Halloween-y

All of these pictures are accidentally in reverse order. Ah well. You'll read it anyway, right?

Here's Andrew, fascinated with the carved pumpkins. He was napping while we were cutting them, so this was quite a surprise. He calls a pumpkin a "ball" and that is ADORABLE.

Here we are with Andrew putting all the seeds back in the pumpkins. He did that for a long time today.

Shoving a seed through Daddy's pumpkin's eye.

The Bells with their lovely pumpkin, based loosely on Quentin's face here.

Here's Michael with his creation. Instead of cutting the top, he gave it a lobotomy in the back. He's creative, that husband of mine.

Here's Natalie pulling all the seeds out of the gunk. We'll be grateful she did that tomorrow when we eat yummy toasted pumpkin seeds! Thanks Nat!

The boys hard at work (when Mike wasn't trying to flick Quentin in the face with seeds).

The gang hard at work.

Gutting the pumpkins.

Hilarious of Quentin, and what face am I making here???

Here's our favorite little crustacean, chewing on his antennae.

Trick or treat? Let's just dive face first into the candy, shall we?

Love that little lobster tail.

He was the cutest little lobster ever.

Look! Andrew and Daddy both have claws. :)

Happy Halloween!

Social Butterfly

Andrew is definitely a little social butterfly. At the library on Thursday, he saw a group of workmen in a circle, ran over to them, and joined the circle. He then proceeded to put his two cents in, while they all cracked up and I came to take him to storytime. After storytime, he was flitting from baby to baby, talking to them, trying to sit on people (He does that when he really likes them. Weird.) and all that fun 17 month old kid stuff. Then a group of college kids came in doing a scavenger hunt. There were probably 30 kids. Andrew sees them, smiles and starts cracking up, and then goes and joins their group. He sidles up to this girl, pats her on the leg, and starts talking to a group of about 10 of them or so. Of course, they all ate that up. When they went to leave, he tried to go with them. Then the whole class came up to say goodbye to him, and he went back to playing with the babies. This kid doesn't know a stranger. And he's so adorable, they don't stay strangers for long. He's such a cute kid.

Here he is on Abbey Road.

This face totally cracks me up. Doesn't he look so dashing in his Sunday garb?
(Oh, and he's carrying around a picture of my sister Jeanette that she sent me on her mission- her head drawn onto a 1970's afro and bell bottoms. He found it in my Spanish hymnal. I had no idea it was in there. He loved it and carried it around all morning.)

Pumpkins, Babies, Family, and the Phone.

Andrew and I went to a pumpkin farm on Friday with some friends of ours. He had a really good time, mostly running away from me. I got my exercise in that day, I tell ya. Here he is on a straw horse. He loved it, and didn't want to get off.

Feeding a goat. He thought this was hilarious, but had a little trouble with the concept.

Cute little guy.

I almost didn't get my head in, but I think this picture is adorable. I love that little sunflower of mine.

He kept falling down in the straw. The tongue really makes this picture awesome.

Cutie.

Playing with my old Cabbage Patch kid, Mort Barclay. (Seriously. Mort? Xavier Roberts, what were you thinking on that one?)

The funny part of this picture is that he knew he was being cute. He's such a little ham. We really love that kid.

Taking the baby for a ride.

Reading the dictionary with Grandpa Barnard.

Just relaxing with Grandma Barnard. (I know some of you must be wondering if the kid ever wears clothes all day. Answer? Not usually.)

He loves talking on the phone. He called my sister Jeanette the other day (with a little help from me) and talked to her for 10 minutes straight. He would have talked longer, but I spared my sister from hours of cutie babble. The phone wasn't actually on when this picture was taken, but we love to hear him say, "Hi! Blah blah blah......(pause) blah blah (laughter) (pause)..." It's like a real conversation, and it's the cutest thing ever.

What's up with the Jacobs?

Played with Mr. Potato Head, our favorite little spud.

Hanging out with the Hamiltons! Not quite sure where Amelia went! I think she's behind Melissa. We had a total blast with them, and were so glad they could come and play. :)

Trying to get the Book of Mormon read before November. I'm in the end of Helaman. Michael is pretty much done. Oopsie.

You, my dear, are a procrastinator.

Who? Me?!

(I believe I was procrastinating mopping the floor. Imagine that.)

Is he not the cutest little thing?? Love the hair and the level of concentration he has in playing with those toys...

We've been going on bike rides on the beautiful trails here in Columbia.

Mike and Andrew played in a little tent Michael rigged up. Fun stuff.

Procrastinating? Making weird pig faces for no one but myself to enjoy? Yep, that's apparently me.

