Eclipses, Pickled Okra, Haircuts & New Babies

I haven't written a proper post in awhile. We've been busy, but nothing newsworthy. The weather has cooled in these parts and you can tell that September will be here in a week. I like that.

My title for this post is a little random, but I guess so are the pictures below. Last Sunday, I tried my hand at pickling some okra. My mom's neighbors blessed them with a HUGE bag of okra. My mom was a little unsure as to what she was going to do with all of it so I stole it and jarred it up. I made this recipe awhile back and only made one tiny jar. It was good at the time, so I'm curious to see how this stands up. Dillon tried one batch that didn't quite seal and he said the okra was a little tough. They were big pieces so I'm hoping if I let the okra sit for a few more weeks and stew that it may be better.

Last Monday, we enjoyed the eclipse. Here in Candler, we were about 45 minutes away from "totality" so we saw the eclipse at something like 99.5%, which, if you didn't know, is NOT totality. Dillon had to teach a class that night and I worked from home that day and I think we both regret not taking the day and driving the short distance to see the eclipse in it's greatness. It was still mighty impressive and Dillon picked up Luke from school early that day because they weren't going to watch it and he was amped up about it. He kept talking about what a special day it was so we were glad to let him skip a nap and enjoy the festivities (even if it was just the three of us sitting in our driveway listening to "Darkside of the Moon"). I had to yell at Luke a few times though because he kept wanting to stare at the sun without glasses. Ha.

The rest of the week has been fairly tame. I got my haircut today and had 5 inches chopped off. My hair was SO long and it was too much to take care of. I couldn't straighten it in the mornings and it was so hot on my neck all the time. I held off getting my "mom" cut for as long as I could, but all in all I think it's pretty cute.

The other big news in the past few weeks is that our family and friends have been inundated with new babies! Our friends the Wyatts had their sweet little boy two weeks ago and Dillon's sister had her baby 3 days later! Today we got some good snuggles in with little Max and next weekend we'll travel to Richmond to see Indie! We're so, so happy for both families! You forget just how little babies are when they come into the world (even if it's only been 8 months since that was you.) Charlie still feels so little, but she looked like a giant next to little Max today.

We're preparing for fall and have Halloween costumes in mind. I've already been grilling Luke as to what he wants from Santa and I have the majority of their Christmas presents purchased. I'm also looking towards Charlie's first birthday. I think we are going to skip a big party and just have some cake at home and maybe a dual Christmas/Birthday party in Virginia (I know you're not ever supposed to do that, but she's 1 and she will never know.) As we all know, fall starts the busy, but fun, season and I absolutely cannot wait!

Luke and his ice cream. HA!

This girl LOVES her walker. She goes crazy in it!

Luke took a picture of daddy!

Nope, not a vampire, just a baby that loves beets.

Practicing for the eclipse

We're ready!

I'm so pumped!

I can't put into words how much I love these pictures. My boys.

It got so dark our motion sensor lights came on

And about as good as we could do for photography ha.

Sweet baby Max.

High school buddies with their newest babies

The older kids entertained themselves (which is awesome!)

This is a long video but it is so, so funny if you can make it through the whole thing. It shows just how much Charlie loves that walker.

And Luke on his bike. He's such a big boy now. <3

Eight Months!

Charlie is 8 months old today!

She's turned into a movement monster and never sits still. Wearing 9 month clothes, we get told all the time that she looks so tiny (but I feel like she's the same size Luke was at this age). She is constantly on the go which makes bottle feedings terrible. You basically have to wrestle this child to the ground to feed her.

She loves food, still, and doesn't turn down any type of solids. When we eat a meal, I have to make sure that I have something available for her or she becomes super angry. She's grown a lot this month and can now crawl, and can say words like "dada", "mama", and "baba".

She's still a good sleeper and sleeps through the night, except for last night when I could only get her to sleep with me in the bed. Every time I put her down, she would wake up so I'm not sure what that was about and if it's the cold she's been fighting or teething? Speaking of teeth, she still has NO teeth. None. She's drooling like she's teething, she chews on everything so I would have thought by now something would have popped through, but nope.

Things that she likes:

* Her new walker! We have an exesaucer that Luke loved when he was little and we have other places to set her, but she doesn't like them as much as this thing. Like I said before, she doesn't like being stationary so she explores in this. We just got it today and she went crazy scooting into everything and you would have thought it was the best thing ever.

* Fruits, Vegetables, Puffs, Creamies, pretty much anything. She's getting great and feeding herself and I've let her try some of the puffs and such that she can pick up with her fingers. I've fed her broccoli and she eats it. She loves avocados and oranges, bananas and potatoes. We fixed  some garlic bread with pasta the other day and she ate two whole pieces of bread. I'm hoping this sticks, because it's a real bummer to have a picky eater (sorry, Luke!)

* Spoons and Toothbrushes. We have hundreds of dollars worth of toys to keep her entertained and her favorite things to play with are spoons and a toothbrush of Luke's that he never used. She likes to hold them and chew on them. I can even get some plastic tableware like cups and bowls and that entertains her better than anything.

* Going to the grocery store. She loves riding in the buggy and looking at all the items on the shelf. That's a sure fire way to keep her entertained for a little bit and she barely makes a peep.

We're only 4 months away from her first birthday. It's so hard to believe, but we're making the best of every moment (even the hard ones like last night!)

Luke and Dillon found a praying mantis and a toad in the same day! 

Her tongue is always out! I'm not sure what that's about.

This is my favorite outfit for her right now.

Snot and drool for days...