Everything's FALLing into place

This week is making a strong comeback. Fall is upon us, the house is clean, the weather is gorgeous, our fall decorations are up, my pretty girl learns something new and spectacular everyday, and I have a wonderful husband to share all of the good things in life with. I feel like each new season brings about a sense of rejuvination and something to look forward to. Summer brings cookouts, lake time, and a nice tan. Winter brings the excitement of Christmas, snow, and yummy food. Spring brings beautiful flowers, sunshine, and flip-flop weather. Fall is my favorite season by far for many reasons. To name a few: football, hoodies, hot chocolate, falling leaves, Thanksgiving, family time, and pumpkin carving and dressing up. Halloween has never been a holiday that was appealing to me and I guess I can thank my mom for that. We never did the whole ghost, goblins, dead bodies, and skulls thing.  BUT I love to dress up! And I absolutely cannot wait to dress Hallie in her first costume! Aunt Bailey and I were checking out some baby costume options the other day: a lobster, a monkey, a pea in a pod, or a snail. I realize a snail probably sounds gross, but the costume is so cute. Now that we have narrowed it down to 4 choices, I need your help. Please leave me a comment below and vote for your favorite!

 Growth spurt is over. Transformation back to an angel has begun. Today she has spent 3/4 of the day napping...yesterday on the other hand, she napped for just 90 minutes. Three teeny, tiny 30 minute naps. When she wasn't taking her teensy little naps, she was screaming for food. So glad that is over! Riley scored some major bonus points last night. He had gotten off work pretty late and didn't have much time to sit down and relax, so when he disappeared for 20 minutes I was wondering what on earth he was spending his only down time doing. He came into the living room and took the baby from me and told me to follow him into the bathroom. He had lit candles around the bathtub, had the jets going, and my new book sitting on the ledge of the tub. It smelled amazing because he had sprinkled some stress relief salts in the water. He told me to relax and he didn't want to see me for at least 30 minutes. "I think I can handle that!" Just what I needed. It almost seemed for a second that I was at a luxurious spa on an exotic island without a care in the world. And then I opened my eyes and sure enough, I was still in Mustang, OK. But with a sweet little baby and a husband like that, why would I want to be anywhere but here.

Hallie and I had to make a stop by work today and it gave me a rude reminder of how fast time is going now that I am down to the end of maternity leave. I've decided to have another baby so that I can go on leave again in 10 months. Ssssh. Please don't tell Riley. I am pushing worries and fears to the back of my mind and I will deal with them in 3 weeks when the time comes. Tons of mothers are working moms. I guess I can do it too!

This afternoon Hallie took a long, unexpected nap which gave me some rare time to put out our fall decorations. I was so excited about getting the fall container down from the attic yesterday that I contemplated doing it myself. I called Riley and asked, "honestly, do you think I am strong enough to bring the container down by myself?" His answer was "um, no!"  So I waited patiently and he brought it down for me first thing when he got home.  Now all I need are the real pumpkins and it will be complete.....

I've also had some time to update Hallie's baby book today. Good thing I have the blog to look back at, because I would have no idea about certain dates. Wouldn't it be nice if I could just ask her...."hey Hallie, what day was that when you smiled at dad and I?" and "what was the date when you first went to Nanny's house?" Last night I had a not so pleasant dream about her...she was still two months old, but she was in school and some of her classmates had taught her how to throw up gang signs. So my two month old was showing me the gang signs she had learned to do with her hands. I have NO idea what inspired that dream! But I was glad to wake up from it.

Hallie's Corner

Good day everyone! I have been a good girl today. Mom loaded me up for a walk this morning before my bath so I was still wearing my jammies. Dad was concerned about this because I just so happened to be wearing my cheetah jammies again....what if animal control saw me! Would they take me in??? Whew, we made it without them spotting me. But seriously folks, lay off the animal jammies. How can it be cute every single time!? I have had a mobile on my swing for 2 months I guess but I just now noticed it a couple days ago. It just fascinates me how those little colorful lambs fly in circles above my head. I don't know much about farm animals, but I don't think they are supposed to fly. Well, maybe chickens but I'm not sure.

"Wow, how do they do that?"

I finally got some sleep last night. I packed the food in during the day and wasn't hungry all night. I woke up to say goodbye to dad this morning but my mom was still asleep so I decided to cut her some slack and I counted sheep until I couldn't take the silence anymore. The fact that I can't count made it kind of frustrating. Mom and I went to her job today and had to say hi to everyone. She kept telling me to smile for everyone...what mom doesn't understand is that I don't just smile for anybody. I save them up and give them to the people I love the most. So yesterday she was driving me crazy when she kept making me smile for our neighbor down the street...I will show the world when I get really good at it. Ya see mom, sometimes I still can't tell if you are smiling at me or if you are just plain crazy. We will work on it!