we'll take that one.

Guess what we did today?! We found our Christmas tree! I took my new film camera to the lot and cannot wait to get the scans back. In the meantime...

fam jam.

 I decided last minute that it would be easier to have someone other than myself photograph our family this year. Luckily, Cathrine Taylor had an opening so I jumped on it. Here are the images that we chose to purchase:

Love this family of mine and so very thankful for these photos!

three turkeys.

Happy Thanksgiving from our three turkeys! 

We have much to be thankful for this year.

friendsgiving.

We had the sweetest time last night at the Moulton's for our first annual Friendsgiving. Lacey, Will, and Willa were in town and instead of running around town to visit with everyone, they decided to bring us all together for a night of fun, food, and fellowship. 

Definitely thankful for these precious friends!

dapper.

First time at church for this little fellow this morning. I just had to document how dapper he looked in his bonnet.

pilgrim and indian.

Our precious Pilgrim and Indian performed in the Thanksgiving program at school today. They both did an amazing job and sung their little hearts out. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: we love Covenant! 

first eats.

First eats for this boy this morning! Ann Bennett had the honor feeding him so that I could take pictures and record his reaction. It sounded like a good idea at the time…

First she spilled it, then she put too much on the spoon, then she spilled it again, then she shoved it in his mouth (which, he did not like), then he grabbed the bowl. It was a disaster. On top of that, to say that he was not a fan of butternut squash is an understatement. I thought that maybe we should try something sweeter, so I heated up the apples. Nope, didn't like those either. At that point he was crying so hard and it was time to get the kids to school, so we gave up. 

Oh, Bug. I'm sorry! Maybe we can try again tomorrow...

campbell: five months.

Here we are, Bug. You are five months old today. As hard as I am trying to keep you little forever, it doesn't seem to be working. This was a big month for you (and Mommy) and I have to say, there are times when I look at you, or back at pictures from your early days, and I cannot believe how big you are. It truly hurts my heart. I'm just not ready for the next. I'm not ready for tomorrow, because you will be one day older. I'm just. not. ready.

This month brought a difficult transition. For me, not you. On October 18th, we put you in your crib at night. I admit, you were more than ready. It was me who kept repeating, "tomorrow night." But, I finally bit the bullet and you did great. Not a peep! You hum/groan when you are tired and are trying to put yourself to sleep. You also slam your feet down to soothe yourself, just like your big brother did at 5 months! We have woken up a few times thinking someone was trying to break in the house, but no, it's just you banging around upstairs!

And speaking of sleep, you went from loving to be rocked before naps and night, to not wanting to be rocked or held. You literally arch your back and scream until we lay you down in your crib. This also coincides with a brief nursing strike. Every time I would put you in that "rock" position, you would scream and refuse my breast. Luckily, it was short-lived and you now nurse fine (on most days). I did drop our 4:00 feed, so I only nurse/bottle with breastmilk-feed you at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. We haven't switched you over to the 4-6 month Mom's On Call schedule yet, because I didn't think you were quite ready for solids, so your feeding schedule is still the same: 7:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. (down for the night at 7:30 p.m.).

You were ready, however, for more active play. We put you in the Skip Hop Explore & More activity center this month. You love standing up and interact with all of the toys. You now bring all toys to your mouth, pull your paci out (you have almost mastered putting it back in), but much prefer your hands. They are always in your mouth. If they aren't, you are using them to scratch yourself. Your poor little head has scratches all over, despite keeping your nails cut short.

You started to fuss this month and are harder to keep content…unless you are in our arms, of course. You absolutely love to be held, exploring the big world in our arms. You started to cry when we lay you down or leave the room. Daddy says that I have created a monster by constantly being at your beck and call, but it's just one of those stages of development!

I hate to admit this, but I just now discovered your double crown. For some reason I didn't notice it when you were new to us, but it's there, just like big brother Brooks. The two of you are quite similar. In more ways than one!

And lastly, you swung for the first time on October 18th, as well. You didn't love it, but you didn't hate it. You were rather impassive. I do get the best smiles and giggles during diaper changes. You think the cold wipe on your bottom is too funny. 

Some month five happenings and whatnots: you had your 4 month well check-up, we celebrated Shug's birthday, you went to Railroad Park for the first time, you dressed up as a deer for your first Halloween, you still love bath time, your Sister fed you an entire bottle for the first time, you experienced your first fire, and blowout is your new middle name. We've had a lot of them this month.

Camp, you are a slice of Heaven and our entire family loves you BIG. The countdown to six months is on!