Happy Halloween!

Russell the Duck made an appearance at his first Halloween party today! In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that he was only in the costume for a few pictures - the duck feet kept falling off and he was trying to eat the duck head. (The body didn't seem to phase him, however!)

Jason and I with our little duckling:

Russell and Lily inspecting the duck head:

Zack with a sleepy ladybug, Eliza:

Lots of adorable little creatures:

Thanks to Justin and Sarah for hosting! It was fun and filled with cuteness!

Goin' to the chapel...

...for David and Lisa's wedding! :)

On Saturday, my sweet friend Lisa married her love David. They are truly a perfect match! I was blessed to be a bridesmaid in the wedding, and had a great time.

The bridesmaids' luncheon was on Friday at the Embassy Suites, and it was lovely - here are all the bridesmaids and the beautiful bride (yes Lis I stole this pic from you!):

So thankful that Jennifer could watch Russell while I was at the luncheon - I hear he and Hannah had a blast! Here are Russell and I afterwards at Jennifer's house:

I didn't get any pictures of the rehearsal dinner, but it was lovely! It was at a very nice hotel in town, and the menu, toasts, and company were amazing.

Then came the wedding on Saturday! We met at the church at 1 pm. (I got my hair done before, and still am not sure that I liked it but I didn't have time to change it.) Anyway, Russell was with us until the ceremony started so that I could feed him, then Jason's parents took him back to our house and watched him for the evening - we are so grateful!

Here's a picture of Lisa and all the bridesmaids, dressed and ready:

Pictures after the ceremony - yay, you're married!

Hannah told Jason, "I'm going to get married, but I'm going to wait until I'm a little older." Precious! She also kept telling me that I looked like a princess - I love that girl ;) here she is, holding my bouquet, with her daddy Walter:

Congrats, David and Lisa! We love you and are so happy for you!

4 Months Old!

Yesterday, Russell turned 4 months old! Here he is for his regular monthly photo shoot:

We went to the doctor today, and Russell got his next round of shots :( We'll see if he takes it better, worse, or the same as last time!

His stats:

14 lbs ~ 40th percentile

25 inches ~ 50th percentile

41 3/4 cm head circ ~ 40th percentile

Here's the news about Russell for the past month:

~He is now grabbing toys, examining them, and putting them in his mouth

~Is sleeping through the night - most nights he sleeps from 7:30 or 8 to 5 am, then eats, then goes right back to sleep until 6:30 or 7! Yay!

~And he moves all over the crib - I never come in to find him how I left him

~Is thisclose to rolling back to front - he really gets all the way over, but his arm stays pinned under him

~Loves the rice cereal; he opens his mouth really wide and will sometimes grab the spoon and stick it farther in his mouth - so funny! Also, the dr told us to start vegetables, so we will be doing that soon (and posting pictures)!

I'm sure there are other things I can't think of - I should start taking notes :) He is such a good baby now! We love him dearly!

Rice Cereal

At Russell's 2 month appointment, the doctor told us to start him on rice cereal the week before his 4 month appointment. Well, his 4-mo appointment is on Monday, so we decided today was the day! He made the funniest face at first, but quickly decided he was a fan! He would start impatiently screeching a little if Jason didn't give it to him fast enough. We made it very liquidy, and I'm thinking tomorrow I might make it a little thicker to see how that goes over.

Here he is on video (I don't think there's any sound - we need an actual camcorder instead of my digital camera!)

Bargain Brag ;)

I have recently started couponing, and have become seriously addicted.

It's easy to get obsessed when you get awesome deals!

This week, I've gotten the following great deals (among others):
~2 packs of Rolaids for free
~a travel-size Tide laundry detergent for free
~Banana Nut Cheerios for free
~can of green beans for $0.10
~Skippy natural peanut butter for $0.64
~a travel-size Hungry Hungry Hippos game for $0.99

You can do this too if you are interested! It saves lots of money, but does take some time and you have to be willing to go to more than one store each week (I usually go to 3 at least). You can print coupons from online, but you will save the most if you get the Sunday paper as well.

My favorite couponing website is www.southernsavers.com - check it out :) (if you live in the South, that is.)

Happy 4 years (a day early)!

♥ On October 15, 2005, I married my best friend. ♥

I love you, Hammy!

Engagement:

Wedding:

Pancake Saturday

Pancake Saturdays are a tradition in our little family. Each Saturday morning, rain or shine, at home or on vacation, Jason makes pancakes from scratch for us (and sometimes for guests). Therefore, I thought the tradition needed to be documented.

Yesterday Jason made pumpkin pancakes for the first time, and they were soooo delicious. Half were made with chocolate chips and half without. They were a perfect autumn breakfast treat!

Some of the ingredients:

Our little pumpkin is more interested in eating his hand than pancakes at this point:

Daddy's little helper:

Jason makes the pancakes, and I (sometimes) flip them:

The final product! (And a very pouty baby - look at that face!)

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes (courtesy of pinchmysalt.com)

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. cake flour

1 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1 c. buttermilk

1 c. canned pumpkin

2 eggs

2 T. oil

1 t. vanilla

2 T. dark brown sugar

1) In a large bowl, whisk together first 8 ingredients. In another bowl, mix together last 6 ingredients.

2) Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

3) Cook on a hot griddle.

4) Enjoy!

Fall = Football Season

I LOVE fall. The period from September through New Year's is my absolute favorite time of year. Fall is pumpkin spice lattes, crunchy leaves to step on, Thanksgiving, and light cardigans. But most of all, in our house, fall is football season. I've alluded to it before, but I can't fully explain the degree to which Jason is obsessed with NC State football.

So of course, we had to start Russell out early - his first game was last Saturday, at barely 3 months old. He only made it to the tailgate because it started raining (and was only awake for a small portion of it, at that), but here are a few pictures of the fun!

Here are Russell, my dad and I at my in-laws' house before the game:

Our little family at Carter-Finley stadium:

Close up:

And my mom with her favorite grandson:

We'll be back on Nov. 7 - which happens to be Jason's 30th birthday! Maybe Russell will actually make it inside the stadium then ;)