Best Halloween of All Time

Brian and I agreed that this year was the best Halloween ever. There is really nothing better than dressing your child up in a cute costume and showing him off to all of your friends and neighbors.

But, we actually started celebrating Halloween on Friday at the Zoo's annual Zoo Boo. We ran into friends, took Preston all over the Zoo at different trick-or-treat stations, and really had a great night.

Preston was a moose for Halloween. :)

He would actually hold his bucket out for candy! He would give the workers big smiles. It was awesome.

Brian borrowed the moose hat for a little bit. Preston was giggling!

Zoo Boo is a great event, and we had so much fun taking P. Saturday, we headed out to Cedar Hill Farms in Hernando, MS for our friend Piper Pride's 1st birthday party. Cedar Hill Farms is great - it has a petting zoo, hay rides, train rides, a pumpkin patch, and a corn maize. We took part in several activities, and Preston just loved it. The fun thing about this stage in development is that you can actually SEE Preston having fun! It is the best thing ever.

We propped up sweet baby Avery against all the pumpkins and took her picture. She didn't even wake up!

LOVE this next picture... haha! Thief!

Preston is two feet tall!

P would actually reach out and try to pet the animals.

Saturday night we went to our friend's engagement dinner (more on that later), and Preston stayed with his Great Aunt Amy. Sunday, Brian and Preston got to work carving a pumpkin. Well, Brian did all the carving, Preston did a lot of watching :)

At school on Monday, Preston's class has a party. He got to wear his moose costume again (he wore it four times this year!) and party with his class. The best was getting a taste of ice cream! He has actually had it two other times, and was thrilled to enjoy it, according to his teachers. Apparently, he inherited a major sweet tooth from his dad.

The main event was Halloween night. We surprised Brian's parents and trick-or-treated at their house first. Of course, that was entertaining for everyone! Preston got treats from his grandparents and aunts, and then we headed over to our neighbors house. We are SO blessed that our neighborhood is mostly families, so Halloween was super eventful. Our neighborhood was PACKED with kids and families. It made my heart so full to be out trick-or-treating with our neighbors and see all the families out and about. I wish Halloween was every night!

The Brasfield's had us all over to their house for chili and appetizers before we headed out. They had an amazing stash of boy toys, so Preston was in heaven!

Preston and his buddy Reed a.k.a. Yoda.

I mean, have you EVER seen such a happy moose?! Preston was having the time of his life!

This next picture cracks me up. Preston and his neighbor friend Bennett. They are just a couple months apart. Bennett had an awesome costume - he was Superman!

Our neighborhood trick-or-treating group! We had a moose, superman, two princesses, two baby pumpkins, Yoda, Darth Vader, a caterpillar, and a dragon. Quite a crew!

Headed out to the first house...

All the little ones heading up to the first house. I had to get a picture of Preston's first trick-or-treat stop. Brian is holding him, all the way to the left.

Preston stayed up an hour past his bedtime, and he was asleep when his body hit the crib! Brian and I had so much fun with him over the last few days. Brian said it best tonight - "Just when you think you couldn't love him more, he does something new, fun and exciting." So true, honey! :)

Happy Halloween from...

our little MOOSE-man!

Today is also Preston's 9 month birthday, so I'll have a post for that tomorrow and one for Halloween on Wednesday. :)

Randoms

Someone found a pen and thought writing on his face would be fun.

Check out that left eye

And we got his school picture proofs back....

Funny, because he is so smiley, but of course, gave two weird faces for pics. :)

We now have the world's happiest baby - a FAR cry from P's first few months of life. Gosh we are blessed.

Still only two teeth... maybe he'll get more one day :)

In other news, Preston has stocked up on some fall and winter clothing thanks to sales at Target, Gap Kids and Old Navy. They look like big kid clothes. Not many onesies for this kid anymore.

little man

Preston is now easily standing and his balance has gotten so much better. He lets go and stands there holding onto nothing for a minute or two. Sometimes, he bends down and picks things up, and stands back up again. A couple days ago at school, P was standing on his own and pivoted, so that he turned around. He didn't even fall down! His teacher didn't classify it as "first steps" since he didn't pick up his feet, just pivoted on the balls of them, but I know we are very close. His teacher swears he will be running by Christmas. I just can't believe that.

waving hello! and standing on his own

Brian informed me that since P will be walking soon, that means he'll be a toddler. I almost died. I am happy he is a happy, growing baby, but a toddler?! That is way too big.

loves the laptop

Oh, and since I use my blog to document stuff, I have to share this sweet story. On Monday, P and I beat Brian home. We were walking out to the mailbox to get the mail and Brian pulled up in the driveway. I told Preston, "Wave hello to daddy!" and he picked up his little hand, and gave the sweetest, most perfect wave possible. I am pretty sure Brian and I were on the borderline of crying, because it was the cutest thing we had ever seen! We were smiling ear to ear the rest of the night. You would think Preston had cured cancer after the way we acted!

