Fall.... is there any other season?

I love fall! I'm not sure if it's because those are the dates I remember most with Fred, the perfect crisp air, conference, the pretty leaves, or the fact that yard work is done for the year! Fred finally had a day off from school AND work so we spent a family day together.

First we slept in. (With a baby?) Okay, kind of slept in. Tad has been in his crib for almost a week now and sleeps until 5:30 or 6:30am. We (cheated) fed him and put him back to bed, that counts as sleeping in. :}

Next we drove up Sardine Canyon to enjoy the leaves. We'd driven up Farmington Canyon last week and the leaves were already turning brown, but Sardine was beautiful!

We stopped at the Inn that I worked at through college to chat with Steph - who is still as fun as when I worked there, no wonder I loved that job!

Of course you can't drive to Logan without getting Aggie ice cream!

And we hardly ever drive to Logan without stopping at Smith n'Edwards on the way home. (Such a random store, we love it!) We picked out some great toys for Tad's Christmas. After a quick stop at home we were off for more Christmas shopping. I'm proud to say we are more than 1/2 way done! :}

It was a fantastic day! My favorite part was when we were picking out more toys for Tad and I showed Fred one. He hurried and put it in the cart and said "Don't let him see it!" I think he's enjoying this dad thing a little too much! But I'm loving the picture thing too much!

"Smile for mom!"

... Does not always work.

Neither does a feather duster, clapping to get his attention, tickling his toes..... but we managed to get some cute 2 month pictures. Rustling leaves does get him to look up if he doesn't fall completely asleep. :}

Our new babysitter

The other day Tad was fussing and I was trying to help Fred get out the door on time for work. I layed Tad in his crib so I could talk to him as I ironed Fred's scrubs. He continued to fuss so I sat him up and leaned him up against his giant teddy bear - he usually stops fussing when he's sitting up. I continued to iron and turned around to find this!
I tried it again a few days later when he was almost asleep but fighting it. Within minutes he was asleep so I could lay him flat in his crib. :}

Also, I must brag that my little 7 week old slept from 12-7:30am this morning! A friend suggested the book "Babywise" to us after she got her 9 week old to sleep through the night after just 3 weeks of using the tips in the book. Fred & I have used the book since Tad was born and highly recommend it!

Catching up on September

I know- I've disappeared for awhile. Here's a summary of our latest happenings, but there's also posts with pictures.

* We blessed Tad. (Stressful as I tried to clean the house, keep him on a schedule, and attend the State Fair. :} It's tradition!)

* Family Pictures - when Tad was 3 weeks old, but I'm barely getting them posted.

* Trip to Kansas - Highlights: Renaissance Festival people watching, Psycho wedding planner, disappointing Wizard of Oz museum.

Hopefully life will get back to normal now and we can get Tad on a good schedule without always running off to another event. He's 7 weeks old tomorrow and already a tubby 13 lbs!

Thank goodness we're not driving across Kansas anymore!

Wow - I don't know how people live in Western Kansas. There is absolutely nothing to see!

Fred's cousin was getting married near Kansas City and we decided we'd drive out (we're still on a flying strike from our trip to Miami last year where we were stuck in the airport for 2 days without luggage). We stopped in Colorado to visit my sister's family and had fun letting them play with Tad.

The drive from Denver, CO to Hays, KS was the worst part. We made it with just enough time to get cleaned up and go to the rehearsal dinner. We had the perfect housing arrangement for our trip.... the bride & groom's house! They moved out for the wedding & honeymoon & we moved in along with Fred's sister Charlee, her husband & 2 kids.

Saturday we met at Aunt Julee's for breakfast then we ventured out to the Plaza with Charlee's family. The Plaza had a lot of stores but nothing overly exciting. It did get us out of the house while the rest of the family worked on flower arrangements. No time for a nap, we showered and headed out to the wedding. As we drove I questioned whether Fred had mapquested correctly as we turned down several dirt roads. The wedding was held at a reception center in the country. The wedding party was lovely.... the site was also nice..... the wedding planner? .... from heck! There were several run ins between our family members and her, I'll just tell you 2:

1) I asked for a place I could feed my baby. I was told "You can use the smoking patio, nobody smokes." (I ended up using the bride's dressing room.)

2) Fred & I sat at an unlabeled table in the reception, a bunch of the tables had "family table" papers on them. The rest of his family joined us. Soon the psycho lady comes over and tells us we have to move to another table, that one is for the wedding party. Is it just me or don't you think that that's the FIRST table you would label in the room? Of course we moved, but I'm still bugged.

The ceremony was outside at dusk, then they had a nice dinner, dancing, cake, a chocolate fountain inside. We didn't stay too late because of our tired little boy.

Sunday we went with Fred's immediate family to the Renaissance Festival. What a great place for people watching! And evidently dog watching.....

Fred enjoying a smoked Turkey leg.

Monday we had planned to see the Medical School & a couple of museums before the Royals baseball game. Nothing went as planned. It was pouring most of the day. Museums are closed on Mondays. And since we bagged the game we didn't drive out to the school either. We did get a nap and ate at a great BBQ place.

Tuesday it was on the road again. We got a later start than Fred & I usually like (we prefer 6am, but with a baby that's tough, so we left at 8am). Plus we stopped to see the Agriculture Hall of Fame Museum (Random huh?). Which also featured the National Poultry museum. (That's just funny!) It was surprisingly interesting. Then the Wizard of Oz museum - totally not worth the money. They could have done an awesome little place, but it was just every Oz toy ever made in every country. We had to stop and see the largest ball of twine. Then it was back on the rainy road. We drove to the Western border of Kansas then stopped for the night. The next day we drove through Colorado, across Wyoming and home. (Even Wyoming is better than the stretch across Kansas!)

I'm glad we went - not only for time with the family but also to see the area a little bit. I think I could handle it if Fred gets into school there. It is definitely not a one day drive with how boring it is.

Tad did very well sitting in the car for so long. Now the only problem is he thinks he needs to be held when he's not in it. He was spoiled with attention for the whole trip.