Happy Nevada Day....and Happy Halloween!

When it's snowing or blowing in Nevada people could care less because they're used to it. But if it rains there's not a soul in sight as rain is such a rarity. Here, it's just the opposite. Rain does not stop anything, especially trick or treaters. I took the boys to Bass Pro so we could be inside (It's the Nevada girl in me) but when we got to our development afterwards I had to drive 5mph with my dim lights on because of all the kids in the neighborhood, trick or treating. I asked P if he wanted Daddy to take him trick or treating when he got home from work but he decided that he'd rather get his new jammies on and watch a Halloween cartoon. I love the fact that he doesn't want a lot of candy (although he got it from trunk or treat, a Halloween package from a friend, various neighbors and from the leftovers we had). I put Easton down since he only took one short nap today and then enjoyed the few trick or treaters that came to our house right before the allotted parish time was over for them. Before going to bed tonight, P said, "This was the best Halloween ever!" Apparently rain didn't dampen his spirit either because he thoroughly enjoyed watching me carve him a "Chase" pumpkin, bake some pumpkin seeds and go to a few Halloween festivities the past few days. The only bummer part is that we didn't get to enjoy the pirate ship wagon that all of us worked so hard on but even that didn't seem to bother him too much. All in all, our first Southern Halloween was a good one!

P.S. I haven't forgotten about sharing Easton's 10 mos picture. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow though. Until then here are a few pics from today....

Pumpkin Patch

I was going to write an indepth blog about our trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday but I woke up with a horrible sinus headache that seems to be "killing" brain cells as the day goes on. So I'll let you know that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the boys had so much fun that they wore themselves out. The rest I'll tell you through the pictures I took....

Super Busy and Super Fun

I looked at the calendar for this week and sighed a big sigh of relief. For the first time in a long time we actually have a mellow, easy week. We need it after this past weekend! Our fun started Friday when we celebrated Rob's birthday. Since P is really into birthday (I pray that DOESN'T change) he got Rob a gift and card, drew him a picture, and baked him cookies. Saturday morning we woke up to beautiful weather so when Rob got called out to work P and I decided we would go to the LSU Homecoming Parade. It was fun to experience a big university homecoming because I've never experienced that before. P got tons of candy and more than enough beads (I'm thinking that's a LA thing??). Although we had fun, I think I enjoy small town parades a lot more. It was a little overwhelming but fun nonetheless. After we left there we came home to rest for a few minutes and then headed to the Bass Pro Halloween event. Rob opted to stay home and rest since he thought he'd get called out again so I took the boys for some simple fun. P made a Halloween craft and Easton got a Halloween picture taken. We were all tired so we headed home afterwards and relaxed while Rob worked. Sunday we all headed to church together. Then, after lunch, we headed next door for our first neighborhood birthday party. P had so much fun and has talked about the party a lot today! We had to leave the party early because our church Family Fest (think Trunk of Treat) was starting. I had finished the boys' pirate ship earlier in the day and it, as did they, got rave reviews! P had more fun on bounce houses, standing on a helicopter skiff and going on a pony ride. By the time we got home we were all exhausted. I think Rob and I went to bed shortly after the boys. It was fun but now you can see why the boys and I laid low today. We're rested up, though, and ready for the pumpkin patch tomorrow!

 

Fall Fun

I've always loved Fall- the cooler weather, the craft fairs, the changing colors, the festivities. But I've never been a big fan of Halloween. I was the one that would grab a pizza then turn off all the lights and hunker down so I wouldn't have to deal with trick or treaters. Now that I have kids that has changed. I love Halloween and take it on with a vengeance! We carve at least one pumpkin and sometimes more than that. We go to as many Halloween events as possible. In the past I've taken P to more than one pumpkin patch and then we figure out which one we like best. I have tried my hand at making some or all of P's Halloween costume.
But this year is slightly different. For some reason, maybe because of the city's size, everything is crammed into 2 weekends. There is no way to hit all of the craft fairs, pumpkin patches, Halloween events and trunk or treats.  We have carved a pumpkin and have painted a pumpkin so far. Tomorrow we're going to the Bass Pro Halloween event and next week we'll go to a pumpkin patch that looks pretty neat. Here are some pics from our pumpkin fun and be on the lookout for pics of some other fun events that we'll be doing in the upcoming days.

Another Beautiful Family

A couple weeks ago I had the honor of photographing our neighbors, who are expecting a daughter next month. Here are a few images from our time together.

*If you know of anyone looking for a lifestyle photographer in East Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi please email me at sweetlifepics@yahoo.com to set up a photo session. Thank you!

Adorable Family Session

I should really be in bed as I was up til 4am this morning working on a major glitch (which ended up being an easy fix...on someone else's end) with these images. But I can't go to bed quite yet because I am so excited to share them with you. I'm in love with how beautiful and fun loving this family is!

