Christmas Tree Hunt

(Still catching up)
Our annual Christmas Tree hunt was fun but without snow. It was fun, as always, to find our favorite tree for the year. Grant was really excited to get it! He was all into tromping through the woods on the search. Aubrie didn't really care, but she was a trooper anyway.

 

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!

 

Growing Up

I knew it would happen...but Grant is growing up! There are certain things that as they pass, your little one grows up just a little bit more. A little over a year ago I remember thinking that there were three things that Grant needed to accomplish before Aubrie was born. We needed to get him into a big boy bed, potty train him, and get rid of his binkie. Well, those things didn't happen before Aubrie was born, but she is almost a year old (I can't believe it!) and he has successfully made it past all of those milestones!
The big boy bed was easy. He loved his big bed from the very beginning.

 Potty training was a totally different story! The first try was a major fail, and the second try wasn't pleasant but it got the job done. He is now wearing big boy undies!

The last hurdle was the binkie! He was very attached to them. Starting at a young age we limited his binkie use to only while he was sleeping or in the car on long trips. If we hadn't have done that I think we might have tried to get rid of it sooner, but since he only used it while he was sleeping, it didn't bother me too much. We took him to the dentist a little while ago and they mentioned that his teeth didn't meet in the front probably because he used a binkie. It was time! I really dreaded it! But to our surprise...he did great! We told him that the binkie fairy was going to come and take his binkies for little kids who still needed them and she would give him a big boy present instead. He was super excited about his big boy gift, and we never heard another word about binkies! If only everything in parenting could be that easy!

Not really a milestone, but just an indicator of how big he is getting...he got to cut Poppop's hair! We are always trying to show Grant that getting a haircut isn't that big of a deal. So Poppop let him do his. Props to my dad!

I just can't believe how time has gone by. My little boy is becoming a big boy! He is so much fun, and we get so much joy out of being with him each day.

Bipartisan Birthday

Paul and I share a birthday month. So the beginning of November is always full of birthday festivities.

On Paul's birthday we had a party at Grandma and Poppin's.

On the day between our birthdays we went out for a nice dinner.

And on my birthday, Gammy was here to celebrate first with breakfast. Then we had a Bipartisan Birthday Bash (it was Election Night) complete with live coverage of the election.

 

 

 

Halloween!!

Way back in July I found a chicken costume that one of my friends was selling at a yard sale. It was so cute I just had to snatch it up. I hoped that Grant would like it, because if he doesn't like it...he WON'T wear it! So I really talked it up...and he actually liked it! My next challenge was keeping him interested in it until October.

Ta-da!!

 

And cute Miss Aubrie

We spent the weekend before Halloween with our friends at their cabin in California. As always, it was a lovely relaxing time.

 

 And on Halloween night we went trick-or-treating with cousins, Blake and Hailey, and friends, Sarah and Rebecca. The kids had so much fun running from door to door and getting candy!

 

Where do I start...

Right where I left off I guess.
Obviously the holiday season was a little busy for this family of four. We had tons of fun as usual. I'm just going to write what I can today and catch you up whenever I finally get a chance to sit down again. It will be mostly pictures, but isn't that what everyone really wants to see anyway?

Our favorite pumpkin patch in Southern Oregon is Seven Oaks Farm. We went with Grandma, and had so much fun exploring all there was to see and do. Grant loved feeding the goats and screaming in the hay maze. Aubrie squealed every time she saw an animal, and she enjoyed petting whatever she could get her hands on.

There are always so many cute pictures from the pumpkin patch!