Yesterday Seth finally took his first steps. We have been waiting for this for a long time. But I think Seth’s taking his time to walk is his way of reminding us that he is NOT his sister he is his own person. Genevieve took her first step at 9 months and kept on walking.

Well like I said he took his first steps yesterday, three of them in a row, and hasn’t taken more than one since. Oh well it will come I know and now that  he has done it we know he can!

Today is Seth’s first birthday! This year has flown by so much faster than Genevieve’s first year I honestly can’t believe it is already here.
He had his one year check up this morning, 29 inches long and 25 pounds. He isn’t walking yet but I think that is his way of constantly reminding me that he is his own person and will do it when he is ready.
We had his birthday party last Saturday at a local park which has my favorite playground and a sandy beach for Nat to put the boats in for everyone to play with. It was a great party even though the wind made it pretty cold. In fact I had to send the kids home early with their grandma because they were not dressed for the cold (you know it is a crazy party when the birthday boy leaves early).
He is still my happy baby boy who is almost always smiling. He loves to wave a people and is either blowing kisses or saying thank you (not sure which one).
So Happy Birthday Seth-ers, we love you so much!!!

 Then this morning my friend and Nat’s aunt posted these pictures on her blog and I wanted to cry.  It is so hot here! The heat is not really that bad, I guess, but it is really humid and muggy. It feels no different today than it did in August! So this miserable weather plus everyone talking about snow plus all the commercials for boots and add the weather reports with images of snow has dampened my Christmas spirit. Usually we at least have cooler weather and the house opened up and it gets you in the mood a little bit but not so this year. My Christmas tree is up and decorated but I didn’t get that same excited feeling this year while putting it all up. Tonight we are going caroling with my church and we will be wearing shorts!

I realize there are many people (and I know it is many because our roads are packed with them this time of year) who want this kind of weather and pay big bucks to visit our area for just a week and dream of living in a place like this. But we are traveling north to Ohio and maybe the cold weather and snow will get us in the Christmas spirit!

While Seth was napping today G decided to have her own dance party and I decided to play with my camera, we had  lot of fun, so what if the laundry wasn’t put away for the second day straight it was worth it!

So I had a birthday, I turned 28 on the 28th, my golden birthday. My MIL made me a yummy cheesecake (I always have a cheesecake) and we had a little celebration the night before.
It was so much fun to have Genevieve help me blow out my candles. Sometimes I have to step back from the chaos that is my job as a stay at home mom training two children and take a breath. I can’t believe I am a Mom, it seems like not to long ago I was sitting in my house in Charleston surrounded by my friends for my 16th birthday. But now I have entered my late twenties, how did that happen? I spend my days changing diapers, doing laundry, asking Genevieve catechism questions while putting in pig tails, and pulling things out of Seth’s mouth and I must say so far I am enjoying 28.

I don’t really have anything to say with this picture but this one is to cute to not post for all to see.

Seth had his 10 month check up this morning with the doctor. His stats are 29″ tall and 22 lbs (he has lost weight since he started to crawl). Everything, of course, is normal.

He is starting to stand without holding on to things pretty regularly. There is even a rumor that he took his first step in the church nursery but since I didn’t see it we won’t count that one. He has a total of 8 teeth which means he can eat most things now. He has some trouble with biting though but we are working on that one.

We had a fun Thanksgiving up in Chattanooga with Nat’s family. Now that we are home and I am looking at our calendar for December I think Seth’s 1st birthday in January will be here before we know it.

Usually a fun weekend for our family consists of a trip out on the boat or the beach for a few hours. But this past weekend we flew up to Maine for three days. The only downside was we wished it could be longer. Living in Florida means giving up 4 seasons for 1, so any chance I have to go to a different climate and view well let’s just say I couldn’t wait to get on that plane! I was cold for two of the three days. It was great to bundle up and see Maine again. Because my creativity is at a minimum these days here are some bits from the trip:

• Before we left both kids had to go to the pediatrician to find out Seth had his first ear infection (the day before we flew) and G just had a cold.
• We left very early in the morning but it was great because both kids slept almost the whole way on both flights and no one complained about the pressure change.
• Zia met us at the airport with hat’s and mittens for the kids, so cute. When she was putting G’s mittens on her she told her, “Put your thumb in, put your thumb in.” So G now calls mittens “Dum Dums” (that is how she says thumbs)

