Peach Parade

The Peach Parade was so much fun! My Dad kept picking up candy for Nate and I kept reminding him that Nate can't have candy yet. I love the picture of Mother with Nate holding the sucker. It looks like they are conspiring about when Nate can secretly have the sucker. We headed to McDonalds after the parade and Nate ended up having a few licks of the sucker in the car. I guess they didn't have to be too sneaky after all.

Keepin' Cool

Check out the "fish face" in the bottom left corner.

Peach Run

This morning my good friend Charity and I participated in the 5k Peach Run. We started running about three years ago with intentions of doing a run, but my pregnancy put that goal on hold. The past few months I've finally gotten back into a consistent exercise routine and even joined the gym. I ran a 5k on the treadmill yesterday and decided if I could do that then I could do the Peach Run. I called Charity to see if she wanted to do it with me and she agreed. I had two goals: run/jog the entire 3.2 miles (no walking) and have fun (don't worry about time, other runners, etc.). It was exciting to cross the finish line knowing that I had accomplished both of my goals! Hopefully I can do another run in the future and have more challenging goals, but for now I am going to enjoy knowing that I've successfully completed a 5k run.

Here are a couple of pictures. I was really hoping we were going to have numbers. I really wanted my picture wearing a number, but I guess they don't give numbers for small town 5k races. Charity's husband got some great pictures of us finishing the race. Hopefully Charity will send those soon and I can post them also. The first picture was taken right as the run was starting and the other one was taken after we finished.

Night Out With Dad

Tonight I had dinner plans with a friend, so Darren and Nate decided to have a night out as well. They ate at Chick-fil-A and then went to Target and Wal-Mart. Darren said Nate was great, but did have a "moment" in Wal-Mart. Nate had been holding something and when Darren took it from him to check out, he started crying (Darren actually said that he pitched a little fit). I have to admit that I get a little pleasure out of the fact that Nate's first public display of bad behavior was with Darren. I appreciate Darren so much and his desire to spend time with Nate. He is such a great dad!

Sewing Project

I had the itch a couple of weeks to do a project, but didn't want to spend a lot of money. I remembered that I had some fabric that I bought about three years ago to make a shower curtain, but got frustrated trying to match the pattern and decided to just buy one instead. I ended up having enough fabric to make pillows to go on my front porch and add a border to my existing shower curtain. I am really excited about the shower curtain since I originally bought the fabric for a shower curtain. It's fun to have "new" things without spending any money.

Black and Blue Festival

This morning we attended the Black and Blue Festival at Petals from the Past. It was so much fun. We picked blueberries, listened to information about growing blackberries and blueberries, and sampled some great treats made with blackberries and blueberries. They also had pony rides and a small petting zoo area. Nate loved the blueberries. I love to introduce him to new flavors and textures so he will hopefully not be a picky eater. By the way, blueberries from the grocery store do not even compare to fresh picked blueberries. They will be in season for several more weeks if you are interested in picking some at Petals from the Past. I am pretty sure you can pick any time any day of the week.

While I was trying to get a picture of Nate and the goats, this sweet little goat licked Nate's toes. I never thought they could stick their head that far out of the pen. Thankfully it was only a lick and not a nip.

Now for some cow education. This is a Belted Galloway (like Angus, etc.). Nate has the cutest book called Clancy the Courageous Cow that's about a solid black Belted Galloway that feels left out because he's beltless (no white stripe). I have never seen an actual Belted Galloway cow, so I thought it was kind of neat. I must admit this little guy is probably not the best example for his breed.

11 Months

Nate is 11 months old today. He is doing great. He finally has two top teeth (he already has three bottom teeth). They didn't seem to make him feel too bad, thankfully. He is crawling around everywhere and pulling up on everything (I had no idea how fast babies crawl!). He loves to walk up and down the couch and around the coffee table, but hasn't taken any steps alone yet. He is loving to eat all things green (the real stuff, not baby food). His loves lima beans, green beans, sweet peas, green grapes. Tomorrow we are going to try some pieces of avocado. Hopefully we can add that to his favorites list as well. He is doing great with his sippy cup. We had been working on it off and on for about a month, but I honestly wasn't that consistent with it. When we returned from the beach I told Nate that I was going to be more consistent with giving him the opportunity to learn to use a sippy cup. It's funny because that very day he quickly got the hang of it and has been doing great since then. I know I say this every month, but he is becoming more and more of a love bug. He actually gave me a kiss last week without me asking or prompting him. If that won't make your heart melt, I don't know what will. I am starting to see more and more personality traits and I must admit he can be a little sassy and defiant at times. For example, if he's mad and has his paci in his mouth, he will take it out so he can cry louder. It's too bad they can't be totally sweet and innocent forever. Speaking of crying, he looks so pitiful when he crys. I know this is true for all babies, but he sticks his bottom lip out sooo far. It looks like a child actor who has been told to really exaggerate the lip action. My mother says her dad used to tell her that she could walk to town on her lip. I think Nate could do the same thing. The last couple of days he's been saying da da da da almost constantly. I honestly don't think he's talking about Darren, but we like to think so.

My parents just recently returned from a two week trip out West and they brought Nate this cute cap from South Dakota. I was surprised that he would actually keep it on his head. His favorite thing to do when wearing a hat is to take it off.

(This is not the best photography, but I thought Nate was too cute in this picture.)