More "big house"

Mommy does some painting.

Shepard has been trying to sort out the "new house/big house" and "old house" since the move. His school is a block from the old house, so every time we go to school, he starts saying "old house!" Plus, we've had a few dinner "picnics" at the old house, so he's starting to associate the empty Pinevalley place with pizza or Chick-fil-A parties.  :) He really likes helping us vacuum and sweep as we try to ready the old place for its next phase of life. He also likes to grab the empty rollers and paintbrushes and paint in "Shepard's area."
I think he's adjusting pretty well. It's been an insane few weeks of unpacking, finding, saying "don't touch that!" We're trying hard to keep his schedule the same. Of course, "fall back" isn't anyone's friend when you have a toddler. We've been getting wakeups anywhere from 4:15 - 5:45 pretty regularly. This morning, he sorted himself out and went back to sleep somewhere during the 4's. I didn't hear from him again til the 6's. That will work.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks as we've been painting/moving and even taking SANTA pictures at school today. 

Headed to school in my sock-monkey hat!

Pops is on trash duty.

Gigi is sure she can get it off.

The mantel was attached with supersonic nails.

One our many "picnics" at the BIG HOUSE.

"Uncle Map" cuts in the paint creatively.

Getting rid of the "fence" in our dining room.

Thanks, Uncle Justin and Aunt Jessica. Labor of love.

Sure. They're smiling now. The wallpaper beat them down. Thanks, Uncle Map and Pops.

Cousin Madeleine tries to corral the tidbit.

Ho ho ho! Pictures with Santa day.

Pictures with Santa day!

Movin' on up...

We are soooo excited to be moving to a new house this weekend. We'll have twice the space as before and lots of nooks and crannies and wide open spaces for little man to play in. Here are a few shots of him at the new house as we visited and did some painting, etc. before moving.

Helping pick out some matching flooring

A big front porch is great for running

Hey, does that cute boy live here?

"Helping" Gigi

Lunch break!

Climb the ladder!

I did it!

What's this?

Cousins hangin' out

Whirlwind. Halloween.

Halloween was yesterday. Tidbit got to wear his jammies to school and have a party and trick or treat with his friends around the gym. We were pretty stoked to get him adorned as a garden gnome and go back over to his school/church, where they have a "trunk or treat" with lots of fun stuff.
We talked about the costume ahead of time. He got to try on the hat and beard on Tuesday. He wanted no part of that beard, but I thought he might still go for the hat...we talked about going to get candy and seeing friends and "decorations." He has been using the word decorations a lot as we pass by neighbor's homes that are decked out. He ate a delightful dinner of rice, veggies and chicken, so his belly was full. (that always leads to a better time for all involved)
It took some doing to get him dressed in just the costume part. For some reason the shoes became an issue...I tried to just slip the cute red elfin shoes over his current shoes. NOPE. NOT HAPPENING. We had several attempts at "getting in Mommy's car..." For some reason, he just would not go in the car seat. There was screaming, stiff-body moves, squirming, pleading...
We went inside and had a cool off in his room. I was ready to give up. I explained to him again what we were going to go do. Get candy, see costumes, look at decorations...we made one more attempt for the car. Again...NO DICE. That kid was not going anywhere in the car seat. His mind was made up to drive, so nothing would do except the driver's seat.
So, that was halloween. I did snap a few pictures in the 20 minutes he wore the costume.

Must get milk!!!!!

Gnomes need refreshing beverages too. (moving box in the shot)

Ride in Mommy's car...except I want to DRIVE.

I guess he doesn't know exactly what he missed this year. I knew if I could just GET HIM IN THE CAR SEAT, he'd have fun. We were pretty bummed. Perhaps next year. We'll go easy like fireman or cowboy...or let him be a space bee or whatever he wants.

We're still alive!

Dear Shepard-fans. So sorry for the month-long silence! Life has been moving at manic-pace. We are buying a house next week, and October is my crazy season at work...and we're packing...chasing an active two-year-old and just doing this thing called life.
This weekend, we were able to take a breather from the hectic and enjoy a beautiful fall day. It also happened to be GRANDMA'S BIRTHDAY!!! Grandma got her first-ever hayride (short, but sweet), we had apple slushies and apple donuts and generally enjoyed the hay at Windy Hill Orchard near York.
Here are some fun pictures!

Self-portrait to prove I was at the event...since I'm always taking the pics.

Front-row seat to the music!

Apple slushie. YUM YUM.

I love this guitar!

The closest we got to him standing by the measuring thing.

I love to climb!

Hi piggies!

I pick.....THIS ONE!

Hay hill!

That's a big bale. This child was jumping off! (we caught him)

Here I come!

Hayride!

In hindsight, probably allergic to hay...oh well.

It was a wonderful day. Now, I have to get back to packing... (~Mommy)

Slice of Life

Any given night, we are playing, singing, brushing teeth, etc. Here are a few moments of some time last week. Just hanging out and chatting.

Sing...sing a song...sing out loud...

Little man has really taken off with verbal skills. Lots of full sentences, loads of new words every day...and he doesn't forget a thing. In addition to all the yabberin', he's also started singing intelligible songs! We caught him singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" earlier this morning. Of course, I couldn't find the video camera!! While he was eating lunch, I started singing it to see if he'd join me...and he did. And by this point, the video camera was ready and waiting. Enjoy your first full Shepard song. Yay, Shepard!

August flew by--but we have a few videos to prove it existed

Excuse me. Has anyone seen August? I'm not sure where it went. Our house is on the market...so we get to go behind the wee tornado of toys and clean up the aftermath. Sometimes, if we're lucky, he'll help. He definitely likes to vacuum. It's been eventful, but not in great ways. We had a few trips to the hospital last week with Daddy and Grandma. I think everyone's on the up and up now. Daddy started a new school year, and Shepard moved up to the two-year-old class at day care. He learns so much every day that there's no way to document it all. He walked out of his room this morning saying "Follow the Leader. Follow the Leader!" Huh? It's awesome watching his language explode.

Here are some non-sense videos of the last two weeks or so. In the first one, he was reprising his fun trick of moving his bowl and alternately saying "Diamond. Square. Diamond." Did that all on his own. And of course, once I get the camera rolling, he sometimes doesn't "perform" the tricks. That's ok. It would be great if we could catch all the funny moments in our house, but for now you'll just have to believe me.





Here he is after a sweet little nonsense song he was singing. One day I'll catch his little songs on video. They don't happen too often, but they're nice when they do. This is a balalaika (Jerod's). We're just calling it "guitar" for now.




 All the grandparents came to town to help with life as we shuttled to and from the hospital earlier this week. Here is Grandma with her "fuzzy feet" and "scary toes..." And my little monkey-climber with unending energy.



We finished up summer with a dip in the backyard "pool" on Saturday. As hot as it was, it was good to get splashed and watch Shepard have some summer fun. Though this mama can't wait for some cooler weather. Happy Labor Day, y'all!