What Fun!

Bundled for morning runs with Daddy

Climbing the stairs at Grandpa and Grammy's house

Riding (not pushing) with Dutch in Mommy's old double stroller.

Saturday morning with Daddy

Apples to Rocks

More great "fall" weather = more photo ops in the backyard...

Shoving some apples in her mouth

My little cheerleader!

"I think I can rearrange this

to be a perfect seat!"

Tasting some rocks again

Mmm!

not quite as sweet as those apples

saving some for later

Those pink leggings will not be worn by another, but it was fun worth the sacrifice!

Walking!

Miss Haven Caitlynn started walking on November 5th! She had taken a few steps, but they were mostly as she was falling into whatever piece of furniture she was moving to next. On Friday (11/5) morning, with lots of coaching, she finally got the confidence to let go and walk! She was walking the entire length of my parents house by the end of the weekend. She is pretty steady and very rarely crawls now, but still gets knocked off balance often. She has a lot of trouble outside, especially in the grass, and definitely has no concept of things (toys, babies, dogs, etc.) being in her pathway. Most of the time, she still doesn't want to be very far from you, so it hasn't created more work. And as an added bonus, walking has increased her wardrobe because dresses are a much better option than they were when she was crawling.

Marital Bliss

We've been married four years on November 4th. I'll be real...not every day is pure bliss, but the good majority are pretty fabulous. When I think about our marriage, the best memories are the most simple days and the stuff that really irks me doesn't matter (I'll try to remember that when I'm irritated!).

The last four years have definitely flown by and, oh my, have we grown up and changed! I am more confident with each year that Benton is the perfect match for me. I can't imagine sharing this life with anyone else. I love the man he is, the man he is becoming, the daddy in him and the daddy he will be.

Benton and I didn't actually see much of each other on our anniversary this year because it was on a Thursday. Thursday's for Benton mean super early mornings because of bible study and late nights because of class. He did stop by the house briefly between work and class to bring me flowers and have a gourmet turkey dog dinner (and red velvet bundt cake compliments of my mom).

I spent our anniversary with my mom, Amy, and Haven at the Chi Omega Christmas Market, which was fantastic! We had lots of fun and found some treasures. There were some kids from Lake Highlands that did a performance that Haven thoroughly enjoyed while she woofed down an entire jumbo hot dog (not to mention the mum-mum's, cheezits, and bundt cake that followed). Her appetite never ceases to amaze me.

On Friday night, we put Haven to bed, used our first paid babysitter, and went to dinner at 560. We loved Anne, but can't speak for her babysitting skills since the only baby she got to spend anytime with was Dutch. Dinner was better than I expected and the company was the best :)

Happy Anniversary to The man of my dreams!

Baby Crack

My friend Sherry introduced me to Mum-mum's a few months ago. I had never heard of nor seen them before, and honestly, I don't think they would have caught my eye if I had. We were in Target last week and I saw them for the first time, so I bought some. I actually ended up opening the box before we left the store and I think I could have stayed in Target all afternoon as long as I kept feeding Haven mum-mum's. She LOVES them! They are the new staple in the car which is great because they don't make a mess, but she is going through them faster every time which means I need about a box to get to and from Plano. Who would have thought that rice rusks would be so addicting? I keep the extra boxes on the bottom shelf in the pantry and they need a new home because every time we are in the kitchen, Haven is in the pantry pulling the box down, opening the box and bringing packages of Mum-mums to me to open. It is the craziest thing - seriously baby crack.

Daddy turned Haven's car seat around on Friday. Don't tell, she's not quite legal, but her legs looked so scrunched facing backwards and the girl still doesn't like the car, so we are all for anything we think might make car rides more pleasant. I was a huge advocate for leaving kids facing backwards for as long as possible, but this girl has convinced me otherwise.

Chowing on a mum-mum and facing forward for the first time!

Haven's Halloween

I decided to take Haven up to the Deloitte office for the Halloween party the Friday before Halloween. Her favorite kiddos, Benjamin and Brooke, were there, so she had lots of fun. We didn't get to see as many people as we had hoped, but it was good to catch the few we did.

Haven is really into the dramatic "peek-a-boo" right now. I have so many pictures like this lately.

The morning after the Deloitte Halloween party, I woke up sick as can be and spent the morning throwing up about every 20-30 minutes. It was terrible! Thankfully, it was Saturday, so Benton was home and Grammy was able to come to the rescue (again) for the few hours that he needed to go to school. I thought I was over it by about 2pm, so I came out of our room and ate some soup, and then it started up again about 7pm. If I had the same thing Haven had earlier in the week, then I understand why she wasn't sweet and cuddly and was whiny and crying instead - I wanted to whine and cry too.