I promise that's it for now. :) We're going to a Halloween party tonight, and I'll be sure to get some pictures up here soon. He looks so cute!!

Dear Future Karen

Dear Future Karen,
I know you're busy right now, but I hope you'll take a moment to read this. I don't want you to forget anything about right now.
You are a lucky girl. You just put Andrew down for a nap. He laid on your shoulder and whispered in his own little language to you, all the while patting your back and smiling. Remember how he used to use Q-tips to brush his hair? I know he's grown up now, and I can only imagine how sweet he continues to be. Andrew is such a funny kid, and is trying so hard to learn how to be funny. I can't wait to see what he comes up with. I think we know where he got that from... it's from his daddy.
You are a lucky girl. You have Michael. Supportive, handsome, sweet, funny, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
For many other reasons, you are lucky. And you just keep getting luckier and luckier.

-Karen

Hilarious

If you love Sesame Street, this is funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ1SJD4XWZc

Busy Day

Tomorrow we have a playgroup, a birthday party, and a law school BBQ.

Mama.

16 months

Here he is reading me a book. While standing on a mountain of books.

He might be turning into a toddler, but he's still our little baby.

Weird Kid

Kids are weird. I was no exception.

I thought little people lived in the stoplights.

I figured they would look out to see who needed the green light, and would make the appropriate change. I remember trying really hard to show the little people that I understood. When we got a green, I would ever so slightly incline my head in thanks to the wee ones above us. When we got a red, I would close my eyes and nod my head humbly, in the attitude of understanding.

I. Was. A. Weird. Kid. Of course, I grew out of that.

I then thought there were cameras, and there was a guy with two huge (I'm talking HUGE) buttons (one green, one red) who would take care of switching the lights. Need I say it again? Weird kid.

I like to think that maybe I was just a super imaganiative person, and that I still am. For instance, while doing a karate/exercise DVD last week, anytime I got super tired, I would imagine someone coming to hurt my family, and it would give me the extra boost I needed. Normal? Not as much as you'd think. In the short 2 seconds I came up with this brilliant plan, I already had a story line set up in my mind.

Andrew and I are in Shoe Carnival when some guy with a goatee and a do-rag snatches him up. I throw down the shoes I was trying on and chase him to the door. With one arm, I'm punching the guy, which in turn knocks Andrew out of his arms, and into mine....

As if I could actually do anything that coordinated. I literally punched myself in the jaw shortly thereafter, and I have the bruise on my chin to prove it. Smooth.

So the point of this really long rambly post is, I'm a really weird kid. But I'm nice.

One Year

These pictures were taken within a year of each other. What a difference a year makes! Such a cutie, and he's definitely losing some of his "baby" features and turning into our funny little toddler. Love you, buddy.

Food for the Body and the Soul

Dinner tonight was awesome, easy, and really healthy! I just grilled some lean cuts of beef on the grill (actually Mike did that- thanks, honey), then in a non-stick pan cooked up some frozen veggies in just a little sesame and peanut oil (maybe 2 tsp.). I then added the steak so it would help season the veggies. I added some green onions, toasted sesame seeds, pepper, and crushed red pepper. I couldn't believe how good it was. I didn't have any brown rice, otherwise this meal would have kicked even more booty in the health department!

We watched General Conference on the laptop in Andrew's room this year. This is the result. Utter and complete chaos, including all the books and toys being dumped, staying in pjs all day, and Andrew sitting on our heads any time we laid down. It was worth it. Conference was amazing, and completely inspirational.

Walkie-Talkie

Walkie:
The other day at the library, we were walking to the play area, when he spotted a little girl, around 4 years old, that he apparently HAD to hug. He ran over to her and threw his arms around her waist. She was a little nervous and pulled back. Drew held on. His balance was in jeopardy, but he was bound and determined to give her the best hug she'd ever had. Then she started moving backwards. You'd think he'd give up then. But no. He held on, even while his little feet were limply being dragged back with her, his whole body slack except his arms which were still clasped tightly around her waist. I had to literally pull him off her. Luckily the mom of the little girl thought it was hilarious, and who could blame her? I still crack up every time I think about it.

Talkie:
Our wonderful little walker has definitely been turning into a talker. He's even started to combine words to get what he wants across (i.e. 'Mo dis' meaning more this. He'll say that when he's pointing at something he wants. Or "Bus Tees" Brush Teeth.). He's an adorable little genius. He still mostly jabbers on rather empatically and I'm not always sure what he wants, but we're getting there. It seems like he says a new word every day. My favorite so far? "Pup pup" Puppy. Could he be any cuter?