Happy Halloween!

I just love Halloween...even as an adult. As a kid, it was great fun deciding what you wanted to be each year. The excitement of getting dressed up and running around the neighborhood collecting candy was such a thrill! As an adult, I look forward to seeing all the costumes and the cute smiling faces that appear on the doorstep each year.

Drew was a doctor for his first Halloween! Ok, maybe not too original, since blue scrubs are a staple in our household. But, he made the cutest "mini-me" of Daddy that you've ever seen. Kobe was a pumpkin (again)!

We went to our friend Steve & Debbie's house for their annual Halloween Hot Dog Roast. The kids were all precious. There were several superheroes...Batman, Robin, and Batwoman! We saw the Snow Queen, a Knight, a little baby leopard, a lion, and even a car from Cars! Our night was full of many treats!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Andrew has reached his third decade of life (finally)! We celbrated his 30th birthday yesterday. Drew gave him a picture frame with his handprints in it and a snapshot of the two of them hiking in New Mexico. I gave him black and brown belts (yeah, not so exciting). But, Drew and I got him a Nintendo Wii as an early birthday present about a month ago, which we've had a blast playing with! Andrew and I went out to eat at Goodhues in McKinney last night to celebrate the occasion. Happy Birthday Andrew, we love you very much! You're an amazing husband and father. We're proud of who you are and all you've accomplished in your first 30 years. We can't wait to see what the next 30 bring!

Are we having fun yet?

Ok, so we had the brilliant idea that maybe our baby carrier would work to be able to take Drew on bike rides. Andrew tried it out today. It's almost a great idea. The only problem is that Andrew has to lean over to hold the handle bars, which means Drew is in a really akward position for the bike ride! Poor kid looks like he hit a velcro wall and can't peel himself off. "Is he having fun?" Andrew asked. Who knows, but so far he doesn't hate it!!

So Grown Up!

We took Drew to Lasting Images here in Sherman for his 8 month portraits. He looked like such a big boy in his little sweater vest and courduroy pants!! It was REALLY hard to get him to stay still long enough to snap a picture, but Ann Marie did a great job.

If you want to see the proofs from the session, log on to http://www.collages.net/.

User Name = Bossen21006

Password = 14203

Then, enter your e-mail address and first name and you'll see the photos.

Enjoy!

Drew's First Haircut

The little man was already getting a little shaggy, so it was time for his first trip to the barber!! It ended up being a funny story. Being new to town, I didn't really know where to take him for the big first haircut. The guy who cuts my hair now doesn't cut children's hair, so I was at a loss for where to go. I called a friend, but she didn't have any recomendations either. So, when all else fails, try Pro Cuts, right? Wrong!

We walked in and it just felt like the Wal-Mart of haircutting places. It wasn't at all what I wanted for our first haircut experience. I asked for the person who would do the best with an 8 month old, and no one really jumped at the opportunity. They walked us back and then noticed that Drew wasn't wearing shoes (I forgot to put any on him in our rush out the door). The lady told me that Texas Cosmetology required shoes to be worn because hair could get embedded in the skin and cause infection. Sounded strange to me, but whatever. I went out to the car to see if there might be a pair of shoes laying around somewhere so we wouldn't have to pack up and go all the way home and come back. There weren't any shoes to be found.

So, we packed up and went back home to get shoes. The whole way, I was wishing that I could find somewhere else to take my precious little boy for his first haircut. We got home, I ran in to grab some shoes, and we hit the road again. On the way back, I remembered a little salon close to Andrew's office, so I headed that direction. It was called "A New You". We didn't have an appointment, but I walked in anyway and asked if anyone there was good with little boy haircuts. Sure enough, this wonderful man Mr. Larry was available and did a wonderful job with Drew's first haircut!