Needless to say, we did not do anything for Halloween except recover. Poor Haven! Good thing she is too young to know any different. Benton went to the World Series, so she did get to hang out with Grammy again and that is way better than trick or treating and the Greenland Hills Fall Festival combined :)

So this was Haven's Halloween costume on October 31...

Boo-tiful Pumpkin

It finally cooled off enough this week for Haven to showcase some of her Halloween duds...

I'm Batty for Mommy

Mommy's Little Pumpkin

Why is it so adorable to have characters on sweet little tushies?

Boo-tiful

She was digging rocks out of the dirt and needed to taste one. Conclusion - not so good.

Sickly (and maybe a little TMI)

After Trunk or Treat on Sunday night, we raced home to get Haven fed, bathed, and in bed. She wasn't very interested in dinner, but I didn't think much of it because I assumed she'd just had too many Graham Fish in the car (my latest trick in hopes of a quiet trip). So we continued on with the normal routine and I ran to Central Market while Benton was giving Haven a bottle. When I got home Benton told me that I missed all the excitement. Haven drank about 4oz of her bottle and projectile vomited across her room - all over her, Benton, the floor, the ottoman, etc. Poor baby! (And poor Benton!) They both had to strip down and start the bedtime routine all over again. I felt awful for her, but was still thinking it had to do with the amount of "junk" she had eaten that day. (I later told Benton that I was very proud of him for not calling me and telling me I needed to race home.)

Monday morning started out pretty normal. Haven didn't eat much for breakfast, which was surprising since she didn't have anything in her stomach from the night before, but I still didn't think much of it. I put her down for her usual morning nap about 9 and she woke up about 9:45. I was kind of frustrated with the short nap, but as I went in to get her, I could smell the throw up as soon as I opened the door. Poor baby had chunks in her hair. :( So, I stripped her down and gave her bath, again.

Unfortunately, this was not a sweet, snuggles and cuddles sick, this was a whining and crying sick. I was able to get Haven to nurse and sleep a little, but the only thing she ate was maybe five crackers all day, and she wouldn't drink much water - she was just pitiful.

We went to the doctor on Monday afternoon which was pretty much a waste of time, $20, and made Haven super mad. I really like Dr. Curtis, but I hate the answer that it is, "probably viral and just has to run its course." We trudged through the remainder of the afternoon and I put Haven to bed about 5:30 on Monday night. She slept, and slept, and slept until almost 10:30am Tuesday morning - that is almost 17 hours of sleep! If not for the video monitor, I would have been very concerned.

To make matters worse, I woke up Tuesday morning feeling like I'd been run over by a truck. Thankfully, my mom got back in town Monday night, so I pathetically called her and asked her to come over so I could go to the doctor. I went to the doc in a box, where they prescribe drugs, even if it is viral, so that I wouldn't come home empty handed. Grammy took care of Haven, made chicken soup, and even got Haven to eat. She's amazing! We are all feeling better now. Haven has a really gross nose, but I'll take that over vomit any day!

As for the runny nose, Haven has been really good about letting me wipe her nose. She has not figured out how to blow, but she'll hold really still and let me wipe the snot away. The first few times we did it, I made a big deal out of it by clapping and telling her what a big/good girl she is, so now every time I wipe her nose, she claps. So cute :)

Trunk or Treat

The UPS man brought Haven's Halloween costume last Friday. I was so excited and couldn't wait to have her try it on and this is the reaction I got...

Obviously, she was crying, but she was really pulling and throwing a fit over the strap underneath her chin.

Needless to say, I was a little concerned about how well the costume was going to go over for our church's Trunk or Treat event on Sunday, but I was pleasantly surprised. Haven was the sweetest little lamb!

I think Haven was looking at Cooper, the golfer, and thinking, "you look like my Grandpa!" :)

Haven is really fascinated with animals (she and Dutch squirrel and bird watch everyday), so while we did not do any treating at Trunk or Treat, our time was well spent at the petting zoo.

A lamb-a and a llama

The sheep came to check her out

"Come back over here..."

So sweet

Last stop, the Ponies

A little peek-a-boo with mom

A barnyard friend, Ana the piggie

We stripped Haven down for the ride home and poor baby had the sweatiest head, but she was still happy as could be.

We had great fun at Trunk or Treat and will definitely be back for more next year. Haven wrapped Sunday up with a bang, but more on that next...

Dangerously Close

I had a much better participant this month. She loves to "rocky, rocky" in her chair, but more importantly, I caught her in the right mood. I have no idea where she gets that from?!

