Changing Seasons

Houston really only has two seasons, unbearable summer, and comfortable winter. Fall and spring are simply one to two week transition periods from summer to winter. Even though we don't have all the seasons I still want to celebrate them, so this weekend I got Jacob out to the pumpkin patch for some cute fall pictures.

In college we had this pumpkin patch near campus called Pumpkinville that I went to every year I was at Bonas. They made apple cider, the roads on the drive out there were covered in red and golden brown leaves, there was a chill in the air, and best of all were the pumpkin doughnuts. Because of Pumpkinville I have yet to enjoy any other local pumpkin patch in our area. After researching every place with pumpkins in our area I finally settled on Dewberry Farms about an hour away because it seemed like they made it an event and the pumpkins were in the fields they were grown in.

After about 40 minutes on the road I decided that this was a good idea because there couldn't be too many other crazy moms like me wanting to drive out to the middle of the country for a pumpkin patch when you're sure to pass about 5 on the way. It was a good thought until we pulled up and there were men stationed on horses across a dozen lanes of long parking directing the traffic.

The line to get in:


Once we got in we realized it was so much more than a pumpkin patch. There were a dozen attractions for kids, a snow cone hut where you got to choose between 20 flavors of syrup and put it on yourself, cannons to shoot ears of corn from, farm animals, and even pig races. Next year Jacob will love Dewberry farms!

This year we paid the entrance fee but only got to use the pumpkin patch, flowers and farm animal areas. They made for adorable pictures!

My aboslute favorite:

First Big Scare

**This post was done a week ago, but it took me a while to download the picture to finish it**

Yesterday was Jacob's 6 month check-up. There may be something strange about me, but I love these visits. Our pediatrician is amazing and she is always impressed with Jacob so it is kind of my chance to show off every little thing he does with someone that really needs to know.

For the past few days though Jacob has been a bit snotty, and starting on Thursday it began to sound like the congestion was in his chest. Thursday night he woke up several times because of the congestion and his stuffy nose. The more it sounded like it was in his chest the more worried we got. By the morning Michael decided to take a half day so that he could come to the appointment with me.

Doctor believe it is Croup plus seasonal allergies, but warned us to come in next Tuesday if it isn't gone by then just in case it is something more that she wasn't detecting. She told us we're doing the right thing by making the bathroom into a steam room and advised us to get a cool mist humidifier. After that he got his vaccines, plus flu shot and off we went.

The rest of the evening went great. The humidifier worked great, Jacob got a bath, all was good.

Around 10:30PM Michael got me from bed saying Jacob felt warm. We did an ear temp check and he was at 101.3. We figured the winter sleeper he was in and his warm swing weren't helping the situation so we took him outside for a bit then brought him back in to take off the sleeper.

His temp immediately began to drop to a safe zone and we gave him some medicine to bring down the now low grade fever.

As Michael and I paced trying to figure out what to do I couldn't help but take a second of how cute Jacob was as he wondered why on Earth we woke him up, but was ready to play.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good
Too cute for words. Jacob crawled under our coffee table today and through to the other side.
The Bad
Apparently I can't leave magazines out anymore.

The Ugly
Thank goodness there are no pictures. I was on the phone sitting next to Jacob in his bouncy chair when I looked over to see poop every where. I'm sure Michael was ecstatic to walk in just in time to help.

Biggest Fan

Before Jacob was born Michael bought an Astros hat from Babies R' Us. This was sweet since much of our early relationship was spent at Minute Maid Park watching the Astros attempt to get to the World Series. He wasn't thinking about any of that at the time though; he's just a sports guy.
Since buying that hat he has been on a mission to find some Texans gear that fits Jacob. He even agrees to go to baby stores to see if they have any Texans stuff out yet.

Right before the season started I found a cute Texans outfit in Jacob's size and surprised him by putting Jacob in it for the first game. He loved it and took pictures on his phone to show people at the game, then came home in a great mood because they won.

Next week was an away game and once again Jacob had to wear the outfit. Although it was a close game, Texans won again.

For the third game Michael went to the game and I had to go to a baby shower so Jacob had family watch him. Michael trusted me to put the outfit on him again and reminded me several times before heading out. I got the onesie on, but with the crazyness of the morning I didn't get the pants on and instead placed them in the diaper bag with directions to put them on before the game started. That afternoon the Cowboys kicked the Texans butts and Michael blamed me because Jacob never got his pants on.

Guess the luck ran out on that outfit because Michael decided to dress him in this outfit for the last game.The new outfit does include the same pants...guess they're lucky pants since they won again.

Happy (half) Birthday to you

Half birthdays are almost important as birthdays, especially if you haven't had a birthday yet. This explains why I was that annoying mom today and told everyone at his day care while I was subbing that today is Jacob's 1/2 birthday.

Every night after Jacob has gone to sleep Michael and I look at each other and talk about how amazed we are with how much he has grown and how we still can't believe this little man came from us. This discussion every night reminds us how blessed we are.

Some of the things Jacob does now:
-Last night he scooted from the middle of the floor in his room, to the hall, all the way through the hall, and into the living room chasing a magazine.
- Holding the bottle is no longer even a challenge. He goes crazy when he sees the bottle and then grabs and steers the bottle to his mouth.
- On the same note it is impossible to get the bottle from him until he's completely done. Most of the time once he's done he'll chew for a bit and then finally throw the bottle down.
- There are two teeth in the center-bottom of his mouth and more on the way. These first two came easy, but the next few look like they'll be a little more troublesome.
- He said "goo" the other day. Just once, but that's enough for me to count it.
- He slaps, hits, and bangs on everything. Seriously, everything.
- He's sitting for longer and longer stretches. If he has something to lean back on he's steady for a good while with no problem, and if there's nothing around him he can go a few minutes.
- Any time I walk into the room that Jacob's in he looks over towards my voice and gives the biggest most adorable smile.

Picture of my big boy as promised.

Hidden so Obviously

On Saturday night one of Michael's friends came over to watch football and play Madden...typical guy stuff. Since I can handle one football game, but not multiple games back to back plus a football video game thrown in there I decided to bake again and spent the entire night in the kitchen (I wish I had my camera to take pictures of them because the cupcakes came out so delicious and I decorated them all like little pumpkins and pies).

At some point having both ovens running made it extremely too hot in the kitchen so I joined the guys. As Justin was talking to me I had a direct view into the dining room when I noticed the camera battery charger that I had been missing for over a month. I did my best to keep in the conversation for the next couple minutes but all I wanted to do was jump up and grab the charger (and of course call out to Michael that I hadn't lost it after all)!
We've torn the house apart looking for this silly thing and all along it was sitting in plain sight on top of the bar cart where we normally store the camera bag. How had we not seen it before?

Because I have a charged battery now I was able to download the pictures that have been sitting there forever, so as Jacob gets ready to turn 6 months tomorrow, I'm happy to show off some 4 month old pictures of him and his love for the TV remote.

Oh look! There is that beautiful remote.

I must HAVE you.

I got it! I got it!

There is nothing better than the remote.