Already October

Would you believe it if I told you alot has happened since my last post? What did I promise in that post, next week, I would write? I should have said two weeks. I swear, September threw me through the ringer, and made me lose all sense of time. I swore that if I could just get through those three hectic weeks, life would slow down. Well, I must not plan very far in advance, because within the blink of an eye, I've got another 400+ group in today, and I'm at work on the weekend. It's Saturday folks, which is significantly better in my eyes than Sunday, but I'm still here at work, in dress clothes on one of the two days a week that are supposed to be devoted to comfy jeans, sweatshirts, and all the time in the world for my baby. Oh well, while I'm sitting here counting down the minutes until I can go home (2ish), Grandma Hall is having a ball. I'd venture to guess that Grandpa Hall is too...in his own right. Jason's playing farmer today, helping Dad, which of course, makes Dad's day, because it means that on a beautiful fall day like today, lots of progress will get made. And of course, Grandma Hall is loving it because well...she's getting to spoil her grandson rotten. I had to laugh though...even though she's raised 3 kids, she still called this morning to ask for instructions once Jason dropped him off at her house. Last I checked he was still down for a nap, after 2+ hours, and was being a good boy, letting Grandma get lunch made for the boys. I do believe though that I heard her say, "man...this kids into EVERYTHING"...haha. I agreed, and was momentarily happy that I had to work today, and won't have to chase my child around. Instead, I get to chase 400+ crazy Christians through Stewart Center & the Purdue Memorial Union, hearing them complain all the way about how far of a walk it is. Give me a break...

So let's catch up on life...I promised pictures. When I last posted, I was gearing up for my Big Ten Grad Expo group. Holy Crap...they came in on Sunday, and I worked from 11-7 that day...and had a sore throat when I woke up, but blamed it on sleeping with the windows open, and didn't think much of it. By Sunday evening, I was miserable, and decided to stop by Urgent Care on my way home. Sure enough...Strep Throat. Do you know what you want to do when you have Strep Throat? NOTHING. You want to sleep in, rest, eat those crazy vitamin C pills and drink lots of juice, and that's it. Instead, I came to work and dealt with nearly 500 primarily international students looking to attend graduate school. It was delightful. And then, do you know what I did from there? I went to Merrillville for the night to sit in on a meeting all day Tuesday as wrap up from our mega in July. In all honesty, this was kind of nice, because I knew if I was at home, I'd feel like I had to care for Colton rather than resting, where in a hotel room by myself, I could cash out, and sleep in due to the time difference. It actually kind of worked out. But regardless, I was taking off that Wednesday. Well, of course, shit hit the fan with one of my programs and had to be dealt with on Wednesday, so I decided from there, I might as well just take Friday off. And I did. But by then, I was over strep throat, and felt kind of silly taking the day off. I got to clean my house, that was worth it. Saturday brought shopping with Jacki, Jess and Mom at the outlets in Michigan City. What a fun girls day. We started with brunch at Bob Evans, hit every store we were interested in, and found some awesome deals, for both mommy & baby, and then came home to hang with the boys. Sunday...well, I'll just let Sunday tell it's own story in pictures. Jason was hiding in a tree stand after church, so Colton and I relied on Grandma Hall to provide the good times. I'd say she came through...

We went to Kent's Pumpkins just outside of Brookston -- and of course, a photo shoot ensued...

Colton just loved climbing on the pumpkins...

I don't know if you can see them, but we had him in his new John Deere boots. I'm here to tell ya, they are just adorable!!

This is the three of us at the patch, by their HUGE pumpkins...
 
Well, once we got back to Grandma's to spend the afternoon...she had such a neat fall setting, we put him down for pictures again. Thank goodness he cooperated for so long...

I think by the end, he was getting a little goofy...


This week was big too. Our babysitters daughter had their first grandson, so of course, Pam wanted to play Grandma, not babysitter for the first few days of the week. Colton stayed with Great Grandma Pat on Monday, but we were in a jam come Tuesday, so I got to take the day off and play Mommy. Actually, I took a half day, and worked from home in the afternoon...Colton napped really well, so that was great. But, he got to go with me to the office on Tuesday morning to get some work, and since it was Great Grandma Hall's birthday, we decided to stop and wish her a happy birthday. (I thought I had my cord here with me at work...guess those pictures will have to come later...). Wednesday, Colton stayed with Aunt Dee...and of course, she spoiled him rotten. It really helped me out in a bind though. Our backup babysitter had just taken on a new infant, so was hesitant to have fill ins...maybe next time.  Thursday was a normal day for us, and Friday was Jason's 28th Birthday. I had kind of a romantic, cheap evening planned, but he decided to invite some family down without asking me, and I guess it worked out. We had chili, and shared the cake I'd made him, while sitting around a bonfire. He really had a good time...that's all that matters. Colton was a good baby too. He went down about 8:30, and slept like a charm!

Well...I've probably bored you to tears...I have kind of bored myself, but the fall pictures were totally worth it. After I leave here, we're off to take Colton on his first combine ride with Grandpa Hall. Grandma had strict instructions that he's not allowed to ride with Grandpa until I'm there to take plenty of pictures and ride with him! I'm sure he'll love it...or, maybe not, with all the bells and whistles, but we'll see what we can come up with. I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures for our next post, and hopefully, it doesn't take me 2 weeks to get it done.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful weekend...I can't wait to get out and enjoy it!