Happy Halloween!

This year, for his first Halloween, Larkin decided to be a dragon. We were at Old Navy checking out all of our options when I finally narrowed it down to a shark or dragon.

Just as I was putting the shark in our cart and started hanging up the dragon costume, Larkin grabbed a hold of it and started eating it, which I took be a sure sign he preferred to be a reptile this year.



Baby Dragons need pacifiers to keep from spitting out fire

This weekend Larkin posed with his buddies Sam and Reese for a cute Halloween pic.

Notice the babies don't look quite as happy as the mommies ;)

Today, on Halloween, we went to our playgroup where Larkin posed for some more Halloween pics with his friends.

Posing the babies takes a little effort



From Left to Right: Monte the Cowboy, Price aka Charlie Brown, Branch the duck, Sophia the ballerina, Oliver the Elephant and Larkin the Dragon

Larkin's costume was complete with wings and tail- which was not carseat compatible

   

Larkin holding his buddy Oliver's paw.  Who knew elephants and dragons got along so well?

 

It's exhausting work being so cute!

Adorable, Poor Monte!  He does not like sitting in the corner

Happy Halloween!

Playgroup

This past week, Larkin and I met up with some girls from my church who live in the Lake Highlands area and all have babies Larkin's age.  We met up at one of the girls' houses and spent an hour just talking and letting the babies interact.  It is fun to see all of their little personalities and watch them all together.  From the most chill baby to the most dramatic - how neat the Lord has given each one a unique personality! 

Larkin and his buddies Branch and Sophia

 Larkin loves that there are so many boys in our group, but he thought little Sophia was pretty cute too.  Sophia was born at the exact same minute as Larkin!  Isn't that crazy?

 

No babies were hurt in the taking of these pictures, but a few did have meltdowns :)





 Near the end once one started crying, the others quickly followed suit and our get together was quickly dismissed as mommy's rushed to go put babies down for naps!

Looking forward to many more playdates ahead!!

Another Pumpkin Patch

There is a really cute little pumpkin patch at the church across the street from our house we decided to visit today. We bundled Larkin up and put him in the Baby Bjorn. Larkin seems to like the ride for the first 20 minutes and then he's ready to be free. Piper tagged along for the family outing.







Larkin and Piper helped us pick out 3 pumpkins. It was such a gorgeous morning and fun to get out using the Baby Bjorn. Piper made friends with the pumpkin patch workers and tried to carry away the pumpkin we picked out by the stem.

Larkin's first official pumpkin





It made for a fun little outing and the beginning of a possible pumpkin picking tradition :)

Spooky Footprints!

Larkin and I decided to get crafty this week after seeing a cute pin on pinterest this past week.




A few messy feet later, we ended up with a cute canvas to hang with a Halloween ribbon and a few cards to send to family. Isn't this a cute idea? Happy Halloween!

Sweet Sleep Again

Guess who slept ALLLLLL night last night?!!! YAY LARKIN! We put him down at 8, Dream fed at 10:30; little guy woke up at 5:30, and after a paci "insert" was back down until 8 am!



To celebrate, we stayed in our duckie PJs ALL day today. Let's go for a 2 night streak, buddie!

A Few of My Favorite Things:

Mornings Before Larkin Wakes Up:



Baby Rolls :



Smiles :



Workouts that Leave you Dripping:



Healthy Easy Recipes:

This one I cooked this week, for extra zing add some chopped green chilis!



http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2010/02/southwestern-chicken-foil-dinner-recipe.html


This Mini Dessert: I have dessert every night and this is a fav - a few pretzels, PB if we have any and chocolate and banana!



And of Course....

FRIDAYS! Happy Friday!

And So We've Regressed . . .

After over a week of celebrating Larkin's 7-8 hour sleeping spree, the past 3 nights he is back to 4 or 5 hours. I've tried to let him cry it out in the hopes he just is restless but he goes to full blown cries that last over 10 minutes and I'm afraid he'll wake up daddy.

Then I've tried going in to give the paci and hiding down below the crib until he goes to sleep. This worked for about ten minutes and then as I crept back into bed and laid my head back on the pillow... the wailing began again.

After 6-7 more paci attempts I figured the little guy was hungry and fed him. Afterwards after rolling around a little he went back to sleep. Thinking it was a growth spurt I told myself it's just a phase.

Three nights later and I'm wondering what I need to do to help him get through this "phase". This morning in addition to waking up at 3 last night he woke up early before his waketime which he never does. His cries seem to be more uncomfortable cries than the screaming hungry cry. Jordan went in to put the paci in and a while later I decided to turn the air up a little. Maybe the little guy was cold? (Our house has been a bit more chilly with the weather). He finished sleeping until his wake time without another peep.

As another friend put it, I don't want to wish away these sweet moments of his development. Each is so precious, but I'd love to help him (and all of us) sleep better. Can I have my cake and eat it too?

