The Dog Children

It was a lounge around day for these crazy dogs. Mr. Jack:

Sophie Mae in Declan's bean bag:

Hey, you, little man- let me play!

Pumpkin Patch :09:

I don't know if this is a Nebraska thing but we have several pumpkin patches to pick from. This year we went for the smaller patch at the edge of the city. It was certainly toddler sized and perfect for our first pumpkin fetching experience.

We were joined by these two crazy kids (my in laws G-pa and G-ma 'H'):

Declan's partner in crime was his cousin Asher (4 months apart in age) and my sister-in-law Nicole. This is her "not showered" look. If I could only be so lucky. She's a gorgeous one. Oh, and I know it looks like my eyes are closed. They practically were! BRRRRR. It was a chilly, windy morning:

I love this picture of Decs and his grandma:

Declan is chatting up a storm these days. His favorite word is "goigle, goigle" (not a word but SO CUTE out of his mouth) but also says "Declan" (heavy accent on the "dec"), "tickle, tickle", and "oh oh". These join "daddy" and "mama". He's in the middle of sharing what's on his mind here:

I know I'm terribly biased but aren't these cousins just the cutest?! We're having a little girly girl cousin join the troop in January (or December...we'll see) and it will be a whole new dynamic. Can't wait!

I want to eat this kid with a spoon. I know that's a weird expression but, seriously, those cheeks?! Oh, Asher. Precious.

Don't start with me at how old Declan looks in this picture. *sniff*

(See the hay in his mouth?? He's a farmer-t0-be, maybe?)

There are too many things I love about this picture. Decker's sweet, contemplative face, the adorable way he rocks his popped collar, his tiny fingers gripping the stem of the pumpkin. I'm nauseating, I know. I'm mama and this is my blog so it's allowed! For my reader's sake, I'll cut the gushing for now. :)

Declan vs. the Bib

Mealtime around our abode starts a bit like this:

It progresses nicely as Declan enjoys his yummy food.

And then it happens. He realizes he has a bib on and starts to rip it off. Knowing I already have a mound of laundry (plus wearing a bib isn't too much to ask?!) I promptly tell him "no sir", which then ends up about like this:

Okay, okay. I give in. I mean, his "this sucks" face is irresistibly cute but it's not worth the tears. No bib, Delcan wins and meal time resumes.

Yum-o.

Where'd my baby go?

Just curious where my baby went? There seems to be this toddler in his place:

Worldless Wednesday

::Our new grown up family ride::

Stages

Toddlerhood is all about stages.

Well, this is Declan's "I rip my shoes and socks off with glee every chance I get" stage (taken on a cell phone, so ignore the quality):

Nasty habit = gonzo

So I am uber proud of my husband this week. Not only did he start classes after 6 years of being out of college, but he quit smoking. Though he wasn't a heavy smoker by any means- he was more of a "can I bum a cig off of ya?" type and smoke-while-he-walks-the-dogs type and chill on the porch with friends and have a smoke type. Regardless, he felt he was too addicted. Goes to show even "casual" smokers can get addicted. This has been going on for years and his brother encouraged him to read "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking". Well, the book made an impact and Mark walked in earlier this week and said "I'm done". Of course I snapped a picture. I'm so incredibly proud of him for noticing his habit getting worse and wanting to change. He's already passed his book on to my dad. Apparently it's a very successful method of quitting (the author smoked many packs a day before quitting).

So that's my brag for the week. My husband rocks.

Bye Mr. Camel, you're never welcome back here.

If you or anyone you know smokes, get them this book:

GBR!!!

This little Husker fan had to go to bed early...

Tonight's Husker vs. Mizzou game was excruciating. We played horribly. My parents came over to watch the game and left at the end of the 3rd quarter. It was getting late and the game was embarrassing.

Then, it happened. The 4th quarter rolled in and it took just one great long throw and we scored. Finally. From that moment on, the player's confidence finally showed up and the Huskers scored 2 touchdowns in less than 2 minutes. We pulled out the WIN. Woo hoo!!

Go big red!!!

Nebraska: 27

Missouri: 12

Worldless Wednesday

Busy body doesn't begin to describe it...

