happy halloween

Happy 1st Halloween

Despite spending over an hour at the doctor's office this morning, Bryce had a wonderful 1st Halloween! This morning when I was getting Bryce dressed, I noticed his belly was covered in a rash. I called the doctor because I was concerned that maybe he was having a reaction to the Tamiflu. So we went back to the doctor for the THIRD time this week. After waiting for an hour, we finally go to see the doctor and got a better diagnosis of what has been bothering Bryce this week. The doctor didn't think that the rash was caused from the Tamiflu, and since he never really thought Bryce had the flu, he suggested we go ahead and stop the medicine. He thinks it may have been a case of Roseola. Well since he said the Tamiflu wasn't causing the rash, we decided to go ahead and give Bryce another dose of it for preventative measures since we spent so long in the waiting room with TONS of other sick children (better safe than sorry). I am crossing my fingers that we are finally on the road to recovery.

The pediatrician's office is right by our house, but that location is not open on Saturdays so we had to go to the office on the other side of town. We didn't really complain because we were able to stop by Krispy Kreme before the appointment and load up on all the fun, fall, festive donuts! It's a good thing it's not any closer to us because we might be there EVERY Saturday (we love William's Bakery just as much). We got my favorite (sprinkle donuts) and Jason's favorite (custard filled). We also got some fun jack-o-lanterns, footballs, skulls, and pumpkin spice cake donuts. D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

Jason was getting everything ready for trunk-or-treat tonight and was ecstatic when Bryce had a liking for the goose decoys. Jason is pretty sure Bryce said goose while he was playing with them! As much as I try to deny it, he's going to be a hunter just like his Daddy.

Our church normally has a fall festival on Halloween. This year we had trunk-or-treat. Families decorate their trunk or bed of their truck with a kid friendly theme and pass out candy to the kids in the community. Here is Jason's "kid friendly" goose blind themed trunk. I'm not really sure many kids "got it", but maybe they did. We had a ton of candy to hand out, but Jason was more interested in handing out the goose jerky he made last weekend. Jason didn't have a hard time dressing up this year. Still doesn't compare to the inflatable Elvis.

Goose Blind or Duck Blind (whatever)....as long as it flies.

And here is our little elephant. It sure was hard to get a good picture of him.

Cousin Chase in his lion costume!

Aren't they just the cutest?

Hope everyone had a fun, safe, and exciting Halloween. I know we did!

best buds

Bryce and Macy standing in the front door

(probably watching the cars go by)

Bryce had his first dose of Tamiflu last night and it seemed to do the trick. Bryce had a great night sleep and then woke up fever-less this morning. He stayed without a fever all day today without the aid of Tylenol. Jason was off today so he stayed home with Bryce today. They had a great day together! We are so glad he is feeling better.

under the weather

Thank goodness for all the pre-scheduled posts I made last weekend. Bryce has not been in a picture taking mood this week. He got a fever around noon on Tuesday. I took him to the doctor hoping for an ear infection. His left ear looked great, but they have not been able to check his right ear because it has too much wax in it. They tested for the flu and it was negative. So they sent us home without a diagnosis and told us to keep giving him Tylenol for the fever and to come back Thursday if it hadn't gone away.

Well, today is Thursday and just look at this sad face. Bryce has continued to have a fever that won't go away with Tylenol. I took him back to the doctor today and they dug and dug in his right ear until they pulled a TON of wax out, but NO ear infection. The doctor tested for strep and that was negative, too! The doctor said that the flu test was not a great test and that it could have been a false negative. He listened to Bryce's breathing and said it sounded great. Even with that being said, he narrowed it down to flu or pneumonia. So without a cough, sneeze or congestion, the doctor sent us on our way with a prescription for Tamiflu.


And this is how Bryce felt about his first taste of his $50 (yes, that's right, 50!!!) medicine he will be sipping two times a day for the next five days. And that is about the face I made when the lady told me how much it was. Of course I would pay $500 (or more) to make my baby feel better, I just wish the doctor was more confident in his diagnosis.


I hate that Bryce is feeling yucky, but I love the little cuddle bug he has turned into. Bryce is such a wiggle worm and never wants to be held. He doesn't even like you to rock him to sleep. But this week he lays his head down on me and cuddles every time I pick him up. Such a sweet boy. Hoping he feels 100% VERY soon. Especially in time to trunk-or-treat on Saturday.

exersaucer fun

Bryce does not enjoy sitting in his exersaucer anymore. However, he does still like to play "in" it. Bryce was crawling around on the floor while I was cooking dinner and he found his way into the bottom of the exersaucer. He had a ton of fun playing and he very easily got in and out all by himself.

Going in

Playing

Trying to balance

Making his way out!

what are these things on my feet?