We are just so in love with this babe! She is growing like crazy (I think those pants have seen their last day) and it is so fun and yet so sad. At eleven months Haven is...

• a pretty good eater and a fantastic sleeper
• still hating to have her diaper changed most of the time (which is a real beating since we do it so often)
• loving to go on runs with Daddy and walks with Mommy and Dutch (Mommy better start running if I am going to make it through the White Rock Marathon relay in December)
• still loving her pink swing and often reaches to walk to it when we are out front with Dutch
• super nosey and loves to people watch
• just lacking the confidence to let go and walk by herself
• climbing the stairs at Grammy and Grandpa's house (they're carpeted, ours are not)
• a lover of all dogs and calls them "Dutch"
• saying "Dada" to anything you want her to say
• clapping and waving appropriately
• babbling and squealing constantly
• still hating the car some days
• understanding a lot more - she knows "sit on your bottom" well and knows things she isn't supposed to touch. We are trying to save "no" for times when she is in danger, which makes her understanding seem more sophisticated.
• still good at throwing fits and I am confident she will only get better

It's hard to believe she is going to be a year old next month...it's gone by way too fast! Some days faster than others :)

Since My Last Post...

We found out another friend is expecting a baby in April! We are very excited for them, but were not surprised :) She is probably 16ish weeks now and poor thing didn't start feeling better with the "magic" second trimester. Hopefully she will soon though.

Benton now has Statistics, Accounting, and Economics behind him - YEA!! Finals were tough for all of us, but most of all Benton and we couldn't be more proud of how hard he worked. Let's hope those three are the worst of the classes he has to take.

Texas Tech won a game! With the amount of Baylor Bears at our church, I'm not sure we could have shown our face around there if we had lost. We didn't go, but Haven was dressed in her TTU duds and we met Uncle Cloud at San Francisco Rose for dinner and the Rangers game. This was the second time Haven has seen Cloud (the first was her birthday, but Cloud was too scared to hold her) and she wasn't too sure about him. I realize that doesn't make Cloud sound like a very good friend, but she goes to bed at 6pm and he's a single guy. Anyway, Haven is such a tease, she'll act like she wants to go to you, but then changes her mind and turns away.

Haven cheers for the Raiders from all angles :)

We went to our first pumpkin patch. It doesn't look like much of one here, but it was so humid and Haven was hungry, so I made a lame attempt at a picture. We'll plan better and try again this week.

I think it's safe to say it's a little warm in Haven's room at Grammy's house. She was a sweaty mess with rosy cheeks when she woke up from her nap there. The all-white too little outfit is compliments of the nasty (is there any other kind?) blowout she had in her high-chair. I took a picture of that as well so Benton could share in the glory, but I'll spare the blog - she's going to love that I document things like this - probably about as much as Benton likes receiving those kinds of pictures :)

Haven got to spend last weekend with Aunt B, Josh, and Nana. Aunt B has had a rough couple of weeks, but hopefully Haven took her mind off of it and helped to cheer her up. Thanks for keeping her for the weekend! I know you said she was a good baby, but would you tell us if she was a total pain in the rear? I doubt it ;)

Bath time at Aunt Bs. She looks so small in this monster tub!

While Haven was in Godley, Benton and I got to sleep in, spend Saturday at the Ritz Carlton Spa, spend Saturday night with hilarious friends, and go to brunch on Sunday where we learned of another friend that is pregnant and due May 1. We are once again, super excited, but not surprised. We've had dinner recently with both this couple and the above mentioned prego couple where the girls didn't eat very much, went to the bathroom oddly or frequently, and didn't drink - at this stage in life, those are giveaways :)

Haven is bringing back the infant seat. It has been our bedroom's toy box for a little while, but she has rediscovered that it is a seat and thinks it is so much fun to clown around in.

My parent's backyard, currently looks like this (and I guarantee you whatever it is, these guys do not get paid enough for their labor - it looks terrible):

But Haven thinks watching the workers is hilarious! During the above mentioned sweaty nap, they were jackhammering the patio. I wonder what she thinks is going on out there?

I am happy to report that Haven is doing MUCH better with drop-offs and pickups at the church nursery! Her sweet teachers told me that she was "very happy today!" It makes my heart smile to hear that especially after the "you can have her" I got from a volunteer one Sunday morning. (That one made me laugh, but stung just a little. She might be difficult at times, but she's still our pride and joy.)

When I went to get her after bible study this morning, she was strolling with five of her friends - so cute - and she didn't have a meltdown when she saw me! (Pardon Ms. Linda's booty; she was getting the front two kiddos out while I was trying to snap a pic with my phone.)

Bath time is so.much.fun!