First steps!

Leah is getting brave! She took a couple of little steps to Keith yesterday.

And folks, let the record also show that she did it while holding a pickle.

Mustard-stache

This is what Bennett looked like this morning. After breakfast.

Mustard toast.

Strangely, it's not an uncommon food choice around here either.

Leah's new tricks

Leah will be 11 months old in a few days. I can't believe how time has flown! We adore this girl so much.


She is so happy and cuddly and is learning all kinds of new tricks. She waves bye-bye and says dada and nana (banana) and no-no (making it hard for me to be mad about whatever she is getting into). I'm not really convinced that she says mama, although she has said it before. She's way more reliable with dada so I'll give the props to Keith for being the favorite. She really is a daddy's girl.

Her teeth popped in during the last couple of weeks. Just in the last month she went from being toothless to having her two bottom teeth and one on top. Her other top one is peeking out so she'll have four teeth really soon! That's a record for our kids--Bennett didn't have a single sign of a tooth until after his first birthday.

You can kinda see her top tooth here.

You can see her bottom teeth here if the picture is real big. I can't catch her teeth on camera! Every single time I try, I miss it by a split second. Stupid digital camera. But teeth or no teeth, isn't she cute anyway??


She can also climb the stairs. (Not my favorite trick.) Just a few days ago, I was busy in the kitchen. When I finished whatever I was doing, I realized Leah wasn't around anymore. It hadn't been but a couple of minutes. I looked around and called for her and then noticed her all the way upstairs playing on the landing. I had only caught her playing on the stairs once or twice before and she was never into climbing them. Until now! She caught on pretty fast.


She also took her first fall down the stairs yesterday. I ran downstairs just to flip on a light and the next thing I hear is that dreaded tumble and the cry. She crawls so darn fast, I didn't even know she would be close to following me! Luckily, no hurts, only a little scare for her.

She is also standing all the time by herself. No steps quite yet. It's coming though. Soon.


She and Bennett get along so well. They just love on each other all the time. When Leah wakes up from her nap, Bennett usually says "Oh hi Leah! I missed you!"



The one thing she doesn't have a lot of is hair. If we hadn't cut Bennett's hair by 11 months, it would have probably been dragging on the floor! Oh well, we still think she's adorable!

The economy...

...is in the DUMPS right now.

But I paid $1.89 for gas today. Is that the bright side?

Yup. He's a country boy.

I was just in Lexington picking up Keith's bike from the shop. We finally fixed it from the beat down it took in Iceland. Because it was so hammered, I had to go a "real" bike shop that could fix his bent frame. I ended up taking it to a shop in downtown Lexington, an hour away. The shop is right in the middle of town in the college neighborhood. Kinda hip and cute with older buildings and corner cafes.

Just as I was getting ready to leave the bike shop with Keith's good-as-new bike, I couldn't find Bennett. He had been riding one of the kids bikes around the store and he was supposed to be putting it back. But suddenly he was nowhere to be found. The bike guy was helping me take the bike out to the car as I pushed Leah in the stroller. Bike guy and I both looked around and I called his name. Suddenly, Bennett caught my eye. He was outside on the sidewalk. Pulling up his pants. With a big wet streak running down the cement. My face turned completely red. The bike guy was standing next to me and saw the same thing I did. Bennett had just peed all over his sidewalk only two steps out the front door.

ME: "Ha ha....I'm so sorry....I can't believe he just did that.....Oh my goodness....I'm so sorry.....we live kinda out in the country, ya know.....and I'm so sorry....I guess the world is his toilet.......ha ha....I'm so sorry....."

BIKE GUY: "Oh! Wow. Well. I guess his dad taught him that!"

My face grows redder and redder as Bennett continues pulling up his pants. Bennett, on the other hand, is cool as a cucumber. It's just another potty break for him.

The bike guy continues to my truck and puts the bike in the back for me. What do you say after that? I just wanted to crawl into a hole. Good thing the bike shop is an hour away. I don't really want to go back for a while. At least until they forget my beet red face.

As I was locking the bike up in the truck bed, a car pulls into the parking spot behind me. A lady jumps out of the car and I grab Bennett's hand to help him into his car seat.

"Hey, I saw your son relieving himself in front of the store. He really slowed traffic down for a minute there!"

"Oh great....{red face returns}....haha....You saw that too?....{more nervous/embarrassed laughter}......"

Thanks for that. I'll be leaving now. Who needs the city anyway?

A potty? Why bother when you have a forest?

Welcome to our toilet. Manners optional.

Shannon

Ok, let's be honest. My sister is the COOLEST!

She came out to visit me last week. Man oh man, I miss her already. I twisted her arm for a couple of months and finally convinced her to come. Her awesome hubby (thanks Dave!) watched her 4 kids for 5 days while I got to hang with her. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Every time I hang out with Shannon, I end up inspired. She just has a hip-ness about her. First of all, she's just way cuter than me to begin with. But she also has way better style. Always has. When we were in junior high, she was the one that clued me in that jeans really should go below the top of your socks. She was the one that told me I looked really bad in hot pink. She was the one that didn't spend all her money to buy a matching wardrobe with a friend (what was I thinking?). When we saw each other this summer, I end up chopping off my hair, buying heels(!), and a whole new collection of cute skirts.

Shannon is also super talented. She's an amazing photographer. For evidence, go here.

Strange thing when you have a photographer around. I hardly pulled out my camera at all during the whole visit. How dumb. We went on a gorgeous hike, a beautiful train ride through the mountains and the fall colors, to an apple orchard, we baked yummy stuff, went out on the lake, and more. All picture worthy. All I ended up capturing was this:



At least she took pictures of our weekend! Check out a couple of them here.

I told you she was the coolest. Love ya sis. I can't wait for your next visit!! :)

Halloween

Halloween is so much fun with little kids. Dressing them up is so hilarious. Here's how we ended up last night.





Ok, please don't notice that I totally recycled Bennett's costume from last year. I'm such a lame mom. But honestly, I tried to find him a new costume. I really did. I went to a couple of stores but I just hate cheap plastic things. And I'm really not into superheros either so I couldn't bring myself to buy him something so lame. Pickins were slim this year!!! So, please don't notice that the sleeves on the zebra barely go past his elbows. It's ok, right?


I took the kids to Keith's office to drop off some treats for his staff. I had to recycle an old costume of Bennett's (again!! How lazy am I??) but for Leah this time. Funny that this fit her at 10 months with little room to spare. Bennett was 16 months when he wore this. I will point out that I MADE this costume with my own bare hands. I at least get a couple of points for that don't I??




Bennett had a party at his preschool. Hilarious. We had a hayride, a pumpkin patch, games, and tons of treats and junk food. Just what every 3-year old needs. :)




Finally, the ladies in my neighborhood get together every Friday night for a "cocktail party". We talk and drink and eat and laugh way into the night. Good times. This is just a couple of us last night...


Happy Halloween!