New 'do

Yesterday was an errand packed day. I can't believe how blessed I've been to have a baby who is generally sweet about being toted out and about all day. I attribute half of that to his God-given nature and the other half to babywearing. Other than a few minor complaints, Levi was an absolute doll.
In the midst of running errands I got my hair cut. Until I sat down in the chair, I was on the fence about how short to go. I love the ease of a ponytail, but the long hair was starting to get old. As you can see in the photos below, I decided to chop it off. I love it. I've lost 50 pounds since having a baby (okay, so 25 of that was baby weight), so I figure I deserve a new look.
The photos really don't do it justice. Something about photographing myself makes it difficult to take a good photo. Since, Levi's not too good with the camera, these will have to do for now.

This one's a bit wind blown, but you get the idea.

Beco Butterfly Baby Carrier Giveaway Alert!

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Fall Festival

I wanted to post these yesterday, but between work and running errands my time got zapped. So here they are. Better late than never.

The Fall Festival was held at our church on Sunday. We got to dress up, go trunk or treating (a variation of trick or treating), and eat lots of yummy food. Since we were bringing food and treats we got there a bit early, so Levi, Nana, and Grandpa got to hang out with the Hillbilly Groom.

Some people had their act together enough to decorate their trunks for trunk or treat. Levi thought this balloon was pretty smashing.After Trunk or Treating we went into the Fellowship Hall for food, entertainment, and a bake sale auction. The money collected is going to the children's playground fund. From what I heard, we did pretty well on the money raising front.

One of the men in the church has a train collection that he put up for the kids to enjoy. Can you tell Levi looks up to his Grandpa. . .literally and figuratively? Of course, Levi had to do some exploring.

A Little Pre-Halloween Fun

Tonight, we will be attending Levi's first Halloween Party. Okay so it's really a Fall Festival, but it includes loads of candy (which will probably go to Grandpa) and Halloween costumes. Below is a sneak peak of what the little fella' and I will be wearing. I considered going more elaborate on Levi's costume, but I decided that the important thing is that he be willing to wear it. I appliqued the pumpkin face on one of Levi's onesies, and I made my witch hat out of some felt that I had on hand. Levi's pumpkin hat came from here. While we were getting ready for tonight's party, Levi found the candy stash.

Luckily, he hasn't figured out what's in those lovely colorful wrappers. He just thinks they make fabulous rattling and crinkling sounds.

Makin' Me Smile

How exciting! I won an award. Isn't it cute? Thank you, Crystal! So, the deal is that I'm supposed to give you a little list of "Things that make me happy." So, here it goes, in no particular order:

• The last 10 or 15 minutes of the evening, well Levi's evening. I love snuggling and watching him drift off to sleep.
• The next two or three hours, depending on how late I stay up. It's my time to sew and read. I love it.
• The first 10 or 15 minutes of morning. Levi is at his sweetest and cutest then. He is a liberal giver of hugs and kisses during these moments.
• Fall. The crisp, cool air refreshes me.
• A bowl of hot, homemade soup on a cold day.
• Family. I've been blessed with an ultra-fabulous one.--I'm especially looking forward to my brother's visit during Christmas. We only see him once a year now. Sniff, sniff. He's bringing his girlfriend/almost fiancee (I don't know what I'm supposed to call her), but it's going to make me very happy to meet her. I already like her.
• Shopping. Any kind will do. I like clothes shopping, shoe shopping, fabric shopping, gift shopping, grocery shopping. . .you get my drift.
• Pedicures and manicures, but pedicures are my favorite.
• Last but not least, it makes me happy to think about things that make me happy! Silly, but oh, so true.

Now is the part where I'm supposed to pass the torch. Since Captain Destructo is on the move, how about we just say if you're reading this you get the award! Yay, to all! Gotta go catch a bambino.

Technicolor Bambino

For Christmas last year my brother gave Levi a super soft and cute bamboo outfit. Somehow, I eventually managed to lose the pants half of that combo, but now they are found. The best part--they still fit! He outgrew the shirt a few months ago, but oddly enough, he can still wear the pants.

