Fabulous Fall Days

I have skipped a few days since I have been busy enjoying my long weekend! I had off Thursday for the federal holiday and yesterday was my normally scheduled day off. Yesterday was a particularly awesome day, most of which was spent here at home. We got up as family and spent the morning playing an watching TV(The parents not E) while the wood stove was burning. Ahhh...E took a really long nap and then we ran a few short errands before coming back home to enjoy Pizza night. E is such a cutie pie, I spent part of the evening with him chasing me around the house! I would tell him "bye" and then run away and he haul right after me. It was adorable !! While sometimes I miss those newborn days, I am really enjoying this stage! Of course he much more opinionated but he is so much fun!

Today is going to be a great day as well! As soon as E gets up (Don't be jealous, he was up at 3 and 6:50am already) we are going to head over to Kohls since they are about the only place open early and I am sure they are having "the biggest sale of the year." LOL! This afternoon E and Daddy are spending together while I head to a bridal shower for my SIL. The shower is about 1.5 away so I will get some nice alone time with just me and my music. My SIL is getting married to her soul mate on New Year's day. I could go on and on about these two and how special they are to me. I have known my SIL since she was a pre-teen and we have a very special relationship. We have been through a lot together and I can honestly say I think of her as just another one of my sisters. Ever since I did her hair for homecoming all those years ago, I have dreamed about her wedding day. When Nick told me she and MF were getting engaged, I was overwhelmed with images of her in wedding gown and thinking of what a beautiful bride she would be. Luckily for me, I get a front row seat at the event since I am the matron of honor. I know this is stretching a bit but I am also looking forward to the day when she calls to tell me she is pregnant with her first child. She was here for later part of my pregnancy and even attended my last doctor's apt where she was able to hear the heartbeat. Sharing life together has been and will continue to be amazing. How lucky for us both that God not only gave me NK but also my sweet sister, JRH.

Today's Thankfulness:

1) Emory going back to sleep again this morning so I could shower and ease into the day
2) A night spent by the fire, talking with my husband
3) My sisters, every last one of them
4) Cold frosty Fall Mornings
5) My mom and her relationship with E
6) My amazing grandparents who love the Kiernans so much
7) My good friend who currently lives in Hawaii and just sent us 4 new knitted hats for baby boy
8) Yoga Pants
9) Cloth diapers
10) Football

That is all for today! I hope the day is amazing for all of you too.

My husband the "Woodsman"

As I may have mentioned, Fall is my favorite season. I love it, I mean really love it. To me, nothing marks Autumn better than the smell of the smoke coming from a chimney. We haevd a woodstove in our home now which he love. My hubby need only hear me mention having a fire and he is on it. As the cold months begin, he gets into full woodman mood even growing a full beard!

I absolutely love having a fire and we used it as our primary source of heating during last year's cold months which I have no doubt saved us a fortune. Of course there is a lot of time and effort that goes into getting wood to burn. NK is awesome, he has been getting wood ready for us since this summer. E's grandpa calls him everytime there is free wood available which is awesome. Just last weekend, NK and my soon to be brother-in- law cut down a tree in our back yard. Afterward, hubby went about cutting, moving, and splitting it all to get it ready to use. Just last night, we got the call that there is more free wood available. So this afternoon the woodman will be at work again!

13 Months

The weeks since Emory has turned one have literally flown by like a speeding bullet. September is the busiest month for me in my new position and it was compounded by the fact that we were hosting a major event at the same time. It was a struggle to get through but I survived and new fiscal year has begun.

On top of that, we were working on transitioning Emory to whole milk. We discovered he suffers from milk intolerance, although he eats all other dairy. After going from soy milk, to formula, to toddler formula, to a rice milk/coconut blend, we have settled on toddler formula while gradually adding an once of 2% milk(for now) until his tummy is able to handle whole milk. From what I have read one the web, this is common occurance and many tiem children outgrow it by 15 or 16 months.

So now that the dust has settled a bit, I should be able to get back on track with blogging!

The pictures above are from the Fall Jubilee in Old Town Manassas. Emory loved every minute of it and as you see was so excited even in the car. This was a tradition for me as a child and I was thrilled to be able to take my child. It was a beautiful morning with perfect weather.