Happy Fall!

I just love this time of year! Makes the cold bearable to have family nights at home by the fire, and the holiday spirit creeping into our house. By the end of winter, I'm over it and ready for playing outside and sunshine. I like it until January, anyway.

I'm getting the feeling that Christmas is going to be so much fun around here with Luke being old enough to grasp the concept of it a little better. We've debated in years past about how far to take it, but this year, we're just excited that Luke's excited. My little guy just doesn't have hardly any imagination at all... So, if Christmas, Santa, and an elf will help him along with that, we're gonna do it! Last year, we tried telling him that Santa was the one who brought him the gator, but I am almost certain he could see right through it and knew that only his Daddy would know how much he wanted that thing. Even when we talk to him about Jesus, I feel like it's hard for him to get since he can't see Him. His little mind just has a hard time going there. He's good at praying, and thanking Jesus for things.. but I pray the Lord speaks through us to help Luke understand things better when he's ready. Another example of his lack of imagination is how he thinks my Dad lives at the airport. We drop him off and pick him up there, and Luke has even gone to the airport and left on a plane, but he doesn't understand that my Dad has a house somewhere too far for us to drive to. Luke has been up to Chicago 3 times, but he doesn't remember it. I'm not going to fret about it... I'm just gonna take it one day at a time, and we'll just enjoy Christmas and let him believe as much as he wants to!

So, around our house, we've been in full harvest mode. It's such a bittersweet thing! We are thankful to have something to strip, but we miss Daddy when he's gone! Sometimes I think the kids being young makes it hard, but at the same time, I don't know if it will ever get any easier... When they're not babies at home needing naps, meals, and baths, it'll be school, homework, soccer, meals, and baths. So I try not to complain! At least he gets to come home every night. I know our harvest life would be a luxury to some families. They finished up last Friday, so we're getting back to normal again in time for the holidays!

Luke loved getting out there every day and learning how things operate. We'd take lunch to the field everyday, and then he'd make a few rounds with Heath. We saw a lady we know in town yesterday, and he went on and on telling her how the stripper dumps into the boll buggy, and the boll buggy dumps in the module builder, and the module builder packs the cotton and then raises up and moves. He told me this week he wants a stripper birthday party. Ha! I was hoping he wasn't going to church spreading that news.

Other big things lately...

- Landry is walking! She's trying to run, actually. She started walking good about 3 weeks ago. Both kids were late late walkers! With Luke, I can still pin point THE day. It was 8-9-10. He was 14 months and took 3 steps one day, 8 the next, and walked on day 3. Landry's wasn't so clear. One night right before Heath started stripping, it was like she was just determined to get it down. For over an hour, she'd take 3 or 4 steps, get excited, and fall. Then, she'd get right back up and repeat the cycle. We laughed at her for thinking she was so cute! She did that several evenings in a row, and then got a little better at it. She'd still crawl some if she got in a hurry, but she hasn't crawled now it a good week or two. She's loving the independence it's brought her, too, and she's wanting to get down and run around every where we go.... restaurants, grocery store, parking lots, church, etc.

- Halloween! Luke and Landry were Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. A few weeks before Halloween, Luke wanted to be McQueen, so we ordered the costume and got it in. I had gotten the material to make sister an owl costume, and then three days before Halloween, Luke changed his mind and wanted to be Peter Pan. I jumped on it! I normally wouldn't have catered to his request like that, but I'm so over McQueen and Buzz. I went to 8 different stores on Monday (2 days before Halloween) getting their costumes together. Of course, there is no toddler Peter Pan costume in existence. They weren't sold out of them, they don't even make them! So, after an exhausting day, and a few snips with some scissors on a t-shirt, their costumes were ready by Wednesday. We went around to visit friends and family and got way too much candy!

- We have a new family member! Jordan and Rachel had their baby girl, Ruby Meredith, on Friday morning. She is beautiful and healthy, and I'll get to meet her a week after Thanksgiving! I love loving on new babies.

- The last big thing is the not so fun one. On my last blog, I talked about how Landry had lost weight and was a super picky eater. Well, come to find out, they think she has oral aversion and have referred us to therapy. Her eating just isn't getting any better, and it has become pretty frustrating! She doesn't even eat as many foods now as what I listed last time. She's cut out cereal and chicken. Every day, she has oatmeal for breakfast (made with heavy cream, 760 calories a bowl), greek yogurt with fruit and crackers for lunch, and she has pizza 5 nights out of the week for supper. She refuses milk, bread, veggies, smoothies, cheese, meats, and noodles/pasta. If I offer something she doesn't like first, she shuts down and refuses to even eat the things she likes in the same setting. So, for insurance purposes, we'll be starting therapy in January. I've pulled every trick I know to pull, and we're not getting any where, so I'm gladly accepting the help. So, prayers please for us in this!

As always, here are some pictures!

First Halloween Costume...