a berry in the hand is worth two in the belly

 

Forgive me in advance for the photos of my boys sharing the banana.  It may seem as though there are unnecessarily way too many, but you must understand that this is a ritual between these two monkeys.  And Liam prefers his bananas this way.  Shared.  It tells such a sweet story for me.  Liam looks at his Dad with such adoring eyes. And he thinks it's pretty cool too.

 

As we packed up this morning to head out the door in the crisp cool air, I grabbed a beanie for the little guy and a cotton sweater for myself.  The air was crisp and I thought surely, on this first official weekend of fall, the weather would be agreeably fall-ish too.  Especially after all the rain and cool weather we have already had.  But boy was I wrong.  I significantly underestimated the weather gods.  But what's new.  I am ready for fall weather and my theory of 'if you will it, it will come', has once again proven me wrong.  Liam's not too good at following that theory either.  I suppose it's time to ditch it.  Duh.  Toddlers have a mind of their own.  *gasp!  He's a toddler?  Is that even right?!

What a warm and beautiful day it turned out to be.  Did I mention it was warm.  A perfect day for a trip to Berry Patch Farms in Brighton.  How cool is this place.  I am almost embarrassed to admit that we had never been.  Almost.  There is nothing sweeter than my baby boy smelling sweetly of fresh picked strawberries and raspberries.  He stuffs his face so full he can barely close his mouth.  It didn't take long at all for the little man to catch on.  We showed him where to find the treasure, and that was all he needed.  When it comes to food he learns fast.  For being such a little peanut he really eats with the best of 'em.  What can I say, he belongs to me. 

Picking berries in the hot hot sun is no easy task for a toddler...who am I kidding, I needed a break, so we took off to the shade to share some snacks.  And then we were off to the flowers to sniff and smell and sniff again.  Liam loves flowers.  Any flowers.  Plants really.  Whether they smell good or just plain poorly, he loves to put on a good show smelling them and letting them tickle his face.  He thinks it's comical really.
  
After all this work, I forgot to take a photo of our pickings.  It was slim really.  Think of it.  Trying to muddle through vines and bushels for berries with a toddler in one hand and berries or a basket in the other.  When he insists on being fed one every other pick, you don't end up with much in the basket.  All that work for, well, a sweet smelling boy with a grin so big.  So worth it.

And a big 'ol healthy welcome to Autumn.  

birthday party + Pinterest

We woke up early just like any other Saturday morning and laid in bed for a while as the little guy enjoyed crawling all over our bed and us, giving us snuggles and cuddles and some early morning giggles.  Weekends are our favorite and Liam's too, because he knows we get to be home as a family, all three of us. 

We sat down for breakfast, placed a birthday candle in a muffin and sang.  He just looked at us with wonder in his eyes.  Once he realized all attention was on him he was thrilled, of course.  We may just have to make this a yearly tradition.

It turned out to be such a wonderful day with friends and family helping celebrate this special boy.  How much he is loved!  We are so fortunate to be surrounded by so many amazing people and I am filled with joy to be able to bring Liam into such a loving circle of friends and family.  

Oh and shame Pinterest by the way.  Full of endless crafts and party ideas.  You really know how to make a mom feel like she can do it all and yet not enough. Don't get me wrong, I love Pinterest.  But everything looks so easy until you sit down to do it and it take 2-3 times as long as you imagine.  And it's addicting!  I could have party planned for months!  So easily underestimated in so many ways.  Darn you Pinterest.  I curse you!  Even knowing I will be back over and over again to have the same thing happen.  It's a love hate relationship really. 

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY little man!  Your daddy and I love you so so much.