Halloween 2010

This year Mitchell was Boomer, the OU mascot, for Halloween. We had planned for him to be Elmo. We had the costume and everything, but he would not wear the hat. Without the hat he just looked like a fuzzy, red person. So at the last minute, I was out searching for another costume. I bought one at Sam's, and then I came across the Boomer costume at Wal-Mart. The Sam's costume did not fit, and Boomer did. So that is how Mitchell became Boomer, the horse.

Norman did not have trick-or-treating on Saturday night because of the football game. We decided to take Mitchell to Grammy and Papa's neighborhood. This was the first time that Mitchell has been trick-or-treating. He was able to say the words, and he understood the concept. He was kind of scared at the beginning, but by the last house he was taking a hand full of candy out of the bowl.

I think that he got a sucker at the second house that we went to. That was all he really wanted. He carried that around with him the whole time. Mommy and Daddy had to carry his pumpkin bucket.

Scooter, my in-laws dog, came with us trick-or-treating. He was a fire hydrant. Poor thing, he did not get one treat!

Looking at the loot. Are there any more suckers?

On Sunday night we went to our church's Fall Festival. This year Mitchell played some of the games. Last year I think he just ran around the church. I forgot to take my camera in till the very end.

Here is one of the games that he played. He also played a bowling game. But instead of using the ball to knock down the pins, he just went over to them and knocked them down himself. We also celebrated Grandma Null's birthday on Halloween. It was a very busy weekend.

Fun Family Fridays

There were two Fridays in a row that we got to spend together as a family doing some really fun things. As you can tell, Mitchell was really happy. He said, "Me excited!" It has been awhile back, but I am always behind in blogging. We are really lucky that Chad does not have a nine to five job. He has to teach on Monday and Wednesday nights, but then his Thursdays and Fridays are more flexible. One of our family outings was to the State Fair. We had to wait till Chad was done teaching on this day. He got home around 12:30, and then we left for the fair. I knew that this was going to run into Mitchell's nap time, but I was just hoping that it would work out. Of course, he fell asleep in the car. When I got him out and put him in his stroller, he did not wake up. I thought, oh great here we are at the fair and he is going to sleep through the whole thing. But it actually did work out. Chad and I enjoyed eating some fair food, and we looked in one of the buildings before he woke up. Then Mitchell had a little melt down because he was still tired. After rolling around on the ground for a few minutes, he got over it. Then we put him back in his stroller and headed for the Agtropolis building. They had all kinds of animals in this building.

Here Mitchell is looking at some hens with Daddy.

He even got to touch a chick....

and a bunny

Mitchell loves tractors right now. So, he really enjoyed looking at the tractor display.

We also headed over to the petting zoo. I think his favorite part of the fair was when a worker stopped to give him a coloring book. If you look at the picture above, he is holding the book. He did not let go of that book, even on the car ride home.

Our next adventure was to the zoo. This was Mitchell's first time to go to the zoo. We have thought about taking him many times, but it just never worked out. On this Friday, Chad was off because it was the Friday before the OU Texas game. We were able to get away earlier in the day. The OKC Zoo has a new children's area.

Look at those two cuties! As we were taking this picture, a lady stopped and said, "He looks just like you." Yes, they do look alike, but I like to think that he has a little bit of me too.

This was in the petting zoo area. Mitchell was a little afraid of the goats at first, but then he warmed up to them.

Mitchell really enjoyed the playground area.

But I think that he enjoyed the train the most. He still talks about the red choo-choo.

This train ride was different than the others because it actually takes you into some of the animal exhibits. It felt like you were in the jungle with the animals. Mitchell liked this train so much that he cried when we had to get off.

By the end of the day, Mitchell just could not keep his eyes open any longer. We will have to go back to the zoo! Maybe we can get a pass for the spring and summer time.

Cuteness

My Mitchell can say the cutest things. Last night I was putting him to bed and he kept saying something. I just could not make it out. Then I realized that he was saying, "best boy." I always tell him that I love him and that he is my best boy right before I put him in bed. Well, last night I told him that I love him, but I forgot the best boy part. He was quick to remind me that he is my best boy!

Today Chad said to Mitchell, "Are you our best boy?" Mitchell looked at him and said, "Best Dadda." Awww, he is such a sweetie!

