Trick or Treat

HioHenry's first Halloween was a success! We headed down the street to a little kiddies party at our new friends Kiki and her 2 girls Maggie and Chloe. I don't have any pics of those cute girls, but the party was so fun!

Neighborhood friend Marissa and Duckie Grace
COW Henry and LION Henry and Baby Chloe in the background
Barnyard Animals: Lion Jesse, Duckie Grace, and Cow Henry

Afterwards the little animals all went trick or treating to a few houses on our street. A couple of our nice neighbors had Henry a special treat: Cheerios....aka: "Baby Crack" and Gerber Pears. The little moo cow was "sacked out" by 7:30 and Brad and I are chowin' down on some chilli that's been cooking on the stove all day! Yum Yum!

Best in Show

I cannot even begin to describe how proud I am of my little prize winning Cow! Henry won 3rd place in the Infant Category Costume Contest of the Transylvania County HalloweenFest 2007! There were at least 50-60 infants in the contest and he freaking won 3rd place! I seriously couldn't believe it when they called his name. I scooped him up from his "grazing" and marched him right up to the front to get his ribbon! He was only surpassed by an adorable Ragedy Ann and a cute little yellow duck. And this was no shotty contest mind you! There were some super cute little babies out there in the neatest costumes and my little Cow came home a winner.

Can you tell i'm beaming? I'm acting like he's won an Olympic Gold Medal or something, but it really does feel like it!

When the judges came by Brad made sure he was in the grass "grazing"! Hilarious!

This is us with the 1st and 2nd place winners along with the Mayor of Brevard (on the right).
Pops and the Bull!
Proud Parents!

We were supposed to march in the parade after the contest, but with all the excitement Henry really needed a little nap. Not to mention a big time blown out diaper that was in serious need of changing!

We're already preparing for next year's contest! We will be back to defend the title and let's just say we'll have the "Luck of the Irish" with us for that one. That's just a small hint as to what Hen will be dressed as! LOVE IT!!!!

2nd Annual Earnst Family Mountain Weekend

This weekend was our 2nd Annual Earnst Family Mountain Weekend. We went up on Friday and got there around 5:00. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was truly like fall in the mountains. The leaves were all changing and the air was nice and crisp! It was nice to escape all the dreary, but much needed rain in Charleston this weekend.

Henry did really well traveling this trip. He took a nice nap on the way up and back and really did well with entertaining himself. When he got fussy I just changed out a toy or jumped in the back with him and he was fine. I can't wait until we can turn his carseat around to face foward. It will be so nice for him to face us and not constantly be trying to turn around to get in on the action!

We went into the town of Brevard on Saturday for the Transylvania County HalloweenFest. (Another whole post on that to follow). Saturday night we had a delicious steak dinner to celebrate Pop's/Doug's birthday and watched plenty of football.

A Little Piece of Heaven!
This was Sunday morning and sums up how we all felt after such a fun weekend!
Happy Birthday Douger!!!


Our Little Moose!

Thanks so much for such a wonderful weekend! We can't wait until next year!

Lexington Family

On our way to Brevard, we stopped for a nice lunch with Grammy, Papa, Tricia, Tom and Courtney. The Thain's Yorkies just had 2 puppies and Henry loved looking at the little "rats." They are so cute!

Grammy and Tricia had great a great lunch for us and Henry loved seeing his Great Grandparents. Of course they had presents for Henry. 2 cute little Halloween bibs and an awesome rugby shirt and khaki's! So stylin'!
We had such a nice time. Thank ya'll so much for everything! Can't wait till next time!

Like a Weed

My Dearest Henry,

I need to talk with you about a 'growing' problem/issue. You are only 7 1/2 months and are already wearing 18 month clothes. There is even one outfit in the rotation that is 24 months! You are outgrowing your sweet little baby clothes at warp speed and I am having trouble keeping up! I promise I haven't been putting fertilizer in your milk or steriods in your green beans. So, can you please slow down for mommy and stay a 'little baby' for just a little while longer. I know that it's my job as your mom to make sure you grow big and strong, but I didn't realize it happens this fast.

I love you more than you will ever imagine,

Mama

P.S. Positive note: I found 3 little John John/Shortall type outfits in 2 Toddler at Once Upon a Child yesterday. Total Bill: under $20!

MAN'S Weekend

Brad, Daniel and several buddies headed to the mountain house in Brevard this weekend and had a blast. Henry and I held down the fort, but are so glad Daddy is home! When Brad came home this afternoon he had an 'interesting' aroma...kinda like that of a guys dorm room or something equally as gross. I can only imagine what all took place up there, but all that matters is that Brad got some good quality time away with his guys!

Thanks to Doug and Frankie for all your help and airconditioning this weekend...Henry and I appreciate it!

Pumpkin Patch

This is MY FAVORITE PIC!!! (above)


We went to the John Wesley Church's Pumpkin Patch on Friday for some photo ops! Mimi bought a pumpkin so we had an excuse to "pose" Henry. He was intrigued by all the big orange punkins!

ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!

I hate to use this blog as a sounding board for my whining, but I must say that life without an air conditioner is simply MISERABLE! Ours kicked it 3 days ago and it has progressively gotten warmer outside day by day. As we sit here in the living room with all the windows open, Henry is a sticky wet hot mess. Brad with his shirt off drinking coffee and pouring sweat. And me, well, i'm just trying to think of something we can do to get out of this house and into some A/C. Thank goodness it's October and not AUGUST!