Preston was playing very hard recently, and he fell asleep while I was giving him his bottle. That never happens, so daddy took a pic. I think he only slept for about 15 minutes, but since he NEVER stops moving, it was a sweet moment.

Terrible of me, but precious of Mr. P.

We've got a fun little weekend ahead of us. I have to work some, but we plan on heading down to RiverArtsFest (we've been every year since it opened) and maybe do a little more work on the house... surprise, surprise. :)

Are you sensing a theme with ponytails, long sleeve shirts, leggings and Uggs? It's my uniform at home. 

 Our little family is enjoying the new playroom. It was quite a project. I'll post on that soon!

Pumpkin Patch & Playground

What a fun weekend! Friday night, we had my SBA friends over for a cookout. Avery and Preston finally got to meet! Robyn had to hold him back a little (he wanted to climb on top of her) but other than that, they played very well together :) 

Avery is so precious!

We were telling him to be gentle!

 Saturday morning, we got up and had plans to go to the pumpkin patch. It was the day of the Georgia/Tennessee game, and since our alma maters were playing each other, Brian had to rub it in and put Preston in his Georgia hat.

The pumpkin patch at 2nd Baptist was great! P crawled around and watched everything going on. He picked out a tiny pumpkin and we picked out a big one.

It was such a gorgeous day that after leaving the pumpkin patch, we decided to go to a nearby park. They had toddler swings there, so we put P in a swing for the first time. He LOVED it. He laughed and smiled the whole time. It was really cute. Brian and I both took turns pushing him.

Then Brian took him down the slide. So cute!

Saturday night we went to a Stock the Bar party downtown for some of our friends, and Preston stayed with his grandparents. It was a really fun night. Sunday, Brian went over to Robert's to watch the NFLA games and P and I had play time together. We joined him over there after his afternoon nap :) Such a fun weekend!

8 Months

Preston,
You are eight months old today!

Eight months seems so big. Too big. Last night, your mommy and daddy had you in big boy pajamas (the ones with a shirt and pants, instead of a sleeper) and you just looked so big! Like a little boy and not a baby.

You probably weigh around 18 and a half pounds and are about 27 inches long, give or take. You are doing so many things these days. You climbed stairs the other day. Your mommy saw you do it and almost died. She couldn't believe it! You are still so small, and it was amazing to see you climb them so easily.

You are oh-so-close to walking. You stand without any support and catch yourself easily. Your daddy and mommy were talking yesterday about how you rarely ever fall and cry anymore, because you catch yourself so well. They have heard from your daycare and from friends and family that play with you, that you have very good balance. It is true!

You have two bottom teeth!

You are learning how to wave. Sometimes you do it, but not every time.

The most amazing thing to your mommy and daddy is just what a daredevil you are. You love danger so much. You look for trouble. Right now, you love doors - pushing them open and closed and opening cabinets. You pull up on everything in sight. You were trying to pull up on a ball the other day, which did not go well for you :)

The biggest development is in eating. You have ventured into the world of finger food! You love string cheese, bananas, scrambled eggs and Cheerios the most. You also ate an entire pizza crust the other night. So, basically, you love carbs :) You get so excited about eating! You always have, but feeding yourself is the best yet! Your mommy and daddy still give you baby food too, and your favorites are sweet potato, squash, peas, and apples. You squeal at the sight of food.

Eating a snack in your walker. You love to eat and chase!

You give yourself all of your own bottles at every feeding, and you have started taking sippy cups more. At daycare, you take them all the time, but don't take them at home as much. That is mainly because mommy and daddy haven't really enforced it yet.

Speed crawler!

You are a champion sleeper these days. You sleep at least 10 hours at night, which is the best ever. You are usually asleep by 7:30 p.m. and usually awake by 7 a.m. Your teacher at school said that you were the best napper in the class. You usually take a morning nap for about an hour and a half and an afternoon nap of sometimes two to two and a half hours. It is great!

You love to pull stuff off of shelves... especially books!

You are starting to favor certain toys too, which is interesting. You love your carrot from Ikea, which makes your mommy super happy because it is one of your most random stuffed toys. If only she can make you love your huge stuffed broccoli, then her life would be made :) You actually do like it, but you don't LOVE it like you do the carrot. Your daddy just recently went on a business trip and brought you back a very fun ball that rolls on its own and makes sounds and lights up. You love that! You also love My Pal Scout and smile at him like he is real.

Easily cruising furniture

You still love bath time and you have your "bath time friends" that you play with. These consist of a set of water squirters that you chew on while you bathe.

Preston, you are so perfect. You are your mommy and daddy's sunshine. You make our hearts burst! We love you. Happy eight months!