Any advice??

High School Reunion

Well, it's been 10 years since I graduated high school. This past week was my high school reunion and the weekend was filled with lots of laughter, reminiscing and looking through some incredibly embarrassing pictures. I've realized there are a precious few people who go through life without an awkward phase at all. My husband is one of them. I am not. Let's just say it helped build character. :)

I found a few pics from those awkward years to share. My junior year in particular was pretty bad when I decided to chop off all of my hair.

Then...(Sporting "The Mom Cut" which I swore to never do again - and look at the cell phone):





And Now...



Then . . . (Senior year my hair had *thankfully* grown out)



Homecoming Night 10 Years Later with the Newest Little Man in My Life . . .



On Friday night some close friends met up at Maximo's near Addison before going to the Trinity game and then to the a house afterwards where our class was gathered to catch up.

Dinner at Maximos




Back at TCA



Constance still feeling a bit awkward. :)



The next night was a more formal night at Times Ten Cellar.

Mommy and Daddy got all dressed up and put Larkin in his jammies to go to Nana's house.



Dropping off Larkin with his Nana for the night.



Close Friends



The Reunion Event . . . Love the sign



I'm just realizing only one person in this shot is an actual TCA grad, the rest are all spouses... There was an interesting "dance off" later in the night and, although Jordan and I left to pick up Larkin immediately afterward, I'm told there were some dancers somersaulting across the dance floor :)






It was a fun and exhausting weekend. My friend Debra put it best when she said the thing she was most proud of through all four years of her high school experience were the friends she made. That's so true.

Moving to TCA my sophomore year was hard, but the Lord truly blessed me beyond what I could imagine with incredible friends who I am still close with today.

Who knows where we'll be in another 10 years!

Catching Some ZZzzzzs

Guess who's been sleeping through the night the past few nights (and by this I mean about 8 hours)?



Yay Larkin! Praying (quite literally) that this streak continues!

HAPPY 3 MONTH BIRTHDAY, LARKIN!!!

Wow... the days can move slowly but the weeks (and months) seem to fly by and so I find myself writing your 3 month birthday blog!

Sometimes I think my goodness, the time is flying by you are SO BIG!



But then I take a step back and I am reminded just how small you still are and how precious these three little months have been!



Ever since I was little when I grew up I wanted to "be a mommy". It has been the best, most rewarding and I am learning, most refining job I have ever been blessed to have.

At three months you are an extremely happy baby. In fact, at any given moment your facial expression will reveal one of two moods:

WORRY . . .





OR GLEE . . .





And perhaps, when extremely tired, the occasional expression of ANGER.



You have hit several milestones this month too, you are laughing and smiling at silly faces...



You are turning over! At 12 weeks and 2 days mommy walked in to find you on your belly! I turned you back on your back and no sooner had I done that than you were back on your tummy! Now at each naptime you roll over, cry for a little while and then settle to sleep.



And we've begun transitioning you to no hands during naptime swaddles and sometimes just one hand at night . . .



You are holding your head up so well . . .



And even starting to be able to have short stints in the bumbo . . .



You are able to hold onto things for longer periods of time . . .



And after holding them for a while you are trying to put them to your mouth . . .



You have been getting out and socializing with other babies . . .







You even made it to the BSF nursery this month! (Although mommy was shaking and had tears in her eyes as she dropped you off).



Mommy has started to put you in big boy jeans (which make you look even older!) And you are getting quite handsome!



But even in new jeans, you've still had a few blowouts this month . . .



That doesn't stop you from being my number one buddy (well number two after daddy!)





Your favorite entertainment at 3 months is flirting with any and everyone, you are a real charmer. . .



You also still love Sophie, having your feet kicked fast by Uncle David, your tummy time mat . . .



Looking at yourself in the mirror . . .



Watching T.V. with daddy . . .



and of course, staring at ceiling fans.



You've gone shopping with mommy and help her keep watch over her wallet.... but your sleep in the carseat is only short lived these days. No long naps in it anymore.



You are still enjoying your bath time and your massages afterwards.



And you are still on a 3 hour schedule, usually eating at 8, 11, 2, 5 and again at 8 or a little before and then we put you down to sleep.

The last few days have been hard getting you to go to sleep. Now that you can roll over, sometimes you roll and get stuck in a corner very upset or flail your arms about now that you are sleeping with them unswaddled. Mommy would have kept the swaddle going longer, but you kept kicking out. This can be tough when you don't want to sleep.

On a more positive note, you are finally sleeping 6-6.5 stints. Yay! Mommy feels so much more refreshed!

We are thankful that you are a happy little boy. You are so loved by daddy and I and we look back at the past three months and already cannot imagine life without you!




Happy 3 month birthday, Larkin!

Love,
Mommy