Merry Christmas from Burke and Landon!

We took Landon and Burke to see Santa at Holiday House this year and got some really cute pictures of them together! They're so cute. Every time we take pictures of them together they always put their arms around each other. So precious!

Woooow Santa! You're real!


Oh man, they've got their cameras out again! Smile!


Landon, what did you ask Santa for?


Cheese! Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving from our little Turkey!

Games...

On our way home from Kansas in September Landon discovered the game beloved by pre-toddlers everywhere...it's called "drop an object and cry until mommy picks it up".  He went from amateur status to pro in approximately 2.7 minutes.

Happy times with the water bottle...


And he dropped it...


Okay, so this is the face he made when he dropped it...but because all babies refuse to perform on demand I "had" to knock it out of his hand this time to get the picture. Don't worry I picked it up right away and he forgave me.

Landon is 9 months old and...

• weighs 21 pounds and 1.2 ounces
  
• is 29.5 inches long
  
• his head is 18.5 cm
  
• loves sweet potato puffs, apple puffs, Cheerios, diced pears, pineapple, peaches and biter biscuits
  
• is crawling...aka...scooting around on his belly using only one leg to push
  
• has starting pulling up to standing in just the last couple of days
  
• is closer to getting a big ole handful of kitty fur
  
• has the cutest belly laugh his daddy and i have ever heard
  
• can call the hogs...no, he doesn't actually say the words...video coming soon
  
• can say dada, nana and sometimes mama
  
• loves the remote and can tell if you give him one that doesn't work
  
• loves to play with our cell phones
  
• "talks" all the time...i have no idea where he gets it
  
• sleeps for around 9-12 hours a night
  
• isn't too sure about sippy cups yet but still likes to steal them from his cousins
  
• is still a dadadadadada's boy
  

yep, we're pretty sure he's the coolest kid ever.


Our friend and photographer, Sarah Bussey took Landon's 9 month pictures last week and posted some of her favorites to her blog. She does amazing work and we always have so much fun with her!


http://www.sarahbusseyphotography.com/journal/landon-little-rock-arkansas-baby-photographer/

High 5

Okay, so it didn't work earlier but now I've figured it out!!

Our Little Pumpkin

Fall is my all time favorite season. I love the colors, the food, the clothes and I usually love the weather. I've been so excited about taking Landon to his first pumpkin patch for weeks and weeks but the weather hasn't quite cooperated. Today was a beautiful day so we went to Wildwood for a hayride and a visit to pumpkin hill. Nana went with us and we met Aunt Meredith, Mary Haven and Hannah there. Landon is a very curious baby and enjoyed playing with all the pumpkins! I can't wait to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!" with him...and the best part is we don't have to wait for it to come on tv because his daddy bought me the Charlie Brown movie box set for Christmas last year...don't laugh, I happen to think it's perfectly normal for 30 year olds to love Charlie Brown!

Yay pumpkins!

You guys have no idea what you're in for when I get bigger!

Don't look at me...I didn't do it!

You mean cows eat this stuff?

Cheese!

These are my cousins...aren't they cute!?

I have the best mommy and daddy ever!

Wooooooo Pig Sooie!

Go Hogs...beat those Aggies!!!!

Couple a chompers!

The many faces of Landon

One baby...one photo shoot...3 faces.

Chicken Pot Pie

Today is "Show Us Your Life - Dinner Recipes" day over at Kelly's Korner. She does something different every Friday but most of them require pictures and I usually don't have the ones for the week handy. I ALWAYS have a recipe or 5 handy so today I get to play! Here is my recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. It's a family favorite and perfect for fall!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 tablespoons flour
4 cups chicken stock
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups shredded chicken
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
8-12 frozen southern style biscuits

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in saucepan and cook chopped onion until tender. Stir in celery and carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add potatoes and simmer until tender. Stir in chicken, parsley and peas. Pour mixture into casserole. Top with biscuits. Bake for 30 minutes until biscuits are golden.

Rubber Ducky You're the One!

Bath time has become a challenge in the Battreal household...you see, we started out using a mesh sling thingy attached to a plastic frame. It worked well for a while but once Landon started sitting up good it was impossible to get him to lay back...this coupled with the fact that the thing got nastier and nastier even after several washings prompted us to send it straight to the trash! I had seen the big inflatable ducks at Target and was skeptical...especially since the kid and I use the same bathtub and like it or not, I just don't think the duck works well for mommy sized humans. However, after a couple of friends (thanks Amber and Wendy) recommended it I thought what the heck and today I bought one. I think our bath time challenges are over! Woohoo!

Gotta check this out before we get wet.

I think it's going to work Mommy...get me out of this drool covered onesie and into the bath!

Oh yeah, I can really make a splash now!

Woooooooo Pig Sooie!

When I was little my Nana taught me to call the hogs...only she taught me her own version which was "Woooooo Pig Fooooie!". ha! She was a Razorback fan...she just thought it was funny. We're teaching Landon how to call the hogs...no fooie all sooie! ha!

Unless you're a blog fan that I haven't actually met, you know that Landon's daddy kinda sorta likes Razorback football maybe just a little. In fact, the minute we found out we were having a Landon and not a Madeline the nursery decor was decided and Razorbacks were part of the deal.

The entire week before the first Razorback game I called the hogs a lot for Landon and we listened to his Razorback mobile lots of times. On the morning of the game we busted out the Baby Razorback DVD that his Nana gave him to get in the spirit...then...we were off...to Landon's first tailgate party! He got to meet all of our tailgate friends...the ones that we sometimes only see once or twice a year and then we went to watch the game with Aunt Meredith and his cousins!

Go Hogs!!!!

The mobile that will teach our guy the fight song - if he can endure mommy's singing when we listen to it!

Learning about the Hogs!

A little overwhelmed by the crowd!

It was hot - I'm a mess...oh well - here's the "family tailgate party" picture

Classic - towel over the shoulder and all!

Good game guys!

L & B SPP

A couple weeks ago Dan and Ashley brought Burke over for a playdate. Ashley and I both work for Southwest Power Pool...SPP is awesome. They give all the new babies onesies that say "I will be lighting the future" and we had a photo shoot to show them off. We love playdates with Burke! They are getting so big and playdates are so much more fun now that they notice each other.

I seriously couldn't pick just a few pictures...they are ALL too fun and the progression makes them even better! I'm even "captionless" on these...they speak for themselves!

PS - don't skip the blog below this one...I'm doing some "back bloggin'" tonight.

Quack quack, cajun dinner and mule ride

A few weeks ago while "up north" for a visit Landon got to play with Poppy's duck calls, go out to eat at Landry's and also got to ride the mule on the farm!!

Okay Poppy, show me how this works so I can call the big ducks in!

Let's see if I can get this right...

What? Aren't you supposed to chew on it to warm it up?

Dinner at Landry's!

Let me drive Papa! Oh look! A duck on the pond...where are those duck calls!?

This is the life!