A November to Remember!

November week 1: Caleb and mommy escaped the unbearable arctic temperatures of Louisiana and spent a week basking in the UT sun. Caleb got to spend countless hours playing in Grandma Costley's kitchen sink and pointing Grandpa Costley in the right direction while they were out walking.



The reunion with cousins was the perfect opportunity for a nakie baby photo shoot and here are some of the resultant gems. Featured in these pictures are Caleb and Luke (2 weeks apart) and Donovan (6 months younger).

Week 1 also included a visit with the Draper Ludlows where puppy Lewis gave Caleb a crash course in how to not get your nose chewed off by a puppy. Fortunately, he passed!


November week 2: Caleb continued to inch ever-so-close to the milestone of taking his first un-aided steps (which is no small feat for a baby with a body in the 5th percentile, and a head circumference in the 75th percentile). In the meantime, he practiced with his baby walker.



November week 3: the first mommy/baby overnight separation when I headed to New Orleans for a conference leaving Caleb in the capable hands of Grandma Ludlow and his daddy. So while I was off strolling through the trees at Oak Valley Plantation and dining at 2 out of 3 of Emeril's N'Awlins restaurants....



Caleb was in Grandma heaven



November week 4: brought Thanksgiving and the perfect excuse to make another pilgrimage to Dallas to spend the holiday with my brother, Cory, and his family where there's never a shortage of laughs, love, and WRESTLE mania!

Happy Halloween!

The idea for this year's Halloween costumes began as a tiny seed exactly one year ago and has been sprouting ever so slowly for 364 days in the fertile soil of my brain. Not everything went exactly according to plan. For example, I envisioned David being "bald" and found what looked to be the perfect product:

But then David put it on and exclaimed, "I don't look bald AT ALL!!!" Talk about false advertising:

So we abandoned that detail, but managed to pull off the rest including forearms bulging with "muscle," a can of spinach, and a pipe (aka scoop from baby formula):

So thanks to my mom's willingness to give me telephone tutorials on how to make ruffles and operate my sewing machine, and an extremely indulgent husband, I present to you Popeye...

...Olive Oyl...

and the ever so sweet Sweet Pea.....

A Popeye family portrait:

After a great night of trunk-or-treating at the church, Sweet Pea was all tuckered out!

But David managed to stay in character all the way home:

With so much effort devoted to our church activity the night before Halloween (which won us the1st place prize for Most Creative, I'll have you know!) by Halloween night neither David nor I had the gumption to dress up again. However, we didn't want to rob Caleb of the chance to go door to door (translation: we wanted candy) so we borrowed a costume from a friend (thanks Katie!) and headed out for Halloween pillaging.

Here's our little guy BEFORE the pillaging (not too thrilled about being dressed up in a ridiculous, movement hindering costume):

But here he is AFTER the pillaging (starting to realize the benefits of wearing a ridiculous, movement hindering costume):

Mamma's little Tigger!

Now...what to be next year..........?????