Someone came last night to look at it and says it's not going to be too expenive to fix...THIS TIME. He says we'll probably have to get a new system in the next year or two though. Anyway, he's coming back tonight with the part to fix it. And as for us...Brad's headed to the NC mountains with his buddies for a fun 'guys weekend'. And Henry and I are headed to Folly Beach with Mimi. I feel certain the mountains and the sea will bring some cool relief for the Earnsts!

So, sorry for the whining and complaining. I promise to keep that to a minimum on this blog. Speaking of complaining: did anyone see that segment on the Today Show about Complaining? We, as a nation, need to really check ourselves on that issue and use our energy to better the world, etc. Which is so true. Complaining really doesn't help at all, does it? After all this b#%^&ing i've done in this post and i'm STILL HOT!!!!

Some Nana and Papa Lovin'

Nana and Papa come by for a quick visit today on their way home from Litchfield. They got to see some of Henry's "tricks" and gave him lots of lovin' before they headed up to Cola to see Conner. I loved seeing ya'll today and can't wait till the next time!

The Big 3-0!

Last night we attended the PARTY OF THE YEAR!!! Margaret and her 2 girlfriends from high school threw a joint 30th Birthday party at a gorgeous house on the Stono River. They had an awesome band, BBQ dinner, good drinkies, and great friends! We literally danced until the band quit and my feet and legs are so sore today (sore head too!) Cecilia was in town and stayed with us and Christina stayed with Marge. I am SO MAD AT MYSELF....I didn't get one pic of the entire weekend! Cecile' did so hopefully I can get some from her! I can't believe we're starting to turn 30...CRAZY!!!

Good Ol' Arthur

Today was one of those perfect lowcountry days that would have been a SIN to be inside! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and not a cloud in the sky. So after we got back from getting Henry's Flu Shot (part 2)...YUCK YUCK YUCK, we decided to go walk the new Coop! Brad was off today and it was so nice.

Aurthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge


USS York Town

PS. Henry got his third tooth today! Bottom right.

7 months

Go, go, go....that's the motto of this month! Henry is non-stop these days and so interested in EVERYTHING! He is no longer interested in most of his "younger" toys. He loves his Jack-in-the-Box, spinny top, BALL, tupperware, living room curtains, lamp cords, DVD cases, Busters hairballs, and anything else he can possibly pick up off the floor and get into his mouth. This presents quite the challenge for me to keep the floors spotless....which is a bit hard with 2 dogs.

Henry is babbling non-stop now. Just yesterday he started with ba ba ba and a few times he's said ma ma ma ma. This, of course, makes my heart flutter! I love that he's trying so hard to communicate with us. He loves to play peek-a-boo and grins real big when we pop out from behind somewhere. We're working on waving bye bye and I swear he's done it once or twice.

He is doing the "traditional" crawling now, but if he really wants to get somewhere fast he reverts to the "commando crawl". He is also trying to stand up and will get up on his feet and balance with his hands. I think he'll be starting to pull up this month. He's also perfected going from stomach to sitting.

Henry is still a great eater and loves most anything we give him. Crackers are a must have when we go to restuarants these days. He's still a vegetarian, but I think we'll be giving meats another try soon. He is doing great with naps now...one in the morning around 9ish and another in the afternoon around 2ish. He definitely naps better at Ms. Brenda's than here and I have no idea why! He goes to bed at around 6:30 or 7:00 and usually sleeps until 6:00 or 6:30.

We are so blessed to have such a happy go lucky baby and are enjoying this fun stage SO MUCH!

FALL?!?!?!

I am so OVER this hot weather I could die!!! I'm ready to break out my turtle necks, jeans, and boots! Good thing it looks like it might cool off this weekend....just in time for Margarets big 30th B-Day PARTAY!!!

Henry Meets Conner

We stopped by to see Jean, Ernie and Conner on our way home today. He such a little bitty cutie pie and has grown and changed so much. Jean and Ernie are pros already! Henry loved meeting his cousin and we couldn't help but set them up for a mini photo shoot! These two little boys have no idea just how much fun they're in for as they grow up together!

Two little angels!
"It's ok baby Conner. Don't cry."

PC Homecoming

This weekend was Presbyterian College Homecoming Weekend! We left here Friday night and spent the weekend at the Dardens and had an absolute blast! Thanks so much to Holley and Tyler for such a great time and for all your hospitality. I can't believe it's been 7 years since I graduated from that wonderful place....so much has changed since then. It was quite a different experience taking care of a baby while tailgating, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Hard work! I had so much fun seeing how people had changed, who'd gotten married, had babies, etc. Brad looked at me at one point and said "Did you ever think we'd be pushing a stroller with our baby around Fraternity Court?" I was so proud of Henry...he was the perfect baby yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed all of the excitement! He napped at the Dardens Sat. morning and then we headed out to the tailgate. He loved playing on a blanket and especially loved to TRY and eat the grass. We stayed out there till around 5:30 and headed home to get the boys ready for bed so we could go out for the evening...woo hoo! The baby sitter was great and so good with kids. The adults went to a new bar in Clinton called The Study Club and then to the houses briefly. Boy did I feel OLD! We are home safe now and EXHAUSTED! It was so much fun and we can't wait till next year!

Henry with one of the Comer Twins (Brad)
Oh no....please don't be interested in this YET!
Mama and Henry at our Tailgate Spot
Jules "The Viking"
Grin "The Hippy"
The Earnsts
Happy Boy
Loves his silver rattle
Henry with Courtney and Cameron...PC Grads!!!
End of the day....SACKED OUT!!!