sweet madeline

last weekend henry and I ventured to Bham to visit some special people. we surprised my mom at work on the way up, had lunch with gary's mom and jon, went by my old office, ran by a few shops and then we went to see allison and madeline. it was a jam packed 24 hours but oh so fun!

henry and madeline, dressed up as tinkerbell. her expression cracks me up in this photo!
they thought playing in maddie's crib was so fun (who knows!). good photo op though!

henry trying to give madeline a kiss ... he asked his mommy first of course.

they played so well together. can't wait until the next time!

it all started at the farmer in the dell ...

... pumpkin patch that is. a-pumpkin-picking we did go.

henry dug around underneath some vines and found this lovely little fellow and exclaimed "yay henry!"

they had a haystack there to climb ... gary went first ...

then henry ...

followed by me.

at home (below)

touching the ghosts in the front yard

happy fall!

and then the carving ... henry liked the scooping (after it was cleaned out). that lasted about 10 minutes and then he had more fun finding sticks and rocks than carving pumpkins.

gary hard at work

all done! gary's mickey mouse takes the cake over my skeleton! henry loved it.

halloween cheer ... happy halloween!

war eagle anyway

we had a wonderful tailgate this past weekend! loved the cold weather. the only bad part about the day was the end ... the game. argh.

I did actually take some pictures this week-enjoy!

warming up in fleece PJs after the tailgate-thank you grandma!

little guy in big gloves doing "Touchdown Auburn!"

Katherine and baby Alex

Judy and baby Jake

Gary, Henry and Papa warming up in Papa's car

henry's new sunroof trick

hmmnn ... what is in here?

ready to tackle!

the old trusty golf club and golf ball

chad, doug, G, and robbie.

henry jamming to whiskey river ... war eagle anyway! at least the Spartys won, Go Green!

happy how-een & projects, projects

henry before school today, saying "happy how-een!" sweet story: when I picked him up from school today he had a substitute teacher visiting. she was holding henry and she proceeded to say, "I have three daughters and have truly never desired to have a boy. ever. until I met your son. henry is the sweetest and most wonderful little boy!"

ah, melted my heart and made my day~

henry's most recent art project ...
... and my most recent art project. in henry's "new room" will hang this collage. in our old guest bedroom we had this antique window hanging above the headboard with dried flowers on it. at holidays I would hang wreaths from it. i still really like this old window and was determined to find a way to use it in henry's new room. I wanted to enlarge some of the sunflower pictures from out at our land from this past summer - they are so cheerful, vibrant and colorful. then an idea struck ... I could use the old window as a frame for a collage. I'm so excited to display these photos AND be able to use the window. the picture of it really doesn't do it justice. to capture the pure essence of sweet henry, you have to see it and him in person. truly, you do.
he's one of a kind.

lunch date & 21 months

fall is in full swing at our house. pumpkins are abound, halloween decorations are up, and orange is running rampant. my favorite season is fall ... and when it turns just a bit cooler than it is now, it is perfect on the plains.

henry had a lunch date with his new friend Claire, who is 8 weeks old. he told her all about how pizza, water and fig newtons are even tastier than milk. he must have talked her ear off because she fell sound asleep but did wake up when picture time came around. she is adorable! Meredith is really enjoying her new role as mother and it was good to catch up with her.

Today marked the 21 month milestone for Henry Davis Vaughan. What is a typical day for a 21 month old? Well, it translates into waking up in a cheerful mood, starving and ready to eat as much as his mother eats, being ready to play after a big breakfast, zonking out for a 2 hour nap in the afternoons, and waking up ready to eat and play some more. talking, talking, talking is also a large part of each day. figuring out how to open doors is another newly acquired trick, along with hitting the table when he gets angry, saying he's sorry and giving a big hug and a kiss. singing songs is another favorite past time. he knows all of his letters except has trouble with I, L, Q, U, and V. he can say these numbers and in this order: 1,2,5,6. he thinks 3 and 4 are a waste of time I guess. he is getting pretty good with the colors blue, green, red, yellow, orange and black. he loves to throw toys for the dogs and say "get it!" usually shelby is his favorite for this ... and his favorite for petting and talking to is bricks.

henry has also become quite an accomplished Auburn tour guide-when we pass buildings he knows (and there are a lot!), he loves to point them out to whomever is in the car. as gary likes to tell it, it feels like the movie groundhog day each time we take the same route somewhere ... the narration is identical to the last time we took that route. its really entertaining. while 21 months does pose some challenges at times from a discipline perspective, distraction is still a marvelous tool. so far, knock on wood, those challenging times are few and far between and the laughter is much more abundant than the tears and whines.
crazy old mommy tried to make all the dogs and a 21 month old stand still for a photo. bricks passed out, shelby barked, and savannah tried to stay as far away from everyone as possible.
oh well!

cheeeeeeeeeese - ey but still cute

daddy decided it was time for henry to swing his first child sized golf club. henry has had a blast over the last few days with his new club and "gof ball."

21 is lots of fun! we are enjoying each and every day with our son, he is a sweetheart indeed.

another week goes by ...

it has been a good one. on monday henry had a doctor's appt for a round of shots. poor guy got five of those bad boys-so sad. other than that, he did great. he weighs about 26 pounds (25th percentile), is 32 inches tall (50th percentile) and is growing just fine. in the waiting room ...

before school today - ready to cheer on the Tigers for an important game this weekend. today the firemen and a firetruck visited henry's school (fire safety week). the fire dept. brought hats for all the students and let them explore parts of the truck. this was right up henry's alley!
caught a big laugh on film!

Henry continues to make the best art I have ever seen ... what an artiste. below is a leaf they used marbles to paint.

happy halloween!

below is a raccoon - the "mask" of his eyes are henry's hands and the tail is henry's foot.

apple tree

glittery ghost

and a firetruck.

on tuesday gary and I headed to atlanta for a little date night. gary surprised me a few months ago with tickets to see U2, one of my all time favorite bands. we went to REI to test out double jogging strollers, had a lovely dinner at Murphy's in VA Highlands, then headed to the Ga Dome for the concert. it was a fabulous show! a good mix of most of their albums. we drove home afterwards since we both had to work normal time the next day, but it was worth the late night no doubt. great surprise!

stage before the show (below)