Happy Halloween!

We carved our pumpkin this week, much to William's delight. Check out the messy scene as the boys enjoyed each other's company during the process:



We went with a dog howling at the moon to satisfy W's doggie obsession... and yes, Esch is using a drill to create the stars in the sky. He really went all-out. Why not? :)

And the finished product:


We're off to State College tonight for the big Michigan night game this weekend - will be fun. William will be making an appearance at tailgate in his monkey costume to stay nice and warm!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, everyone!

Perfect Weekend

All weekends are good, of course, but this one was great. For the first time in... about a month, I think, we stayed home. Esch went to Pittsburgh on Friday to be with his Dad after his neck surgery (poor Grandpa! Get well soon, we love you!) and we're happy to report that he's doing well. Wishing him the speediest recovery possible!

The Grandparents Grim (heehee) came to visit us in Macungie, and were nice enough to babysit W during a photo session I had on Saturday evening. They all went to see Uncle David's college soccer game and had fun, I was told!

We had such a nice time having Nanna and Grandpa at OUR home for once! Lots of playtime, proud showing-off of toys, and cuddling. When Daddy got back on Saturday, we let W stay up 2 hours past his bedtime to go to the Macungie Halloween parade! It was so cute. There were thousands of people lined up! He wore his little costume (will post pictures in the next few days) and LOVED the bands, fire trucks, etc. He sat with us "ooooh"ing and "VROOM! VROOM!"ing in awe as we shamelessly used his baby-in-costume cuteness to get float-riders to throw candy at us.

On Sunday morning, Nanna and Grandpa left (William cried) and we decided on a whim to go to a little "Pick Your Own" pumpkin patch I had passed the other day. As luck would have it, right as we pulled up they were loading kids and their families onto a hayride, so we hopped on, too. It was so much fun - gorgeous day, cute, excited little kids being surprised by the witches and goblins popping out in the woods (it was a pretty impressive production, actually - cute props and lots of "actors"), and William was clearly in heaven, sitting on a hay bale with his Daddy, being pulled by a huge tractor.





I was kicking myself that I didn't bring my nice lenses, so our pictures are nothing special, just snapshots. But they're still keepers to me - it was such a simple, fun family day. William was just beaming the entire time. We walked through a corn maze, W admired the many pumpkins and other cute little pumpkin gatherers.

He was the cutest, though. Of course. ;)

Countdown to One: First Friends

Almost a year ago now...

Our first visitor in the hospital, when William was 24 hours old, was "Uncle" Rob. W loved him right away! (And Mommy remembered why we love him so much - he took Daddy out to lunch, and brought us a bottle of champagne) :)

Then "Uncle" Joel and "Aunt" Renee (who are expecting a baby girl in February!!!!) came, too... W was so lucky to be loved by so many people the instant he came into the world. J & R brought us food, and there were flowers waiting on our kitchen table when we came home from the hospital.

I don't think these have been posted before.

We miss our best friends in Austin!

49 weeks! $%&#@!

I receive weekly emails from BabyCenter (I recommend them, really interesting) about W's development, etc. and for some reason, seeing that he is now 49 weeks old was shocking. I mean, there are 52 weeks in a year. (Begin panic attack...) HE WILL BE ONE 3 WEEKS FROM TODAY!

I sang a practice "Happy Birthday" to him to see if he would like the song, and I couldn't even get through it without tearing up. Oh dear.

On another note, we were in State College this weekend for cousin Katie's wedding. She had an absolutely gorgeous October day - bright sun shining, with yellow and orange trees in the background. Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Bish!

I had 2 photo sessions (Friday and Sunday) and didn't take a single shot of my own - of William, the wedding... it is getting to be a lot to tote around when W is involved in the event, too! He was a good boy at both the service and cocktail hour, but he announced promptly at his usual bedtime of 7:00 that he was NOT in the mood to join us at the reception, so we took turns sitting in the hotel room with him as he slept in his Pack n' Play.

Here are a few more photos from his 11 month shoot. Over a week old now, but cute.

I still can't get over those eyelashes. Lucky!

Lemme out!

11 months old - few days late

This Saturday, William turned 11 months old. As if I needed to be reminded, one of the baby websites sent an email that informed me, "31 days until your Baby turns 1!"

Gasp.

Each month seems to fly by more quickly than the last, and William just keeps changing and growing, and becoming more and more fun.

At 11 months old, he is now waving and clapping (both on command and spontaneously... sometimes he claps for himself when he finishes a meal - funny!), understanding many words and phrases, eating almost everything that we do.

He knows what splash, bath, doggie, duck, bear, ball, train, truck, rocket (seeing a bit of a theme in some of these words? He is all boy!) mean... among others. He knows the meaning of "no" but does not necessarily heed it! It is so amazing to see him becoming a little person - so soon he will be a toddler.

He doesn't love his sippy cup, but we're working on it. He adores bananas. I can't even say the word around him or he will go crazy. He likes bread, yogurt, and almost all fruits. He still does his little routine of going absolutely NUTS when Esch gets home from work. Shrieks, happy screams, superfastlightning crawling over to the door for Daddy to pick him up. He still worships Georgia. He digs shoes - loves playing with shoelaces - but not actually wearing them. He has 6 teeth - he looks so different, and so much older, with his top ones coming through!

We've had several friends and family members have babies this past month, and while I of course get a bit of baby fever seeing these new little ones, it also just stirs more love in me for William. I never knew I could love something so much. You think that one day - and the next, it just keeps growing exponentially.

He still nurses first thing in the mornings and at night. He cuddles, rubs his eyes, and buries his face into me. Oh, little William. We love you so much. Happy 11 month birthday.

Now THIS is fall!

It has been 3 years since we've had a Northeastern Autumn, and I missed it. Turns out, it was for good reason. This weekend was absolutely gorgeous. Golden sun, red and orange trees that look like they are on fire on the mountainsides... just beautiful! It was also warm - in the 70s - a perfect football weekend.

We were in State College - went tailgating, and then WWM went to Juniata to watch Uncle David's soccer game. Aunt Erika was visiting, too, so they got to see eachother.

On Sunday, WWM got to go to the country club for brunch with his grandparents and great-grandparents, to the park to play... just a great, relaxing weekend!

We get to go back to State College next weekend to see all of the McCombies for cousin Katie's wedding! Can't wait.

October.

I remember being excited this time last year that when people asked when I was due, I could finally say "next month!"

William's first October is off to a nice start... despite TONS of rain and chilly weather the past few days (his baby pool on the porch is literally overflowing!) we've been having fun. We spent a rare weekend at home - no trips to State College for football (that resumes this coming weekend) and both Saturday & Sunday morning I had photo sessions, so Dad and WW spent some quality time together.

Here are a few snapshots from the past week. Nothing great, but I of course still like them. The first two are a bit reminiscent of baby mugshots against his nursery curtains!