Happy Halloween From the Frito Bandito.

A Few of Baby's Firsts

We were having such a wonderful weekend until the little guy came down with something and started running his very first fever Sunday morning. Poor little pumpkin! It kept him and me home from church yesterday and is keeping me home today. I have never seen my happy boy so sad. Breaks a mama's heart.

Speaking of pumpkins, Saturday we carried him to his very first pumpkin patch. As a matter of fact, I believe it was my very first pumpkin patch as well. We went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch, which had inexpensive admission, all activities for children included, AND...Fletcher's Corny Dogs and Funnel Cakes as well as Texas Roadhouse. So we got our fair food in without actually having to deal with the fair. Success.

The turn out was so huge that in subsequent years I will probably do this on a week day. Jack wanted to look anywhere but the camera, but who could blame him. The patch was ripe for people watching, with children and parents everywhere.

Here are a few pics where he was looking in the general direction of the camera:

My sweet, sweet little guy.

Who's big idea was this?

Mom and the J-Bird

I guess this is going in reverse order, but Friday night B and I were able to get away for a short date night. We ended up down in Sundance Square for supper while the boy stayed for the first time with my in-laws. It's funny. Before we had a child, we always said we would make time for date nights once we did have one, but in reality once we've worked all week, we're tired and missing our boy so it's much easier to stay home. It's good for us to steal away some though, and Friday night was refreshing for both of us.

How do you and your spouse set aside time for one another? Scheduled dates? Once a year getaway?

I hope you and yours are well, and that you enjoyed the beautiful fall weekend!

Friday Favorites

I haven't done a Friday Faves post in quite a while, but this week I was inspired to journal a few here. It's the simple things that are truly my favorites.

My very dear friend's mother made Jack's trick or treat bag. (She also made the pillow to match his baby bedding here.) Hopefully soon she'll be opening an Etsy store. Stay tuned here for breaking updates, ye lovers of monogrammed goods.



Does Jack have a costume yet? No.

Does Jack have an awesome bag to collect candy for his parents to eat? Yes.

{Feel free to leave baby costume websites in the comments. I've checked Chasing Fireflies.}


This week held and holds quite a few things that make me happy:

• first professional pic as a family of three by the lovely Hailey Erickson
  
• lunch dates with other young working mamas in my office
  
• date night with my man tonight
  
• the prospect of no scheduled activities (church excluded) the rest of the weekend. Yesss.
  

Have a lovely weekend yourself!

Seven Months!

Seven months is getting away from me!

It goes without saying that we just love, love, love this boy. He is cracking me up so much these days. My dad made the discovery this past weekend that if you hold any iPhone up in front of him, he will smile. Even one of our distant family members (who he did not know) held her phone up, and that kiddo of mine flashed his big gummy grin. Perhaps his mama takes too many pics? Is that even possible?

Speaking of gummy grins, there are no teeth yet although he is really working his gums. I'm expecting one any day now. He was 20 lbs 1 oz at his last doctor appointment, and crawling is imminent. Last weekend he was a little mama-clingy (kinda flattering, ok very flattering), but I'm fairly certain it was because we were in different territory around so many new faces. His favorite toy these days is a ball with holes that he can put his fingers in and throw. Typical boy.

I like pretty paper.

Back in August, our local Anthropologie had an event demonstrating the art of letterpress. Lauren, of Blue Eye Brown Eye, brought her printing press and explained the process of creating beautiful letterpressed cards and even let us press a couple on our own. And of course, it was followed by brunch foods, which is my favorite meal of the day.

Brunch at Anthropologie? Why yes, thank you, I will.

Fast forward several weekends later, and Jack and I found ourselves at the Dallas Flea. If you've never been, it's a fair of Etsy-style vendors: paper, vintage clothing, handmade jewelry, etc. There were all kinds of beautiful items, although it was a bit crowded.

I found Lauren (who's also an Aggie!) again there where she was selling her beautiful letterpressed cards. Below are just a few of my favorites. I picked up some sets to give as gifts, but those are being kept as a surprise for some people who read this on occasion. I honestly could've bought one of everything!

Aren't these so fun? I never can find a good, minimum cheese baby card, until now.
And the deer card birthday card is perfection for a certain Mr. Gentry.
One more thing to love about cards from Blue Eye Brown Eye.
They are printed right here in good 'ol Cowtown.

You can also find Lauren's cards being sold nationwide at Anthropologie, although you'll find a larger selection in her Etsy shop here!

He called me Emmy.

This past weekend I expected to be in NYC. My brother's band was playing a showcase on Friday night for a record company, and my parents and I were planning to be there to support him. It was going to be my first more than 24 hour time away from my little guy from Thursday to Sunday. We had tickets to the 9-11 Memorial, plans to see Phantom on Broadway, plans to eat pizza in Brooklyn, and {of course} plans to shop.

What I did not plan on was my grandfather passing away on Tuesday night.

I am so blessed to have had him for 31 years. Many memories stick out in my mind about him, but I will share just a few here. He had land out in the country that my cousins, brother, and I played at all summer long when we were young. When our parents would come to pick us up, my grandparents would convince them to let us stay just a little longer. One summer, he fixed up an old riding lawnmower without the blade and built a trailer to drag behind it. We drove that thing all over the place, taking turns steering the tractor and riding on the trailer. We would break it somehow and call him out to come and fix it. He would act irritated that we had messed something up, but we all knew really he loved it.

Also, he loved to read. He always had a book going. I like to think we were kindred spirits where that was concerned. The worst thing about aging for him was macular degeneration, which clouded his eyesight. Books on tape are just not the same, you know.

I have never lost a loved one until now. {I know I am incredibly blessed to be able to say that.} Coming face to face with mortality last week made me realize how thankful I am for the hope I have in Jesus Christ--that this life is not all that we have to look forward to. I have wonderful memories of growing up as his granddaughter, and the picture below is a treasure to me.

Weekending

Jack says, "I can't stand First Monday Weekend."

Friday we had new tile installed in our kitchen, breakfast, and laundry area, so while B hung out at home, Jack and I escaped to Canton. To readers not familiar with East Texas life, the weekend of the first Monday of the month, the small town of Canton, Texas is filled with all kinds of vendors: vintage, antiques, junk, and mass-produced decor purchased from market. It's a great place to go to decorate your home, and they especially have fun holiday decor.

I've discovered that while Canton may not be the best place for babies, his stroller is perfect for hauling all my stuff and has a much better turning radius than the carts everyone uses to carry their purchases. So there's that.

We spent the rest of the weekend putting our house back in order. I sent this tweet once I got home and surveyed my kitchen stuff redeposited all over the house. Everything was shoved into the living room and study, and since we don't have a tv in our bedroom (by choice,) we ended up eating pizza and watching hulu in our bedroom floor Friday night.

Speaking of hulu, my word there are so many tv series that I like this season! I haven't watched this much tv in years. So ridiculous. We're watching Castle, Pan Am, Person of Interest, Parks and Rec, The Office, Two Broke Girls, The New Girl, How I Met Your Mother.... Seriously, too much.

The rest of the weekend was housekeeping. Hair appt, laundry (once all my appliances were hooked back up), church, and spending time with the boys I love. Oh, and of course, hand scrubbing the new tile so that at some point it will be acceptable to let Jack crawl on it.

I am so my mother's daughter.