Declan is a very busy child.

He runs away from us when he knows he is doing something he shouldn't.

He is always moving...a pin ball machine until nap or bedtime.

Delcan is also a climber. It's amazing we've only had one ER visit.

I laughed when his favorite teacher at daycare asked how we get anything done? We don't. Ha!

This morning my bestie invited us for a play date. I gave Declan some yogurt in his handy dandy suction cup bottomed bowl. I spent about 2 minutes changing my clothes and this is what happened in my short absence:

Yes, a very CUTE but guilty face. What, mom? So a bath was definitely in order. After the bath he dumped a sippy of milk over his head (our dog had conveniently chewed the tip off of it). Niiice. Bath #2.

My husband got this great shot this weekend. Declan has a shopping cart that his grandparents got him for his adoption day. He loves to get IN it. Not so safe but he's actually getting good at getting back out so we indulge him while closely watching.

By the way, I'm not complaining. Declan's energy and exuberance are his best qualities. We can't wait to see how this craziness plays out someday in playing sports or doing music or whatever his little heart desires. :)

Show Us Your Life- Baby Gear

I love the "show us your life" series on Kelly's Korner blog. This week it's "baby gear" week. Here are my likes and dislikes:

Likes:

One of my favorite pieces of baby gear is my Oi.Oi giraffe print diaper bag. It's the first purchase I made when we were matched and I still carry it today because it's almost purse like.

I wouldn't go without our Diaper.Genie. It keeps the stank (that's a grosser form of 'stink') out of our nursery. The only downside are the expensive refills.

In that same vein, our wipe warmer is a must have. I didn't register for one and didn't think we needed it, but we received it at our shower and I love it. Freezing cold wipe? Not on my son's tushie. I understand many think it isn't necessary and, it's not, I just like it.

I just love love LOVED our Graco Metro.lite travel system. We used it all the time and still use the stroller.

There is a chance I might not have survived newborn-hood without our swing. Declan took many (probably too many) naps in it.
Another piece of baby gear we got a lot of use out of was the Baby.Einstein play mat. Speaking of naps, Declan took many a nap on this mat. He had a little dog that we hung from the left side and he batted at it until he drifted off. As he got older (3+ months) he played with the toys more and napped less on it. Still, great money spent.
I still want to bust out the exersaucer from time to time (Decs would have nothing to do with it now). I was actually able to take a shower every once and awhile with the help of this little gem. We put him in it very early (when his neck was strong enough) and it retired a couple months ago.
Early on, this crib soother worked like magic. Now, Declan prefers to beat it with his pacifier until we come get him out of his crib. It's been out of batteries for months but it was good baby gear to have for awhile.

For us, Dr.Brown bottles really helped Declan's sensitive little tummy. They are a pain with many parts so if they didn't work so well for us we wouldn't mess with them. The Munch.kin formula dispensers are cheap and really great.

Other honorable mentions: the Moby. wrap (love love), digital baby monitor, those cheapy sanitizer bags for nipples and pacis, sleep sacks (perfect for cold Nebraska winters), stretchy cotton blankets for swaddling (life saver). Also we still use our boppy today.

With toddlerhood we have some new faves. My friend told me about this little mat that suction cups to the table at restaurants. It has a little "moat" on it to catch flying food and it easily rolls up and doesn't take too much diaper bag space.

I love our Grac.o high chair. You can wash the trays (there are 2!) in the dishwasher and it's easy to wipe down the seat. It also gets used a lot for me to get ready for the day. I put books and toys on the tray and he plays while I do what I need to do.

We've gone through many a sippy cup but the best for us are the Nuby. ones. He chugs from them. :)

Now for the dislikes:

The bumbo. Declan hated it. He sat in it like 3 times and I sold it on craigs.list a bit back.

The bouncer. Declan was not a fan of his cute little bouncer. I was told most newborns love them. My newborn did NOT. ;)
Also we weren't pack.n.play people. It's at grandma and grandpa's house permanently. Declan always slept in his room so we never had him in our room in it. Not a waste a money, but not really a "must have".

That's it for dislikes- we did a pretty good job with our purchases I guess! ;) What can't you live without? What do you hate?!