Bryce has worn shoes in the past and they haven't bothered him. I'm sure he didn't even recognize them before. Now that he is so aware of EVERYTHING around him, the shoes were a major distraction to our picture taking today. I'm pretty sure he is trying to ask us what in the world is on his feet!

This is the first picture I got (which is a good one) and then it all went down hill from here, ha!

He sees the shoes and starts reaching for them.

He decides to see how they taste.

And he needed a closer look, ha!

Baby Mum-Mum

Have you ever tried Baby Mum-Mum? Bryce loves this stuff! We tried Puffs a while back, but Bryce just wasn't ready for them. He wasn't good at sucking on them until they dissolved. He would swallow them and then they would get stuck in the back of his throat. That FREAKED me out so I put the Puffs in the mesh teether and that worked well, but those things are a pain to clean. Then we found Mum-Mum at Walmart. They come in original and vegetable flavor.

Bryce is serious about his Baby Mum-Mum!

Tastes so good!

Good to the last bite!

8 months

Bryce is 8 months old today!

Bryce had a great night sleep, but other than that, we can't say much for any other sleep today, which explains the next pictures. He wasn't in the mood for smiling at the camera today!

Can we say sleepy?

Not sure what he was thinking!

This face looks really cute in person, ha!

Other than showing us your hilarious personality through goofy grins, what else are you up to?

• You have been sleeping through the night for the past month. We love a great night sleep, but we don't like that your internal clock goes off at 6 am (especially on the weekends).
• You started clapping your hands this week.
• You are starting to use sign language to say "more". (We'll give Kelly credit for that one. We probably need to give her credit for all of the milestones you have reached because she spends the most time with you. Thanks Kelly!!)
• You turn the pages for me when we read books instead of eating them!
• You are crawling. You were dragging yourself with your right arm last month. Now you look like you are doing an army low crawl. Maybe soon you will be up on your hands and knees. And maybe you won't mop the floor with your clothes anymore, ha!
• You enjoy crawling up and down the step from the kitchen to the Florida room.
• You mastered leaning in to crawling this month and I hope next month you are able to get into a sitting position from your stomach.
• You are pulling up on everything.
• You have decided that napping isn't for you. Now that you have learned to stand up in your crib, nap time is a bear. Don't think you can get out of it that easily though!
• We still aren't sure what color your eyes are. They are either brown or hazel, but we are leaning more towards hazel.
• Your hair is getting longer and it looks like you are going to get some curls soon.
• You are still wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• You drink 4-5 bottles a day and you eat 3 meals and a snack everyday.
• You love to hear yourself talk. When you are happy sometimes we think you say da da. When you are crying it sounds like you are saying ma ma. Daddy thinks it's funny that you are happy when you talk about him and sad when you talk about me!
• You enjoy playing with your pumpkin and you make the "p" sound every time you see it.
• You still don't have any teeth.
  

Wow, you sure have been busy this month! Don't grow up any faster because I'm not sure I can keep up with it all.

crawling and talking

Bryce makes the cutest faces when he is talking. This morning he was crawling around the living room talking away. He seems to talk with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. I tried to capture it, but I just got a bunch of goofy grins! I just realized that a month ago tomorrow, I said I would post a video of Bryce crawling. Oops...never did that. Hope these pictures will get the point across.

It's so cute listening to Bryce slap his hands down on the floor as he crawls. He means business!

If that doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will!

if you're happy and you know it........

clap your hands

Bryce started clapping his hands today!!

playing in the kitchen

Bryce enjoys playing on the kitchen floor while I cook dinner.

As you can see, the exersaucer is sitting in the background. It used to provide great entertainment while I was cooking dinner.....not anymore!

I'm sure Bryce is wishing he could have gotten something to eat or drink out of the bowl and cup.

a weekend getaway

I was very excited to get away for a little relaxation this weekend. Each year we go up to the mountains and pick apples. This year was extra fun because we stayed at a friend's house at Wintergreen. The fun began on Friday night with dinner at The Devil's Backbone. Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast and then set out for a day full of fun!

Every year we manage to pick apples on the hottest fall day of the season. We were very excited to go on a cool crisp fall day this year. However, we quickly learned that a warm September day is a much better day for picking apples. We waited too late this year and this tiny apple was about all we had to show for our apple picking. Bryce enjoyed our find!

We usually borrow an apple picker from Jason's sister because the orchard never has enough. Well we forgot to borrow it this year and unfortunately the only apples worth picking were at the VERY top of the trees. I broke the rules and climbed a tree because I was determined to come back with something. Don't laugh at the nerd in the tree!

Almost there....

My prize!

The girls!

We had to buy this apple since Bryce liked it so much!

Our little worm

Our little family (minus Macy....she had a great time playing with Abi and Ginger)

After we went apple picking, we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise for lunch and then we did some wine tasting at Veritas Vineyard and Winery! We ended our outing with a treat from Starbucks before heading back to the house for chili and football.