pumpkins and parties

Just so you know, this is going to be one of those posts with lots of pictures. We had a great Halloween and now that Ethan is here I don't have the time to break this into several posts so it just has to be this way. See for yourself.... but you were warned.

Pumpkin shopping with the Cramers

Nicole is a lot taller than me. But then again, most people are. In my defense she had heeled boots on.

(not pictured below: baby Olive Cramer. She was asleep in her car seat)

Our little monster.

Bret says this photo below is his favorite ever picture of himself. Not sure if I should be offended or not.

After finding our pumpkins we headed to Lonestar for some delicious tacos. Olive and Ethan may have had their own table but it wasn't much of an interactive first date.

Friend party

My friends, the Logan sisters, threw a fabulous Halloween party at Danielle's for friends and their kids. It was so well done and I was excited to document it but Ethan decided to cry basically the whole time so I only ended up getting a couple of photos and only one bite of food. I suppose I better get used to that.

Natalie Farley and I had our babies on the same day in the same hospital so we had to get a picture of Ethan and Madison together. For having the same birthday, they couldn't be more different; she was little with long dark hair and Ethan is huge and bald. Both adorable though.

Two cute witches. Natalie DeMill covered the event much better than I did. You can go to her blog to see more.

Pumpkin carving at the Cannons'

Bret's had a wicked stache.

Udall Family Party

The Smarts

The Cannons

Matt and Jen were Will Schuester and Sue Sylvester. Pretty good.

Grandma and Poppy (and spencer -he's hidden in his camou). Not sure why Dr. Spock has green hair.

The Bowens

I was a witch and Ethan a little bear. This year Bret was another one of his heroes: Steve Jobs in the future introducing his latest feat in technology... the iHand.

Here he is demonstrating it.

It's gonna be big.

I feel bad that I didn't get a picture of my brother Jim who was also there, but he basically took most of these pictures from the party so his presence is still felt. Thanks Jim.

Steve Jobs and a zombie enjoying pizza together.

Happy Halloween!

three years

Thanks for being my best friend, B. I love you!

gardner village

autumn road trip

A couple weeks ago Bret and I drove up to see his family in Liberty Lake, WA which is right on the border of Washington and Idaho. We've driven up there many times before so we decided to make the journey more interesting by driving through the Teton and Yellowstone National Parks to enjoy the fall foliage - and boy was it spectacular! I didn't really take too many pictures of the leaves (it's amazing how having a kid changes your priorities a little) but the picture above gives you a taste of what we saw.

Going that way made the travel time extra long so we decided to break it up into two days. The first day we drove up through Logan Canyon, past Bear Lake (where we had a delicious raspberry shake) and then up to Jackson Hole for the night.

Pulling over for some burp time. Ethan was a great sport.

The only picture we took in Jackson Hole. Nothing exciting but it proves we were there.

After a quick breakfast at the Bunnery, we headed North making our way through both parks. We made just a few stops to get out and enjoy scenery and to change a couple diapers.

Some wildlife close encounters.

Jackson Lake

Yellowstone

It's been 20 years since I'd been there with my family and Bret hasn't been at all so we really enjoyed it. I forgot how amazing and unique it is up there, almost like being on another planet.

Waiting on Old Faithful.

Thar she blows.

Ethan wasn't that impressed.

little friends

Ethan has already started making some little friends...

The Cramers came to see us the night we returned from the hospital so you could say Olive was Ethan's first "girl-friend". I can't believe how tiny Ethan is in this picture and how much he's grown since!

Liam Scott was quite fascinated with his future college roommate.

Globe-trotting Miss Olivia Wilson even stopped by for a few visits while in town. It seems like yesterday she was as little as Ethan!

All of Ethan's cousins sure love him already but it was my niece Lily's first reaction to him that was probably my favorite. She kept screaming "He's soooo cuuuuute" and " I LOVE that baby".

Last week Bret and I went up to Liberty Lake, WA so that Ethan could meet his Miller side of the family, including his big cousin Ty. I have no doubt that Ethan will grow up thinking Ty is the coolest person in the world. He's such a little stud. Thanks Carynn for the matching PJs!

I can't wait to see all these little friends running around together!

(old friends holding new friends)

baby quilt

Once again my sister came through with her amazing sewing prowess. The quilt she made for Ethan is complete and I couldn't be more pleased with the final result!

It all started with an animal pattern I found that's on the back (and also incorporated onto the front) and then some other fabrics I found in various places that I thought would go well with it, including the fabric from the bumper and nursing cover. I was wondering if it would all mesh but it ended up looking great. Amy blogged about it here.She also used some of the extra fabric to make this adorable pennant banner for his nursery. So awesome. Go here to see how she made it.

He loves it already. Thanks sister!!

preggo pics

These are obviously a little over due (no pun intended) but I thought I'd show some more of those pictures that my friend, Laura Giddens, took of us pre-child. It's almost a little weird looking at these now knowing the little guy we know and love so much was still nestled inside and we hadn't met him yet.

We can keep a straight face for only so long and by the end things were getting a little silly. Laura just went with it.

(the romance novel cover)

(the lean)

Thanks again to Laura for taking these and for putting up with our antics. Check out Laura's blog here, including the post she did of us here. Feel free to contact Laura for some lovely pictures of your own!