Happy Halloween Everyone.!!

This Halloween was so great.! Cayle looked so good in his costume. I am so proud of him. He had so much fun trick or treating. We went to a big trunk or treat by my house and it filled up our bucket.! He ate a sucker and that lasted him most of the night so luckily he didn't get too hyped up on candy. And he doesnt like anything gummy so I get to eat those. The perks of being a mommy to a picky eater. ;) We went around my neighborhood and got candy and came home. All together we trick or treated for almost 2 hours. But I got some good pictures and I get to finish my scrapbook tonight. This first scrapbook shows Cayle from birth to age 2. And this new one I've started will pick up on his birthday. So it'll be kind of like a story book. I am displaying it at his party so everyone can see. I've got a feeling this is going to be a great week. :)


The Best Halloween Yet.!




Waiting to go through trunk or treat.





My Little Frankenstein.






I LOVE this picture.

We carved our pumpkin.!

I picked the template from familyfun.go.com. Daddy carved the pumpkin. Cayle played in the pumpkin guts. I can't wait to take him trick-or-treating.! He's gonna look so so cute in his costume. I can't wait to take pictures. Here are some pictures of us carving the pumpkin.!


Happy Halloween Kitty.!



Our finished pumpkin.



Daddy <3.



Daddy and Cayle.


The little man and me :)

I can't believe..

My baby boy will be two in a few days. It just hasn't hit me yet. Here lately, we've been closer than ever. The other day, all he wanted to do was sit with me. And it melted my heart. I am super excited to take him trick or treating. I love being a single mom.! I love being able to do things my way when it comes to Cayle. I love being able to take him somewhere and it just be us spending time together. I love having the money to take him places and do things with him. I love the feeling of us being our own family. No one else telling me what to do or how to raise him. You know.? I can't stop thinking about Christmas time. I am so excited to wrap gifts and to find things I know Cayle will love, to bake, send cards, and go to a parade.! I am dying to take Cayle to a parade. I really think he will enjoy it. I've even started the hunt for the perfect ornament to get him. I would love for us to get ornaments made this year. We don't have any ornaments for just the 2 of us. And I want one. And a special one for him with his name on it. And his own Christmas ornament. To put on his tree when he gets his own home. Mom has finally told me what she would like to have for Christmas. She wants an empty photo album she has filled with pictures of Cayle. That is easy to do. :) Dad wants a food chopper. That shouldn't be too hard. There's a picture of Cayle he wants so I may throw that in with his gift since I would like to throw a surprise gift in with my mom's gift too. My brother wants the movie Insidious. So that's easy too. Black Friday is going to be a breeze this year. As long as I don't have an incident like last year. I got dad a waffle iron. Apparently, he had told 3 other people he wanted one. He ended up with 4 and I had to switch his gift last minute. I almost couldn't find anything to get him. So it should go fairly well. We will see. Next weekend is Cayle's party. I can't wait to start preparing for it. I have all the party supplies. I just want to throw it all together and see what Cayle thinks. My parents dont seem to understand why I don't want to wait until his part to let him open the gifts I got him. It's his birthday. It's his day. I am letting him open my presents on HIS day. I want his birthday to be as special as possible. I know he's only going to be 2 and won't remember it, but it's not about later..it's about now. Children may not remember every adventure you go on or every holiday or birthday, but they will remember how you make them feel. And I want my baby to know every single day that he is loved. And will always have my heart.

I've been thinking a lot about moving to Knoxville. And I am about 99% sure that's what I want for us. I've thought about it being more of a long-term goal to make it there. I saw some apartments in Ooltewah. And I really like the location. And if it's affordable and I can get a decent salon job there or in a surrounding area, I think I may stick around for a while. But to be 100% honest, Chattanooga just doesn't make me happy anymore. It's not the people it's not anything specific. I just feel like there's more out there for Cayle and myself and I'm not going to do either one of us a favor if I don't find out. I dunno. That's another topic for another day. :)

Bring on the holidays.!

Jack-o-lantern for Nanny.

My grandmother hasn't been one to get excited about the holidays since my grandfather passed about 4 years ago. And it really breaks my heart. So I decided for Cayle and I to try to cheer her up my carving her a pumpkin. I had never carved a pumpkin before, but I gave it a full hearted effort. I think he turned out alright. Cayle really enjoyed helping me. He played with the pumpkin guts. And tried to help me hollow out the pumpkin. It was sooo slimy.!! Ew. But so worth it. My grandmother loved it. I think it cheered her up some.

