Pumpkin Patch Fun!

This week we took Brett to the Pumpkin Patch at McGarrah Farms in Pea Ridge, Arkansas.. Drew had the day off so it worked out great!

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Looking for the perfect pumpkin with Daddy

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I think this is it!

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Oh wait.. I see a better one!

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Inspecting the big pumpkin with Daddy

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So precious.. I think he looks like Momma in this one!

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Baby model posing for the camera :)

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Checking out the bumpy pumpkin variety

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Hmmm.. what's up with this hay tunnel thing?

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I made it through!

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Baby pumpkins.. make good weapons..

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Daddy you're so bhaaaaaad

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This little piggie didn't want to stay still for the camera

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Complaining about something..

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Loving his first hayride! Very focused on the "dracker" tractor

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He made a new friend (Smokey)

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Petting Smokey.. we said "be gentle" about 50 times..

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This hay ride thing is cool!

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Brett enjoyed his trip to the Pumpkin Patch! This was his second year to go. They're a really nice group of people, don't charge admission and do a lot for local schools. Farmer McGarrah (very Irish) is a jolly, redfaced man who LOVES this time of year!

Gamma Lynn's Visit!

Over Labor Day weekend, Gamma Lynn came to visit! We had a great time! Brett got to go to the Gentry, Arkansas Drive Thru Safari for the first time.. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Brett or Gamma :) Right off the bat an emu came to visit the car.. hysterical!

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Gamma Lynn LOVED this part!

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Brett checking out the prairie dogs "woof woof"

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Petting a pot bellied pig with Gamma

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A poor little porcupine

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He tries to say "cock a doodle doo" to the rooster

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Not too sure about the goat

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Looking at the day's pictures with Gamma

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Since that visit we've been busy as usual! I keep telling myself "I WILL BLOG MORE" but it just doesn't seem to happen :) I will try harder (thanks to my buddy Brooke for making it look sooooo easy to keep up with). One day I decided to take a walk with Brett and push him in the stroller.. he had other plans.. he got out and walked the neighborhood! With no pants and no shoes :) Nice.

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This past weekend was our fifth wedding anniversary! Drew planned an overnight trip to Oklahoma City to celebrate. We went to dinner, saw a movie and then I got sick :( It was a rough night for me.. turned out I had strep throat.. but here is the cool hotel we stayed at! The Hilton Skirvin.. it reminds us of the building in Ghostbusters :)

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So, on the way home from OKC the air conditioning went out in my car (it was a factory defect, covered under warranty) but what a HOT ride home! Yuck... I was already feverish so you can imagine the discomfort.. poor Drew was sweating too!

Monday morning I went to the doctor, got a shot in the hip and feel so much better! It stinks being sick.. Drew took the day off Monday to take care of B so I could rest. Good Husband Award!

Sharing, Haircut, Friends & Chuck E Cheese!

Once again, I've failed at blogging on a regular basis :( Maybe I should put it on the calendar?? Thanks to the iphone I'm rarely on the computer anymore! Sorry, Grandparents (and honorary Grandparents) I'll try to make it up to you!

Let's see.. we've been busy! Playing with the neighborhood kids Aidan, Ariel, Carley, Collin and Tristan. Brett is definitely NOT good at sharing.. but we're working on it. A couple of weeks ago he played with Connor (our friends Brooke & Justin's little man). Look at CJ's curly hair! I LOVE it!

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Looking at the dogs.. both Brett and CJ say "woof woof"

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Kind of sharing the bus.. Justin was playing peacemaker :)

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Time for another haircut! He had two suckers and a handful of Starburst candies..

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This hair is itchy Momma! But the candy is good.

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One day we saw a Racecar on the way back from Papaw and WeeWee's.. had to check it out.

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My girly Brooke! We took the jeep out after dinner one weekend. We look like we're about to attack somebody! Brooke's wearing her Mr. T starter kit.. LOL

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The Elementary school down the street from Nana's house is where I went to 5th and 6th grade. Cook Elementary. Brett liked climbing the ladders and sliding down the BIG slides!

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A Friday night Chuck E Cheese experience.. it's been so hot out, we needed an indoor activity. Brett ate a little bit of pizza and drank a TON of Sprite.

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Deep in thought... mouth full of Sprite..

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He climbs in the tubes all by himself.. Scared of NOTHING!

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Checking out Chuck E's band.. there was a little dancing involved..

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Brett loves to look in the mirror, stick out his tongue, pull on his ears, give kisses, etc.

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Probably screaming at this point!

