Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope you've had a great day. Ours has been very busy.

Thanks to a great play date with Ryan last night, Eli slept in a bit this morning (until 6:45am) so he went to school a bit late. That was a nice start to the day! Today was the Parade of Costumes at school today so Tim & I both went to watch. It was so cute. Lots of adorable kids and costumes - they all loved it. Eli walked with his class and then with me for a bit. He went as a farmer - Old MacDonald to be exact. The little infants were pushed through the parking lot in the evacuation cribs - it was fun. Then it was party time in the class. Eli ate sooo much food. He & Ryan ate their plates and then wanted more. Apparently Eli is a good eater every day in class. After lots of food and treats, we headed home.

Tonight we took Eli walking through the neighborhood in his wagon. We didn't really trick or treat - just dressed up for our family walk. We had straw in the wagon, Eli's farm and 'Old MacDonald had a farm' was on repeat on the ipod speakers. Eli didn't care too much for the straw but did enjoy playing with his farm while we walked.

He's pretty pooped out now and getting fussy. Hopefully he'll give us a good night of sleep after all the excitement. Hope everyone had fun either treating or being treated.

Farmer Eli at Parade of Costumes

School party - Ryan is the giraffe on the left, Eli on the right

Checking to make sure the animals are ready to go

Look at my cool bucket Mom made me

Playing with animals on the walk

Trick or Treat

Eli's 1st pumpkin carving

Tonight Eli carved his first pumpkin. Last week at school they had pumpkin patch so he brought home one he had picked out himself. He wasn't too thrilled tonight with all the goo coming out of the pumpkin but he did have fun watching me carve it.

Trying to scoop goo

Helping Mommy

Hello there Mr. Pumpkin!

My funny faced pumpkin

Final Measurements and Pictures - Bye Bye Helmet

Today we had Eli's final helmet appointment at UNC. We stopped his helmet last week because it just wasn't fitting well so we went in today for the final pictures and measurements. I don't think I've shared any pictures along the way of his head shape so you'll all be shocked and, hopefully, excited for Eli about the difference. As for measurements, when we started there was 5/8" difference in the cross sectional measurements. Now there's 3/16" - almost 1/2" improvement!! So it's not perfect but it looks pretty darn good and we're very very pleased with the results. The 7 months was totally worth it and we were very happy with the staff at UNC's Brace Shop. Hopefully none of you will ever need their services but just know how great they are if you do!

The "before" left side - taken 3/24/08

The "after" left side - taken 10/28/08

Hanging with Grandma & Grandpa / Panthers game

This weekend we went down to the farm to see Grandma & Grandpa C. The main reason was that I was hosting my company's suite for a group for the game. We went down Saturday afternoon and Eli was able to walk around the farm and help Grandpa gather eggs. He was so cute just roaming around and watching everything. A full afternoon of playing and we had a great dinner. Lots of good Southern comfort food especially one of my favorites - my mom's country style steak! Eli did really well driving down and also sleeping that night. He was up Sunday morning before the roosters (literally!) and I was surprised that it was 6am. I could have sworn that it was 4:30 or something. We had family breakfast and then Grandma took Eli with her to church and we were off to the Panthers game. I'm told that Eli was a good little boy for church and also at lunch with the extended family. They had lots of fun playing and exploring the farm and Grandma even enjoyed a nap with Eli.

Now for us, we had a great time at the Panthers game and were very happy that they won. My company built the stadium and we have a suite there. I was fortunate enough to reserve it for the game and entertain clients. So much fun!!! Tim even said that he would be the world's #1 football fan if we could always watch games that way. The group we hosted was a lot of fun and it was an enjoyable afternoon. A fun time there combined with Eli being good made for a wonderful Sunday.

We drove back last night at Eli's bed time and that worked so well. We didn't have to stop really at all and cut 30 minutes off our drive. I think that will be our approach for a few upcoming trips. Got home kinda late but survived the day at work. All I want to do right now is lay on the couch and sleep but I've got work to do. It just never ends does it?!

Now the pictures...

Gathering eggs - oh no, don't drop it Eli!!

I just love this picture - walking with Grandma & Grandpa

Not a great picture but us at the game

Woo hoo - a new football!

This was actually tonight. Eli in his doggie camo coat. Got to stay warm!

Family dinner at the table

It's hard to believe but we've started having family dinner (and other meals) at the table together now. Eli has been aggravated with the high chair for some time and was throwing his food and drinks ALL the time. It was very frustrating for us and didn't make meal time enjoyable. Last night we decided to try his booster seat at the table with us and he loved it. Breakfast again this morning and then dinner tonight. It feels so strange for him to be big enough to sit up to the table with us but it was pretty cool. Looks like it's time to retire the high chair! Here are some pictures from pizza night tonight.

Big boy style - my own seat and plate

Yummy pizza crust

LOVE this new seating arrangement

Helmet free Eli

Last night was Eli's first official night as Helmet Free Eli. When we went to put his helmet on, it just wasn't fitting right and Eli appears to have grown out of it. That was our goal - wear it at night as long as it fits. And here we are!! Almost 7 months after we started, we are Helmet Free. =)

The Great Pumpkin Search

Today we went to Hill Ridge Farms in search of pumpkins. Thanks to our friend Amy (Stella Dot's mom) for her blog post about the fun farm. We arrived at the farm right when it opened at 9am wanting to beat all the weekend farm-goers. The only thing about doing that was that it was pretty chilly! Eli loved all the room to roam and stuff to look at. He's pretty used to animals at Grandma & Grandpa's farm so he was very comfortable looking at them. He is getting good with his animal sounds - he can do chicken (bock bock), cow (moo) and rooster (some kind of shriel sound that I can't write!). We're working on other animal sounds as well. Anyway, after the animals we went into the Corn Playhouse. This was so cool - it was pretty much equivalent to a sandbox but full of corn kernels. Eli & I played in there for a little while. Then it was off to the 80' slide. Eli went down it twice - once with each of us and loved it. He even walked up the big hill to the slide holding my hand. Did I mention that he's 14 months going on 4?!! He also ran through the hay bale maze. It was so funny because most of the time all I saw was a little head running by. He went in, went about halfway through and then backtracked to the entrance.

After that we went on a hayride that took us to the pumpkin patch. We could have spent all day looking for the perfect pumpkin. Eli seemed to want ones that were too big for him and got upset when he couldn't pick them up. When I finally gave him one to hold, he wanted to throw it so Daddy got pumpkin duty and carried the pumpkins back. Eli had a lot of fun on the hayride and running around the pumpkin patch. I was impressed with his ability to walk in and out of the pumpkins without falling or stepping on them.

Back from pumpkin patch, we wanted to go ahead and catch our train ride - it was getting close to lunch for Eli. We rode in the caboose and Eli liked looking out at the farm. It was chilly and windy so we tried to stay warm. After the train ride, we headed home and Eli fell asleep on the drive after running around virtually non-stop at the farm for two hours. He was so happy and had so much fun. This was our first trip to the pumpkin patch and hopefully we'll get to go back next year!

Welcome to Hill Ridge Farms

Eli & Mommy in the Corn Playhouse

Eli the cow?

That little head running through the maze

Big slide ride with Daddy

Big ole pumpkin patch

Family self portrait in the caboose