October's Favorite Finds

It's FRIDAY!!

Ryan and I are heading out to our third pumpkin patch of the season this morning. We might have waited until the end of the month to start visiting them, but we are definitely making up for lost time this week!

And it's the end of the month, so it's time for E and me to share our:

So let's get started.

For Halloween tomorrow, we're getting together with 6 of Ryan's friends in the morning for a Halloween version of our traditional "family" breakfast. We started this breakfast tradition after we all had kids and it started to get a little tricky to get to each other's houses for dinner and find space for multiple pack 'n plays. Here's the most recent picture of our group, minus the two newest babies.

But don't you worry, there will be plenty of picture taking tomorrow since the kiddos are showing up to breakfast in their costumes.

And speaking of costumes, Ryan is going to be a bear for Halloween:

He is quite excited about his little costume! We did have to work on the bear sound a bit since he "mooed" every time we asked him to be a bear. But I think he's ready now. :)

Our Halloween breakfast menu:

recipes here

recipe here

recipe here

Some of the mamas are bringing some Halloween crafts for the kids, but we all know that's not my forte so I left that planning to them. It works out better for everyone that way. ;)

In other favorites from the month,

found here

I LOVE these J. Crew Maternity jeans. They are so comfortable and fit like I don't have a belly. In fact, the story behind these jeans is that I stalked down a super cute pregnant gal in Trader Joe's to ask her where she bought her jeans and then asked for the exact style for my birthday. They are GREAT!

found here

Matt got me this watch for my birthday and I LOVE it! It goes well with anything- dressed up or dressed down.

found here

I wear these Steve Madden ballet flats ALL THE TIME. They are so comfortable and go with everything.

found here

You guys, my friend Andrea told me about this gel nail kit, so I bought one this month, and it is awesome! They have three different color options for the initial purchase (each kit comes with one color plus the top and bottom coats), but the one that I bought is only $26.99 with free shipping right now. It's usually $55! So buying the kit is cheaper than one visit to the nail place. And the instructions for applications were super easy to follow. I plan to buy more colors this month, but I love the one that came with this kit!

Anyone have any recommendations for where to buy gel polish and which brands you've had the best luck with?

And since this wouldn't be a favorite finds post without some food-related item, let me share with you my new favorite chips:

So so good! And great with a yummy sandwich or grilled cheese for lunch.

That's it for this month!

Don't forget to check out E's list HERE!

Hope you guys have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!

15 Months

Our little guy turned 15 months old yesterday!

This stage is so sweet because he's learning so much every day but still has a baby look about him.

Here are a few of our favorite moments from the past month:

• him parroting everything we say
• getting so excited to see TT and Reynolds at his Aunt Dre's house and scrunching up his shoulders and pulling his fists to his neck when he is happy to see someone
• walking EVERYWHERE!
• creating little challenges for himself like getting up single steps without using his hands, or this week, climbing up and down our little step ladder. When he finds something that looks like a challenge, he will do it over and over again until he figures it out.
• going down slides at the playground- he one his own decided to sit and turn around and slide down on his belly- definitely a safer way to do it but I never even showed him this!
• saying "Amen" after prayers
• being pushed around in his big red car (which he says like a New Yorker) and pushing it around our patio and driveway all by himself
• He loves watching Daniel Tiger and when he's ready for a little down time in the afternoon, he'll grab the remote, bring it to me, and say, "Tie Tie"
• helping me cook and stir "tir" the food- he will say, "watch" and lift up his arms for me to pick him up :)
• visiting our next door neighbor Lizzie (Yizzie)- he will request her all all hours of the day- even before the sun is out ;)
• his favorite part of building a tall tower with his blocks is dumping all of them out at the beginning
• He loves smelling flowers (no matter how far away they are) and sniffing candles. And when he helps me blow out candles or blows on his food to cool it off, he always blows through his nose. :)
• He's gotten really good at eating with a spoon in the last week. He kept requesting one during meal time so I just started letting him go for it. It wasn't the cleanest at first, but he's gotten pretty good at it since his first couple of meals!

He has developed two obsessions this month- one with spoons "poon" and one with ice. It does not matter how big or small the container is (a pretend measuring cup from his little kitchen or a big basket from his sister's nursery) he will pick it up, carry it to the fridge, hold it up and say, "ice, ice ice." He just loves playing with ice!

And spoons- he loves to sleep with a spoon and will sometimes request one for walking around the house. And at night, when I'm putting him down, he will sometimes pop his little head up while I'm singing or rocking him and say, "POON" and point to the kitchen. Little love.

This month he has also been cutting four molars and two canines and his sleep is all over the place because of it. Our mornings are starting anywhere between 4-5:30, but most are falling closer to the 4am side. Hoping for both of our sakes that these teeth come through and he can sleep comfortably again soon!

Getting ready with me :)

Loves his car from his Aunt Dre! (And getting soaking wet at the water table)

Playing with TT and Rey Rey

Cracking himself up by wearing his daddy's shoes on his hands

First trip to Ikea

Zoo trip!

Blowing bubbles (with his nose)

Smelling flowers from inside the hayride at the Pumpkin Patch

Watching "Tie Tie" with Tally

He figured out how to get in the laundry basket all by himself and was quite proud.

2nd haircut

Clemson trip! (more pictures here)

Grocery shopping with Reynolds- he's also started requesting to wear his hat, which is kind of a big deal because he has never liked having anything on his head.

Sleeping with his spoon :)

During one pre-nap time, he dropped one spoon and was really upset about it. I decided to go back in and get it for him and all was well in his little world again :) ...but this was the look of distress on his face when I first walked in.

He has gotten so good at walking with his popper! It is one of his favorite toys right now.

Painting pumpkins with Brayden! (more pictures here)

Cheering on Daddy and Uncle Patrick at tennis

First Pumpkin Patch and first time hearing a real cow moo. :) Melt Mama's heart

These two love playing together

One of his first meals with a spoon- ha! He was doing really well so I left the room to transfer clothes to the dryer and when I came back, this is what he looked like, haha. I guess the yogurt got low in his bowl so he started scooping it out with his hand. :)

Pumpkin Patch!

As I was looking through my calendar this weekend, I realized we were running out of time to take Ryan to a pumpkin patch this Fall. Where have these Fall weekends gone?!

So on Sunday, we made an executive decision to skip church and head up to Kinsey Family Farms. And since my parents had stayed with us the night before, we brought them along for the fun too!

Y'all, to say I was excited about this little trip is an understatement. It basically felt like Christmas morning. And that night when Matt and I were about to fall asleep, I told him I wish the day the could start all over.

This place was exactly what I was looking for for our little toddling one year old who loves farm animals and "pump pumps."

As I shared on Instagram, this little day trip made all my Fall dreams comes true.

It was "pump pump" heaven for this little guy!

Nonna and Papa helped him pick out the perfect little pumpkin

He wanted the pumpkin on his head :)

Off to see the cows!

"Moooooo"

The first time he heard a real cow moo. :)

He's been so in to "tac-tors" just in the last week, so getting to sit on a real one was a big hit!

First hay ride

waving to the animals

He spotted some flowers (which were really leaves that had changed colors on the trees) and gave them a good smell from inside the hay ride :)

Still smelling... he's an aggressive little flower sniffer :)

Ahhh... my Fall feels complete.