Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Noah and I spent the day getting ready for Ben to come home tomorrow {I'm sad because that means no tree for Noah to hang on} and then, after his bath, we got him all dressed and ready for the Trick-or-Treaters. It was so funny to watch him crawl around in his monkey costume.

I tried to get a couple of pictures of him with our pumpkin, but he either wanted nothing to do with it or he wanted to play with it and the candle inside!

Good thing it is a fake pumpkin and a battery-operated candle!

Practice

Noah has been practicing holding the utensils himself...

but mostly, he just gets it all over himself.

Keep up the good work Buddy!

Fall {Fun} Festival

{Warning: it's a little pic heavy tonight!}

Tonight, Noah and I attended the Fall Festival at Wylie Methodist Church with our small group. It's not our church, but, since it was another opportunity for the kids to wear their costumes, collect candy, and for the adults to take a bunch of pictures, I was up for going! We had a really great time and the pictures prove it:

Noah was so interested in everything - he would just stare at the kids as they walked by in the costumes, but not once did he get really scared.

The only game that Noah could play was "Pick a Duck"... I think he thought he was going to get to have another bath!

This is {the other} Noah - he loved the ducks too! He dressed up as his Daddy - I just love the little flight suit!

Erin helping Jadyn with tossing the rings around the pumpkins. Isn't she just the cutest little Tinkerbell that you've ever seen?!


Chole {Noah's sister} dressed up as Mulan... but I never got a picture of her with her parasol.

Since Noah {obviously!} can't have candy yet, I made sure he got to have some treats too.

Noah was just fascinated by Josh all evening long - I think he misses his Daddy. {We can't wait to see you Ben!!}

Noah and Jadyn - she was so cute making sure that the monkey face part of Noah's costume wasn't blocking his eyes! :)

The kids! {Hannah was not happy about having to take a picture...}

Tip-Toes

Look what Noah figured out how to do today:

He's such a smart kid. We were playing in his room before bed and I had got down the blocks for us to play with. When it was time to put them away, he wasn't ready! So, he figured out that if he went on tip-toes, he could see them and perhaps even grab one or two {or the whole basket}.

Nothing is safe now! ;)

***

Somehow, during our move, the movers broke the frame on our couch. {{Grr}}

This morning, the repair company that the moving company hired came by to pick it up so that they could replace the frame if it was possible {I'm hoping so!}. Our living room looks so bare now. But, Noah enjoyed the extra play space and it's going to make it so much easier for me to paint the living room tonight!

All Smiles

For the majority of the day today, Noah was all smiles....

but of course, he's still having fussy moments since the other three teeth have not broken through yet. Hopefully they will soon!

***

In other news, I'm {re}painting the master bathroom! {{sigh}} The color just wasn't what I wanted and I since I wanted it to be finished when Ben got home, I'm repainting it tonight. It already looks so much better....

Until Next Time

KK and Michael left to go back home this afternoon, but not before they got some extra Noah lovin'!

We even got the stove loaded into their truck with no extra help! {Okay, so Michael did most of it!}

We can't wait to see you guys again!

Visitors!

This morning, my Aunt KK and cousin Michael drove down from Oklahoma to visit Noah and I and to pick up our old stove. They left at 3:30AM!! And made it to us in record time, early enough to eat breakfast with us! We had a really good day, just seeing the {very few} sights of Abilene and spending some quality time together. Yay for visitors!!

Aunt KK even brought Noah a present! Thank you!!

Michael and Noah, not long after they arrived.

Great-Aunt KK and Noah enjoying some play time.

Michael and Noah on the computer!

Mommy and Noah laughing after his afternoon nap.

And look what has FINALLY broken through! The first of the four top teeth! It looks like the one next to it is ready to break through at any moment now as well.

A Clingy Baby and New Friends

The poor kid. He was so clingy today and the only time that he wasn't being held {or following me all around the house} was during his {very short} naps or when he was eating. And the weirdest thing is that Noah didn't want warm or room-temperature purees - he wanted it COLD! I have a feeling though, it must have felt really good on his gums.

***

So, let's be honest here. I love {and terribly miss} my California friends. That is one of the few things that I don't like at all about the military lifestyle - moving away from friends and family. When we found out that we were moving, one thing that I worried about {and immediately started praying about!} was making friends. Not just making "friends", but finding women {and couples} that could pour into my life and I into their lives - to build each other up and to share life with each other. We were thrilled when we found our small group and now, well, I'm overjoyed! Two of the girls from the group, Erin and Lacey, came over tonight, for a girls' night in and I'm SO glad they did. I've missed my "girl time" since leaving LA! I'm so excited to see how these friendships are going to grow and for our families to get to know each other better.

