Playtime for R

R has an almost embarassingly large collection of toys...my living room usually looks like a tornado has hit because he likes to dig everything out and play with them one by one! It's amazing though that with all the toys he owns, he can spend 20 minutes climbing in and out of the kitchen cabinet and have the time of his life! He loves the tall cabinet that we use for our pantry...and I let him play away because there is nothing in there that can hurt him! Plus there is just something too cute about a little face staring up at you from inside the kitchen cabinet! : )

FALL IS HERE!!!

One of R's first attempts at picking up the "ball"

T being a great big sister and helping R...

A says "This is the one!"

The finished product of an afternoon of fun!

One more for the photo album!! Sable is usually in the picture, but as you can see, she wasn't in the mood for pictures this day!

Fall has definitely arrived here in Arkansas! We went for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch last weekend and the kids each picked out a pumpkin. We dug "Johnny" the scarecrow out and put him up with our fall decorations. He has been used for many years, but when I mentioned that we might need to go and get a replacement Johnny, A had a mini-meltdown. At first I was puzzled by her extreme attachment to him, but I got to thinking...Johnny has been with us through 4 states now...he has been the one "constant" in this fall tradition. The flowers change, the pumpkins change, the house they sit in front of changes, but 'Ol Johnny stays the same! So we added a little duck tape and Johnny will hopefully serve us well for a few more years! Baby R enjoyed roaming around the pumpkin patch, but he met his match when he tried to pick up the pumpkins! He couldn't figure out why he couldn't pick up those "balls"...he picks up the big orange (basket)ball at home all the time! The girls were very sweet helping him get through the rougher ground out there...he had to hold someone's hand in order to stay upright! It was a good afternoon, and we came home and got everything set up for our annual picture with the pumpkins. I love these simple little traditions...its fun to see the kids get excited over something as simple as picking out a pumpkin and this year sharing their "pumpkin picking" skills with little R.

For Daddy

The shirt says it all!!! This one's for you, Daddy!! Thanks Crystal for the great shirt!

First steps!!

This was one of his very first attempts!

Getting better at it!

In his jammies getting his last few steps in before bed!

He heard the "woof woof", so he had to see what she was doing!

All tuckered out...got his blankie and he is ready for bed!

Baby R started attempting to walk the week before his 1st birthday. He has now almost perfected it, and actually even runs sometimes! I was not ready for these "walking" days...he is growing up so fast, and with R gone I just kind of wanted time to stand still until he came home. He has missed so many changes in baby R! When R left in December for training, baby R was only 3 months old...and with only a couple of visits since then, R will return in March to a walking, talking 18 month old little boy! We overwhelm R with pictures of the kids, and I have his first DVDs going out this week so that he can actually watch baby R walking and A playing soccer...action is SO much better than still shots! I have a feeling that baby R will be all about Daddy when he gets home...he loves "boy" stuff and I am sure R will be happy to accomodate him and do all things "boy"!