it today!

I have a six month old (today is the last day I can say that) who was overstimulated yesterday, so he was up all night and a four year old that stayed up way too late from all the sugar and excitement.  So basically I am exhausted and I've got two exhausted kids.  It's not my favorite.  I'll just stare at this picture and remember happier days.

They were laying on my bed watching a show together.

Don't Forget About Grandpa

That's what Austen said the other day when we were decorating for Halloween.  He wanted to take Grandpa a pumpkin, so we picked a few out and got to painting.

Austen loved it and Archer loved watching.

For those you of you wondering about our table protection from pumpkin carving.....it was a Victoria's Secret magazine and it was all we had.  Austen was way too into to stabbing his pumpkin to even notice what was on the table, so don't call DCFS.