Happy Halloween!

Little shark!

And we wore Lifeguard t-shirts... slightly low effort on our part.

 But Scott looked cute! And that's what matters, right?

Happy Halloween!

8 Months Old!

 Scott thinks it's great to be 8 months!

Right now he is...

 Army crawling in his own way,

and crawling backwards the classical way. 

He can also get himself into sitting position from his stomach.

 He loves to stand holding onto things.
But can't get up on his on yet!

He also babbles constantly!

Particularly around large groups of people. 

He thinks he is part of the conversation.

At church he thinks all the hymns we sing are especially for him, and goes crazy trying to "sing" along with them.

Scott is very social. On the airplane ride back from Virginia he would stare at the people the row behind us waiting for them to look at him, then give them a huge smile. 

While he prefers his Mom and Dad, he has no problem happily greeting anyone from nice old ladies at Costco to sketchy-looking-gangster men in the elevator. 

 At the grocery store he will stare at someone way down the aisle waiting for them to approach, then kick his feet and go crazy smiling. 

Such a funny boy.

Happy 8 Months Scott!

October in Virginia

A few weeks ago we went to Virginia!
We were supposed to go to the beach in North Carolina with my family in August, but Hurricane Irene hit the week we were supposed to go.
We rescheduled our flights for October.

I was NOT happy about it in August.
But of course I changed my mind when October rolled around!

October is my favorite month in Virginia by far and I'm glad Nate and Scott got to experience it.

On this trip...

 

Scott LOVED hanging out with his Grandpa and Grandma. 

I think they loved it even more. 

And I think I loved it the most.  

Scott played silly games with Grandpa.

And went to watch his Uncle Wade swim.

  

And was a trooper when my Mom and I dragged him to the outlet malls.

My Mom and I sewed a beautiful dress for me (skills I don't have). And made washcloth elephants like my Grandma used to make.

 We played games like Ticket to Ride and cards.

 And my Mom made delicious food a desserts for everyone.

 

We went to Georgetown.

And Nate went to DC with my little brother.

 I caught up with old friends in the area.

We also went to Busch Gardens which is an upscale theme park that goes all out for Halloween!
It was such a fun day but all the pictures we took were on Nate's phone and his SD card broke.

 We ate at a few of my favorite places back home - the Bagel Cafe and Thai by Thai.

 Scott got to meet his Uncle Sam who came up from Charlottesville for the day.
They are kindred spirits.
You know Scott's adorable dimple?
Well he doesn't get it from me or Nate - but Sam has the exact same one!
Instant bonding.

It was a great trip. We love family and Virginia.

We did not, however, love the 6 hour flights with an 8 month old.  

He was a good boy overall. But when is traveling with an infant ever fun?

Luckily as always, the journey was well worth it!

Little Friend

Pumpkin Patch

Farmer's Market and Yarn Wreath

Nate and I recently signed up to get a basket of fresh, local produce from our farmer's market each week. The farmer's market comes about 2 blocks up the street every Thursday. And let me tell you - now each Thursday is like Christmas, waiting to see what produce Santa will bring me. Growing up every December my parents would pick up a few crates of the most delicious grapefruits from a group of old, local war veterans who sold them. My parents or should I say, Santa, used to put a grapefruit in each of their stockings for Christmas morning - probably as an afterthought. I remember feeling sorry for my parents. And having a deep suspicion Santa either had an in with the old veterans or forgot about my parents and took those grapefruits from our pantry. I guess now it would not be a stretch to say I might be really excited to get a grapefruit in my stocking.

Anyway this is what our basket contained this week:

From left to right: Two kinds of fresh basil, local almonds and honey, yellow squash, green beans, apples, green onions, figs, roma tomatoes, GRAPEFRUIT, a weird weed looking plant, amazing strawberries, a lime, and some more green squash.

After getting our produce, it's like a game seeing how to use everything in different meals throughout the week.

Can't you see how exciting my life is?!

Back to that weird looking plant, I actually asked the guy who runs the CSA baskets what it was. He nonchalantly told it was Er-a-mra-thh (something?), the only living plant to contain omega-3 fatty acids!... and proceeded to rip off a stem and eat it - like he was so in touch with nature he could hang out with Katniss Everdeen and make a salad out of the shrubbery growing along La Jolla Shores. He told me to taste it, and despite my reservations about it looking poisonous and more importantly not being washed, I ripped off a stem and ate it too. It was a little too organic for me. Needless to say I won't be making a salad out of it anytime soon. 

This week I also made a yarn wreath.

Wrapping yarn around a piece of styrofoam totally seemed within my realm crafting. 

Except now I'm scared to hang it on our door because I think someone might steal it.

Last week somebody sprayed pepper-spray in the air ducts of our building and we all had to evacuate.

I told Nate I'm worried the same hoodlums might steal my wreath. He told me yarn wreaths might appeal to a different demographic.
But maybe I'll find a place to hang it inside instead.

Scott Clapping!