First Snow

We finally had the first snow fall of the year this past week.  I loved it even though we don't reap the benefits of public school kids in Virginia.  In order to have school cancelled in Kansas a major snow disaster had to happen.  A few inches of snow? No big deal.  Freezing rain all night and high temperatures of 10 degrees?  We'll just put more sand in the parking lots and sidewalks.  It was incredible.  Of course the one day of my high school career school got cancelled for snow happened on the worst possible day and with one of the wimpiest, fastest melting snow falls I have ever seen.  In Virginia (and North Carolina) if there is even a 15% chance of snow or ice you will see trucks out pre-treating the roads and with a 20% chance of snow late starts will be announced and some schools will even be cancelled.  Its incredibly pathetic.

One of our friends here gave us this big fleece suit and we figured we'd send him out in that since we don't have any snow pants for the wee man yet.  Needless to say the suit is al little huge...he looked like an ewoke and moved like one too, but it provided nice padding.

it wasn't yellow snow...he thought it was funny feeling

my happy boy

face plant in the snow

He likes it!

10 Months of Love

I wrote this post weeks ago, just haven't had the time to load up the pictures to make all the reading worth it.  

Oh man.  In case you haven't figured it out yet, I love this kid.  Each day just gets better.

We couldn't get him settled down enough to get an accurate measure of his height, but I imagine he is a smidge taller than he was last month, like maybe a quarter of an inch...so lets say 29.75".  Weight: A sack of flour, a big one.  Right around 20lbs (the boy can eat when he wants to).

He is so fun!  He has been really comfortable walking around holding on to one of our fingers and he loves walking.  He will dive bomb out of our arms in efforts to get on his own two feet. As this post is a week and half late I want to note that on Sunday he started walking around our house, all over, all by himself.  He is moving!  He will walk up and down the hallway, on the grass and all over the dining hall.  Don't worry Grandpa, we aren't letting anyone open up doors into little buddy.  He is so comfortable on his feet,  and his balance is crazy good, it is amazing.  He loves to walk around carrying his golf club or kicking his ball.

He is never really mesmerized by anything on TV, but when people are singing on Glee it gets his attention, and he LOVES to dance.  I haven't been able to capture a video of it yet, but he gets his groove thing on (as much as a child of ours has the ability to groove).  He loves his shape toolbox (thanks Finley!) and his stacker toys.  Truthfully he loves anything he can bang together and make noise or that will put dents in our coffee table.  He is great at playing peak-a-boo (he will even cover himself), loves paddy-cake and his favorite book is Pat the Bunny (I have it memorized in case you want to hear it).  He is also Soooooo-big!

Praise the Lord the third tooth finally broke through, the fourth will hopefully come out later this week.  Man I hate teeth, but love them at the same time because they allow us to be more adventurous with eating.  He is kind of a picky eater, but inhales the food he likes.  Turkey, sweet potatoes, fruit of any kind, butternut squash and cheese are some favorites.  No eggs though for this kid.  He had them several weeks ago and had a minor reaction and has been tested and is allergic to egg whites.  I'm still learning what to keep away from him as far as products with eggs and made around eggs, but overall it hasn't been too bad.  I haven't yet baked with the egg substitute (not like egg beaters, but a straight up substitute for eggs) but am excited to, because mommy loves muffins and brownies and loves to share them! He is a smart kid and knows when we are eating and tends to be a true ankle biter anytime we are snacking or having dessert.  He thoroughly enjoyed some of my cannoli one day this last month (mamas boy!).

Here are some of my favorite pictures from month 10.  Our grounds guys put all the leaves into big long piles which is every kids dream!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving brought a much needed break for our family.  Both Cory and I left work items at home and we were able to escape to a warmer (and to an extent, happier) location for the week.  We started off in Orlando and went to one of my favorite places: Disney World.  Though this isn't a trip Edmund will remember it gives me hope that in the future we'll be able to bring him here to enjoy the wonder of the amazing place.

everyone was seeking cover in the rain so we took the opportunity to get a picture in front of Walt, Mickey and the Castle with no one in the background.  I think Edmund loved the rain!

We took Edmund on several rides.  His two favorites were the Buzz Lightyear arcade game (which because of his sweet smile a nice man gave us a fast pass so we didn't have to stand in the rain) and It's a Small World.  Yes, the song is horrible but it was a MILLION TIMES worth it for how much Edmund enjoyed the ride.  Holy cow.  We had never seen him so enamored with something before.  We would point and something and he would look at it.  He just sat there looking all around at all the other little people.  It was awesome. 

The rest of the trip story is to come--I don't want to overload you with awesomeness.