Happy Halloween!

My little family is the absolute cutest...I mean really. Allison is waaayy too cute for her own good and smart. This girl, much to her fathers protesting, can scarf down WHOLE macaroni and cheese noodles (I did chop them up smaller later, I just wanted to see if she could do it. She can. She's also has better push-up form than any marine I've ever seen...she's 7 months old. Booya!

Charlotte and Allison both love their daddy. Charlotte has been a little jealous of late because Allison is consuming more of our time than she was use too. Aren't these guys precious...this is what I get to come home to everyday. Lucky me!

Since yesterday was all Hallows-Eve, we dressed Allie up in her last, albeit, RIDICULOUS Halloween outfit and carved our very own 'pumkinstein'. We started out using a real knife, that soon fell through as Charles realized what a spectacular time it would be to use his power tools...he's such a boy.

Power Tools or Bust!

I love this girl. Seriously. She's not afraid of anything. She loved getting her hands hands, feet, face, & clothes dirty.

Her face kills me...she is so inquisitive! "OH Pumpking Guts"

After Allison was fast asleep (squishing pumpkin innards is hard work) Charles and I relaxed with a delish s'mores. Well mine was good...I dropped his on the grill. Sorry babe.

Here's our little bumble bee this morning before school. We'll take more pictures tonight. Isn't she the cutest bumble bee you've ever seen? No brainer. Happy Halloween!!

Halloween Eve-Eve

Halloween Eve-Eve started at 4:30 this morning. Why you might ask? I don't know, ask my daughter. I'm exhausted but she's still the cutest kid...ever.  Here's the adorbs. little witches hat that I made for her. Unfortunately she didn't get to wear this to school today because she puked on herself. We changed clothes 3 times this morning. Apparently now that she can get on her knees and rock, she's bound and determined to shake  up her stomach contents every chance she gets.

Yesterday after her lunch of black beans and mixed veggies I decided that it would be a good time for her to practice her fine motor skills with the left overs. She has a way to go before she is able to fully feed herself (thank goodness  because she's already growing too fast) but I enjoyed watching her make a mess! It brings me joy plus the cat gets cheap entertainment out of Allison's 'droppings'. If only she'd eat the stuff Allie throws on the floor instead of batting it around the house, I wouldn't find peas and carrots in the most random places 3 hours later.

Happy Halloween Eve-Eve! Pumpkin carving, s'mores and our final Halloween themed outfit before H-day, all coming tomorrow!

Our Weekend In Pictures

I'm happy to say that we had a very relaxing and boring weekend! We did venture out on Saturday to have lunch with Lydia, Abigail & Ensley. Allison got a taste of her first french fry...she liked loved it. Go figure.  I did find out that although she's a champ when it comes to shopping (no whining or fussing) she is  not amused by it.

She does however LOVE to go on walks. Can't you tell!? She makes my heart happy, especially since she enjoyed herself.  Riding it hard work though, power napping at it's finest.

A little Winnie-the-Pooh while mom makes dinner...don't mind if I do.  Look at her impeccable posture...now if only I could sit up that straight.

Since it's the week of Halloween, I decided Allison should wear a Halloween themed outfit everyday this week. This morning was her witches hat, 'my first Halloween' onesie & cute little ruffled leggings. Charlotte thought her hat/headband was rather interesting. She's such as creepy ass cat. I kept waiting for her to bat it off her head.

I can hardly wait for Thursday to show off her precious costume!

Happy Halloween-Eve-Eve-Eve! Meow!

My Husband's a Coffee Junkie

I have always known that Charles likes loves coffee, but yesterday it was taken to a whole new level. When I got home there was this toaster oven looking contraption sitting on the counter and an over zealous husband awaiting me...we were about to roast coffee. Let me preface this whole story with, I. HATE. COFFEE. Unless, it has milk, sugar, caramel sauce and lots of whipped cream. Caramel frappucino anyone? I guess this is one of those times where I will roast coffee with my honey just because it will make him happy! So that means he's going to Zumba with me right? Anyways...here's our first coffee roasting experience. P.S. This has to be done outside or the smoke detectors will go off and then the cat will hide and never come out.

First you take green coffee beans, put them in the wire basket contraption thing and  throw it in the toaster oven roaster.

Then you pick your setting...apparently there are many different combinations. I have no idea what any of them actually do let alone mean since roasting coffee and being a coffee snob connoisseur  is not my calling in life. Now cupcakes on the other hand...where do I sign up?

The finished product! I think he's pretty pleased with his new toy. Not to mention, I have been assured that the initial investment will far out weigh the cost of constantly restocking the coffee supply in our house. $3/lbs compared to $9 for 12oz...I love saving money! Roasting coffee with my handsome hubby, enjoying the cool fall weather and snuggling with this little cutie makes for one happy home! :)

Mama + Mini Fall Favorites

Sweater | Jeans | Headband | Flats | Scarf | Baby Shoes | Bodysuit 

I absolutely LOVE fall and can't wait to do all sort of fun fall things with Allison. Especially dress her up in cute fall outfits. One of the best things about having a little girl...I can dress us alike and everyone will think it's precious. I guess I better do it while I can, one day she won't want  us to have coordinating outfits. I've been eyeing this adorbs. little orange bodysuit for Allie but can't justify spending $20 on it. It's actually only $11 but with $7 in shipping plus tax it might as well be $20. sigh. Oh well...I guess we'll I'll just have to drool over it from here.