• We went straight to Freeport for a little shopping at LL Bean.
• G got to crash through piles of leaves for the first time and hear them crunch under her feet.
• Seth and G got new warm fleece footie PJ’s that are to cute for words.
• Seth is a true Florida boy, he was not digging all the clothing.
• Seth and Daddy went on a LONG walk to look at the water and the boats while the girls did a littl shopping
• We ate at our favorite pub.
• Went out to the cabin on the lake and saw SNOW!

• Nat and Zia finished closing up the cabin.
• We had a yummy lobster dinner.

• Nat fixed a mailbox (who knew he could do that?)
• G and Zia had a great time on the playset, including going down the slide into a pile of leaves.
• We went on a long walk by the water and from someone who really doesn’t like to go on walks it was a great walk.

And most important we got to hang out with Zia (the whole point of the trip).  It was great to see her and spend time together. She made up warm comfort food to give us the whole fall experience.

This is the first trip in busy time for us. We are going away again for Thanksgiving and Christmas and Nat will travel again in January to California. I get tired just thinking about the busy season ahead of us.

Well my Moma has introduced us to something that combines all three of these things. Bacon Breakfast cookies, that’s right bacon in cookies! They are so yummy! Nat has been struggling lately to get up on time to do everything he needs to do before leaving for work. So the one thing that usually gets left off is breakfast. Or there is Genevieve who will usually ask for her breakfast right I get settled in for nursing Seth. Well these cookies are a great answer to that problem so yesterday I made a batch and now we can just grab a couple and breakfast is served. Plus I love any excuse to use my Kitchen Aid mixer.

As I was baking them I thought, “Why should I keep these yummy goodness to myself?” So I decided to venture out and share the recipe. Moma found it on this website (yes a whole website for bacon) but changed it a little and so I will take liberty and rename them while I share:

Moma’s Bacon Cookies

1 bag of Oscar Mayer Bacon Bits

1 Cup Butter

1 1/2 cup Sugar

2 Eggs

2 cups of Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

4 cups of Multi-grain flakes or corn flakes

1 Cup of Raisins (if you really like raisins I would add more)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugar till light and fluffy.  Beat in egg.  Combine flour and baking soda; stir into butter mixture.  Stir in bacon, mult-grain flakes and raisins.   Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Space 2 inches apart.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Remove to rack to cool–about 2 minutes, then remove from rack.

Enjoy, I know we are!

Just call me The Lady with the Yellow Hat because I have a very curious Genevieve on my hands. Last week she had a few moments that weren’t to funny at the time but now that I have had some time I can see that it is a little funny and can share them.

First, there was the time when I thought she was playing in her room. As with all these “moments” and many others it began with being to quiet so I called out for her. I heard her running out of my room, no actually our bathroom. She had taken her little stool into the bathroom and learned how to twist off caps (something I didn’t know she could do) and decided to try to put on some makeup like Mommy. This picture is the result of said beauty moment. I am so glad she didn’t poke her eye with the mascara wand.

The next “moment” occured when I thought she was taking a nap. When I went in to check on her I noticed she was on the floor working very hard on something. She had taken a bath gel crayon (color red) and squeezed all of the gel on the carpet. I later discovered several wipes stuffed back in the wipe box with some red coloring on them, I guess she at least tried to clean it all up.

My favorite though is when she found some lotion (again, I thought she was sleeping) and decided to try to clean her mirrored-closet doors with lotion and wipes. But the lotion mayhem didn’t stop there, she also filled up the barnyard of her little farm with lotion.

I have since put things in a more appropriate place for her and gotten into the practice of closing doors (which she can open but it at least slows her down). So now I have to chase Seth around and dig whatever he puts in his mouth I also have to keep a very curious Genevieve very occupied. Oh the joys of life!

(Also for the few of you who know the story of when Will-Bill and Deborah Tilly babysat my sisters and I when we were little and the “accident” I had, well she also got revenge for them last week, for my own sake that is all I will say.)