I have also been trying to get Mitchell to say a prayer before he goes to sleep. I really have not found the best way to do this. I don't want him to just say a memorized prayer. I want him to really think about what he should say to God. So for now, we have been saying thank you prayers. He gets to tell God what he is thankful for. Usually he does repeat things from night to night, like thank you for Nana, Papa, and Grammy. His thank yous also depend on what has happened that day. For instance, on the day he got his hair cut he got candy from my hair stylist. His prayer that night was, thank you candies. He is also really into cars. He has to say thank you for Nana's car, Dadda's car, Papa's car, Grammy's car...(you get the picture).

Mitchell is still into saying "me" for everything, but he has started using "I." He will say "I like" or "I love." One day he said, "I love chocolate." I thought, yes this is my son. Tonight I tried to get him to tell me that he loves me. I said, "Say, I love you. " So he said, "I love me." Oh well, some day he will say that he loves me because I know that he does. Mitchell has also started saying "I do" instead of yes. If I ask him if he wants apple juice he will respond with, I do.

Summer Fun

Summer is officially over. Here are just a few highlights of our summer. We did not go on any major trips, but we enjoyed our time at home. After having a bad experience last October, we just are not doing any big trips for awhile. Mitchell enjoyed his little pool in our backyard. He also got a beach ball that sprays water for his birthday. He had fun getting wet with his different toys. We attempted swim lessons in the beginning of the summer, but we only lasted for four days. It was a two week class. Mitchell cried and screamed and did not want to do what the instructor wanted. I was in the water with him, but I just ended up holding him most of the time. I did not want him to fear the water, so I told the instructor that we would not be back. Maybe next year he will be ready.

Summer is always a busy time for birthdays in our family. Grammy had a birthday in June. Mommy, daddy, and aunt Audrey had birthdays in July. Since my birthday is the 5th we usually do something on the 4th of July because we are with family. Mitchell got to help me with my candles this year.

He also got to ride on his tricycle at Grammy's and Papa's house. He was not sure about the peddles, but daddy helped him.

We were going to go to a fire works show, but it ended up raining. We got to see a few from the neighbors. I was so disappointed because I love fire works. Mitchell really loved seeing them. I hope that next year the weather will cooperate!

To celebrate Audrey's birthday, we went to a tea room called A Spot of Tea. This place is so cute and has great food. My mom, mother-in-law, Audrey, and myself enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere and the time to be together.

The only get-away that we did this summer was a family reunion at Lake Texoma. We stayed in a room at the Methodist Camp. It was a pretty place right next to the lake. We went on a Friday and came back Sunday morning. Mitchell got to meet some of his relatives on the Davis side.

We took a walk with Grammy and Aunt Audrey, but it ended up being really hot!

That night we wanted to show Mitchell the lake. The plan was just to get our feet wet. He missed some of the lake activities earlier because he was taking a nap.

As you can see, he got more than his feet wet. He had a blast! By the end daddy and Mitchell were soaked.

Here is a family photo with Grammy and Papa.

Also at the reunion, Mitchell found out that he likes to eat apples by biting into them.

This boy loves his apples!

Mitchell also enjoyed many trips to the park and playing on his own slide in the backyard this summer. We are looking forward to some cooler weather this FALL.

I'm Mitchell

It happened today....Mitchell said his name!!!! It seems like we have been waiting for him to say his name for so long. Today we were in my bedroom, and I was folding clothes. Mitchell was just playing in the room when I heard him say, "I'm Mitchell." It was a little muffled, so I asked him to say it again. He looked at me and said, "I'm Mitchell." I just started praising him and jumping up and down. Then I wanted to make sure that he really did know what he was saying, so I asked him, "What is your name?" And he was able to tell me. Up until this point, I was getting a little worried that I had given him to hard of a name to say. But my little guy came through. Also today I asked him what he wanted to wear. He said, "shirt." Then he rephrased it and said, "blue shirt." I feel like he is learning so much every day!

