Halloween 2008

This Halloween was a little different because we actually celebrated on Nov. 1st since we had a wedding to attend on the 31st. We had a great time just the same :) El put on his costume to wear to day care, and he enjoyed every minute of it, really! Then we introduced El to our traditional pumpkin carving contest...you be the judge, but I think El's takes the cake!

Elliott the lobster!


Mama prepared the pumpkins for everyone...


Elliott decorating his pumpkin.



The finished product!



Mama and her pumpkin...


Papa and his pumpkin...


The Pumpkin Family...


...and a big wet kiss!

life with El

In September, Elliott spent two weeks in Omaha getting to know his Mama's side of the family. He spent a lot of time with his two beautiful cousins, Aubri and Georgia.


Grammy set up the bouncy duck in the kitchen so El could take part in the action. He loved it!


Always a morning person!


Just like his big cousin Aubri, Elliott found a love for the Valentino's buffet. I'm not sure whether this is good, or bad ;)


Mama and Papa are so mean :(


Back in Pittsburgh, Aunt Trisha helped dress El up for his first Halloween celebration at Idlewild (a kid's amusement park). He borrowed a costume and some wheels from his big cousin Wes.


Mama bundled El up for a night out on the town. He enjoyed the outdoor Squonk Opera performance in Oakland on a busy (and chilly) Friday night.


Elliott has two new chompers! His bottom teeth are great for tearing into things, as they are razor sharp! Here, he's enjoying his first "teething cookie", which quickly became a favorite :)


El's generous cousins have all shared their outgrown toys with him. Here, he discovers the joys of Georgia's old activity set...George, he sees why you loved it so much! (and yes, that is Elijah's old pack-n-play in the background)


Here he is in action!




El and Papa had a guy's day out and went to watch the Penguins practice. They had a great time, and El watched the players on the ice! Check out that red hair!!



Don't mind the urinals in the background here...Elliott had a great time at the pumpkin patch! Here he is waiting in line for the tractor ride!


Mama let him try his first apple dumpling...which he LOVED!


He got a free ride on Mama all day!


He got to pick out his own pumpkin...


And, he got to hang out with Mama and Papa all day outside, which is his favorite thing to do!

Here is El having a good time on the tractor ride at the pumpkin patch.

One month....

It's been about/over a month since the last update. We have been pretty busy with things. Hil has been working six days a week, I started a new job and had to go out of town for training, and El doesn't take so many naps anymore.

Hil passed her praxis test with flying colors. Seems she works well under pressure. :) I interviewed for and accepted the job for Produce Team Leader and have been at it for a couple weeks now. It's not fast paced like the kitchen, but there are a lot of issues that are helping me build my leadership qualities... and it's also a nice break from the stress of the kitchen. It's different... I have only known kitchens. So being out of that element for even a couple days felt very weird. It's welcome, though.

Elliott is doing very well. He is getting bigger and his motor skills and awareness are refining. It's still amazing to see. We haven't been up to much recently... so we only have every day photos. We took a family trip to Ohiopyle (Click to learn) last weekend (photos next week)... and despite the heat and our forgotten bathing suits.. it was nice to get out of the city. It's a long drive (1.5 hrs or so...) and having a 4 month old and a dog.... it takes a lot more than it used to.

Elliott is no longer the youngest in the family but the middle child of the new generation. My older sister Trisha had a baby on July 2nd. Her name is Anna Mae (after our grandmothers Anna and Ida Mae). She has more hair than you. Guaranteed.

Anyways... onto some photos. As always... click to enlarge:

Mama and El.




Papa and El.


Emma and El. :) Best friends.










He's getting so big!


El in his chair. When he sees something he knows he wants to put it in his mouth and is now able to accomplish that task. :)






El had a MAJOR blowout.... worth taking pictures of. Sorry. The joys of parenthood. :)


Anna Mae Daniel.




Anna with Mom.


Anna with Great Grandma Anna.


We also took a trip out of town to Columbus (sans El.) to see a favortie musician of ours.. Tom Waits. We had better seats than last time but were discouraged to find out that a co-worker had seats in the VERY FIRST ROW!! And we went about getting tickets int he same manner. Some people have all the luck.

Here are a couple photos I took of TW. I'm obsessed:













We hope everyone is doing well. There may be out of town family coming to town this weekend for a visit... so stay tuned next week for photos.