back to work.

Six weeks has flown by. I headed back to work today after a fabulous, yet far too short, maternity leave. I made it through my day. I only cried once. The highlight of my day? Coming home to this sweet face and my son telling me at least ten times that he missed me. I am lucky to be a mom to two wonderful kiddos.

one month old.

Nine pounds, ten ounces of sweetness.


Twenty one inches of perfection.


Thirty days of pure joy.


We are so blessed.

trick-or-treat.

The Costumes

I searched and searched for a Halloween costume for Emma Kate before she was even born. All I found was either way too big or entirely impractical. Baby Gap had some cute, soft one pieces with matching animal-themed booties and hats that were actually sensible for newborns. Since I'm all about pink these days, I just had to get the pink pig outfit. Who would have ever known that she was going to be born 8 pounds, 10 ounces? A true little oink at birth. Her costume suited her very well.

P, on the other hand, would not decide on a costume. He kept saying he wanted to be Elmo, which was his costume last year. I think he kept going back to Elmo because that's all he knows of Halloween. He doesn't even watch Elmo anymore. Once EK arrived and the jealousy set in, he decided that he wanted to be a pink pig, just like his baby sister. I agreed, thinking he would change his mind before Halloween. But he stood firm. He wanted to be a pig. Try finding a pig costume that looks masculine. Not possible. He is going to kill me one day when he sees these pictures.

The Collaboration

Since P and EK were both dressing as pigs and Taylor and I wanted to dress up also this year, I decided we could go as the three little pigs and the big, bad wolf. This is P's favorite bedtime story. We tell it to him almost every night. "I'm gonna huff and puff....." P loved the whole scenario. The part he didn't love? Actually wearing the costume. He's a typical two year old. If he is not fully convinced of something, he's just not gonna do it. We spent the two weeks before Halloween building it up. We all went shopping for the big, bad wolf outfit. Daddy tried on his costume. Mommy tried on hers. We tried to get P to try his on to make sure it fit. Nope. He wanted no part of it. So, we just crossed our fingers and hoped that he would be more enthusiastic on the day of Halloween. Otherwise, little piggy number three would just be MIA.

The Candy

On the day of Halloween, P kept saying that he was only going to wear the hat. Not the shirt or the shoes. My response, "You don't get candy from the neighbors unless you wear the entire costume." I'm so mean, aren't I? It worked, though. What can I say? My kid loves candy. He fully cooperated, minus velcroing the hat. We visited approximately four houses, got lots of M&M's (P's favorite), and then headed back to the house. P decided that he liked giving out the candy better than receiving it. He stood at the door with Grandaddy all night handing out candy and watching daddy the big, bad wolf scare the kids. He was too cute. He told each and every trick-or-treater "Happy Halloween" and put the candy in their bucket.

The Candids






















Happy Halloween!

jack-o-lantern.

My days fly by in the blink of an eye. By the time I get both kids up, bathed, dressed, and myself dressed, at least three hours have elapsed. Then it's lunch time. So we eat. Take naps. Then it's practically supper time. Then bedtime. Then we get up the next day and start all over again. Emma Kate will be a month old tomorrow. Where has the time gone? I feel like I'm going to wake up one day and my little darlings will be headed off to college. In all of the business and commotion of having a newborn at home, we completely ran out of time to carve a pumpkin. These traditions are very important to me, so my sweet mom brought one over to carve with P on Halloween day. Thanks, Granny! I was able to snap a couple of pictures of the carving....

We let my mom be in charge of the knife.


And P let my mom be in charge of the guts.


And I was in charge of roasting the pumpkin seeds.


Can you tell what it is?


Beme, Granny, and P all helped with the carving. P made sure the pumpkin had freckles.


Ta-da. Meet our pumpkin the pig. Or our pig the pumpkin. We just call him Hamlet.

down on the farm.

We live not even twenty minutes from the best farm in Georgia. I look forward to the Fall every year because of this farm. They have a corn maze, pumpkin patch, hayrides, a cow train, all kinds of animals, pig races, a jumping pillow, slides, corn cannons....the list goes on and on. It is enough to keep my two year old (and two adults) entertained for days. Emma Kate enjoyed the commotion, too. She just slept right through it.

My two boys checking out the farm and planning what to do first.



The jumping pillow. P loves to jump....


and jump....


and jump....


and jump....


and jump some more.


Snoozy Emma Kate. Let's see....I think she was just 8 days old here.


The cow train. Poor daddy.



Our best group shot (minus Taylor). This is about as good as it gets these days. P is not really into my camera lately.


Emma Kate's first pumpkin. I just couldn't resist....


P painting pumpkins. Don't tell my husband, but pink is P's new favorite color since EK's arrival. I'm sure this won't last long.


Isn't this place pretty?


We ran into Jeremy, Jill, and Jackson (and baby Truett) at the pig races. So much fun!


Soo wee!


Those little boogers are fast. And, oh so cute. It took me three races to get these pictures. Don't they look like Wilbur from Charlotte's Web? I almost snatched one up and hid it in my sling to take home with me. Not sure the dogs would like an additional roommate, though.


Our view from the hayride. I wouldn't mind taking one of these home, either. Maybe I should just retire and buy a farm. That's the plan anyway....


We had a blast at Southern Belle farm. Can't wait to go back in the Spring for berry pickin'.