And Erin, it is okay to leave a comment. ;)

Politics {Instead of Photos}

I didn't take any pictures today {sorry!} so I'm going to take this opportunity to get on my soap-box for moment... about who I'm voting for and why. And, before I start this, let me just say, I know that there are readers who are planning on voting for Obama, and I'm not trying to change your mind. I'm simply giving the facts and the reasons why I'm voting for McCain/Palin.



{Stepping up now!}



The biggest issue for me, right now, is abortion. Life begins at conception - science and scripture give proof. We need a President who is Pro-Life, not Pro-Death {Pro-Choice hides what "choosing" abortion means: death for a human life}. My heart swelled when Rick Warren had his civil forum with the candidates and, without hesitation, McCain replied "{Life begins} at conception". I'm devastated that so many people would choose to vote for a candidate who calls an unborn child a "punishment". {Don't believe me? Watch this.} I've had too many fertility issues and friends with infertility to be able to support someone who looks at an unborn life in such a way.



The other main issue that is on the forefront for me, is of course Iraq/Afghanistan. As a military wife, I find comfort in knowing that McCain has served his country - he knows what life is like for us and I know that we will continue to be taken care of if he is elected. He also has the experience needed to find a conclusion to the war and will draw on experienced people as resources both before and during any sorties. Obama himself said that he would not draw on those people until after he was already in the midst of an attack/sortie. My husband's life {and those of some of my closest friends} is at stake, and I trust McCain to take care of him.



And, there are some little perks to me too, in voting for McCain... the main one being Gov. Palin. The media and their opponents have criticized her for being "inexperienced", but looking at the truth of it - she has more executive experience than even Obama. And, I like the fact that she is a female and a mom. I especially like that she has a special needs child: not only do I feel like she'll be looking out for those Americans who have special needs kids, but that she can relate in a much deeper way than someone who makes it part of their "platform". Also, I am so glad that McCain and his wife adopted one of their children. During the Civil Forum with Rick Warren, McCain even said that he would be willing to find ways to help those who want to adopt to do so - because he has been there too.



{Stepping down now!}



So, there you go. Now you know what'll be going through my mind on Election Day!

Independence

As I'm getting the house organized, painted, and decorated {I wish I could show you all that I am doing, but since I want to surprise Ben, I'll have to wait until he gets home}, Noah is gaining independence. I'm baby-proofing as I go, so with each area of the house I go through, he's starting to get to the point where he is able to move about as he pleases {within reason though - the kitchen will always be off-limits!}.

This morning, after his nap, we played together for a little while in his room. Then, I went to finish up what I had been doing while he had been sleeping {working on organizing the guest room in preparation for more visitors this weekend!}. He was just ever so happy to play independently in his room:

Now if only I could get him to clean up after himself! ;)

Painful?

Doesn't this look painful?

I don't think it's bothering him {any more than it already has been}, but I'm hoping the appearance of this little {big} swollen gum means that we'll have some top teeth breaking through real soon.

Bubble Bath

Something that can always be expected when a kid stays the night at our house is a bubble bath. It's just kind of become a tradition. It got to the point with Christian, that every time he came over, his first question was either "Where's Mr. Ben?" {because, like every other kid I know, he loves to be tickled and chased by Ben} or "Bubbles?" {which meant "Do I get to take a bubble bath?"}. And yet, here my own child is, ten months old, and hasn't had a real bubble bath yet {at least not that I can remember}!! We remedied that tonight.

He wasn't too sure of it at first. He just looked at the bubbles for about a minute before he even attempted to touch them or his toys {which were buried in the bubbles}.

Then, after tasting them, he decided that the bubbles taste even better than the carpet {ugh, don't get me started on that... }.

Bubbles definitely make washing up easier!

We stayed in the tub tonight a little longer than usual... as a result, the bubbles started to disappear and Noah even had pruney fingers and toes.

For the next few days...

... this is what I'll be doing:

I've still got the living room and master suite to paint. And touch-ups in the kitchen. All done while Noah sleeps! :)

Our Little Monkey

I just love this kid!

At my baby shower in Oklahoma last September, my parents gave us this costume for Noah's first Halloween. They knew that we wanted to dress Noah up as a monkey {and Ben up as a tree!} and just happened to find the cutest little monkey costume. I was so afraid when I received it that it would be way too big for Noah, considering that it was a size 18 months and he would only be 10.5 months at Halloween. All that fear for nothing... evidently Halloween costumes can run small! Noah and I had a mini-photo shoot today for the pictures for the "We've Moved" cards and the results were too cute to not share them! Happy Fall!!

Family Time

Even though the trip was short, I'm so glad that they were able to come down. It was nice to have a little bit of help around the house and with Noah, and simply to have the company of family {Ben, I miss you Dear One!}.

Come back soon please! :)