Drew sat still the whole time. He seemed really curious and kind of in shock at the whole experience. I don't think he knew what in the world I was having done to him, but since he was sitting on my lap the whole time, I guess he figured it was all ok. Another one of the stylists who didn't have a customer served as our photographer. Everyone in the place got a big kick out of the haircut. It was great fun!!

Oh, and when I told Mr. Larry about the shoe story, he said that was crazy! They probably didn't want to do the haircut, so they were looking for a way out of it. Fine by us! We'll take Mr. Larry from now on!

Party at Taco Cabana!

We made a quick trip to TC last night to grab dinner and sit outside to enjoy the beautiful weather! It was Drew's first time to use his big boy place mat and actually eat out with Mom & Dad. He gobbled up cheerios and flirted with everyone around. He tried desperately to get the lady at the next table to smile at him...and she completely ignored him!! Don't know what her deal was. But then he found a sweet grandmother to smile at who would actually smile back. He also discovered how to play "drums" on the table and had a blast pounding it out with Daddy! He was all smiles last night!

Happy Birthday Avery!

Today is Avery's 2nd birthday & we celebrated over the weekend with a wonderful butterfly themed party in the park!

Drew had fun playing on the playground and learning to share toys with Julia and the other kids!

Avery had a very fancy butterfly cupcake cake, but she wasn't too sure about the singing and really didn't know if she liked blowing out a candle or not. But, after it was all over and everyone was cheering, she finally decided it was fun and joined in the clapping!

She loved opening presents (or seeing the presents after Stephanie helped her open them). She got tons of fun toys, books, dress up clothes, and even a whole set of high heel Cinderella shoes! The most unique gift came from her Uncle Erroll. He brought her a flower arrangement with a live Monarch Butterfly cacoon which should hatch around September 30th.

Happy Birthday sweet Avery. We had lots of fun at your party!

We missed Aunt Heather & Uncle Adam

You always know when you're missing someone, but sometimes you don't remember exactly how much until you see them again. That's how I felt when Adam & Heather arrived Friday night. It was SO good to see them again. It had been 3 months since we saw them last. It might not sound like long, but since they used to be one house away from us in Temple, going 3 months without seeing them felt like forever!

We had such a fun weekend. Saturday we hung out in the morning and played with Drew. Heather & I made a quick shopping trip downtown where we found fabulous goodies for the dogs. I've always wanted to get Bailey a string of "dog pearls"...and I finally found some! It's just the feminine touch she needs (and it's fun to drive Adam crazy seeing his dog dressed in pearls). Doesn't she look beautiful?

Here's some of our Saturday morning.

Then we headed out to Lake Texoma and rented a boat to test out the waters. It was Drew's first adventure on the lake and he seemed to love it! Adam & Heather gave him his very first life jacket (they know I'm a little paranoid about babies on the water). Drew wasn't sure he liked it until he figured out he could chew on it...then he loved it! We packed a picnic lunch and had a great day.

After the lake, we came home and relaxed briefly before heading out for dinner. It was a big milestone for us...we left Drew with a babysitter! Thankfully, Drew was so wiped out from his big day at the lake that I think he was down for the night just about 45 minutes after we left him. So, while he was snoozing, we went to downtown Sherman for some dinner and then over to the Sofey's house to introduce Adam & Heather to some of our new friends.

Sunday morning we all went to church and then had good lunch at home before having to say bye to Adam & Heather. It was such a fun visit with them. Even Kobe loved having Bailey back to play with!! We hope it won't be too long before we see them again!

The Great Outdoors

The weather has been so wonderful here in Sherman the last week or two. We've taken advantage of it and enjoyed being outside. Here are a few pictures of our past 2 Sunday night outdoor adventures. Last week we just played outside in our back yard. Drew crawled around in the grass for the first time and loved it!

Last night, we explored Fairview Park and found a wonderful walking trail perfect for a stroller! The path winds around a creek, runs behind a beautiful neighborhood, and ends up near the swimming pool. Andrew & I had a good walk, and it was peaceful enough that it put Drew right to sleep!