Climbing the Haystack

Pickin' Punkins...

Fall Festivities are never ending around here. Last Saturday morning, we met up with the Morten sons at Gallrein Farms out in Shelby County. The more popular place to go for pumpkin picking is Hubers (which we did go to)...so going away from all the crowds was nice. We were the first people there, which made us a tiny bit skeptical...but soon others arrived. They have a free petting zoo, free hayrides to the pumpkin patch, a HUGE haystack to climb all over, and a lazy dog that Alexa and Nathan fell in love with. :) As you can see, above, Nathan and Alexa became a part of the welcoming committee :)

Us...in the pumpkin patch.

SO many to choose from!

How 'bout this one?!?! It has already been picked!

Trick-or-Treat...YMCA Style

Mmmm...candy! Nathan and Audrey test out the goodies.

"Take the candy out of your mouth guys, and smile..." ;)

Audrey, deep in thought as Mini Mouse. (Come on! Isn't she THE cutest Mini Mouse EVER! :))

Let the festivities continue...The evening after the Zoo, the Freemans called us up and invited us to join them at the Fall Festival at the YMCA. That was fun! They had trick or treating inside the Y, which both kids LOVED! Then they also had big, bouncy, blow ups for the kids to jump around in...which I think was more fun than the trick-or-treating part. Both Nathan and Audrey let everyone know they were 2 when it was time to leave (meaning: they cried and cried and cried). :)

Sneak Peak

Nathan in his costume.

Keaton as Curious George.

Nathan and Keaton...goofing.

OOoh Halloween! I have NEVER been a huge Halloween person, until this year. And I still wouldn't call myself a "Halloween" person...I just seem to be more into the festivities than I have in previous years. I think that is because I have a child (children? can I say that yet?). It has been so fun to see Nathan learn the Halloween vocabulary (he has "Trick-or-Treat" down pat!), as well as all the traditional Halloween characters (ghosts, goblins, monsters, etc..), although he doesn't quite care about anything but the candy (which is just fine with me!).

Last week, we took him Halloween at the Zoo, and met up with our friends, the Walkers. We thought, going on a Thursday first thing would beat the crowds. Boy were we wrong! I think everyone in the entire city of Louisville decided to go that evening. Regardless...once we got in, we all had a great time! Nathan really enjoyed the train ride, the candy...and the music. He has totally gotten into music lately...and he LOVES to dance!

Oh yes, as you can see...he is Lightening McQueen! Ka-Chow!

Picture of the Day

No...he isn't peeing ;) He is in Time Out. You see, Nathan likes to spit...and he KNOWS he isn't supposed to spit, but does it anyways. Even after the "Nathan if you spit one more time, you have to go to time out." warning. In fact, giving him that warning is a 100% guarantee that he will spit again.

SO, what do you do when you are in the car, on the way to a destination...and he spits...and you throw out that warning? You have to follow through...when you get to your destination. Which is what happened here.

Frentheway Family Visit

"The Westerners": Mom/Kathy/Grandma, Hailey, Zane and Natey Boy.

Hailey and Nathan running in the covered bridge.

A couple of weeks ago...when Nathan was sick...my Mom, Zane and his fiance, Hailey, came to visit. We had a great time, aside from Nathan being really sick and nursing him back to health (sorry, Mom, Zane and Hailey...I am sure the sight of a 2 year old pooping down his leg wasn't your idea of a great vacation!).

We went to the Zoo one day, went on a drive to a covered bridge another, sat around, cooked, ate, Zane fixed our couch (thanks Zane!), I took engagement pix of Zane and Hailey...and just basically hung out! I really enjoy getting my family to Kentucky...after 6 years of being here, I am really beginning to feel like this is home (or maybe "accepting" it is a better word for it? ;)), so its nice to get the Westerners out here once in a while to show the place off! Especially in October! :)

Stickers Stickers...Stickers Everywhere!

Nathan's new "garage door" obsession is with stickers. Not just ANY stickers, they have to be stickers from the movie Cars. What does he doe with them? Just sticks them all over his legs mostly...once his legs are all filled up, he will sometimes move to his face and head (as you can see). He asks for sticker sheet after sticker sheet, and they all end up on his legs, then in his hands, then in a ball on the floor and in the trash. The adult in me wants to limit the stickers that he plays with...as it is "wasting" them. BUT the mother in me always wins out...as the stickers keep him occupied and happy. After all, they are JUST stickers! :)

Sicker than Sick

So...we seem to have caught a seriously horrible case of the flu bug around here. I should say, Nathan has caught a seriously horrible case of the flu bug, as Jonathon nor I have come down with anything (yet...I am sure I just jinxed it!).

Last Friday evening, Nathan was sitting there, playing with stickers, and he threw up a little. He turned to me and asked "what'd he do Mommy". 30 seconds later, he threw up again...A LOT. Then proceeded to throw up every two hours for the next 12! Poor little guy was so ill. He didn't have a fever until the following mid-morning, when the throwing up seemed to stop (he didn't have anything to throw up...and the dry heaves were awful for him!), then he started burning up. He proceeded to just lay on the couch all day long. Poor little thing...

I was hoping that he would start feeling better the following morning (Sunday), but he was just the same as the previous day, except instead of throwing up, it decided to RUN out the other end like a faucet! It was like a newborn all over again, except even worse! I would change him, and as soon as I would get a clean diaper on, it would run out again. He stopped drinking anything, he didn't eat for three days...by Sunday night, I was getting pretty concerned. I can handle the throwing up and the diarrhea...I was just really concerned about him getting dehydrated.

Then, at about 8pm Sunday, he perked up...played cars...and chatted...for about an hour, and then it was downhill again. Needless to say, he woke up Monday morning in much better spirits and he has been doing okay ever since. He is still very weak, and he walks a little funny...as if it hurts (someone please tell me that that is just him being weak and recovering from getting hit by the flu bus for three days. If that isn't normal, PLEASE TELL ME! I am worried that maybe this wasn't the flu, but something worse...BUT, I might be being a little dramatic - I am the mother, I can do that!). He still hasn't eaten much at all. Just little nibbles here and there. He is very clingy and wants to be held most of the time. At least he isn't throwing up or running out his diaper anymore though!

Family Night

Last weekend, our growing a family ventured to Bowman Field for the Bluegrass Balloon Glow. What a great time! We got there about 30 minutes before the balloons were even being blown up (it seemed like 3 hours though, because the toddler attention span is all of 3 minutes!), and walked around watching everyone unload and begin the set up. It all happened so quickly! All the sudden there were TONS of hot air balloons in the air! Nathan had a great time! He was a little freaked out at first, with all the fire and loud noise, but he quickly got used to it. He was in awe of the huge balloons...and continues to ask for them every morning :)

Of course, being 2...his favorite part of the night was not the balloons...it was an empty party tent with stacked folding tables. He ran around this tent over and over and over. There were a few other kids doing it to, so he joined right in. It wore him out...though I am sure he could have stayed for hours and hours! :)