announcement!

nathan is now in a big boy bed.
we decided to start it out as just the mattress on the floor and put the rest of the bed under it after he got used to it. by the looks of this picture, that was a good idea!

here is how i found him that first morning. he was sleeping like that!
he has gotten much better already! we haven't found him on the floor after this one time. oh, that picture just makes me laugh inside!!

fall family fun!

we took a trip to the pumpkin farm last weekend. it was such a beautiful day! it started out chilly (mind the long sleeved shirts) but we were soon pushing up our sleeves and enjoying the day. i will tell you that pumpkin farms are a lot harder to find here in tx, than they were in wi! i don't know why exactly, but there aren't very many around. they are a little bit different here too, on the way out we all stopped and bought homemade ice cream. not apple cider or warm pies, or hot caramel apples. none in site - ice cream and popsicles made of fresh strawberry puree were on the menu.

i thought it would be sweet to get nathan's picture on the hay sitting by all the pumpkins :

he only wanted to move the pumpkins around:

he tried SO hard to pick this pumpkin up. i can tell you one thing, the one who said "where there is a will, there is a way" was NOT a 24 pound little boy facing a 20 pound pumpkin!! (please take note of how straight his back is, and he is trying to lift with his legs. this boy makes his mother proud!) so many pumpkins so little time!! finally, one he could pick up and just hold - that was all he wanted to do!

"i may not be able to lift them all, but i can pull them on this trusty little tractor!"
here is a picture of all of us

nathan REALLY likes birds. every time he sees one, he gets REALLY excited and can just barely stand it if they fly! that is DEFINITELY the COOLEST thing he has EVER seen. he will put down whatever he is doing to watch a bird. if it starts to fly he makes a circle face and says "oooooooooo" or "ooohhhhhhhh" and points for everyone to see. he was really happy to see all the chickens walking around. they never did fly, but he sure enjoyed watching them walk! (you can see it right in front of the parked truck .

that about sums up our trip. we had a great time and came home with a pumpkin for some yummy pumpkin cake, and pudding, and pie, and . . . whatever other recipes i find!

finally - i am cold-free

whew!! have you ever had a cold for so long, that you wondered if it would ever go away??? i wasn't able to take anything to help it along - so i just stayed hydrated and rested, and waited and waited. but now it is GONE! nathan got better much faster than i did (which made me VERY happy).

well, anyway - here are some pictures from our trip. be sure to look at them all so you don't miss anything. . .

when i told nathan that we were going to WI, he grabbed his heavy packer coat and come to the door. SMART kid!!

nathan studiously reading the safety information on the plane:

play date with some wonderful friends! (thanks kelly!!!)

nathan's first time to play in the leaves:

playing with aunt sara:

uncle frank and nathan:all of us at grandma's cottage:dada and nathan for a walk down to the lake at grandma's cottage:nathan and his favorite aunty crystal:
we took a tour of the jelly belly factory - nathan did really well keeping his hat on!!hi fives for the jelly belly man!us and my parents:last, but not least - nathan has some VERY big news to share!!

will write more soon

i just wanted to jump on here for a quick minute to say that we are back from a wonderful trip to WI. we had a really nice time. my only regret is that we didn't have enough time to see everyone we wanted to and didn't get to spend as much time as we had hoped with several.
we did a lot of visiting, eating, and a little bit of relaxing.

nathan and i have both come home with souvenir head/chest colds - which is why i am going to keep this short and post more on our trip later.

thank you to all for your wonderful welcoming and hospitality!! you truly hold a special place in our hearts!