Two Teeth and a Shower

This morning's pre-breakfast adventures...

who needs a double stroller, anyway? ;)

The big news at breakfast?  I thought Connor had some bagel stuck on his gums, but I double checked and he had cut another tooth during the night!   Just two little slivers now, both of the bottom middle teeth.

Yum.  Fall crops in every color at the farmer's market.  That reddish thing in the middle?  Yeah.  That is ONE sweet potato...can we say one potato for a family of three?  Something new to me - PURPLE beans and PURPLE SPECKLED beans!  Apparently the purple ones turn green when cooked...they may just be turned into salad!  We did not get candy corn at the market but...it's a 24/7 must-have for my husband.

Let's talk purple for a minute.  At the end of last fall, it was announced that TCU was joining the Big East during the 2012 season - meaning that my two favorite teams would be in the same conference!  Before it could even happen though, big changes!  SU is now going to the ACC (which is awesome for us down here because we will actually get to WATCH most of the games on our local channels!) and TCU is joining the Big 12 (hello, excellent!).  We have been pretty busy and have not watched a ton of football this fall, but our teams are never on anyway...can't wait for next year!

One of our sweet friends from our Sunday School class is expecting a baby boy in December, and we got to throw her a fun shower today!

Shelley with her Mom and Mom-in-law

almost all of the girls in our class!

The mom-to-be...while we were "oohing" and ahhing"

Dad Casey was being a great helper in the present opening and organizing!

Practice!  Casey is great with babies already.

"Are you cutting teeth too??"

We are excited for their little guy to arrive!

My Little Destroyer

Uncle Matthew was traveling for work and stopped to see us for a night!

"You're so funny, Uncle Matthew!"

Big stuff ready for breakfast.

Just a slight resemblance...

Tired at Cracker Barrel

Did Uncle Matthew teach you this??

Listen people, I couldn't get him out without bonking his head or scraping the 

skin off of his legs, so I just waited to see what would happen!

Beyond the water bottles and onto the vases...

annnnnnd...standing up inside of the cabinet...

he eventually squeezed himself back out, bike water bottle in hand!

Another destroyer favorite...momma builds a tower as high and as fast as she can, 

and he knocks it down, complete with laughs and clapping!

Pumpkin Patch!

A little morning bagel?  I think so - good for chomping!

Aunt Lola had actually come down for some PUMPKIN PICKING!

2nd Annual....Tradition :)  Here's 2010!

Lots of fun farm animals!

Bison for the Bucknell girl!  They also had a lot of farm equipment 

and a full size school bus way up high all over the farm.

Ha! My little pumpkin.

Not so sure on the giant rooster...

Tractor ride to the pumpkin patch.  It was so beautiful!

Enjoying the wind and the ride...

Love him.  And yes, overalls just say to me, 

"Go pick an apple or a pumpkin, fall is the best!"

Nice one, I think she decided it was too much of a leaner though!

Very sunny for a family pic.

Connor found our perfect pumpkin!  It weighed more than him... :)

Sweet tractor ride.

Our littlest pumpkin, exactly 16 weeks...about this size right now!

Choo Choo!

Hurray for a day full of adventure!  On Friday, Daddy got to do a little golfing, while Connor and I took his first train ride into the city with some great friends.  Kylie shared her double stroller with Con - I told him he'd better get used to it!

About to board the train.  Choo choo woo hoo!

Grayson (26 mos.), Levi (30 mos.), Kylie (10 mos.), Connor (12 mos.)

Storytime at the big children's library.

Yeah.  Connor was interested in all of the OTHER books!

Bubble time silhouettes.  

Poppin'!

"Whatcha doin' up there, Kylie?"

The big 2 year olds played on the computer while Connor, Kylie, 

and some random friends had a great time in the baby/toddler area.  

He loves to hand things to people.  I hope that will transfer to good sharing. :)

"What?  We're busy!"

Hehe.  Levi and Con having a face off.  They were both face planting themselves in and out of this cushion - although Connor was crawling and Levi was leaping!  Good alliteration, I know...

After quite a good walk through some very pretty neighborhoods, 

we found ourselves at the perfect picnic and play spot.  

Good pushing, Levi!

Ahh.  Content. 

This looks like it was Connor's first climbing wall experience, 

but really he just wanted to taste the mulch.  I tried!

I see you, cutie girl!

Okay.  My friend Carey and I ventured downtown while I was still pregnant with Connor, and we read in a brochure that there was a building that had musical wall panels that lit up (we imagined you could play a tune, like each panel played a different note).  We walked and walked and found this parking garage that had a brightly colored outside, right near the train station.  We pressed all over the wall, and nothing!  We must've had the wrong building....

So on Friday, we took our long walk back to the station and Daniela said, "Oh!  They can play with these musical wall panels while we wait!"  And BAM!  She presses one and it plays a sound somewhere between a telephone ringing and a fairy wand waving.  Oh, it lit up too.  Man oh man Care - where did we go wrong?!  I think Levi and Grayson found every one that played all around the building!

Getting ready for the chugga chug to begin (it's electric, not too much chugging!).

Trying to take a train pic.  Meltdown city!  We had SUCH a great day though.

When we got home, Con was supposed to go down for a nap (um yeah, didn't happen) and I went to get some groceries.  Laura had driven down to spend the night and met me at the store.  Now get ready.  This is BIG NEWS!
When we got back home, Jonathan was waiting outside with Connor to greet us.  We were carrying things in and little boy was all smiles and excitement and I said, "Wait!  I think I just saw a tooth!" Now come on.  I check his gums like every stinkin' day so I thought no way was it true.  We went inside and he was laughing away while I tried to pull down his lower lip and SURE ENOUGH, a tiny white sliver of a tooth was showing!

Wooooooooooooo!  At 12 months and 25 days, Connor cut his first tooth!  

I definitely don't have a picture.  Ha!  I'm sure it will show up more soon!

I had gotten some chicken thighs a while ago because they were on a great sale, but wasn't quite sure what to do with them.  Good old Rachael Ray!  She had a recipe for prosciutto wrapped rosemary chicken thighs - and we had a bundle of fresh rosemary from the farmer's market!  I also did homemade rosemary bread, Food Network Magazine's "copycat" of the kind they have at Macaroni Grill.  My husband did the grilling, of course - it was a joint effort dinner.

Yum-O!

For dessert I made pumpkin cheesecake, an Emeril recipe.  Did you know that there is a shortage on pumpkin this year because of all the storms?   Not in this area, but definitely in the north, and there is a shortage of canned pumpkin down here.  Luckily I got one giant can when I spotted it a week ago.  Emeril wanted me to make a vanilla wafer and pecan crust, but I opted for ginger snaps.  He also wanted me to use a 12 inch springform pan, which I didn't think about until I pulled mine out and saw it was about 8 inches.  NO WONDER I had to buy TWO POUNDS of cream cheese.  Holy guacamole.  So, I halved the recipe and it worked out just pumpkiny delicious!

I did not take a picture of the cheesecake, but I did take one of this little gingersnap candy corn treat bowl I put together for Jonathan while I was baking.  He may as well have started singing "My Favorite Things!" :)