Mitchell Language

I have been wanting to write a post of all the things that Mitchell says. I hope that I can remember everything. After Mitchell turned two, he has really taken off on his talking. He still says things that I can't understand, but Chad and I are probably the best at interpreting because we are around him all the time. First of all, from early on Mitchell has put words into categories. Yes, this seems a little strange, but here is how it works. Everything that is round is called a ball. Not to long after he started saying this word he pointed at the globes on my mom's chandelier and said, "ball." Also we were in the park one time and he saw a dandelion and called it a ball. Then everything that has wheels is a car. I can tell him a hundred times that it is a truck, and he will call it a car. Another category is liquid. This is called juice. Juice has been one of his favorite words from the very beginning. One day he decided that he was going to be more descriptive and call it "apple juice." This liquid category has been quite funny. One day it was raining, and we were looking out the window. He pointed out the window and yelled, "Juice." He would also get into the bathtub and say that the water was juice. Chad taught him to call it "water juice." I am not sure if that really helps. Then one day we were in the store and he spotted a Dr. Pepper bottle. He called this "Momma juice." He also knows that Dada has "hot juice" in the mornings.

He still cannot say his own name, but he refers to himself as "Me." So it is "me sit" or "me eat" etc.

He has been able to say Nana and Papa for a long time, but poor Mamaw has not had a name. I have heard him say it a few times, but when he is around her he does not call her anything. There were a few times that he called her Papa. We think that Mamaw is to close to Momma. Then this past weekend we had the Davis family reunion, and I think that Mamaw has a new name. He is now calling her Grammy. I hope this will stick. He can also say Todd for his uncle and his aunt Audrey is called Audee. Mitchell is also calling me Mommy instead of Momma.

Mitchell has also started to get interested in colors. He has an Elmo coloring book and some crayons. He will do some coloring, but he mainly likes to get out the crayons and carry them around. His first color to say was purple. After that everything was purple. I guess it goes back to the category thing he has. But now he can say most of the colors and recognize them too.

His favorite number is two. He started recognizing this and saying this right when he turned two. That was very convenient. But yet again, he called every number two. He now can also recognize and say one.

Another funny story....Right before Mitchell turned two, I would tell him often that he was going to have a birthday and be two. Chad would also give him bites of food and tell him that had two bites. Then one day out of the blue, Mitchell said two and held up both of his pointer fingers. I had not taught him how to do this with his fingers. I was so proud that he learned this concept.

We still have a long ways to go with saying sentences, but he has said a few. They usually involve Elmo or his new favorite, Ernie. A few nights ago I made some broccoli for dinner. I have tried many times to get Mitchell to eat this, but I have not been successful. This night Chad and I started calling it trees. This got him interested, and he took a bite. He then wanted more. Then he said, "Me eat trees!" It was so cute!

Six Years Later

Chad and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary on June 26th. I didn't realize it at the time, but we celebrated our sixth anniversary on the sixth month and on the twenty-sixth day. We enjoyed some kid-free time and spent the night in Ardmore, OK. We chose this because we found a bed and breakfast to stay at, and also we wanted to stop and eat at a restaurant that we went to right after our wedding. After our wedding, we went to Dallas and then on to Jamaica for our honeymoon. On our way to Dallas, we stopped at a restaurant in Ardmore called The Two Frogs. We decided that it would be fun to go back and eat at this same restaurant. The picture above is our attempt to take our own picture in front of the sign. This place has wonderful food. We both got steak, salad, baked potato, and fried okra. We even got apple fritters to go. It was all so good.
This is the bed and breakfast that we stayed at. It is called The Shiloh Morning Inn. This is the main house, and we stayed in one of the rooms. They also have several cottages that are spread out to the left of the house. I did not get any pictures of them, but if we ever go back I think it would be fun to stay in one.

This is us right before we left.

Here are some pictures of our room. We stayed in the room called the Pelican's Perch. That is why it has an ocean/beach theme and pelicans around the room.

Our room was upstairs, and we had a balcony. Here Chad is enjoying the morning air. We had a very yummy breakfast. We started out with a fruit smoothie. Then we had the main course of an egg and ham souffle and creamy potatoes. After that we had a small piece of lemon pound cake with strawberries on top. It was all so tasty, and I felt like I was in a gourmet restaurant.

Chad and I got there kind of late on Friday night, so the next morning we decided to take a walk around the grounds. We found this nice hammock. It was comfy!

We really enjoyed the time to get away, even if it was for a short time. Thank you to my mom for watching Mitchell, and Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart!