My little cowboy

Hawkins is a cowboy for Halloween this year!

He has his first Halloween party at school today and had to dress up. This included his first pair of jeans and his first pair of cowboy boots! He looks like such a big boy. The boots are a tad big, but nothing 2 pair of socks won't fix. He borrowed the red hankie from his Daddy and the vest from his Uncle Crisp.

He is such a cutie!

Erin Condren on Plum District!

Erin Condren is all the rage right now! Visit Plum District to get $50 worth of Erin's goodies for $25! You can't beat that deal!

She has so many fabulous products. Of course the life planner is my favorite:

I have also ordered address labels and stickers for Christmas! Here are some of my favorites:

Don't miss out!

Updates

Here is what we have been up to...in bullet form:

-I have slept THREE nights in a row without any sleeping medicine! That is a big deal, y'all.

-The big wedding I am making cheese straws for is next weekend. I have made them every day this week to fill the order. Now I just have to fill each individual bag and deliver!

-My cheese straws will also be in a home store in St. Simons Island starting next week...more on that later!

-My sweet husband grated all my cheese for me one morning while I was still asleep. It was awesome.

-Hawkins and I have had the most fun this week playing outside. The weather was been so great - cool and crisp and no humidity. We really need more to do out there though. I think a swing set is going to be a must very soon.

-I am still enjoying Zumba and am finally down 5 lbs! Only 10 more to go to get to pre-baby weight :) That may or may not ever happen.

-I got my hair highlighted last week in Tallahassee, and I told her I wanted it BLONDE. No one can ever get it exactly how I want it, and it always turns out too dark. Well, she took my instructions very seriously and I can honestly say I have never been this blonde. Not even for my wedding.

-(I went to the same hair stylist for SIX years, and we both moved away from Atlanta about the same time. Her to Peachtree City and me to South Georgia. I have made it up there once in a year, but I have been trying other people since then. I just can't ride to Peachtree City every time I need my hair done! She was seriously awesome. She always got my cut and color PERFECT and ended it with a great blow out. I even had her come to Americus to do my hair for my wedding b/c she is that good.)

-My attempts at finding someone have been unsuccessful.

-Hawkins can point out my nose, eyes, ears and mouth when I ask him where they are (on me). He can also tell me what the cow, sheep and horse say....that is smart!

-We are still working on his naps. Some days they are 2+ hours and it is great. Other days they are only a little over an hour and it makes for a tired Mommy and baby. He sometimes wakes up and goes back to sleep so I always let him cry it out for a while. The rule is that he has to stay in his crib for 2 hours.

That's all - have a good weekend!

Trip #2 and 3 to the pumpkin patch!

Beautiful flowers

So happy driving that tractor again!

My Big Daddy loves me!

Visit to the pumpkin patch!

We made a visit to Mark's Melon patch in Albany last weekend with Crisp, Katie and Fleming.

I have been SUPER excited about fall this year and may have gone a little overboard with the pumpkins in our house and on our porch :) They make me so happy! Robbie and I visited a PP in Atlanta and I have been dying to take Hawkins to one ever since. They are so neat with all different types of pumpkins. I was like a kid running around the place.

There is not a great place to get pumpkins around Thomasville, so we were told to go to Mark's Melon patch. It was awesome! They had SO many pumpkins, gourds, tractors and activities for children. We went on a damp Sunday afternoon and practically had the whole place to ourselves.

Hawkins had a great time patting the pumpkins - and trying to pick them all up.

But he especially loved the tractors. This boy LOVES to ride a tractor! He had his finger pointing in the air the whole time saying "dar-dar, dar-dar" (which means tractor).

Sweet boy

Mommy liked this white one.

First cousins - Hawkins and Fleming

Katie, Fleming and Crisp

Family picture!

Mama's boy

We had such a great time that we went back twice this past weekend...more pictures to come!

Friday fun day!

Whew, Hawkins is finally getting over the 2 week virus. This Mommy and baby are ready to get outdoors and have some fun. My parents came to Thomasville last night for a dinner and Hawkins got to wake up to his Big Daddy ready to play! He was so excited he screamed with delight running from his room to the door to go outside. He has the most fun with his Big Daddy outside.

Unfortunately they had to leave mid-morning (with a few tears from H), but Aunt Nina is coming this afternoon! When H wakes up from his nap she will be here ready to play! Mommy is going to get a much needed haircut and some alone time in Tallahassee - whoo hoo!

It could not be a better Friday!

14 months

Hawkins! You are 14 months old.

I just can't believe how big and grown up you are getting. This has got to be the most fun age. You are more independent with your playtime and will play in spurts by yourself with your toys and you LOVE to go outside and play.

-Your Honey and Big Daddy gave you a red Radio Flyer wagon for your 1st birthday and you LOVE it. We go on SEVERAL wagon rides daily (especially since it's cooled off some). You cry for your wagon anytime we go into the garage and you can see it. It has seats on either side that we an buckle you into and it is perfect for your size.

- We have playdates with some of your friends. Here you are with your friend, Richard. You can't wait until he gets a little older so he can really play with you!

-You go to school 2 mornings a week and love it! You can stay the whole time now, which makes Mommy very happy. You cry a little when I drop you off, but your teachers say you stop immediately and don't cry all morning.