Last night we had one of my most favorite meals, jambalaya with sausage and cornbread. By the way, you have not tasted delicious until you have tried this cornbread...seriously, can we have it for every meal?  We decided that Allison is now old enough, since she has THREE teeth, to try a little bit of things from our plate. Last night was her first attempt at cornbread...she hasn't fully grasped the idea of picking food up and putting it in her mouth BUT when I put it in her mouth...oh boy!  She loved it.  She loves food.

Happy Fall-iday!

Our Weekend in Pictures

On Friday, Allison and I decided to surprise Erin and watch her show her steer for the last time at the fair. It was a lot of fun and Allison got to see a variety of animals she wouldn't normally get to see. Of course she wasn't in a smiley sort of mood for pictures.  She really liked the goats and even managed to grab one's fur.  Poor little goat. She even got her picture taken with Miss. Texas America. Daddy says she's not allowed to do pageants...we'll see about that. ;)

Allison with her Grammy & Pawpaw. That's a yawn, although I like to think she's just so excited about seeing cows!

Sunday morning, Erin & I did the Graffiti Run.  I for sure thought someone would be calling Charles and telling him that I'm laying on the ground gasping for air, but  we freaking rocked the run. Just saying... I even managed to make it out without that much color on me. Oh AND we had Fuego after. Sunday morning = success!

The rest of the weekend, we just  relaxed at home, which we don't get to do very often. I've decided I'm a terrible mother, Allison figured out how to play a game for cats on the iPad.  She now holds to high record on "Friskies Bug Catcher" App. We hope you all had a great weekend and we look forward to sharing our house photos this week. Since this past weekend was the six month mark for us moving into our new home, we thought we'd give you a tour.

Pumpkin, Bumpkin!

To kick off the Fall season, we decided to let Allison paint her very first pumpkin. I would call it a solid success...she didn't ingest any paint AND had an awesome time. If you can't tell she is a total camera hog, you need glasses. This kid will pose for any picture. I honestly don't know where she got that from.

Oh I know...this chick.  I swear if they could both take selfies all day they would. We love you Aunt Erin.

Here's my little pumpkin, bumpkin and her first pumpkin painting experience!

The finished product. I think it turned out super cute. I didn't even have to use Pinterest to think of it...proud mama moment. Needless to say we all had fun. Daddy even made s'mores.

Corn Maize, Pumpkins and A Pligrim

My family owns the Brazos Valley Corn Maize in Brenham and because it's fall, my favorite season, I obviously had to dress Allison up in some ridiculous getup for my own enjoyment. I'm a terrible mother. One day she'll appreciate all the fun things we did like this...right? It took me about an hour to finish her pilgrim costume. If you ask me, she's too freaking cute for words.

Unfortunately, it was way past nap time so she wasn't willing to REALLY pose for the camera. Sad day in my world. This kid still managed to squeak out a few hammed up photos though.

Wisconsin & Chicago Vaca.

Let me start off by saying, Allison is an absolute trooper. Despite being the recipient of none other than a lovely ear infection, 103 degree fever and  a cold hours before we took our first family vacation and plane ride to Wisconsin, she did ahhmazing. Seriously, I know adults who whine more than she did.  Thankfully, I cried more than she did on and off  the plane and we all made it through the week. Barely. The week was full of wedding festivities which kicked off with Allison and I holed up in the hotel trying to break her fever while Charles, Christopher & Kara went and met Rachel's brothers.

The non-rehearsal, rehearsal dinner at Rachel's aunts house was next on the schedule. Delicious brats and a fever free babe for even a couple of hours was the perfect ending to an other wise sick baby filled day. Thank God for Motrin. We even got this gem of a picture...isn't she just so beautiful. I'm in love with her little jeans.

Saturday was the wedding, Don't we look so fancy...this is probably the first time that I have actually dressed up since Allison was born. I have to admit, it was nice to feel pretty for once. I normally don't give two flying farts about how I look, but every once in a while it's fun. Isn't Josh's face priceless? So excited we got to see the 'first-look'. Rachel looked absolutely beautiful. We are excited to welcome her to the family. I just realized we don't have any pictures of Allison from the wedding?! I guess I should find Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Joe and see if they have any they can send me. Way ta go mom, geez. She looked beautiful as always though. Promise. 

Another fun part of our trip was that Allison got to meet her great Grandma & Grandpa B for the first time. I think she kinda likes them ;). Since she was sick, she didn't get to spend too much time with them but I know they enjoyed the little time together that they had.

The last leg of our trip was to Chicago where we spent two full days vacationing...literally doing nothing. It was fantastic.

Allison thinks she's hot stuff. Can't blame her for thinking that. I mean look at her. Yes I realize I will seriously regret the head inflation when she's in her teens, but for now...she's a perfect little princess.

At Millennium Park in Chicago.  A big giant mirror, bean.  Her day was made.

Daddy & Allie during our lunch break. Those smiles make my heart melt.

Learning to give kisses at Bubba Gumps on Navy Pier. The food was less than mediocre but the company was superb.

All-in-All, the trip was decent. Not as relaxing or enjoyable as it could have been but despite all of the illness, grumpiness, and stress we had a pretty good time. Also, I don't understand why people think it's such a hassle to travel with a baby. Sure it's more difficult than just taking care of yourself but it definitely isn't as bad as what people make it out to be. The trick...pack only carry on's, and buy diapers, wipes, food & formula there.