10-year reunion, times two

Two weekends in October were filled with traveling to our respective hometowns for 10-year high school reunion festivities. The first weekend in October we headed to Wichita Falls to see the Notre Dame Class of 2000 crew! We had a great time visiting with old friends, meeting some of their little ones for the first time (and seeing some of the little ones we hadn't seen in awhile), and reminiscing. It was a quick trip, but it was great to see everyone!

Group shot

Small class :-)

We had a picnic lunch and a play day at the park that Saturday afternoon

Jameston meeting Tiffany (my bestie's niece) for the first time...they hit it off!

All the cutie-pie kiddos!

Me and Cort playing catch...

Deric and Lainey

Leslie and Hadley

Tiffany and Campbell

Jameston just a'swingin' with Daddy :-)

Checking out the game...

and watching the big kids...

is exhausting!

The photographer got a great shot of my two boys :-)

My cousin, April, was kind enough to let us stay with them for the weekend. Jameston had a BLAST with their two boys, Preston and Jackson (I think the feelings were mutual :-) It was so much fun to watch them interact!

Brett and I met up again with the ND crew later that night, sans kiddos, and had a nice date night out on the town. Jameston did so well that night because he had such a great babysitter and two awesome little helpers!

And two weekends ago we drove to Austin (Lake Travis to be exact) for Brett's 10-year shindig. I was not as good at taking pictures that time-around, but I did get a great group shot at the dinner we had at the marina!

LT Class of 2000

I actually have Brett's high-school classmates to thank for introducing us since we all went to Tech together, and they were residents on the same floor/dorm as me our freshman year. We were so glad to be able to hang out with three of the matchmakers/great friends outside of the reunion events!

Morgan, Jameston, and Ryan

Kim teaching JW a thing or two :-)

Of course seeing Papa and Granny was icing on the cake!

And we were spoiled, as usual, with great company and yummy food...we didn't want to leave!

I know, buddy...two weekends FULL of traveling and visiting tuckered us out, too!

We had such a wonderful time seeing family and friends!

100% and 13 months!

Drumroll, please...after about three weeks of our dedicated no-more bottles and bye-bye breastfeeding campaign, we now have a 100% Whole-Milk Household!

(Correction: Brett and I drink 2%)

Can't you see the relief on his face?! :-)

No more bottles. No more breastfeeding. No more melt-downs at bedtime or in the morning, when he was wanting a bottle or to nurse...At least until we have another baby :-)

So, after countless attempts at transitioning JW to whole milk since he turned 1 (we tried a'many: diluted with formula/breastmilk, warmed up or cold, in a bottle or sippy or straw cup), he is now a whole-milk aficionado. YIPPEE!

For awhile there, we thought he may never drink it (thank goodness he LOVES cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese...everything-else dairy). Oh, and he had a lot of fun with the straw, so that REALLY helped!

At first we went for the cold-turkey approach: right-out-of-the-fridge milk in a sippy cup...bad idea. So, then we backed that bus us and decided to get him used to milk from his beloved bottle, which he was more attached to than we thought (even if the contents were diluted). Before we retired Dr. Brown for good, he had to get used to drinking COLD milk (since daycare would warm up his bottles). Once we were to 100%, cold milk...we kicked the bottles to the curb!

Just call him Jameston "Vitamin D, no bottles for me" Winters :-)

All in all, he did pretty well, and we are so glad this transition is behind us. Phew! Now if only he would sleep past 5:30 in the mornings:-) Thanks to all of you who gave us advice...we sure needed it!

So now, I'll leave you with a few pictures of what our 13-month-old is up to these days (besides drinking whole-milk):

Playing music

LOVES his piano, xylophone, and Lego box, because he can pound on it like a drum

And cruising like crazy!

"Get ready, Mommy and Daddy (and Boomer and Marlie): I'm gonna walk soon. Really soon. But in the meantime, I kinda like everyone picking me up and carrying me around everywhere we go!"