If you know of anyone that is looking for a lifestyle photographer in East Texas, Louisiana or Southern Mississippi email me at sweetlifepics@yahoo.com to discuss setting up a session. I'll also be in the California/Nevada area around the holidays so I'm free to do photo sessions then as well. Thanks and enjoy!!

Different yet Similar

I know I've blogged about the similarities and differences between the boys but the older Easton gets the more I notice. When they were born, one came into the world in the heat of Summer while the other made his debut in the dead of Winter (during the worst snow storm of the season). Both boys, however, were born around "fireworks holidays" and weighed in the 6lb range. It seemed to me like P was a newborn forever where as I don't really remember E being a newborn long. However, looking back at P's baby book I realized that wasn't the case. P sat up, ate solid foods and tried to walk sooner than E. He also said "Mama" at around 6mos whereas E has yet to say that word or any word for that matter. When P was a newborn he was scrawny skinny but started gaining weight around 6 mos. E, on the other hand, started out as my chunky monkey but has thinned out considerably since starting to crawl and attempt to walk. P loved (and still does) all kinds of fruits, but E prefers veggies. Both boys are Personality Plus while still being Mama's Boys. (Both boys cried when left with someone else.) P used to bug out his eyes that got everyone laughing. E likes to scrunch up his nose and snort, making everyone laugh as well. P was sleeping through the night at around 3 1/2 mos, yet E still has yet to sleep through the night (making me a zombie). E sweats easily whereas P is always cold and dresses like it's Winter even in the middle of Summer. P has darker, straight hair and E has blond curls. Both boys have loved their baths since they were little, although E didn't really enjoy it the first few times.
No matter how similar or different they are, one thing is for sure. Those boys adore each other. When E wakes up in the morning P is quick to tell him "Good morning" and give him a hug. He asks if E can come in his room to "play" when I take a shower. E idolizes P and wants to be wherever he is. When P walks into the room, E's face lights up. We love our boys more than life itself and I'm so thankful that they feel the same towards each other as well.

2 For 1

Awhile back I was asking a friend how she got so skinny and she said, "You wait until Easton is crawling and walking. Then you'll understand." Well, now I get it! Lunch? What is that? Rest from 6am-8pm? That's no longer part of my vocabulary. But you know what? I'm totally energized! When the boys rest I spend every minute researching photography and/or work on the business aspect of Sweet Life Photography. I can't remember the last time I've been this excited about something- other than my boys of course. I'm anxious to post the pics from last week's photo sessions on here so be on the look out in the next few days.

9 mos check up
Today I heard words I never thought I'd hear...."Easton is in the 5th percentile for weight and needs to put on some pounds." I literally asked the pediatrician to repeat herself because I was positive I had heard wrong. (She also said he was in the 15th percentile for height, which I thought was off as well.) He's always been our linebacker and P has been the quarterback- tall and skinny. But now that he's crawling he's working off all that he's eating. She must know what she's talking about because I gave him a huge lunch and dinner with a snack in between and he ate it all. I can only imagine our grocery bill once both boys are teenagers!

Birthday Princess

This won't be a long blog because I've already been at the computer for a few hours today, booking plane tix and doing a lot of work for my photography business (I had 2 shoots this past week so look for new pics in the next few days). But I wanted to fill you in on my birthday weekend. Rob and I decided a few years back to honor each other's requests for birthdays. I like mine to last for a week while he doesn't like his acknowledged. For me, a thoughtful act of kindness means more to me than all the rose bouquets and jewelry in the world! So when everyone in my life did their best to make my birthday last as long as possible it meant a lot to me. My mom sent me a text every day of my birthday week, wishing me a happy early birthday. The day before my actual birthday Rob started wishing me a happy birthday. The morning of my birthday P came running in with a birthday card and insisted that he had drawn a picture of a princess because he said I was going to be a Birthday Princess all day. He and Rob did so much to make me feel like one too. P wished me Happy Birthday almost every hour and was on his best behavior. He wanted to go to the woods to pick me some flowers (my favorite kind to get but I was afraid he'd leave with more than just flowers!). Rob baked me a cake when he got home from work and then took us out to dinner at the place of my choice. Saturday we went to the fair (our 3rd one in 2 weeks!!) and then I got a much needed nap. I didn't have to cook or really lift a finger from the time Rob got home Friday afternoon until Sunday morning. It was heaven! All that on top of TONS of FB messages, a few cards (that contained treats!), several texts and some phone calls. It was a much better weekend that I had anticipated and I did indeed feel like a Birthday Princess!

Catching Up

It makes me happy to tell you that I haven't had TIME to blog this week. We have been SOOOO busy! So now I'll catch you up on our lives with one super long blog.

9 months old...
Stop time!! Make it stop! Our baby boy is growing up way too fast and, although I've enjoyed each milestone every month, I'm not ready for him to be 9 months old already. This past month was FULL of milestones, making it the most fun (and challenging) month to date. I think my favorite thing about this past month is the funny face he makes while he snorts at us. It makes me laugh every time. Here are some of the major milestones in his life....

Texas
I never thought I'd say this but.....we went on a mini vacation to Texas. Rob had a training that he had to attend so the boys and I decided to join him for some of it. I had a church commitment Monday evening so the boys and I took off Tuesday after they had gotten their Halloween pics taken. We didn't get there until dinner time so we spent Wednesday sightseeing. We went to the Fireman Museum in downtown Beaumont, where both boys had all kinds of fun. We spent a couple hours there with both boys climbing on fire trucks, playing with toys and getting some energy out. After we left there we were going to walk down to a river front park but we got attacked by mosquitoes. I'm not exaggerating when I say we were swarmed by them but trying to write out the scenario wouldn't be as funny as actually telling it so just imagine me pushing the jogging stroller, swatting at mosquitoes and yelling at P to run to Daddy's truck as fast as he can while he screamed bloody murder. After we were safe and sound inside the truck (and I had counted all my mosquito bites) I got a good laugh out of it.
P's favorite things about staying at hotels are talking on the room phone and using the pool. So I decided to take the boys to the pool to wear them out even more once we got back to the hotel. My plan worked and they took good naps. (I would've taken a nap but it's amazing how 2 young boys can take up an entire Cal King bed!) After Rob got done with training we hung out at Gander Mountain (an outdoorsman store) and then grabbed a bite to eat. P begged me to take him back to the pool so we made one last trip to the pool before bedtime. He was excited because "Dusty Crophopper" kept flying by our hotel. After he got out of the pool he sat at the hotel window, waiting for "Dusty" to fly back by. Thursday morning we packed up and headed back home because Rob's training had come to an end. Although it was a short trip, it was a great trip!

Mississippi
One of the nice things about living in the South is that you can be in 3 different states in a matter of a few short hours. We were in TX, LA and MS within 24 hours (and that included sleeping at our house Thursday night). Friday afternoon we took off for my inlaws' house but about 5 miles from their house my transmission went out. Since I didn't know what was wrong with my Yukon I limped it to their house. All mechanics were closed so we decided to go enjoy the fair which was the reason why we had gone to MS, to see my brother in law sing at the fair. P loves fairs so he was excited about going. Rob stayed at home with Easton so P got all the attention. As soon as Jay started to sing P ran up on stage, climbed up on Jay's lap, grabbed the mic and sang "Cruise" to the crowd that had come to see Jay. At the end of the song he got a lot of applause, much to his delight. After Jay's concert we walked around the fairgrounds so P could ride rides. The first thing he wanted to ride on was the mechanical bull. He didn't ride 8 seconds....he rode for 35 seconds! After that he wanted to ride this HUGE slide by himself but he was a couple inches too short so I had/got to ride with him. I think he's starting to get to the age where he wants to do things by himself so it hurt his pride to have Mom go with him but we both had a blast. After filling up on fried fair food, rides and fun memories we called it a night. Saturday morning "we" (ie. my inlaws) took care of getting my Yukon diagnosed then we headed for deer camp. The boys and I only stayed there for a couple hours then came home in anticipation for today's church service and the tropical storm that was supposed to hit (but didn't). Mom Herrington graciously offered me her new Expedition to drive home, which eased my car dilemma stress.

It's been a fun filled week of trips and making memories but I'm also thankful that we're home for awhile, allowing me to get some much needed housework done. (That and the fact that Easton is not the easiest traveler so car rides with him are always twice as long as planned.)

 

 

I miss...
It's getting easier living here. I'm meeting people and I'm starting to fill our social calendar. But that doesn't mean I don't miss certain things about Fall in Reno. The thing I've missed the most lately, other than friends, is our old house in the Highlands. I don't miss driving up and down Geiger or being far from stores but I miss the view, the cold temps, watching the first snowfall from high upon a mountain and my neighbors. In general, I miss the early Fall colors and the snow capped mountains. I miss drinking a hot cup of coffee on cold mornings and bundling up during chilly nights. I miss wearing my UGGs. I miss going to Douglas High School football games, cheering for our friend Nick, and I miss going to a UNR game or two. I miss knowing which pumpkin patches and Fall Festivals are the best ones. I miss duck hunting season because it meant hunting banquets and festivities with our Archery family. I miss my LW Book Club and our monthly meetings. I miss being within driving distance to my parents' house and going to Bishop's Pumpkin Patch or Apple Hill. I miss my birthday being a week long celebration with various friends. Like I said, each day here gets easier and I'm sure Fall here will bring many memories as well. Fall is my favorite season so, no matter where I live, I'll find the fun things about Fall that I love.