Walker Texas Ranger

Well it finally happened...Tristan

walked unassisted...not holding mommy's hand or 

pushing a walking toy or walking along the couch.  He just let everything go and took that first courageous step into a vast open world.  

We have come to find with Tristan 

that he doesn't do things until he can do them well.  

So it was a light bulb that went 

off this weekend and he decided to 

walk across the living room.  

It started last Friday evening by taking

...running 4 or 5 wild steps in row.  

Sadly, I wasn't home from work yet but

Luke sent me a video and I raced home as fast as I could.

Since then he has been practicing like crazy and its amazing how quickly kids learn new things.

So proud of this little boy we now have nicknamed

Walker Texas Ranger!

leaf pile

Our warm fall days are limited so we are getting in all the

leaf pile fun that we can.

Love those eyelashes!!

I think my days of Tristan cooperating with pics and looking

at the camera are coming to an end too.  If you were watching me take these photos it would

have been quite comical as I set him down...snap a quick pic... as Tristan flips from sitting to 

super crawl speed... me lunging to grab him before he gets passed me... sitting him down....

and repeat.

Lets just say I deleted a lot of pics of blurry feet crawling away.  And imagine me doing this with a big camera around my neck.  Like I said...comical right?

When fall meets winter

When fall meets winter this is the view from my front door...

But the best view can be found inside...playing on the living room floor.

Halloween Fun!

I worked the night before and the night of halloween

this year but it's important to me that I let Tristan know 

that even though my job includes working night and weekends

that I will always make special events...special.

Tristan dressed up as the cutest little sailor I've ever seen.  

(It was another one of daddy's outfits that was kept in pristine condition)

We had fun painting little pumpkins with black polka-dots 

using q-tips and made ghostly foot prints.  

We went downtown where they had 'trunk or treating' and 

got some new favorite treats including smarties and suckers.

What's not to love about Halloween!!

First Birthday

It's true what they say...

kids grow way too fast!

My baby is one year old!!

Can it be one year ago that we became parents?  

It feels like yesterday we were bringing this tiny baby home and now

we have a big boy full of personality and wonder!

The first year of any baby's life is full of ups and downs.  Especially when 

you are unsure for the first couple weeks whether or not this precious gift is

going to be taken away.  Regardless, the bond we felt when we met him was immediate 

and in our hearts we knew we would always be together.  

So, we had a lot to celebrate this first birthday because 

we passed many hurdles to get this little guy!

First we celebrated with cousins...

then we had a barnyard theme birthday party at the pizza ranch

with friends and family

(special thanks to my friend Sally for taking pics)

and then we had a quiet family party at home on his actual birthday...

What a difference a year can make!

12 month stats:

weight: 19.5 lbs (20%)

length: 29 inches (16%)

First Haircut

It was hard for this mommy to cut his golden locks but

his comb over and long whisping hairs over his ears was 

getting out of hand.

Let's just say the first hair cut was comical.  

Before the hair cut we had a little fun with some accessories...

This is our before pic...

(never quite seen this expression before...haha)

Unfortunately we did not get pics of the actual hair cut.  For safety reasons 

Luke had to hold Tristan and was unable to hold the camera too.  

So this is our after pic...

I collected his hairs in a little baggy...didn't expect him to cry 

when I showed it to him.  :(

But once he got his jammies on he forgot about all the drama.  

I still kept it a little long because i wasn't ready to get rid of his little baby mohawk yet.

Apple Pickin'

We went to the apple orchard and took in the delicious colors, sites, and smells of fall.  

When I was younger if you would have asked me what my favorite time of year is I would not hesitate to say summer with the hot days and hot nights.  

But these days... I have come to appreciate fall so much.  

It is so fun introducing Tristan to new things.

We just love being this little boy's parents.  

Don't know what we did without him.