-You have moved to one nap a day and sleep from 12 - 2pm. It started out rough as you learned to sleep for a longer period of time, but you went to sleeping one hour to 2 hours in about a week and a half. I kind of like the new schedule. It leaves us all morning and all afternoon to get out of the house and have playdates, go to the Y or run errands.

-You drink a sippy cup of milk in the morning and afternoon, a 1/2 a sippy before your nap - and we still give you a bottle at night. We will have to cut that out soon, but I can't bear to do it now!

-You are still a super picky eater, but I have found some good foods that you will eat and that I feel like you are getting some sort of nutrition. Bananas and waffles are our go-to breakfast. When your Honey was here last week you cried as she was opening your banana, so she gave you a slice and you ate it! Usually I smoosh it with your rice cereal b/c you hate chunks. This might not sound like an accomplishment, but I promise it is! Lunch is usually a grilled cheese with baby food - applesauce and Ritz crackers for an afternoon snack, and some sort of veggie, some yogurt and chicken nuggets for dinner. Not a diet of champions, but not too bad I hope...

-You love whole wheat Ritz crackers and cheerios.

-You had pancakes this weekend and loved them! Oh, you will eat scrambled eggs if I mix them with your bananas and cereal.

-You love trucks. Our neighbor has a big black truck and sometimes parks it on the street and you go nuts when you can see it out our front door. You scream "da", "da", "da" and point to it. Friday when Daddy got home from work he finally let you outside and you RAN down the street until you got to the truck. Hilarious.

-Your Grandmama and Grandpa gave you a wooden rocking horse for your birthday and you love to climb on it. You can climb on and off by yourself! Your latest trick is once you get up on it you hold your hands out like "no hands" - how did you learn that??

-You are growing out of your 12 month clothes and fitting nicely in your 18 month clothes. You wear size 4 diapers - the new Pampers cruisers.

-You just moved from a size 4 to a size 5 shoe.

-We got you some new red sandals and you are obsessed with them. You cry to put them on your feet and really pitch a fit if I try to put on your old blue sandals. Maybe you like the bright color?

-You LOVE bathtime. (You have always loved bathtime, but you can really show your excitement now!) We will say, "Hawkins, do you want to take a bath? and you will start screaming with glee and saying "ba, ba, ba" and run towards your bathroom. It is so funny.

-In the past couple of months you have grown very attached to your blankie. It is the sweetest thing in the world. I have wanted you to become attached to something for awhile now :) It is the small blue Little Giraffe blanket. I got you another one to have an extra, but you only want original one. Here you are when you were sick :(

-You can point to my nose, ears, and belly button when I ask you where they are. So smart!

-When I ask you "What does the cow say", you say "Moo" - so stinkin cute!

-You got your first virus this past week and it was so sad to watch you be sick. A Mother's heart is so tender to her baby!

-On the same note you got your first fat lip! You were running towards your room for bathtime and got excited, tripped and didn't catch yourself. Oh, it was awful. You cried and cried, but then handled it like a big boy and laughed through bathtime.

Hawkins, you have brought so much joy to our lives this past year, and we honestly can't imagine our lives without you.

Sick sick sick

Hawkins was sick with a virus last week that made him throw up and want to snuggle for 2 days. I took care of him every second and was so thankful not to get it...until this week. I only slept one hour all night Wednesday night with a nauseous stomach and achy body. Thank goodness we are in Americus and my Mom can take care of Hawkins. I literally could not get out of the bed all day yesterday. I finally got out of bed at 3pm to have some jello and saltine crackers. Pitiful!

Then Hawkins started having really messy diapers yesterday afternoon continuing all morning today - AND my Dad started feeling like me so he has been in bed for the past 14 hours. My poor Mom is stuck taking care of everyone! At first we thought it was something we ate at dinner Wednesday night, but now we think it's a virus...who knows.

Please pray we get some energy back around here and get better!

Fall

We had the BEST weekend over in the Raybon household. I don't know if it was the first taste of perfect fall weather, breaking out my new skinny jeans, spending time with my 2 favorite boys or having a great breakfast that you can only have on the weekends.

It was the perfect weekend despite Hawkins having his first stomach bug. He got sick Thursday morning, and we had a low key day to get him feeling better. He seemed fine and back to his old self all day Friday. Then Saturday morning he woke up acting lethargic and fussy and got very sick again shortly after breakfast. Poor baby was so pitiful most of that day. He fell asleep in his Daddy's arms mid-morning and just wanted to be snuggle, which was fine with us.

I left him in his Daddy's care while I sold cheese straws at the Saturday market and then Robbie played golf while we spent more Mommy/Hawkins time together. He was feeling a little better by the afternoon, and we had fun playing.

We decided not to attend church so Hawkins didn't continue spreading this virus around the nursery. It was so nice to wake up and have no agenda for the day. Hawkins drank his milk in the bed with us and then I made my boys a big delicious breakfast. Scrambled eggs, pancakes and sausage biscuits. These were Hawkins' first pancakes and he loved them!

We took a long walk and it was cold! I had to bundle Hawkins up in his new sweat suit and mittens. It warmed up some and we played outside all morning - Hawkins loved every second of it. He is ALL boy and loves to be outside...and loves his red wagon.

He took a great 2 hour nap and then Robbie took him down to Costco while I made cheese straws.

We had all the windows open all weekend and it was glorious. The fresh air is so refreshing to the soul.

I am soooo looking forward to more fall weather and a baby who feels like himself again!