Vanity, Thy Name Is Baby.

I just wish my camera had been out when he was grinning at himself and smooshing his face up to the mirror. As you can see, there went my resolve to not embarass Levi's future self by posting naked baby pictures on the internet. Oh, well, hopefully he'll forgive me.

Weekend Review

This weekend was definitely errand weekend. We spent most of Saturday on the go, and Levi deserves a gold star for being so sweet about it. Despite two new teeth making their debut and another one ready to pop, he was a pleasure to be around. He now officially is the proud displayer of 4 teeth--3 on the bottom and 1 on top. He is soon to have that fifth one, but it's taking its sweet time. After our errands, Levi had some male bonding time with Grandpa out by the brick oven. He got plenty dirty, as you might notice from the pictures below.His bottom half nearly blends in to the ground! Grandpa made tons of bread, so most of it went into the freezer. Of course, Levi and Grandpa had to take a break in the midst of putting it away to play a bit.
Can you tell somebody is teething? Grandpa was getting a half loaf ready to send home with us, but Levi latched onto it. Apparently it made a pretty fabulous teething toy.

During our errand running, we stopped at a consignment store to check out their children's clothes. As I walked in I couldn't believe my eyes. They had the cutest wooden airport. I think it's by Plan Toys. The best part--it was only $6. I couldn't believe my luck. It's so about to be stashed away as a future present. It has a couple more parts not pictured, and it has a little section on the bottom that hooks up to a train set. I'm almost positive it will connect to the train set my mom already has. Yippee!!!
Now I just need to find the perfect size coffee table (preferably free on the side of the road) to transform into a train/airport table for when Levi's a bit older. Luckily I have a few years to find it.

Late Bloomers

We thought this rose bush was bloomed out, but it surprised us.

Barn Chores

The weather here has been fabulous lately. It's been cooling off, so it's perfect walking weather. Thursday after going to the local business expo (hence the balloon) Levi and I accompanied Grandpa and Nana to the barn for feeding time.
Grandpa and Levi took a break on the swing by the barn.
Nana, Grandpa, and Levi head off to one of the pastures to feed the horses.
Feeding time:
Levi still isn't sure what to make of the horses. He gets excited about most animals, but he just stares at the horses. However, Aunt Annie is determined to have Levi on a horse by the time he's three. She might have her work cut out for her!

Back in Cloth!

If you've been reading, you know already that we've recently encountered some night time wetting issues. I started putting Levi in disposables at night to avoid changing the sheets so often. However, we are back to cloth now. A friend of mine suggested wool diaper soakers, so I bought a couple from Etsy. This pair came from this seller. I was very excited to try them out. First impression, super cute! Then we went to sleep, and then we woke up.....DRY!!!! I didn't have to change the sheets. Yippy! I also added a hemp diaper liner to the regular liner which was another suggestion I received. I have a couple of fleece soakers headed my way as well. I'll let you know how those work out. Thanks to everyone who commented. I appreciated the suggestions so much!!

Captain Destructo makes a pretty good model, huh?

Boo!

Halloween is a comin'. So, of course, I've been decorating. I didn't go as far with the decorating as I would of liked. Something about having a baby attached to me makes going wild with things a little difficult. But, here are the possibly-not-so-final results. Heck, there's still time before Halloween to add on to the pumpkins and skeletons.
Here are some pumpkins from our pumpkin picking excursion. It's still 80 here, so the summer flowers haven't kicked the bucket yet.:
I think my front porch could use a little something extra. Any suggestions? I don't know how well you can see this one. It's my living room. I draped black cobweb fabric and cut out a spider to hang from it. Note to self: Get candles for the ghost candelabra.
Spider closeups:Doesn't everyone keep a basket of skulls in their kitchen?My desk even got a little pumpkin treatment.
What are y'all doing for Halloween?