Happy Halloween!!

He's got monkey fingers, monkey toes, monkey hair and a monkey nose...he's a moooooonkey!! ha ha. That line of lyrics is a Dave C. original. My Dad would sing an entire song like this to my sisters and me growing up. We were his little monkey girls and with that came fabricated stories about why we didn't have tails (it was b/c of the secret "de-monkey" shots he gave us in our sleep), funny songs, and great memories! All this to explain why I could not pass up the ADORABLE monkey costume for J.David this year! Pottery Barn Kids had the cutest costumes this year and with that employee discount my budget was doomed!

We spent Halloween night out at my parents' house. We started off with a fun hayride followed by a little trick-or-treating and then some chili dinner. It was a blast!! J.David loved every minute of it. He is such a trooper! Here are some pics from tonight and I threw in just a few from Sunday night's Trunk-or-treat. I would have done a blog on that but he wouldn't let me get a good one of his face. He kept leaning into his banana treat bag to see all his goodies. Tonight i was smarter and took pics before the treats were handed out.

Mr. Monkey and his daddy

again

All smiles while gathering the goods

Hay Ride!! J.David was just soaking it up....

hmmm...what is in this banana bag that I can eat??

Winding down in my PJ's
One of the best shots he would give us for trunk-or-treat
Almost all the small group at trunk-or-treat

Check out our professional pics at LPhotographie . She gave us a sneak preview of the pics from earlier this week. We can't wait to see the rest!..ENJOY!!

Cutting Back....

Seems to be the theme right now with everyone you meet and everywhere you go. I decided to take this term literally and well....chop off my hair!! I am still unsure of how I feel about it but at least it is a "do". ha ha ha. I don't think I have posted anything about my hair issues from the beginning of pregnancy, but it has been CRAZY!! From going straight to falling out, and now coming back even curlier than before this cut was my last hope! ha ha. Have a great week and we will post pics soon of Halloween! We had trunk or treat on Sunday but J.David was so into his treat bag that we could barely get a good shot. Friday will be a different story.

p.s. these are end of the day pics and j.david is fresh from his high chair after dinner (note the peas on his face!) so be kind!!

Happy Birthday James David Trotter!!

Happy Birthday, J.David, Happy Birthday to you!!

I can't believe that one year ago today we welcomed J.David into this world. What a year it has been! Full of joy, love, laughter, challenge, and most of all thanks. We are so thankful to God for granting us the privilege of getting to be J.David's parents and to watch him grow and develop each day. Thankful that he is healthy, loving, and full of life. His little body houses this amazingly huge personality that is made up of a tender heart, lots of love, joy, endless energy, a great sense of humor and determination. I go to bed each night sad another day with him is over and excited for what tomorrow holds. He seems to be learning something new each day and surprising us with how quickly he can catch on and mimic what we are doing. Did i mention that part also scares us?! ha ha!

We had a FABULOUS barnyard birthday party on Saturday. J.David was soooo cute in his farmer attire. He went nearly napless all day and never stopped!! He was so good all day constantly smiling for the camera and soaking up all the attention of the day. We felt so blessed to have such a great turn out to the party! Thank you to all who came to celebrate the first birthday of our baby boy!

Some of J.David's favorites and at one:

*Green Beans

*music (he LOVES to dance!! and it is amazing how on the beat he is, not kidding!!)

*Dogs (he pants like a dog whenever he sees or hears one)

*rolling the dough (in pat-a-cake)

*buttons, especially any buttons that play music

*cell phones (i found an old one of mine a few weeks ago and even charged it up for him...it was quite a hit! then i didn't have to worry about him calling anyone.)

*vanilla wafers

*His new wagon

*all his new toys from his birthday! He can't seem to decide what to play with so he just jumps from one thing to the other.

*his friends! He is really starting to recognize his friends, it is so cute to watch them interact and smile at each other when we get together.

*crawling...after a few steps here and there, even a series of about 7 steps to daddy, he has absolutely no desire to walk at all!!

*being naked...he fights me everyday to put on clothes!! such a boy!!

Here are some pics of his birthday bash, ENJOY!! Thanks to Aunt Lindsay for taking all the pics! There are more to come this is just from the first CD.

Family Photos Pre-party

Playing in the wagon with Asher!My sweet niece Eden laughing at the puppet

The Farm cake, bib my mom made, and the gorgeous cookies that my sister Natalie made. She is sooo talented!! They were as yummy as they were beautiful!
Time for a cow print smash cake!! (notice the pig and chick place mats in the background. They represent pulled pork and pulled chicken. ha ha)
he is sooo clean! two little bites so far. we had to cut a piece before he would touch it!!
I'm ONE!!

J.David and the Great Pumpkin

These pics were taken last weekend on our first trip to the pumpkin patch. I was SOO excited about this adventure since I have not been to a pumpkin patch in over 10 years!! (so thanks for the idea Becky!!) We had so much fun and it just made us all so excited to welcome all things Autumn (my favorite season)!! We bought 4 pumpkins and are still contemplating on going back for the gorgeous mums. J.David really enjoyed it also. They had animals, pumpkin pyramids, and of course a ton of things he will enjoy more next year like pony rides and face painting, etc. This year we only went for a little over an hour...next year may be at least a good 1/2 day! Enjoy a few of my faves from the trip!

Fun at the park!

Today Morgan was able to work out of the house and ended up finishing early!! WOO HOO!! We LOVE spending the day with daddy any chance we get. We decided after lunch to go to the park and enjoy this gorgeous day!! Here are a few pics from our fun day:



Theses two pictures are just fun. Wednesday we watched a friend's baby for a few hours in the early evening and in anticipation for that I brought up the ol' swing. J.David thought it was sooo cool, so i put him in it and had to take him picture. WOW!! What a difference!! See for yourself. Picture one is from week 1 of J.David. Picture two is from Wednesday. again...WOW!!

Finally Friends??

After nearly a year I think Jaxon (the dog) and J.David have become friends. J.David has always loved the dog, at times a bit too much, but Jaxon has not always reciprocated this love. He has been a great dog from the very beginning staying away from all things baby, we have been really lucky!! Sadly though, as JD got older and wanted the dog to play with him....well, Jaxon still had nothing to do with anything baby, including the baby! FINALLY, over that last few months Jaxon has started to realize that there are certain benefits (aka food) that come with befriending this small creature that changes practically daily. Jaxon now has to be on the dining side of the gate when JD is eating, can't miss those intentionally thrown pieces of food from the highchair! If JD gets cheerios or cookies during his play time Jaxon of course thinks I put out enough for both, especially since JD hands them to him....ha ha ha. And Jaxon is now his body guard. When JD is into something he shouldn't be and I am forced to use the all too common word, "no", Jaxon barks at me and nips at my feet! I think it is to scold me for scolding my son, or to buy JD time to make a clean "get-a-way", but who really knows. Either way it is cute! It is so cute and I hope they become great friends as the years go on. p.s. don't mind Jaxon's super long hair...its to the groomer (appropriately named Groomingdale's) any day now!

Jaxon patiently waiting for a hand out.

And finally get one, luckily i was there taking the pic b/c after the lick of the cookie J.David tried to eat what was left....YUCK!! J.David scolding Jaxon, and yes, he does actually shake his finger and him while babbling...ha ha ha.
ha ha ha ha...this one needs no commentary.

some overdue pics!!