Just a Little bit closer

So for football Sunday I made my first ever party mix. I made some homemade carmel and poured it over yummy snacks. Easton could not get enough.  

He started by sitting in the chair, then reaching for his own handful. 

 Realized how good homemade carmel atop goldfish, pretzels, m &m's, and cheez-its really is.

It even caused him to dance a little bit (not that hard to do these days).

He decided to venture out and try a chip.

And some spicy jalapeño corn dip, which was a very far reach. 

To make things easier he just climbed onto the table.

And scooted in to get a little closer. 

Ti's the week to be Thankful

Oh so thankful. 

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching and the month of November coming to a close, I can't help but be giddy for the next big holiday! I have so many fun things planned and decorations to make and cookies to bake, that I can hardly wait. But this week is so important these days. A time to sit back and reflect on the aspects of life we have to be thankful for. A home, a family, a career, food, warmth and each other. 

After work tomorrow, I have a stretch of days off and I am so excited! They will be filled with family, food, decorating, and festive activities. Of course there is one thing that I am bummed about, but will try not to focus on this next month. I AM WORKING ON CHRISTMAS! Yes, I will leave my house at 5:30 a.m. and not return until 9:00 p.m. I wont see my baby boy on Christmas. Because of that, I must make the whole month special. And most of all realize that the reason I wont see my family on Christmas Day is because I am taking care of someone else's. 

Christmas Pj's

Christmas PJs are something we are super excited about. Last year Easton's Gramma got him his first Christmas jammies and I think it has to be a tradition. Have you seen hanna anderson's Christmas line? Last year Easton sported the red striped PJs and this year he will be sporting the ones below.

My little angel on Christmas morning last year. I am sure this year he wont be sitting so still. 

These jammies + the cute Santa hat + the booties...make me so happy! And if you into that sort of thing...they have adult sizes too! I don't think I will be sporting them this Christmas season. 

10 years ago

10 years ago today we started our lives together. I was 17 and he was 20.  We dated until I was 22 and on my birthday he popped the question. A year later we were married and bought our first home. 2 years later we were blessed beyond belief with our little boy. 

This man is my other half. My rock. My supporter. My encourager. The best father to our son. He provides for our family in any way needed. He works even harder so that I can work part-time and be home with Easton. He is perfect for me and I am so happy he is all mine!

5 on Friday

1. Our November chalkboard reminds me each time I walk by it how much I have to be thankful for. 

2. I feel that this week I scored at pottery barn kids. I got this Merry Christmas banner...and a fitted Christmas crib sheet! 

3.  Phillipians 4:13. In my women's bible study we are going through the book of Phillipians. I never realized the following verse was in this book. Basically words to live by. 

4.  On Saturday night Mickey Mouse and his friends are lighting the Christmas tree at Fashion Island and yes I am super excited for my boy to see this! 

5. I am loving that our Christmas cards are ordered and in the mail and its only November! I was lucky enough to have my sister snap a couple of shots a few weekends back. The one below is one of the 3 out of 100 that we are all attempting to look at the camera. The sun was a shining! For our Christmas cards I decided to go with a more "artistic" look, since we wouldn't have to be squinting and looking at the camera!

Easton's 12-15 month Favorites

     Easton has been keeping very busy these past couple of months. I am so thankful for baby proofing items! I can't tell you how many times I had to pick up and clean Tupperware, it was all over the house!  Life is much easier with the cabinets and drawers being Easton proofed! 

      His favorite play items are anything to do with Mickey Mouse and his friends, play doh, bubbles, anything with a straw, snack cups, keys and of course his favorite book Giraffes Can't Dance.

      I am doing my research on toys and items for Christmas! I think it is time to recycle some of our "baby" toys and get new ones! Thank goodness for Santa!

Persistence

One of the reasons I chose to do a women's bible study on a weekday morning was that it had free childcare and Easton could be around other kids and learn to be away from me! Yes I do go to work 2 days a week, but I leave before he wakes up and come home after he is fast asleep. So basically he is not used to me dropping him off or me leaving him! 

It has been a struggle dropping him off and today it still was. But i got this sweet text from one of the moms that works in his room. All it says was "he's playing", followed by this picture. My heart melted and I was so proud of him! Each week I thought about just stopping the whole experience because it was horrible to see him so upset and miserable the whole time.  I guess persistence is key!

The above picture is him sleeping, obviously! As we pulled out of church he was already asleep in his carseat and with the transfer to the crib I did not dare remove his shoes! I am sure most moms can relate. Shoes in the crib? or no nap? Sheets can be washed 

I think it is so importance to have Easton interact with other children, especially being an only child.  This group allows him to be around many kids all around his age. Hopefully he can actually get excited about going...one day!

Tracking Growth

This past summer when we visited Idaho, where Tucker is from, we visited his Grandparents house. One of the many amazing things that we saw was his great grandmothers door frame growth chart. It had Tucker's 8 month stats. We of course added Easton. Notice at the bottom 11-24-83 and then 7-3-13...30 years. How cool.  We know that we probably wont be in this house forever, and most likely not even that much longer, definitely not 30 years longer. We wont have the same doorframe for our great-grandkids to track their growth on. So we made a mobile one!

Although this growth chart ruler is super trendy, it is oh so cute! The best part is that it will follow us wherever we go. We can track our kids growth, their kids and hopefully their kids too! Plus it is super easy to make!

Speaking of growth...This little man had his 15 month check up today. See how much he has changed since his one year? Just three months ago? A baby versus a full blown toddler! Easton is 24 lbs (75%) and almost 33 inches (95%)! We discovered he most likely has a cows milk allergy so we will stick with almond milk for now. 

One issue with babies that have benign communicating hydrocephalus is that their speech may be delayed. Well, we passed with flying colors on this part! Answered prayers I tell ya. As of now he is saying; mama, dada, dog, toes, shoes, cheese, turtle, duck, bat, treats, yum, no, tickle and more! Of course these words may only be understood by his mama, but ill give him credit! 

5 on Friday

One: I am LOVING my boys in this photo! It was taken at the "Fall Fest" which I was so lucky to attend since I was on call that Saturday! Easton is sporting his "Stroud" onesie!

Two: I am obsessed with these waffles from Trader Joe's and I am hoping they have them for November too! They are almost better than home made pumpkin waffles!

Three: I am LOVING that it is November and that it just screams family wholesome dinners!

Four: Last week we were able to go to a local pumpkin patch with these cuties! Easton is obviously giving his buddy some real good advice in this picture! And note...not one of them is looking at the camera..typical!

Five: I made some homemade applesauce (second year in a row) and it is to die for! Its made in the crock pot for 8 + hours with some sugar, cinnamon sticks and lemon. And I had it warm and ready for scooping onto some vanilla bean ice cream! DELICIOUS! 

Happy November

Goodbye October, Hello November!

Happy November all! By now I suspect that all the ghosts and goblins are away (in a perfect world) and all the turkeys are on display! This month I am looking forward to no vacations...is that a weird statement? I can't believe I just wrote that! For the past months starting in May we have had weeks or weekends away every month, which have been oh so fun, but I am looking forward to staying at home for awhile! 

Last year my incredibly talented sister snapped our Christmas photos, which are so nice to have and see how much our little man has changed! He couldn't even sit up. This year he wont stay still so hopefully we can get some good ones! I am planning on having them done this weekend...but nothing goes as planned in this household!