Wagon days of Autumn

Wow, the weather around these parts has been absolutely beautiful lately! Every member of our family is enjoying the drop in the temperature (even our dogs :-) and Jameston is no exception!

To say that he is really impressed with his new wagon would be a huge understatement. The boy is smitten :-) Here he is checking out his new ride:

(and this is a common expression he makes lately when he's scoping things out...mouth open)!

We've been taking advantage of the cooler temps and logging some frequent-walking-miles around our neighborhood!

One day after a nap, taking in the scenery...Loves to go fast! And Mom is taking advantage of the fact the he is strapped into the thing and getting some great photos! One of my favorites (again, with his mouth open :-) If you head on over to our house anytime soon, Jameston will be sure to pull up a seat for you :-) Hope y'all are having fun outdoors, too!

Home Improvement, Winters' style

Move over, Tim "the tool man" Taylor...Brett Winters may have you beat! Despite his hectic work schedule, my dedicated and hardworking hubby has been working his patooty off on the home-front, too. Over the last two weeks, he's installed two new ceiling fans (so we no longer have to look at the 90's style brass or white rinky-dink ones that came with our house), installed shelving in our laundry room, and re-tiled the shower floor and tub in our master bath! Wow, I'm tired just typing that...needless to say, he rocks! So, here's a summary in pics of what he's done...

Laundry room with shelving before:

Post cabinet install (hey, I helped too:-)

Ceiling fan numero uno (no before picture, just too hideous):

The one in the living room looks very similar

Oh, and he also painted our front door and installed new hardware

The majority of his work has been focused on the tilework in the bathroom:

The original job he did started leaking after the frameless glass was installed...so he had to redo it :-(

During the work:

Doesn't it look lovely?:

And the mess that came along with re-tiling the tub (oh, the dust!)

Final product...love it!

Thanks, B, for beautifying our house in the little spare time you have. Hopefully Jameston can start helping you out around here very soon!

Our Little Monkey...

Had two days of birthday celebrations last week! Last Monday on his actual birthday, we started the morning with some pancakes and eggs...

He loves pancakes, can you tell!?

This was taken before we broke it up into pieces...I think he was telling us, "You know, I AM older, but not old enough to cut up my food!" :-)

And eating black beans and some quesadilla for lunch at Mommy and Daddy's favorite restaurant...

And trying frozen yogurt for the very first time

He did not care for the first few cold bites, but he got over the temperature and kept wanting more!

A full tummy and lots of fun tuckered this one-year-old out!

We had such a fun day as a family...Brett and I are going to have to take off every birthday from here on out :-)

Now on to the actual birthday party on Saturday!

It was monkey themed of course :-)

Below are the monkey-designed/banana-chocolate chip cupcakes covered in cookies (gingersnaps for the mouths, mini-Oreos for the ears, and mini-M&M's for the eyes)

And the banana split/sundae bar...

Birthday boy did not want to wear his crown that his teachers at daycare made him...

But he relented long enough to pose for this family pictures :-)

Cake time! Look, Mommy, my hands aren't THAT dirty yet...

Oh, just wait!

Cute little hands...

Scrumptious!

The requisite chocolate-all-over-the-face 1st birthday picture...

And Jameston's sweet cousins, family members, and friends showered him with some awesome birthday presents.

Our little helpers...

Of course, he LOVED the tissue paper...

The Rock, Roll, and Ride bike from (Fisher Price) Mommy and Daddy...glad he likes it!

It was a hit with the other kiddos, too...Here is cute little Camden (22 months) taking his turn: Oh, and if the birthday toys weren't enough to play with, Riley and JW had a blast riding around the house in Mr. Ducky... And Jameston's favorite gift...his Radio Flyer wagon from Gramps and Granny Glenna!

Since last Saturday, we have taken countless treks around the neighborhood.

He.is.in.love!

Thank you to all who helped make Jameston's 1st birthday a wonderful celebration!!