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Update on Brett's daily antics:

Says: Mama, Dada, Nana, Pawpaw (for all Pawpaws), WeeWee (Weez), Sissy (Sage), cheese, choclaw (chocolate), uh oh (for a mess he's made), no no no, yeah yeah yeah, shoo-eee (when diaper is dirty), Ah-law (Allie), Lala (Lauren), Tee (Tait or tea), Boo-boo, Bebe (baby), tawt (hot or light), barks, meows, snorts like a pig, choo choo (for a train or truck), Door (Dora on tv), Melmo (Elmo), night night, A-men (anytime we say prayers).. I'm sure there are more :)

He peepees in the potty every time we put him on it! Occasionally he will poop too before his bath. It probably won't take long to train him when it's "really" time. Not going to push him yet :)

He's almost swimming without floaties! Puts his face in and looks underwater.. starting to doggie paddle a little too. Floats on his back. Big boy!

Goes to his bed when we say "it's night night time" and says A-men after his prayers. We sing a song and then I leave the room. He follows me to the door to check it but we lock him in. He usually sleeps until 9am or later!

More later! Love you all!

Catching up..

Let's see.. where to start? The most EXCITING thing is... da da da dummmmm: Brett is sleeping in his big boy bead! After constantly climbing out of his crib for days and days we decided that was enough of that. I put together his Thomas the Train toddler bed and talked to him about how fun a big boy bed is. He played in it that day and seemed to really like it! We went to Target and picked out a Thomas blanket too. When Drew got home for dinner I told Brett to "show daddy his big boy bed" and he took Drew's hand and led him to his room :)

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So the first night I put him to bed and sang a little, soothed a little and told him to lay down for night-night about 100 times. He tried to get out over and over but I stood my ground. I stayed with him since it was the first night and he finally fell asleep after about 30 minutes. When I left the room I locked the door.

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Drew came home from work and checked on him. He was fast asleep! Drew figured he would stay asleep so he left the door unlocked.. Uh oh.. at 3:00am Brett came busting into our room crying hysterically! I got up and he wanted to sit on the couch in the living room. I carried him back to his room while he screamed and cried. This wasn't going to be pretty.

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I got him back into bed. I had to hold him down for about 10 minutes until he finally stopped fighting. He relaxed a little as I sang and soothed him. After another 15 minutes or so I decided that this was not going to work for me to stay with him every time until he fell asleep. So I got up and walked out of the room. I locked the door. I heard him run to the door and cry.. but that only lasted for a few minutes. I figured he fell asleep in the floor :(

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The next morning Drew and I woke up at 10:00am. I PANICKED! I thought oh no he's hurt himself and we never heard it on the monitor! I opened his door and ta-da.. he was asleep in his bed! AMAZING!

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So the following nights I put him to bed, soothed him a little, said our prayers (he says "a-men" now) and then left the room and locked the door. He would get up sometimes and try the door but then get back in his bed.

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He's slept until 10am or later everyday since! It's a MIRACLE! Thank you Lord :)

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Moving on, it's been too long since I've posted and I feel awful about it :( But there's one thing that makes me feel BETTER! I have a new iPhone! Happy Birthday to me! I took my first picture of Mr. Handsome in the tub:

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Probably should have used a flash.. it's a little yellow.. oh well.

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So many great photo opportunities around the house!

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Had to get a close-up.. shhhh!

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Time for a little swimming! He was saying "woof woof" because he heard a dog barking :)

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And then there was my birthday.. Nana made me a chocolate cake! Yum!

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Another photo-op. Brett eating dog food. He saw the camera and said "cheese!" GROSS!

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Back to birthday, Drew planned ANOTHER surprise party! I was totally shocked. A group of great friends surprised me with dinner at Doe's. They had balloons, flowers and this "kickin" soccer cake! I guess they're all taking my new hobby seriously. (I joined a women's indoor soccer league)

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He fell asleep on a run with daddy.. notice he's wearing his Thomas undies? He wanted them on so I put them OVER the diaper :)

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And finally, the "new" kiddie pool. It WAS the sandbox, but after constantly cleaning up sand in the house I decided it was time to re-think things. Brett would get all sweaty outside then roll around in the sand and come inside. No, no, no!

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That's about it for now.. I promise I will try to be better about posting! Maybe I can do it directly from my iPhone?! :)

Jump Zone Fun!

I took Brett to Jump Zone in Bentonville today for "Toddler Time." It's basically an indoor inflatables playground with jumparounds, slides, etc. and it was GREAT! No children over 5 years old are allowed for a few hours so it's much safer for the little ones :) We met our friend Ashley and her two year old daughters Katie and Kinsey.. B had so much fun!

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Getting used to the Jumparound with Kinsey (I think, maybe it's Katie, oops!)

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Whoa this thing is slippery!

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He would only slide down on his tummy!

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Chewing on a toy.. GROSS!

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He LOVED the gumball machine jumparound!

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The dumptruck slide! It was really fast so mommy only took him down once.. Daddy will have to go next time.. Heehee!

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It's $5 admission (plus a few people that work there know Drew so they gave us a handful of "free admission" tickets). There are seven total jumparounds.. some with HUGE, FAST slides! I saw several Moms have to catch their breath at the bottom.. Drew is gonna love this place :)