Painted Pumpkins

Let's just be honest, this year I didn't feel like carving pumpkins. I have little to no free time on my hands, and how I even pulled off this year's pumpkins is still a mystery to me. However, I decided that since Alabama weather is so unpredictable... and carved pumpkins can get a little dicey in hotter weather... paint was my best option. So, I just walked out in the garage to see what I had on hand, and found some gold and black spray paint left over from when I "crackle" painted a lamp once. I say "once" because it was right after we moved into this house. No telling how old that paint was. But... I digress.

After failing miserably at a silver paint pen endeavor (I didn't take into account that I was working with a round canvas)...

I decided that masking tape and spray paint were my best options for pumpkin #1.

The end result looked like this:

For pumpkin #2, I took the gold spray paint route. After Michael looked sideways at it, I decided I needed something extra on it to "bling it up." Who knew that puff paint was more useful than just on a sweatshirt for grandma?

The end result looked like this:

And then for pumpkin #3, I decided to get all personalized with it. I had so much fun with the puff paint, that I decided to go with a big S, and some decor around it. The end result looked like this:

So there you have it. Sanford pumpkins 2011. Happy Fall y'all!

Pet-a-palooza

I have had more fun saying that all day today. Pet-a-palooza. Say it- it's fun. Haha, you just said it didn't you? Well, for a couple of weeks now, I've been promising our dear sweet Max that I would do something special for him. He's such a good dog... sometimes. But he really has been so good with John Michael, so I wanted to treat him.

And then I saw the ad for Pet-a-palooza, a day at the park devoted entirely to pets! After a little research, I decided that this was the perfect way to treat Max.

So, this morning after our usual morning routine, we all packed up for the park. Max put on his new costume and modeled it for me in the kitchen. He's such a natural, right?

 And we went out to Veteran's Park on Valleydale to join in the festivities. There were many vendors with tents, bouncy castles, and lots of other dogs. Everyone in the family was busy checking things out.

Like I said, lots of other dogs... big and small.

But Max was busy checking out the dog in the "other yellow costume."

Check out that banana! There was also a gypsy (whose owner either dressed up like that too, or that's really how she dressed), a cheerleader, a hotdog, a princess, and my favorite was one who looked like part of a chariot with a little gladiator on his back.

John Michael even did a couple of double takes.

It was so much fun though- a good time really was had by all. By the time we got back in the car, Max was pooped... which is a pretty big deal.

Oh Happy Babe...

There is nothing more fun to me at this point than making John Michael laugh. I NEVER get tired of hearing him laugh- so I constantly try to do things that I think will start it rolling. However, almost always to my surprise, the things that I think will make him laugh, don't. And he'll laugh at some things that I would have never expected. Tonight that thing was the sound of Michael and me making barking noises. Michael was playing with John Michael and we heard Max barking at the back door. Michael started imitating Max by barking himself, and John Michael thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. After letting Max in, Michael grabbed the video camera and the rest is history.

WARNING: You will have to endure an entire video of me barking... but I think the incredible baby laughs will make up for it.

A Time for Independence

Several weeks ago, John Michael started taking steps by himself. It's so scary, wonderful, and every other emotion you can think of. Thank goodness diapers are padded though, because that's the direction he falls almost every time. You know when you take a short deep breath whenever something startles you?  Well, I'm thinking that I probably take about 1200 of those a day now. It seems like every time I turn around, he's doing something that looks like it's about to end in disaster- but 99% of the time, it's fine. It's just that 1% of the time when he falls and hits his head on our hardwood floor, or the leg of the dining room table, or the side table, or the bookcase, or the...

I have to say though, it's such a cool thing to watch your child discover the world. The things that interest him are so funny to me. JM is really into hinges and wheels. He loves to study things to try and figure out how they work. Cabinets are by far the coolest things ever, along with doors. I could sit in a room with him while he opens and closes a door for hours. And anything that has wheels is super cool at this point. If it has wheels, he'll turn it upside down and study how it turns. We might have a little engineer on our hands, but at any rate, it brings me joy to watch him grow and discover this great new world around him. Granted, it's just our living room, or kitchen, or bedroom- but it's kind of fun getting down on his level and looking at things through his eyes.

Here's a little video I put together of John Michael's first attempts at walking (and then threw in some recent clips too since I'm so late getting this out). Enjoy!

You can also view it on Vimeo here.

A Time to "Walk the Line"

I know, I know. It has been FOREVER since my last blog post. Sorry- things have been a little busy. Work has been hectic as we just had our conference in Orlando last week. While I was gone, my mom came up and stayed with Michael and John Michael. When I returned, they all came to pick me up at the airport- and I was beyond excited to see my little growing weed!!!

My mom bought JM a new toy while I was away, and boy does he love it! Michael and I thought we'd put together a little video to illustrate JM's new talent... in true Sanford fashion... please put your hands together for Johnny Cash!!!

If for some reason you are unable to view the video within the blog, you can watch it here on Vimeo.

Sleepy Time- 8.5 months

Our bedtime routine is one of the most important (and sometimes most enjoyable) parts of the day. Lately, John Michael has been getting upset if he's still awake and he sees you leave the room. It used to be so easy- I would put him down in his crib, and even if he was still awake, he would just play until he fell asleep on his own.

As much as I long for those days on some nights, the Lord has shown me how to be grateful in the latter as well.

Michael has an uncanny ability to put John Michael to sleep. I think it's because he radiates heat like an electric blanket. At any rate, he can get John Michael to sleep in a matter of minutes, whereas it would take me 30 minutes to an hour to achieve the same result.

After my third attempt to put John Michael to sleep the other night, I sent in the big guns. Not too long after, I went in to find the sweetest scene. And the Lord reminded me that I would have missed out on this if JM had gone right to sleep. So, I decided that I would put on my photographer hat again (after a long break and using mainly camera phones) to document this sweetness. Enjoy!

 (Is it me, or do Michael's legs look 20 feet long in this picture?)

A Time for Jorts and a Baby Wife Beater

So, for all those who caught the funny story on Facebook, I apologize, I'm about to rehash it. However, the long awaited pictures are here! But first the story...

I went to Target last weekend for my usual grocery shopping. They have a 5% off debit card now, so all of my purchase, plus coupons, is 5% off! But that's not why I'm writing this. In addition to the usual groceries, I needed to pick up some plain white onesies in a larger size. John Michael has a lot of little overalls, and mostly wears them without anything underneath, but a couple of them are scratchy, so I throw a little white onesie underneath and go. So, I picked up a package of 9mo size white onesies, and made sure to do a little price checking to see which brand I liked best, but also which one was cheaper (I mean, it's white onesies folks- and we eat alot of sweet potatoes).

So, I got home and threw the package on top of the washing machine to add to JM's laundry load the next day. When the time came to do laundry, I opened the package, threw in the onesies, and went about my day. Not until I pulled the laundry out of the dryer did I realize the fantastic surprise. I had inadvertently bought my son his first set of baby wife beaters. I joked about it on Facebook, saying that all I needed was a pair of cutoff jorts, a tractor hat, and a crawfish boil to seal the deal. Well, I don't have cutoffs but I do have baby jorts. The other things are all missing as well, but I snapped a few model shots this morning of the lovely sight.

Keep in mind now that John Michael is a paid equity model. He gets paid in sweet potato puffs.

 He and "Bubba" stopped to watch a little tv...

Here's his "casual look."

Look at those teef!

I asked him to show me his "thinking about long lost toys while drooling" look.

For some reason I can't look at this one without thinking he looks like he has a flat top crew cut! This one is titled "morning sun entice."

He's working on his pouty lip look. Here's a nice standing shot.

I hope you've enjoyed our latest modeling shoot. We're on our way to find the local crawfish boil, and then maybe we'll stop by Tractor Supply and look for that hat. Have a great day!