Scrapbooking..and Life. :)

It's crazy how relaxing and motivational scrapbooking is for me. I guess because I scrapbook mine and Cayle's family things. I use these stickers from Jolee's Boutique and they have stickers for everything.! From baby's first steps to wedding days. There is literally anything you can think of. But I went to Michael's Craft store today to get some individual pieces of card stock for Cayle's age 2 scrapbook and it was on sale.! I got 4 pieces for a dollar. And since I only do one or two pages a month it worked out great.! But for some reason it got me to thinking about us being our own family. Being on our own and doing this for real. And I thought about where I'd like for us to live..and what it would be like to do our yearly traditions and our day to day lives. How scrap booking got me to thinking about this I have no idea. But I've really thought about it. My overall dream is to live in Knoxville with Cayle. But I think it would be easier to do so once Cayle started school. That way I could work while he was at school. And I wouldn't have to rely so much on daycare. But as for now..I've been thinking about places around here I like. And there was one apartment complex I really liked on the other side of the river. My ex lived there for some time while we were dating. I really liked how it was set up. It was very spacious. Rent was 645 a month for 2 bedrooms with free Internet and water was included. It had the potential to be very homey. The only problem..I try to avoid that side of town now for obvious reasons. There is a salon everywhere you turn over there. Which seems pretty convenient. I just don't know how I'm going to do it on my own. I will do my best to make my dreams a reality. I have definitely made up my mind about Knoxville. And I am Knoxville bound. How soon.? I don't know. But it will happen. I'm very content for the moment. School is coming to a close (400-ish hours left.!). I'll be ready to get a new car soon. I can't wait for that. I'm gonna make it a point to save up at least 3 months worth of rent before moving out just so if I ever get in a bind I will have the emergency money there you know.? I picture Cayle and me in a comfortable home. Me with my Kia forte. Our family dog a boston terrier named Kermit. Happy. And the more I think about it, the more I see it as a reality. And it will happen. I didn't bust my butt this long for nothing. My hard work is going to pay off.

A birthday and Christmas post.

Okay. I've really been planning out my christmas shopping. And I have what I want to get everyone planned out. But first, I want to talk about Cayle's birthday. I can't believe he will be two next week. Its bitter sweet. My parents got him a race along chuck. He talks and races with you. And they got him a dvd of Caillou. Some episodes of that drive me up a wall because he acts like such a BRAT but others aren't so bad. And it occupies Cayle long enough for me to clean the house everyday. I wrapped those gifts plus the four I got him. I got him a toy box, a tonka race track, weebles, and a bug pop up book. I want him to open the ones from me on his birthday. I'm not sure if my parents want him to wait until his party or not to open theirs. But we will see. I cannot wait until his party.! It's going to be a lot of fun. I also cannot WAIT to put Cayle in his Halloween costume and take him trick or treating. Below are some pictures of his birthday presents.




This is the DVD they got him.





This is the race along chuck tonka truck.


Now it's tome to talk about CHRISTMAS.!!! I went to Walmart today to get some price ideas on the things I wanted to get Cayle for Christmas. And I made a list of the items I wanted to get him. The list is

*Thomas the tank engine train set*
Mr. Potato head
Play Dough
Color Wonder
Bath Crayons
Rubber Ducks
Books
Movies
Hot Wheels (stocking stuffer)
Christmas ornament
crayons
coloring books
magnet doodle board
clothes
Training potty
new tooth brush (stocking)

It seems like a lot, but I can get almost all of it for 120 dollars. Which isn't much when you talk about Christmas. I plan to go after this stuff on Black Friday. I won't get all of it, but I will get the more pricey stuff and everyone else's gift. Daddy wants a food chopper. My brother wants a movie. I have bath and body works stuff for Mom. I have more people on my list but their gifts I'll know when I see them you know.? I cannot wait for Christmas.! I wish I could do a Christmas ornament exchange or something. I think that would be a lot of fun. But I can't think of a place or people who would do it. It's more fun with a lot of people. Maybe I just gave people an idea for their Christmas.

I have a lot of fun planned for Christmas. Mostly cooking, baking, and crafts. But I plan to have ornaments made for Cayle and me. And one for him. And I want to get him an ornament just to have for when he has a home of his own. He will have them. If money allows, I would love for us to have a portrait together. I want to decorate. I want to give to the less fortunate so they can have a Christmas too. Kay and I have planned a trip to the enchanted garden of lights sometime in December. I'm not sure when, but we are really excited. There are a couple parades around here for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cayle and I will be attending both. I think he will enjoy it. He loves to wave at people and eat candy so it'll be great.

I'm really excited to be able to have our own little family traditions. Things like our craft time and ornaments. I want that to go on. And I hope one day it will. Cayle truly is my best friend. We do everything together. And he makes me happy. And I love him with all my heart. I'm happy to be able to do these things with him. And I'll be honest. I'm happy and proud to be a single mom. As long as I have a few good friends who I can confide in, my baby, and my family. I don't need anyone else. I feel like Cayle and I can do more together when it's just the two of us. From traditions to seasonal festivities to just being lazy together. I enjoy every minute of it. And I hope no matter how old Cayle gets he'll still be my best friend and still want to do things with me around the holidays or for no reason at all.





This is the train track I want to get Cayle for Christmas.

Our visit to the pumpkin patch.!

What a fantastic day.! We plan to go back next year.! Cayle had a lot of fun until he got tired and hungry. I can't wait to print these off.!