Hallerween and Booritos

This year for the 'holiday' that is currently upon us and nauseating me with it's lawn decor and massive amounts of high fructose corn syrup, we did things a little bit different. I had heard about Chipotle's initiative to encourage people to ban processed foods by giving $2 burritos for people who dressed as a grotesque chemically-laden food. Though Doritos and Cosmic Brownies were our first choices for processed foods, we decided on doing something a bit more simple: S'Mores

Here we have the graham crackers and the marshmallows. Dan's costume was a simple camp shirt with tons of graham crackers glued on; we also included the ingredients so that anyone who asked could easily read for themselves.

Ari's costume was easily assembled using a hot glue gun, an old onsie and a bag of marshmallows. We also had old socks that I made into leggings for her and they too were covered with those white and gooey things... in NC heat, we were a little sticky afterwards.

Because someone had to carry the diaper bag, camera and child, I wore the least amount of food. but I still got to be chocolate!

The manager informed us that we were early. The event wasn't supposed to start until after 6pm but noone told us that...and we have a baby who goes to sleep at 7... they let us anyway!! No wonder there was noone else there dressed up; we received quite a few interesting looks!

All in all, worth it for this burrito goodness.

Happy Birthday Great Grammy Claire!

Baba, Pumpkins and Fevers

This past week (wait, its only Wednesday?!) has been a little rough because Ari got sick with a little virus. She had a fever for a few days and was up all night unable to sleep in pain. Barb came to visit and it was a blessing to have help for a few days while Ari struggled with her sickness. We did have a few minutes one afternoon to go to the pumpkin patch.

Ari rode a little wagon and held on tight while I looked for the perfect pumpkin. Round, a cute stem, no bumps, and a rick orange color.

She was a little sleepy but had a good time with her Baba.

Maybe those top two teeth are going to come in and that is what this chaos has been. Her smile will change but it will still be stinkin' adorable!

And we were 'swingin'

There is an amazingly large park in south Charlotte that we have been to a few times. We went on one of the first crisp fall Fridays (and I'm just now posting about it!). We ordered a local pizza and headed to play catch, swing and play.

Obviously, it was very different from the usual park visits because we had a little cutie with us. She received a lot of attention from fellow swingers and was a trooper while Dan and I played catch!

She has dreamy eyes, do you agree? She loves to play football already. Throws a perfect spiral.

Short Trip, Lotsa pictures

We traveled to Lawrenceville, GA this weekend to surprise my (Jenny's) mom for her birthday! It was a quick trip but the activities were fun and family-focused. First, a feeding at the Yellow River Game Ranch. A zoo-like park with trails and interesting [and hungry] animals.
Ryan and Raschelle (yah for being pregnant!) came up from Florida and were there too! It was the whole fam and it was lovely!

Here we all are... approaching the rabbit arena. This place had it all, rabbits, wolves, buffalo, cows, cougars, bobcats, crows?!, turtles and mad-donkeys.

Ari was clad in her feminine jersey and was easily loved-on by her aunts, uncles and g-parents!

She was not, however, loved on by the cow's slimy tongue and wet nose.

After that we cleaned-up real nice together and went to take family photos!

Cuties.

Handsome boy.

Yah for Aunt Shell and Uncle Ryan being pregnant! We cant wait to find out if its a niece or nephew!

Who needs serious pictures when you can do a tongue and quail dance?

We had a fantastic time and enjoyed games, football and food. Thanks Rebecca for hosting and thanks to your friend who took these last two pics. To see the rest, go to the Eaker's blog.

(And Happy Birthday Mom!)

Pretty Girl in Pretty Clothes

Ari has some talented family members. Other than my amazing talent to stick my foot in my mouth and Dan's snoring skills, Ari's Great Grammy Claire can sew some sweet clothing.

She actually kept her shoes on all morning for church! But look at that little romper! Dan's favorite fabric.

Lovely purple dress for fall.

I mean, she is so cute but the clothes are equally as adorable!

Look at this one! Little birdies on it! In the fall, I'm going to put little leggings on her.

That face is what gets me thru the day.... oh, and a cup of coffee!

Special thanks to Great Grammy Claire for her amazing talent, patience and love to make these lovely clothes.

9 months

Ari is 9 months today! She is moving quick, standing up, eating big and smiling bigger. She is such joy to everyone as she smiles and laughs at most anything. Dan and I are so blessed to have a well-tempered, loving baby.

9 month milestones:

-At least 19 pounds

-Very tall (will know next week at doc appt)

-Waves hello and goodbye

-Says 'mama' and 'dadda' often and 'mummumm' when it's time to eat

-Claps

-Blows bubbles and raspberries

-Crawls everywhere

-Pulls up on furniture and toys

-Plays with non-baby items all the time

-Sleeps 9-11 hours every night with 2 naps mid-morning and afternoon

-Eats all sorts of vegetables and fruits and loves homemade yogurt

-Picks up peas, lentils, beans and rice with hands and feeds herself

-Laughs and squeals at Bauer and frequently takes his bone from him

-Loves to 'read' books

-Does NOT sit still when being changed

-Has two sharp teeth

-Fits in 6-9 month clothing, but also some 9-12 month size things

-Talks and babbles a lot

-Giggles and plays 'chase' on the floor

-Plays hide-and-go-seek

-Doesn't like shoes or socks or hats or headbands

-Has a few more hairs on her head!

-Reaches for Dad and Me and other people

-Opens cupboards, drawers and climbs into everything